Used car buying suggestion

i'd go with the '04, but personally, if i only had 6k, i would buy a corolla/camry/yaris, etc.

 

I would also go with the 2004, although there were a few improvements on the 2008 mostly relating to the MFD and CD player. An indication of where you are would help as temperatures can affect the longevity of the HV battery. The 12 volt battery if not already changed would be due for changing in both cars any way.
Fifty thousand less miles must swing the result in favor of the 2004.

John (Britprius)

 

agreed^ i had an '04 and '08, and i didn't even notice any diferences. there are different packages as well, which may play a minot part in your decision.

 

Agreed. If you can't afford $1000-2000 to replace a major component, a more conventional car might be better. The Prius is reliable, but it can get spendy to fix when it does break, especially if you have to take it to a shop.

 

Don't want to sound like a broken record, but I too agree if all you have is 6K to work with, you should consider a alternative to the Prius. It is a great car, and is very economical. But as pointed out, they can get expensive if it breaks down. Buying used, you never know what you are getting until after the point of sale. If it were newer and came with a warranty, my song would be different.

Best of luck to you r619 and "Welcome to Prius Chat"!

 

Go for the '04 and ask for a long warranty!

 

I would go with the 2008. If you own a 10mm wrench and a phillips screwdriver, and you know how to search on this forum you can do most of your own repairs if necessary. I do more repairs on lower mileage 04 and 05's than I do on higher mileage 06-09's.

 

I vote for the '08. Irrespective of the miles, it has fewer years on the big battery and I think that helps.

 

Go with Prius, 04 or 08, with a good condition.
My 04 saved me $7K on fuel in past 100K miles. I started at 104K!
Not only that, the maintenance cost is very low on my Prius.

The only problem I have at 200K+ miles is burning oil, but it started burning since 150K at 1qt/2K. Now it is getting worse, at 1qt/500. I just budget $200/year oil into the maintenance. The worst case is to replace the engine for less than $2000 in future, if the car still has enough resale value remaining.

Other than that, it still going strong on everything.

 

That's appalling. Put $600 into swapping a used engine into it and let the rest of us breathe.

 

Or go into the mosquito-fogging business?

 

I am not sure why burning 1qt oil per week will affect your breathe.

 

We started burning oil around 135K. We're now at 150K and going through a quart a quart in 5K miles. i.e. when it gets to the low point on the dip, it's time to change the oil. I have no doubt that it will be double that by the time we hit 200K.

It's a good thing we never have to smog these.

 

I'm in a similar position. I'm looking to spend about 6 or 7k, and I'm looking at a 2006 model with about 150,000 miles. Would anyone recommend making that kind of purchase? I know that most folks agree that something like a Honda Civic is more practical. A local repair shop suggested a Toyota Corolla or a diesel Volkswagen.

I'm wondering if someone could offer any more explanation about what kinds of repairs are likely to come up at the 150k to 175k mark. Is it mainly the battery that could be a big expense?

 

Can you only afford $6-7k, or is that just what you want to spend? After about 100k, its anyones guess when a major part will fail. The battery is probably the most likely major part to fail, but there are a few others. Basically, if you don't have a couple grand sitting around (more if you can't DIY) or another car to fall back on, you might want to look elsewhere.

 

Hmm, thanks for the feedback, vskid. I only make about $23k a year, so $6-7k is what I think I can spend, comfortably, with financing from my credit union. I already live relatively cheaply, and if my monthly payments were higher than that, I would really be up a creek (like a credit card creek) if any repairs needed to be done.

I might just go for it anyways, but I'm going to look into other options. If I can't get a prius and feel good about it, I might go for an even cheaper ($4-5k), easier to repair car, and put that money elsewhere.
r619, I'm in Greensboro, NC and I've been looking at KBB listings and craigslist. Found two cars listed for $7k, each with about 150k miles. I was also looking at some 2001-2002 models that were cheaper, as well as a couple with over 200k miles. They'd be more of a gamble, but I figured I could set aside at least some money for repairs...

 

Either Prius could pencil out easily based on your driving habits and what it might be replacing. For example if you drive 20K miles per year and currently get 20MPG, you could save 600 gallons per year resulting in somewhere around $2000 per year savings at today's gas prices. Your payments on $6000 for three years would likely be around 2 grand a year more or less depending on how much you put down.

If you don't drive that much or wouldn't be replacing a gas guzzler, this justification won't work. In either of those cases I wouldn't recommend stretching the budget for either used Prius.

I'd choose the '08 over the '04 assuming condition was similar other than miles.