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Acquired - a 2007 Prius with Hymotion Plug-In Kit

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by bzbee, Apr 30, 2016.

  1. bzbee

    bzbee Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Hi All,

    First post here. Thank you for the wealth of information available in this forum which helped me buy my first Prius. I purchased a 2007 Prius (base) with Hymotion Plug-in Kit installed in it.

    Unfortunately the dealer did not have the service records for the car. I signed up on the Toyota service as well as myCarFax, and while I have the dates of service performed (shows regular maintenance) , there are no details of the service done.

    I haven't done an proper inspection on the car yet (local Toyota dealer is not so great), but will probably take it in in the next couple of weeks. I am reasonably handy with tools and perform routine maintenance on my cars myself (a Miata and a CX-5). I am thinking I can do some maintenance on the Prius. I had the dealer change the oil and filter before I got the car. I checked the air-filter and the liquid-levels. Everything seemed good. Tires have more than half tread left on them, and brakes seem good for at least another 10-15K miles.

    So, what should I check for in a 2007 Prius with 120K miles? Any recalls to take care of? What are the general preventive maintenance recommended for a gen 2 with over 100K miles?

    I saw the thread about the instrument cluster turning off and the 9-year warranty on it. My car hits the 9-year mark in another month, but it doesn't have the symptoms. Can I still ask the dealer to change it under warranty anyway?

    And any specific concerns regarding the Hymotion kit?

    Thank you for all the advice and tips. Attached a pic of the car from the power coop website with stickers and all :)

    Cheers.

    comment1110a.jpg
     
  2. bzbee

    bzbee Junior Member

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    2011 Prius
    Model:
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    Here is the full story:

    I was looking for used Gen-2 Prius with relatively low miles and saw an ad for a 2007 Prius (base model) with 120K miles on the odo listed below the KBB value. The dealer was about an hour away but I took the trouble to drive out and check the car. The car drove nice and smooth and I immediately liked it, probably the best drive I've had in the over a dozen 2007-2009 Prii I test drove this past month. Looked well maintained with clean interiors. It had a hole in the rear bumper with a three prong plug in it. Asked the dealer what it was and he told the story.

    The car belonged to a local power co-op and they had a plugin kit installed. They traded it in for a newer Prius and he just got it on the lot for sale. It was branded with a lot of stickers (plugin, 100 mpg etc) all over the car but he (the dealer) removed them, he showed me that the outline of the sticker residue is still visible from certain angles and probably needs good polishing to get rid of them. He was not sure if the plug-in system worked or even how to test it. I opened the trunk floor to look at the kit, it is a Hymotion, but I didn't know anything about it at this point so took a few pics and came back home to do my research.

    I looked up the NMVTIS report and the car had only one owner and no claims, also double-checked the VIN with my insurance agent and he confirmed it did not have any previous claims. Did the usual flood check, title & theft check etc and all came clean.

    Thanks to Prius Chat and a few videos on youtube, I got up to speed on the Hymotion kit. The next morning I called the dealer and asked him to plugin the car to see if the Hymotion kit charges up and that I'd drop by after a few hours for another test drive. He agreed. I drove up that afternoon and the car was charging for about two hours by then. I took for another test drive and it seemed like the Hymotion kit was working but I wasn't certain. The display was showing over 50 mpg consistently. After the drive I decided to risk it and negotiated with the dealer to knock off a couple of hundred dollars more and was able to get the car at the KBB private-party-purchase value + tax, title & plates. I figured that even if the kit didn't work, I should be able to sell it for some money (saw used Hymotion Kit listed for over $3000 on eBay).

    On the drive back home, I reset display and tried to follow the "pump and glide" driving style. I averaged 67.4 mpg over the 40 mile drive. That night I let the Hymotion charge fully and took a nice-n-easy drive of about 15-miles around town, the display didn't budge from 99.9 mpg - basically it was in pure EV mode, the ICE came on just a couple of times. The next 15 miles I drove spiritedly with more ICE and at the end of the 30-miles the display showed an average of 84 mpg. I then switched off the Hymotion kit and tested with the regular Prius battery and it performed as expected with an average of 40.5 mpg.

    I am quite happy with the purchase.
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    congrats and welcome! sweet to have a working hymotion, i wouldn't touch it until it conks out.
    ar 12ok, you need a lot of service. it's a shame you can't find any history, you'd hate to throw away money on items that have already been done. do you have the maint. manual?
     
  4. bzbee

    bzbee Junior Member

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    Yes, I downloaded the owner's manual and even the factory service manual. I looked at the recommended maintenance at 120K and I didn't see any 'big' items. Mostly inspect and check items.
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    the only other thing is the tranny fluid. not recommended, but some here think it's important for longevity.
     
  6. johnjohnchu

    johnjohnchu Active Member

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    I would definitely replace the instrument cluster. Just tell the dealer the issue is intermittent. The dealer should provide a free rental at the mean time. After replacement, check to make sure display dimmer is still function properly.

    Also, closely monitor engine oil consumption, if any, for a few months.
     
  7. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

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    Wow! what a find. how much did you pay if i may ask?
     
  8. bzbee

    bzbee Junior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Ok, replace tranny fluid - that is a big one alright. Will read up on it and decide whether to do it now or to wait till I put some more miles on it.
    Thanks. I will say that the issue is intermittent and happened twice. Hopefully the local dealer is aware of the issue and do the work without any hassle. If not the better reviewed Toyota dealer is about 50 miles away.

    I've driven about 200 miles since I got the car and so far there is no change in the oil level on the dipstick. I know 200 mi is not much, so will keep an eye on it.
    Not sure if forum rules allow price discussion, so I will play it safe and refrain from mentioning a number here. Will send you a PM. But as I said, it was about KBB's PPP value for a 2007 Prius base version with 120K miles.