Purchasing 2006 Prius - question

if he uses seat covers, rubber floor mats and steering wheel cover like I do than a 10 year old car with 200,000 miles would appear like new. I think it is very difficult to mess with the odometers of these modern cars so if you go to test drive it and the odometer shows 56K kilometers I would take it as legit, the mileage seems low but if the seller is older retired than it would make sense.

Cars can develop problems if they are over-driven or under-driven. A dream used car to buy is one that was driven a little bit every single day of its life.

 

Looks a little shiney but it might be ok. Other things to check are the pedals - are they heavily worn OR brand new - either could indicate a high mileage car. Then check the drivers door for a worn partch on the plastic where they'll have put their elbow (mine is really shiney at 104,000km/65,000 miles). Check wear on the side of the drivers seat where they'll catch it getting in and out. Do the door check strap/catch stick and look worn or are they clean? Do they work or does the drivers door fly open and feel slack? - another sign of high miles. The carpets could be OK if they've used mats so that doesn't always indicate a high mileage.

Also, check the rear passenger side seat to see if it's softer or sags more than the driver side rear, as most taxi passengers will sit on the passenger side rear and cause it to wear quicker. If they've used a seat cover the upholstery will look ok but the foam and springs will still be softer.

Finally, take the oil cap off - the oil inside the engine should look like new - clean shiny and covered in clean oil. The inside of my hard use taxi Prius engine still looks like new.

Hope this helps.


One last thing. Look for scratches over the inside plastic - it scratches very easily. If it is clean and tidy, then that bodes well.

 

It's tempting to say something like: my 2008 has 30k miles on the clock, and the wheel leather is still a uniform matt grey...

But I know that leather tends to wear differently from cow to cow. It's a natural material.
Now if it's worn badly or very unevenly, then that's a different question. After 10 years and 130k+ miles, my old car's wheel leather had ground in dirt, and had worn through the coloured surface where my hands gripped it.