Buy a 2010 Prius Four with 123,000 miles?

Welcome aboard. Wow, that is a lot of miles. Could it go many more miles? Sure, but a lot depends on how it was serviced and treated. Personally that price seems a bit on the lofty side all things considered.

Let us know what the service records are like when you get em.

[edit] what model is it and is there any options?

 

well if its a four then it sounds about right. I would see the maintenance records or at least a carfax before doing anything.
Keep us updated.

 

Have you considered a "lesser" model with lower miles at around the same cost? I think right now, lower miles is more important than some options.

 

Dude is correct. The difference between a Level II and Level V are the buzzers and whistles, otherwise the vehicles are identical. With the "change oil every 10K, rotate tires every 5K and no other maintenance required" attitude most Prius owners have, and not knowing the "real" maintenance history, stay away from that car. Like people, it's not the year model, but the mileage that kills ya. I am 54 years old for the record.

 

I was about to reply the opposite (regarding years and miles).
It seems as if the traction battery does fine with many miles. I suspect that the accumulation of years takes more of a toll there. With that many miles in a short time I bet most of them were at speed with little stop and go wear and tear.
Lacking maintenance history you'd want to change most fluids right off the bat, but I'd use the general anxiety about battery life out there as leverage to get the price reduced one or two thousand and go with it.
In this area things rust with time. I'd be far better off with this than an eight year old with 80,000 miles on it.

 

Good point on the rust factor. Although there seems some argument the benefits of miles over time, the battery is still out of hybrid warranty at 8yr/100K miles, unless it originated from a CARB State @10yr/150K miles. Even then 27K miles left on a $14,000 vehicle....Nope, I say pass. Two-Under where are you and what state did the Vehicle originate?

 

Hi.
Might be OK with full service history (oil changes every 10k miles would be essential and none missed!!). I would look for a slightly lower 'spec car with 80k miles or less, but similar age - if within budget.
Interestingly, I just did a search on Auto Trader UK and there were 4 Gen III cars over 100k miles listed at £8-10k which is similar money (well 12-15k $) . Highest mileage car was 149k miles with full Toyota service history, almost certainly an ex company car. All were T spirits (top UK trim level basically). One was at a Toyota approved franchise. Still says a lot for the cars though doesn't it?!?!

 

I have close to 105,000 miles on my 2010 Prius IV. I have had zero issues and strongly believe that I will get 300,000 miles with very little repairs. I am not sure if $14K is a good price or not but I predict the car will last many more miles without issues.

 

If you're serious about buying this car, check the service history via the Toyota owner's portal. Not too long ago, I looked at the service histories of a few 100k+ Gen III Prii and a number of them were at the dealer for very high oil consumption (1 qt/1k). In every instance, the car was traded right after that visit...so beware. If I recall correctly, all of them had relatively on-time oil changes with 0w20.

 

Are you claiming that after 100k+ that you found a ‘number of them’ that consumed ‘1qt every 1k miles’? REALLY!!!!!!

My Prius has 104,000 miles and I get my oil changed every 10,000 miles as recommended from Toyota. The Prius holds less than 6qt of oil. Are you claiming that many 2010 Prius cars have zero oil after 6,000 miles of driving? Why do people post stuff like this? Total BS!!!!

People that post this BS should be banned from Prius Chat. It is all lies.

 

A number of the used 100k+ mile Prii I found on autotrader, after looking up their service records in the owners portal, were brought to the dealer for an oil consumption complaint shortly before they were put up for sale.

Never did I say that it is a common issue, nor did I imply at all that every high mileage Gen III has/will have an oil consumption problem. I simply stated that the OP should check that this car is not one that may have been traded due to a documented oil consumption problem.

And yes, I suppose if you have a serious oil burner and you did not check the oil, you would not make it 10,000 miles.

edit: Take a look at this thread: What to do to slow down oil burn? 2010 Prius - Bob Is The Oil Guy

It certainly can happen, and at a far lower mileage as well.

 

Maybe I read your post wrong. You looked at a few Gen III Prius cars with over 100,000 miles. To me few means more than a couple and less than many or a lot. Let’s call it 5-6 cars. You claim a number of them had HORRIBLE oil issues. They burned (1 qt/1k) as you put it. Or a full engine of oil every 6,000 miles. A number of them implies more then 1 and maybe more. So at least two. That is 33% or 1/3 of 2010 Prius cars burn crazy amounts of oil after 100,000. According to your post.

There is a 100,000 thread for Gen III Prius owners. Not one of maybe 50 people complained about burning oil. I think your facts are way off.

 

I don't think you misread my post. I took a RANDOM sample of high mileage Gen III Prii. I believe I looked at 3 cars, and 2 of them were major oil burners supposedly, per their documented service history. It has been a while since I looked at this so I'm going by memory here, but the point is - it stuck out in my mind.

Regardless, it is such a small number that it would be unreasonable to assume that this is a widespread issue. I only mentioned the issue because I wanted the OP to check and make sure that this car wasn't one of those.....even though the chance is quite remote.

I don't know why you're taking this so personally.

 

You're retired so you have time on your side to shop for a great deal. Use autotempest.com or the like. Within two minutes I found a one owner 2010 for $2k more but with HALF the miles:

Toyota Prius, 2010-2010 - AutoTempest.com Used Car Search Engine

Unless you're located in the expensive areas like SF or NY, you should be able to find something comparable.

 

If this is the blue one at the Toyota dealer in Iowa City, they quoted me $13300 for that car.

BTW I found another IV with half the miles for $4000 more

 

You can get a new Prius C for your budget. Consumer reports says it is the most reliable car.

For a few grand more a new regular Prius if you shop a good price.

Buying a used car try and get one under 70,000 miles and 3 years old but through a dealer is not much cheaper than new.

This article from Time magazine supports my statement.

The Smoking Hot Market for ‘Gently-Used’ Cars | TIME.com

 

I got 2010 prius with 124,000 miles and with no problem. Since i drive about 1,500 miles a week, i get oil change about month and a half. If that owner drive that much, he most likely took good care of car. All I did to my car is oil changes, trans-axle fluid, and coolant for both.