Need help and advise on used Prius

It has been some time since I participated in this forum, and I am now hoping the community can assist me.
I have been the happy owner of a 2010, 2015 and 2022 Prius. Recently my financial situation changed, and I had to sell my 2022. So sad!
I retired from the fire department and before that made a living as a mechanic for about 10 years. I am living on a fixed income and need transportation. I am not afraid of putting some sweat equity into a reliable used car. In fact, it is the only way I can afford one.
I have never shopped the used Prius market. From what I have seen so far is that used Prius's sell fast and for good money.
I am looking at a car that is within my price range but of course it comes with some issues. I would greatly appreciate any advice you all might provide.
2008 Toyota Prius Standard Hatchback 4D $3,000
262,000 miles
Here is the description the current owner provided.
Selling my car because it did not pass smog in California, the catalytic converter is beneath California efficiency but with an O2 sensor should be able to pass smog in any other state. Exterior paint has some orange peel. It needs a new ABS pump, right headlight, license plate lights and one CV boot. I am attaching a picture of the dash. (There is some problem with uploading the file.) Hybrid battery has been mostly rebuilt but could use new wire harness and the battery cells could use reconditioning. Whatever that means.
Been on the market for 5 weeks.

What do you think? How much is a fair price? Would I be getting into a mess? I don’t know if the headlight is a bulb or a lens. I am aware of the problems with high intensity light ballast problems. I am not familiar with the braking system. I know the battery alone is about $1,500 and a good days work to replace.

 

Thanks for the reply! I attempted to send you my e-mail but because I haven't been active for quite sometime it would not let me.
I now live in Yuma Arizona which is a pretty limited market. My two brothers live out your way. However Phoenix, Tuscon and San Diego are about a 3 hour drive. It is difficult to negotiate over e-mail and the phone. I would drive for the right deal. I would get a one way rental. I thought $3000 was ridiculous but I needed to start somewhere and you have already given me some guidelines. Right now I have about $2500 to spend. If possible that needs to cover the purchase and any repairs. Am I dreaming? My last three Prius had no repairs except for routine maintenance. Have you got any tips for how to search? I have been looking on Facebook market place. Up to now I haven't seen anything under about $1500 unless it is just it is just a lost leader. It is my first experience with the market place. There are a lot of individuals (or dealer posing as individuals) that misrepresent themself and or just lie. It is much more convoluted than Craigslist. It sure would be nice to land a good deal on a Prius.

 

Yes, I am tool poor and have a lot of experience working on car, trucks and most anything mechanical. I owned a shop and have never had anyone else work on one of my cars. Perhaps because I know the business and find it hard to trust.
Of course I would prefer a new one but money is tight. My experience with 3 Prius's is that they were pretty trouble free.

 

Thank you all for your advise based on experience. Right now I am keeping a 1984 Toyota pickup alive with 300k +. Without AC, down here in Arizona. I actually enjoy working on a car when there is no customer involved. Things get crazy with a customer's $ are involved. Also at my age I am to slow. I have to ration my body.
I am aware of the fact the traction battery has a defined lifespan and I am not afraid of changing it out if I could the right price on the car.
As luck would have it my daughter sold her Prius for $400 because it needed a new battery. At the time I had a beautiful red 2022 Prius so I wasn't interested. I had to sell it because finances got tight.
Based on Tombukt2 input I have already ruled out the car I mentioned previously. Back when I owned the 2010 I enjoyed participating on the forum. You have given me hope that is possible to get a Prius in my budget. Again, any advise or tip will be greatly appreciated.

 

PriusCamper thanks for the comment but I'm not sure what e-mail address you googled but I am not in the business of anything. I'm retired.

 

Wow! what a good response from you all.

[email protected] PriusCamper got sender and receiver mixed up'

MCCOHENS
"The gen2 prius has a great record but there are some things that get expensive. Brake actuators, HV battery issues and cats are the top of the list. And there are some unique elements to the hybrid system, requiring software and hardware to diagnose."
That is why I thought I could get an inexpensive one. I know my daughter sold a Gen 2 that needed a new traction battery for $400. Outer than that, and I am not discounting the cost of a new battery, the car was in very good condition. Timing is everything sometimes. Back when I was still turning a wrench could pickup a car with troubles cheap. Especially electrical problems. I don't know what it like today but I made a good living and went home clean doing what most mechanics shy away from. I you know of any such cars please let me know.

rjparker
I appreciate your comments. My little PU never had AC and it has little to no rust. Maybe I am dreaming or maybe I can get lucky. If my only objective was a cheap reliable car I would pickup a Crown Vic. I have seen them go at auction for as little as $500 but the cabbies really like them.
Odd that you would steer me away from an old Gen 2 when you own a 2012 Prius v trim 3 (476,000 km Nov 2023 296,000 miles)
"(By the way it is better to ask for advice rather than being someone who dispenses advise in a case like this)"
Sorry if I sounded like I was attempting to give any advice.

I think that about get me caught up with the posts. PriusCamper from your byline I may want to get back in touch with you should I get lucky. Didn't this forum use to have a classified section. tombukt2 I will PM you.
Once again thanks to you all for taking the time to share.

 

After all the advice and help I received on purchasing a Gen II Prius, I felt I owed it to the community to share my experience. It was a six month search for the car I felt met my needs. I took into account all of the comments and advice I received during my search.
A special shout out to Tombukt2 for all the effort he put into assisting me.
First, I quickly discovered that my options in Yuma Arizona were limited or nonexistent. I had to expand my search to a 250-mile radius which includes Phoenix, Tucson, LA, and San Diego. It wasn’t until I started looking into the $5,000 range that I started to encounter any promising prospects, and those were, far and few between. At least in this area Priuses are very popular and sot after. Not just by economy focused individuals but by cabbies, Uber, Grubhub and so on drivers. I encountered many vehicles that were described as: runs good but the engine check light is on, runs good but has a salvage tile or no title, missing catalytic converter, 200 – 250 300 + thousand miles on it. It was very difficult to find a car with decent paint. Out here the sun is very hard on paint. Many of the cars I looked at had peeling clear coat. Then of course there was the ever-lingering concern about an older high mileage Prius and its Hybrid traction battery. There were more than a couple of vehicles that were advertised as having a new battery when in fact it was a reconditioned battery. Reconditioned can mean many things, most of which are not good.
I was becoming discouraged when a car showed up out in San Diego. If I were to make a list of things, of what I wanted in a used Prius this one met almost all my requirements. Clean interior and exterior, 130k, one owner, complete service records and service history, “new” traction battery 2 years ago installed at the dealer and as a complete bonus it was a color I really liked.
I immediately contacted the seller only to find out I was third in line already. The car had just been put on Marketplace that same day. I don’t think I have ever bought anything sight unseen, especially something this expensive. But after months of looking, I felt this was it. So, over the phone I was able to convince the seller to move me to the top of the list if I made a $300 deposit via Venmo. I have got to tell you that in this day and age I was more than a little bit nervous to do so. I mean I didn’t know this guy from Adam, and I had yet to even see the car in person.
I got a one-way rental and drove out to San Diego through last Monday’s torrential down poor and picked up the car. No buyer’s remorse and after looking for so long I was very excited.
This is my third Prius, 2006, 2015, 2023 so I am no stranger to their virtues and vices. It was a drastic change in my economic situation that necessitated the sale of my 2023 and the search for this car.
Now I am putting it through its trial runs and bonding with it.
Thanks to everyone!