Buying used from non-Toyota dealer

OP
- hang on a second and work your angle on the price a little bit with this dealer if you really want this car
- before you're taking the car for an inspection make sure you're decided on the final price with the dealer
- simply call the dealer and tell him you're looking at some other cheaper prius models that you found and to give you a couple more days to decide which is true
- then go into his office talk price
- tell him this prius needs maintenance done so it would cost you extra out of your pocket which is true
- tell him you'll pay his asking price if some of the taxes and dealer doc fees are included which it would help both parties cus dealer loves inflating those doc fees and he has room to work with
- also if he shows somewhat of indiference towards selling this car ask him why, ask him if he is interested in selling the car, and ask him that you find the behaviour fishy and makes you believe there is something wrong with the car
- tell him that you're talking prices with other prius sellers and you stopped by to talk price with the prius he is selling
- Give it a shot, it will get the dealler at least talking and answering your questions.
- If the price is set and you like it ask him for an invoice or some sort of estimate where it includes all charges black and white to make sure no hidden fees are assesed or price change down the road and take that to your bank if you finance

 

As far as I know, the main issue with carfax is that they can only report what is reported to them. Reporting to carfax is not mandatory. If a car is involved in a major crash and subsequently repaired, there is no guarantee that carfax would know about and thus no guarantee that it would show up on their report.

 

- Sorry to hear about that but hey there are plenty of other cars out there. With this kind of money you can easily get a good low mileage gen 2 prius that has no maintenance needs such as this one.
- Don't sweat it, you still won and you showed you're smarter than the dealer by taking it to inspect the car.
- Make sure you get preaproved for a loan and even the loan officer can help you look for one even out of state.
- Give it some time and you'll be driving a prius, I looked for mine for over six months.
- If you're the buyer you should have the upper hand. You don't need that particular product that you can find somwhere else maybe for cheaper and as time goes by is not like they're getting more expensive. lol
- I would totaly go for a 75-90k miles 2006-2009 with proper maintenance done and 10-12k.
- Battery life is about 10 years so make sure you get at least 2 + good years out of the car. Just kind of estimating, there are plenty of older priuses with batteries that lasted more than that.
- If its 13k and up I would seriously consider a gen 3 prius.

 

the water pumps in the prius often will have a small seeping leak. It's not a major leak that will cause major issues. If that's the only issue with the car, it may still be a good car as many owners have this problem. The part will cost $60 to replace on your own plus coolant. The Toyota dealer will quote you $500 because that's what they do.

 

Wow, I have to say I find it hard to believe that a water pump and a belt would need replaced after only 55k miles. Even Chevy water pumps and drive belts last longer than that. That seems very odd and very hard for me to comprehend. As for the air filter, that's a $15 fix. And this is what I see as the problem with getting a "Toyota" mechanic to look at it. They are biased, they want you to bring the car to them to have it fixed. As far as the dealer detailing the engine to "cover" it up, all dealers detail the engine compartment. Why wouldn't they. If I was a dealer, I would. It doesn't mean they're trying to hide something. If you try to look at it from the dealer's perspective, here's this car with only 55k on it, its a Toyota, he's asking below KBB, he knows it will sell. Dealers detest people that have to take the car for an inspection elsewhere. Its like a slap in their face like saying, you don't trust me.

I'm sorry that it didn't work out for you but I hope you can find a good car.

 

The water pump leak is not something everyone will notice, only a trained eye would look out for that. Most people looking at it will think it's just some gunk on the engine, not dried coolant. Also the detailers that wash the engine are not really mechanics. I believe it wasn't their intention to hide the leaking pump but in fact they didn't know it was leaking. The detailer just cleaned the car and engine the way they normally do. You have to think the Toyota tech had to use a mirror to show you the leaking deposits....without a mirror, it probably wouldn't have been noticed easily. At the present mileage, if the pump was leaking, it probably would be a very small leak.

I do have to admit they should take care of the problem now that it's brought to their attention. No reputable dealer should sell a car with a bad water pump. You just have to speak with the sales manager to get that accomplish, I'm sure that should be covered if you pay them their $12000 asking price.

I don't believe the drive belt is bad at that mileage. One of our members here, Uart, just changed his out and 3 times the mileage of your car. But it's not a bad idea to change it since the mechanic is already working in that area and will have to remove the belt to replace the pump.

The electronic water pump was a recall from Toyota. So it didn't necessarily fail, just a recall unit.

 

If you are set on not buying this car, I would ask to speak with the general manager to express your concerns. If nothing else comes out of it, at least you can give him an earful about his bad sales people.

 

Yeah, after seeing the full picture, run from that dealer. They are no good.

 

- Just leave a negative feedback with the full story and warn people about that prius and also about the dealer. That will 100% get the dealer's attention and also people will ask the dealer about that negative feedback especially if you tell the dealer is knowingly trying to sell a faulty car.
- That's about it, move on and look somewhere else. I am curious on what you'll find next.

 

Well dealing with private party is tons easier. Private party just wants to sell and easier to get to a conclusion due to less bureaucracy. Dealer is into making money period. Private party, not so much.

I bought cars from private party off of craigslist and most always got a deal out of it. You’ll get a feel of the seller as you talk to him/her.


Get a Carfax, get it inspected, test drive it, make sure you like the price, make sure you like it and you’re good to go. J

For example you most likely would’ve gotten your deal with this Prius if it was a private party.

 

Yes, a combination meter failure is a relatively common event. The dealer is supposed to have the odometer reading from the old combination meter loaded into the new combination meter prior to installation. However I can understand that this was not always done.
T-SB-0172-09 Combination Meter - Intermittent Display | PriusChat

Regarding the other car and the leaking engine coolant pump, depending upon the amount of the leakage this may have been a trivial issue or may have required immediate attention. My thread here may be of interest to you:
How to replace engine coolant pump and thermostat | PriusChat
You can see that a dealer had reported my coolant pump needed changing - but it really didn't. Nevertheless I changed it out since I had a replacement and needed a topic to write about on PC.

If the car has a clear title and you are serious about it then I suggest you get an inspection and find out what is wrong with this car. If the car has a salvage title then I would continue looking for better choices.

 

Its really hard to go wrong for $5k. Where did they use the plastidip? Plastidip usually comes off pretty easily (usually).