Thoughts on a 05 with 84,000 miles...

Personally I would pass; I’d wouldn’t buy a Hybrid Vehicle that wasn’t at least a 2010 or up. Not to say there’s anything wrong with an older Prius, they just worked out more of the bugs if you will when they started the 2010 line up. There are deals out there for less than $18,000 base models for 2010–2011; you just need to do your home work to find one. Previous Prius owners with a lot of money are trading up to the PiP and high end C models so you should be able to find a 2010-2011 models out there.

 

Well, if that's your budget then go for it. Keep this in mind tho, a new Hybrid battery costs around 2-$3,000 so if your at peace with that than buy it. If it was me I'd spend a little extra and go with the 2010 and offer them $15,900 OTD and tell them take it or leave it. There is also a guy on this forum that sells geniune Toyota extended warrantys at a great price, Tony I believe is his name. Just my two cents worth! Good luck to you!

 

Is the Prius you are considering at Lexus of Las Vegas?

They have a black 2005 Prius with 82K miles with a list price of $13.99K. It has had four different owners based on the carfax.

This car was maintained by Findlay Toyota and Scion in Southern Nevada. It had the inverter coolant pump replacement done in 2010. The last service record listed on the Toyota web site is late 2010. Seems to have received regular maintenance.

JTDKB20U253027949 is the VIN for this car.

If you can get it for $10.8K, that a fair price for one with this mileage.

That's assuming there are no warning lights on - the red triangle of death (master warning light) or any other icons showing on the dash that shouldn't be there.

Assessing the health of the HV battery is tricky. The MFD screen has an indicator that shows battery charge level. Where this level is depends on the outside temperature. It's probably getting pretty warm in Las Vegas by now so the MFD reading will vary much more than it would if the temperature was a mild 70°F.

I bought my 2005 with 134K miles. I took a risk that the HV battery was OK and it turned out it was. I had never driven a Prius before and knew practically zero about it. I was lucky.

Buying a used car is always a gamble. Buying an older hybrid car increases the stakes of that gamble. Too bad you don't know anyone who currently owns a Prius to test drive it for you. I could tell you if the car was good or bad after driving one for 40K miles.

 

Well, that's a big giant crock of sh1t. Just try to get a dealer to fix the cold start knocking issue with 2010-2011s. The 2010 model is on track to have more nuisance TSBs than the 2004. Intake manifold, engine mount, brake hardware, fender rattles, etc, etc! At least a 2005 is a very well known quantity, while 2010 might well be a long term lemon.

This car still has 16,000 miles of warranty on the hybrid battery. It also has NAV, making it the highest trim level offered in that model year (#6). So you have smart key and D2R HID headlights (the good ones). There is a free fix for the inverter cooling pump covering 04-07 -- probably already done. The engine water pumps tend to go bad as well for 04-08 -- that's the main problem. If you can get it for $10,800 at a dealer, it's a good deal, comparable to a private party sale.

 

Leather interior, nice. I wish mine had leather. I've never had leather - sigh.

Black exterior, Nevada, expect your A/C to be on all the time and expect about 42 mpg with temps above 85°F.
You might be comfortable enough at 75° internal temp.

As I said, you are rolling the dice with any used car, especially with a hybrid.

What kind of warranty, if any, is the dealer offering? A 3 month / 3000 mile basic warranty would be nice. The HV battery is the big ? mark.

If you aren't trading in your Lexus GS300 for this Prius, I would say you'd be getting a fairly good deal.

Please tell me you're not trading in the Lexus because you and I know they are lowering the price of the Prius while giving you less for your trade in.

If you're doing a straight cash deal and the car drives and behaves like a healthy Prius (which you unfortunately have no clue about), I would buy it.

 

First, try to test drive another 04-09 before you go back to try this one. That will give you some indication as to what is normal and what is not.

Second, plan on taking a 10 mile test drive. Turn on the car, roll down the windows, turn off the A/C, and let it idle until it stops. That should happen within 2-3 minutes. Then, reset the mpg on the fuel consumption page, and take your drive. Roll up the windows and use A/C. You should have AT LEAST 40 MPG by the time you return.