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Need suggestions on buying a used PRIUS 2003 - with 96K miles ?

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by prashanthchou, May 31, 2010.

  1. prashanthchou

    prashanthchou New Member

    Joined:
    May 31, 2010
    2
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    Location:
    Milwaukee WI
    Vehicle:
    2003 Prius
    Model:
    I
    I am new to this Hybrid -Prius world.

    I am planning to buy a used Prius and looked at a car, which is 2003 Prius (I) -4 dr sedan - with 96K miles on it.

    Here are some questions for all the current Prius owners or Prius gurus:


    1) Is there any CONS in buying a Prius- Hybrid (2003) vs a regular
    car ?

    2) When it comes to maintenance compared to a regular car, do
    we have to do anything special to the Hybrid vehicles ?

    3) How long does this Prius-Hybrid vehicles last ? I know Toyota
    vehicles go beyond 150K as well, but is it the same the Prius-Hybrid vehicles ?


    4) Any other draw backs or flaws w.r.t Hybrid-Prius(2003) which
    you regret on buying Prius-Hybrid Vs regular Car ?

    5) How long does the battery last in the car ? how much would it
    cost to replace it ?

    Add any other valuable suggestions you wanted to me to know.


    Thanks in advance

    Prash
     
    #1 prashanthchou, May 31, 2010
  2. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2004
    9,060
    3,529
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    Location:
    Kunming Yunnan China
    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
    Hi Prash, the most important thing you can do is obtain the complete service history of this example. Take the vehicle identification number to a Toyota shop and they should help you. Report it here.

    My view of these cars may be more positive than some others at Prius Chat. I think they generally will run for a very long time at low maintenance cost. However, many things that can fail (HV battery, inverter, electric power steering) are expensive repairs. Whether their failure rates are high compared to conventional automatic transmissions (which are also expensive) is open to discussion,

    You can certainly read other threads here about what problems people have had, and how they were resolved. But bear in mind that people who are motoring happily along are less likely to start Prius Chat threads about that.
     
    #2 tochatihu, May 31, 2010
  3. prashanthchou

    prashanthchou New Member

    Joined:
    May 31, 2010
    2
    0
    0
    Location:
    Milwaukee WI
    Vehicle:
    2003 Prius
    Model:
    I
    "HV battery, inverter, electric power steering) are expensive repairs"

    How much on average would the above repairs cost, each one of them ?

    Usually at what miles does these things go bad ?
     
    #3 prashanthchou, Jun 1, 2010
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