What to do with 2002 Prius that needs too much work?

Whoa, that's awesome - from the manifold back to the flange at the rear wheel, with that big curve in it? If so, that's good to know.

 

You can't sell used cats, it's illegal. So your ads can't state that. Ebay took my ad down for that. It's a tough sell. No one has responded to my ads except people trying to resell them to the same cat recyclers I can sell to.

 

You might have read about rampant CAT thefts. That's why ads are banned. Try just putting "complete exhaust system", also try FaceBook marketplace. Selling to a business that is going to resell will net you the least possible.

 

Well, they were actually banned before the cat theft epidemic. IDK whether it's because the old ones not effective at reducing pollution, or maybe people were reselling their old no good cats to unsuspecting buyers,

 

Oh heck, I can't remember mine, but yours could be different. There's two numbers, one for each cat. One is pretty easy to see, but the other can only be seen though a hole in one of the sheet metal brackets that attach. I wasn't watching too closely and don't remember which cat, just that it was an oblong hole less that two inches long and maybe 3/8" wide. Takes looking in at the right angle as well, for what I could tell watching the guy find it.

 

SYK, that's going to be a frustrating process - trying to get anyone to tell you a price. They all try to get you to bring them in for them to lookout knowing that once you do, you're unlikely to leave and go somewhere else. I definitely got the feeling that the business expects cat sellers to be criminal/druggie types.

 

That's what you get from the ads - people just trying to buy from you and resell to the recyclers. Most will be those. I'm just trying to tell you that you're making it harder than it has to be with your efforts to manage the process and see through the darkness. Just sayin' I did a lot of that, it's frustrating. But, here's the company I finally found that everyone else seemed to be taking the cats to:

https://pgmoftexas.com/locations/

Maybe one of those locations is near you. They're not just in TX. I got $785. Quick, easy. They seemed very honest. And, that's with prices low right now. They were $1200 not long ago.

Takes a half hour or less to remove. drop it off, get your money and have someone haul off the rest. That's all there is to it. If you don't want to do that, I understand, but grinding through the details is a waste of time. Just not worth it.

 

You’re smart to be wary to the point of paranoia about Craigslist. Keeping control of the process of selling is helpful. All you’re trying to do is maximize what you get for the car and get rid of it. You do this by finding someone who wants it to do a DIY repair. For that person this is a great deal.
Don’t post photos (I hadn’t thought of geolocation and how to strip that data from photos).
And you ask the questions to responders - their phone number and email, and only communicate via CL relay until you are confident.
A better bet might be advertising here on PriusChat. Not guaranteed you won’t be found by scammers, but more likely to find a DIY buyer.
Parting out the car even to sell the cat is far too much work. Let the DIY buyer do that.
You have a rough idea of the value of the parts.
It really comes down to how much time and effort you want to put into getting maybe $1000-$1500 total.
And yeah it’s not quick or easy. (That’s why in Hawaii people give away junk cars all the time. And why people donate cars - just to get rid of them. ). Just limit yourself to doing what you’re comfortable with and get on with other things in your life. Dealing with people who are in the car biz is not the way to go. By nature they are dishonest hustlers with the chance of finding an honest one being too remote to consider. That all being said, to the right person your car is a good deal. Finding that person locally is not easy. Good luck.

 

it's possible it just needs a new 12v, along with the many other issues you stated in your first post. did you ever get the trouble codes?

 

you might at least get it to a point where a prospective buyer could drive it, idk.

 

With other fuses blown, it's possible the main 100A fuse in the fuse box under the hood is also blown. This fuse protects the DC to DC converter inside the inverter. With a blown fuse, the car will run while it's connected with jumper cables to the other car, or for a short time off a good 12v battery before it's discharged.

A way to check is after starting the car, disconnect the jumper cables and measure across the Prius battery terminals with a volt meter. Normally when charging it's around 14V.

 

Good on you getting the geo-location aspect sorted out.
I advise against having anyone attach anything to your car - battery charger or whatever - and/or mess with fuses. You got lucky with the Russian guy and learned something. But it's better to trust your instincts - if they look, talk and act like a hustler then assume they are. Also take control of the Craigslist process - always get callers to give you their phone number and email. If they won't do that, ignore them. And then you initiate any further contact, preferably with your caller id blocked.
All the characters you describe are trying to low ball you, greed knows no limits You now have a reasonable idea of what you could get for the car. Probably $1000 cash, take it or leave it.
From here on out you have a few possible options. You can try a few things - like hooking up some other battery. Any charged 12V battery will work.
You could buy a cheap MightyMax 35Ah 12v bat on Amazon, especially if you have Prime free shipping. And a Foxsur cheap 12v charger. These are items I use myself all the time.
And if you junk the car, take the 12V bat out, or require an extra $100.
To go a step further you could get a hacked version of Techstream on eBay. Search "mini VCI cable". Getting it working is not much more complex than sorting out geo-location on your phone. Then you can read codes yourself.
But, the high likelihood is that your car, at its age (mileage?) does indeed need thousands, unless you become a DIY wizard yourself. I keep my cars limping along, but I'm ultra aware they are by no means reliable.
Also since you may sell to a hustler after all, be sure you get title and registration (and consequent liability) out of your name. Check with your state DMV how to best do this. The last thing you want is any continuing liability once the car is gone. And many hustler buyers will be looking to keep the car in your name until they mickey mouse it to running and flip it.
Good luck. Please feel free to ask me specific questions.