1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Considering a CPO with 49k miles. Thoughts?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by ThinkingPrius, Jul 9, 2012.

  1. ThinkingPrius

    ThinkingPrius New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2012
    23
    0
    0
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Just curious if those who have had their Prius's for a while think its safe to buy a CPO with this many miles and still have a reliable car for the long term?

    I have heard many great things about the reliability of the Prius so I definitely want to consider getting one.

    The carfax shows that the car got service every 3,000 miles at the same toyota dealership. There has only been one owner but the car was repossessed and sold at auction to the dealership. The dealer changed the bake pads and fluids and its not listed for sale as a CPO. No accidents have been reported either.

    Does all of this sound okay? We'd like to get a CPO that's in our price range but want to make sure the mileage isn't an issue over the long run.

    What are your thoughts? Thanks!
     
  2. WaWa

    WaWa Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2012
    29
    15
    0
    Location:
    Brussels, Belgium
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Hello,
    These are my first steps on the »PriusChat«. I own a Prius II 2008. Last week I drove an older Prius II that was a Berlin Taxi before. Now, it is used by an electro-garage in Eindhoven, Holland, Europe, that 'invented' a 15 kWh battery-kit mounted in this car. I want to put a 15 kWh-kit in my Prius asap. ►Now the answer to your question: this Prius had 370,000 km = 250,000 miles (I think) on the counter! It drove like it was new. Now, of course the electric engine has priority over the internal-combustion one. If the car is build in Japan, it is very reliable too.

    Kind regards, ||| Walter from belgium
     
  3. ThinkingPrius

    ThinkingPrius New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2012
    23
    0
    0
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    thanks wawa. we went ahead and bought a blizzard pearl 2010 CPO yesterday for 17,500 with 49k miles. Hoping it serves us well over the long term :)
     
  4. WaWa

    WaWa Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2012
    29
    15
    0
    Location:
    Brussels, Belgium
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
  5. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2005
    12,544
    2,123
    1
    Location:
    SF Bay Area, CA
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
  6. Big Steve

    Big Steve ramblin wreck

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2012
    402
    39
    0
    Location:
    Richmond VA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Sorry... CPO?
     
  7. Timw

    Timw Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2011
    55
    11
    0
    Location:
    Southern, PA
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Certified Pre Owned
     
  8. ThinkingPrius

    ThinkingPrius New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2012
    23
    0
    0
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Sorry about that. Certified Pre Owned.

    Was hesitant about the mileage, but we went ahead and pulled the trigger. The car rides very nice. My dad has a Hybrid Highlander with 70k miles and 0 problems and swears by Toyota. So do some of my friends (that's all they buy). So I feel pretty confident that the car will be reliable with routine maintenance over at least the life of the loan
     
  9. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2006
    7,028
    1,116
    0
    Location:
    South Jersey
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    That's lower mileage than mine & nothing is wrong. OCI is 10000 miles. No need to change at 3000. You've got the balance of the powertrain & hybrid warranties. It shouldn't have needed brake pads but may need tires soon.
     
  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    108,639
    49,359
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    congrats and welcome!(y)
     
  11. WaWa

    WaWa Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2012
    29
    15
    0
    Location:
    Brussels, Belgium
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    In my answer to ThinkingPrius, who made the only possible decision..., I mentioned my intention to by the 15 kWh battery upgrade that allow 100 km/60 miles with 0,00 use of fuel, on condition that one does not drives too fast (60 miles/h is still OK. I cannot find on this PriusChat any discussion on upgrades. I know there is the Enginer-kit with a max of 6 kWh. ► I would appreciate if anyone could indicate me a discussion/forum where these issues are mentioned!?
    Thanks beforehand, |||| WaWa = Walter
     
  12. adamace1

    adamace1 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 22, 2009
    1,403
    191
    0
    Location:
    Charlotte, NC
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    new brake pads before 50k. I will bet that is a lie.
     
  13. The Critic

    The Critic Resident Critic

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2005
    3,193
    2,321
    0
    Location:
    CA
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Dealers often replace pads as part of used car smog/safety if they are below 50%. In fact, every CPO program requires this, Toyota included.
     
  14. ThinkingPrius

    ThinkingPrius New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2012
    23
    0
    0
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    why would this be a lie? it was on the carfax report as were about 10 other oil changes.


    how often should I change the transmission fluid? I don't know if that has been done yet. How much will the stealership charge to do that?
     
  15. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2003
    5,339
    917
    251
    Location:
    Surprise, AZ (Phoenix)
    Vehicle:
    2018 Tesla Model 3
    Model:
    N/A
    Transmission fluid is a debate you'll find on here. The fluid is rated for the "life" of the car, but actual experience suggests a change interval of 60,000 miles to be safe and, compared to a new "transmission" (which includes all electric motor/generators), it's relatively cheap insurance. If you're capable, it's a job you can do yourself after sourcing the fluid (type WS) and a drain-plug gasket from a Toyota dealer.

    Back to the other point. My car (early 2009 build) is just about to roll over 40,000 "trouble-free" miles. Other than minor trim issues and the brake service campaign, I've had no significant problems to speak of. I'm on my 2nd set of tires (replaced at ~31k, but would have gone longer had I followed a more religious rotation schedule), and my 2nd windshield (AZ is a great place for flying stones).
     
  16. ThinkingPrius

    ThinkingPrius New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2012
    23
    0
    0
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    i really hope the car can get through 5 years (100k total miles) trouble free. Anything after that is cake.

    The reason we had to buy the prius is because the transmission died on my g/f's 2002 saturn with 102k miles. This happened literally days after she had made the last payment on the car. Don't want to experience that again
     
  17. Judgeless

    Judgeless Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2009
    1,821
    255
    0
    Location:
    Cleveland, OH
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    That is what I said. What the hell is a CPO.

    If you work with people that understand the three letter acronyms for your business then use them. If you posting in a general forum, I would not recommended using them.
     
  18. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2010
    7,744
    6,537
    0
    Location:
    Redneck Riviera (Gulf South)
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    You've already pulled the trigger.
    Now...just relax and enjoy the car for the rest of your ownership.

    I'm in the middle of the two opposing sides of the Great Transmission Fluid Debate.
    The way I see it, it's something I'd look into at the 100-150K mark.
    I think for most drivers, 60k is a little gratuitous, but I DONT want to get into a long data rich, but fact poor debate from the folks in the Oil and Lubricants Lobby of North America about it.
    If you're in doubt, you can always yank a sample and have it tested however (comma!) by doing this, you're doing 60-percent of the work that would be required to go ahead and replace the fluid.
    The only caveat I'll make, and I originally wasn't going to bring this up, is that 50k is veeeeery early for brake pad replacement, unless you're a moron or you drive like one. I've never replaced brakes before 100k, and most of my cars are trucks. Yeah....I know.
    LA traffic is a sonofagun.
    People drive at 80mph and use their accelerators AND their brake pedals like on/off switches.
    This might nudge me into replacing the transmission fluid in a car whose first 50k miles weren't driven by me.
    YMMV. ;)
    It's pretty easy to do it yourself from what I've read, but I haven't done this procedure for this car.
    I'm thinking that a dealer should be able to do it for about two hundred bucks---all in, BUT...Toyota and I have a veeeeeeeeeeery uneasy relationship when it comes to the folks that swing wrenches in their service department, which is why I'm (currently) a Prius driver, but not a Prius owner.

    I've owned a number of cars that I've put lunar mileage on, and my maintenance policy is working for me. :D
     
  19. The Critic

    The Critic Resident Critic

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2005
    3,193
    2,321
    0
    Location:
    CA
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    OT, but that is unusual for a S-Series. Complete transmission failures were not common for us on the saturnfan forums. Valve body replacement due to no reverse were common, but rarely do they fail completely, even when abused.
     
  20. ThinkingPrius

    ThinkingPrius New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2012
    23
    0
    0
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    sorry i didn't spell out "Certified Pre Owned" for you