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Purchasing used Prius and I just need to vent a bit

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Hopopotamus, Dec 4, 2018.

  1. Hopopotamus

    Hopopotamus Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
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    So my bellowed 2005 Prius got rear-ended about 10 days ago and insurance company decided to give me money instead of fixing it even though it is only a tail light, bumper and rear quarter panel.

    Anyway I did my homework, looked up vehicles available in my area and narrowed it down to two cars. This morning I figured I will check out both and pick one by the end of the day. So I was on my way to see 2015 White Persona with 18000 miles, one owner, etc ... when I received an email that other car (2012, one owner with 28000 miles) was no longer available. Great I thought to my self, now I must make this one work even though it was bit out of my price range ... Next thing you know I get there and White Persona is sold as well. Dude is still in the dealership working on paperwork.

    I go home and expand my search, and this time I start calling right away to see if the cars as still available. As it turns clean Priuses and few and far in between and on top of that each and every car I found interesting was already sold!

    As it turns out majority of Priuse's offered online in NYC Tri-State area have some form of damage or accident reported or millage is absurdly high. Low millage "clean" Prius is beginning to look like a unicorn to me.
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    surprising, given todays gas prices. maybe look at civic/corolla or whatever?

    my 2012 plug in with 60,000 miles in excellent condition isn't worth jack squat around here
     
    JStrenk and m.wynn like this.
  3. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    Vehicle:
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    Almost every vehicle in that area has some form of damage because they're driven into the city. The Prius is a Lyft/Uber/Yellowcab delight and that's what they're used for. Expand your search area and drive to buyit. I actually bought my Prius in NJ right by where you are over a decade ago and had to fly 2000mi out to get it. We just bought our new RX450h in Englewood, NJ because it was one of the few online we like with all the options/colours/etc. Flew out and drove it back. Driving a Prius cross country is a couple hundred dollars max. So if you can fly across the country, save a few thousand then spend a few hundred getting it local, much easier and cheaper.
     
  4. VFerdman

    VFerdman Senior Member

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    Location:
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    2007 Prius
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    Have you thought of buying your '05 back from insurance and having it fixed? You end up with a salvage title, but if you are not planning on selling the car, it's a good move.
     
  5. Hopopotamus

    Hopopotamus Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I noticed that Plug In Prius is basically a bargain. Actually I just found one clean car with about 40000 miles for about $12-13k and I was thinking about it, but I live in apartment so I don't have an option to charge it.

    Do you think it would be a problem (long run system damage or similar) if I was to buy it and than never charge EV batteries or use EV mode? Also other than lack of spare tire are there any other downsides as compared to regular Prius?

    I tried Google but nothing I found relates to my concerns.
     
  6. Hopopotamus

    Hopopotamus Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
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    N/A
    They want $1700 for it and they are paying me $3600. Estimate to fix it is $3100 (if there is no floor damage) so it is not worth it in my opinion. Also they said since I already own the vehicle and damage is not big I would have a "clean" and not "salvaged" title.
     
    VFerdman likes this.
  7. padroo

    padroo Senior Member

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    Location:
    Chesterton, Indiana Another third world country.
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    There seems to be a good supply in my area of Indiana Zip 46304.
    I see you are looking a very low mileage cars for their age.
     
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    a lot of people drive them and never charge, it is actually better for a lithium battery. other than the spare, you also lose most of the under floor storage.
    they have some extra bennies though, depending on what package you compare them two, and whether you buy an advanced or base.
     
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  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Plug-in Base
    as a reference point, mine is worth between $9,000. and $11,000. private party value in very good condition on kbb.
     
  10. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    Location:
    Evansville, IN
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    This is my “good” condition 2010 with 218k, 5200 ish miles since my Gen 4 transplant/conversion. I’ll drive it into the ground.
     

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  11. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Sounds frustrating.

    Quite a few people from the southeast fly up to NJ or that area to buy Primes and drive them back home since they are not for sale in this part of the country. (Don't get me started on that!!)

    You could go the other way. When I lived in Ohio, our neighbor liked to come down here to get used cars that weren't full of rust-rot. I know this guy and he will do his best to make sure you get one you like. Listings - Tampa Hybrids Inc.. I've bought four from him so far and they were all great.
     
    Hopopotamus likes this.
  12. Hopopotamus

    Hopopotamus Junior Member

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    Thanks, I will check it out
     
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  13. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Two
    I don't know if it'll make any difference, but if you contact him, let him know I sent you. Probably won't make a difference, but it's worth a try. He doesn't dicker; just charges the price he expects to be paid.
     
  14. fragglestickcar

    Joined:
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    Contrary to my profile, I live in the tri-state. As a point of reference, my gen2 shopping experience in summer 2017 was three weeks. I wrote a computer program to scan newyork.craigslist.org for new prii listings within a certain radius and under 120k miles. During that time I saw 3-4 vehicles I could take the plunge on. It's fairly easy to tell from the listings if the seller is a normal guy like you and me, or if it's a curbstone (they're usually clustered in brooklyn). You should obviously try to buy from the former, but even the curbstones offer value relative to used car lots.
     
  15. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
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    Five
    Had to look up what a curbstone is. I'd never heard the term.
     
  16. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Ditto. It's what I would have guess, but had never heard it before. Good term.
     
  17. wannago

    wannago New Member

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    Hi Jerry. In the market for a Prius in the ATL area. Any other advice regarding Tampa Hybrids?
     
  18. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Welcome. Here's what's happened in my case. When my wife and I came back from Honduras 4+ years ago, we needed two cars and had decided that Prius was the way to go. We found Todd online before the move and went there first. We had been shopping online so had a good idea what prices to look for. Todd was in the ballpark in the price category.

    But then, after meeting him and hearing him teach us more about the car, we developed a strong appreciation for Todd's integrity and his interest in meeting our needs. He gave us no pressure at all, but did give us all the info we could ask for. We bought two 2005's and loved them. A year later, a texter rear ended and totaled my wife's car while we were waiting at a red light. We went back to Todd and got her a 2007. Then, two years ago, my '05 was going to need some pretty expensive repairs and was up to about 150,000 miles, so I went back to him again and he offered me exactly what I was wanting for my '05 on trade for the PiP I now drive.

    The cars are sold "as is," but he does check them out and fixes anything he finds. All four of ours came with brand new Yokohama Avids and were clean as a whistle. One had an HID headlight out. He replaced that for free saying he wouldn't have sold it like that if he'd known it was out.

    I would suggest you check out his inventory at Listings - Tampa Hybrids Inc. and then give him a call. If you want to fly down here and drive it home, I'd be glad to pick you up at the airport and take you there if I'm not locked into something I can't get out of at that time. If I'm not available, Todd has been known to help with transportation. He's a member on PC as @TampaPrius.com but is so busy we don't see much of him here.

    He's not cut-rate, but he is honest. You can probably find an equivalent vehicle for less money if you shop around, but I don't think you'll find better service anywhere.
     
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  19. Sporin

    Sporin Prius Noob

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    Location:
    Vermont, USA
    Vehicle:
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    Model:
    II
    With gas prices tumbling, the used Prius market should loosen up a bit.
     
  20. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
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    IV
    I've got another new year's resolution now, to take along a skinny inspection camera/borescope now, to any car that has a collision mentioned (or even if it, um, doesn't have a collision mentioned) and poke it into the steering wheel through the opening around the cruise control stalk, looking for any nonsense like this:

    [​IMG]

    (Why not use Scotchloks as automotive splices? The wires fit right in...)

    What's in that photo came from a car where the airbag light happened to come on about 150 miles after driven off the lot—but you can't always count on that.
     
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