Advice on buying my first Prius

Unless you find a car with a recently new replacement battery from Toyota, your chances of it lasting a long time are pretty slim.

 

The battery has to be a "Toyota" replacement with documentation. Any other replacement is like not having a replacement at all.....and the warranties are mostly worthless.

Any Prius over 200k miles is already a high risk vehicle, it can fail at any time. The ones with the original batteries are even higher risk

 

There's a member here that's planning to sell her 2004 Prius with 230k miles with a failed battery for $2500. If you're able to purchase that say for $2000, you can then purchase another battery from Toyota for about $2500-$3000 (or less if you can find one privately). Getting you a nice car for about $5000 and with a new battery. Even if the car does crap out later, the new battery can easily be sold on the marketplace to recoup some of your money back.

 

For the price range, I would recommend a Gen2. I'm of the belief that total chassis miles may be a greater concern than the traction battery. The high-voltage battery is only one part, and failure rates are in the single-digit percentages for the 2nd gen--odds are in our favor. A high-mileage chassis like a $4k Gen 3 could need all kinds of things: suspension, bearings, brake system work, engine work, computer modules, electronics, transaxle, etc.

I suggest looking at lower-optioned Gen2s with not an obscene amount of miles on them. Even the lower option packages are very well-equipped, especially the '06-'09. I actually prefer the less-equipped cars; the conventional headlamps are more reliable than the HIDs, some find the higher-end JBL sound system to be too midrangey, and the navigation system needs to be updated and isn't as easy to use as a handheld navigator or smartphone, fabric seats hold up better, etc.

When shopping in a sunny area like AZ, try to find examples that weren't left parked outside. Some indicators of include cloudy, yellowed headlamps and damaged paint clearcoat. It's theorized that extreme heat is hard on the traction battery (and everything else).

 

I really like the base, non-JBL 6-speaker system. I used to have dual subs and an amp in the truck and I'm very pleased with the original system in the '07 package 1. I think the bass response is nice (and pretty tight) and there's nice sizzle from the high-mounted tweeters up front. I've been driving it for 9 years and wouldn't dream of changing a thing! I admit I've grown out of the ground-rumble I used to like, but I'm still very much into music (playing and listening) and the Pri with the base system is my favorite "listening room."

The usual Toyota brochure resource I use isn't working right, but the aux audio input is very common in the latter part of the 2nd gen (2007-2009, maybe 2006) but uncommon (maybe non-existent?) in the 2004-2005. The aux input is hidden inside the center console, at the front bottom (next to the 2nd 12v outlet).

 

Adding new speakers is not a real challenge on these. There's lots of info on the boards here as well as on You Tube and Crutchfield. Don't let that be a deciding factor. As with anything with that high mileage get it looked at by a pro and as everyone else said check the battery.

In your price range does it have to be a Prius? If it's MPG you might be as well to get a lower-mileage car with good MPG like a Civic HF. I have an '11 and after test driving that and an '09 I liked the Gen3 a whole lot more.

You can also check rental sales places like Hertz and Enterprise. You might get a good deal on a newer model.

 

My son bought a 2006 Prius with 88K miles for $5700 a year ago. Still has the car with 103K miles. The body was in somewhat rough shape, many small dings and scratches, cracked lower front spoiler, but was mechanically sound. My wife found this car on Craig's List.

 

I just purchased a '08 with 189,000 miles on it for about 4,000. The body is in pretty good shape and mechanically it is very impressive, I'm a bit concerned about the traction battery but all in all even if I need a new battery down the road I still think it's a great deal. So yes go with less miles if possible I agree

 

We bought a used 2005 w/ 50k mi in 2008. Served us well for an additional 100k mi / 6 years, then this week the traction battery failed. We were hoping to get closer to 200k--oh well. Just today traded it in for a 2012. My guess is any Prius w/ over 100k is a crap shoot. Good luck.