Why I bought a 2008 Prius with 180k

I bought mine (2007) with 132K. Not a single issue 21 months later except...........the HV battery went out. However, thanks to it being a Cali car I had it replaced under warranty at 145000 miles and about 8 months left on that warranty! Otherwise......every single thing works just fine on the vehicle now at 148000. Biggest issue at the moment is the paint is cracking on the drivers side door handles.

 

Just paint the entire car once everything starts to fade.....beginning with the rear spoiler and door handles.

 

Does this car have a salvage title?

What proof are they providing that the engine was rebuilt? What is the sellers definition of rebuilt. What parts were replaced or machined? Both of which will likely be costly b/c of labor. I am skeptical of an engine rebuild, b/c used engines can be acquired for as little as $500.

"New" hybrid battery is a big red flag, unless the sellers provide documentation (sales receipt, warranty receipt) that this "New" HV (High Voltage) battery came from a Toyota dealership. Even if sellers provided such documentation, I would verify this against the VIN on Toyota.com (create an account and enter this VIN), or call/visit a dealership and have them look-up the VIN. Lastly, I would verify that the serial numbers for all 28modules, in this HV Battery pack, are: 1) sequential, 2) appropriate manufacture month/year, 3) correspond to the provided paperwork.

I will bet you $20, payable via paypal, that this HV Battery is not NEW. Let's define new as most people will and Merriam-Webster: not used by anyone else previously. Or as I like to, so there is no ambiguity, new = assembled with 100% virgin materials. Toyota is the only source of a NEW OEM HV Battery. Doorman (orange colored) and Greentech (green colored) sells rebuilt HV Batteries. You can search online for the many regrets people have by going cheap, especially when they intended to keep the car long term. Greentech should be called Fraudtech, b/c their page lists one of their battery as "NEW generation cells." Complete BS! When you look at the details, they clearly state rebuilt.

It might even be possible that this car has even more miles than the odometer shows. How? The original Combination Meter display [Speedometer, Odometer, Trip Odometer, gear indicator (P/D/N/B)] may have been replaced with a used Combo Meter that had less miles than the one it was replacing. However, 194K miles, for a 2008 model year, does seem believable and plausible.

A healthy dose of skepticism is a good thing. Trust but verify. These two should reduce the chances of buying junk.

 

I ended up buying an almost pristine 07, with 113k miles, one owner car with all its records, always serviced by Toyota. For less than the higher mileage car.

I did see the carfax on the other one and all the receipts for the engine and the battery. (This is my first time buying a Prius, but hardly the first time I've bought a used car.)

But for the record, it did have a clean and not a salvage title. The guy selling it was very upfront about the previous owner lying to him and didn't want to do to another what has been done to him. (Turns out, he had been a good friend of my BFF at one time, so I was able to check some of his story and his character with her. The perks of living in a small town.) He just wanted too much, trying to recoup his losses and would not come down. Which was OK, because the next day, I found and bought my car!

 

And you still have a short warranty on the battery. Congrats

 

And the guy that I bought it from works on Prius hybrid batteries. Yeah, I got lucky.

 

That's odd he services the car at the dealer, and knows how to work on hybrid batteries.

People with that knowledge tend not to go to dealers, usually do work themselves

 

I should have said, the guy who brokered the sale. The car came from Honolulu, to my island, where inventory is very limited. This guy gets a couple of cars a month from Honolulu. Even with shipping, the seller and him make a little extra money because they cost more on the outer islands. (KBB for almost any make and model, is about $2k lower than what cars actually sell for here.) I was even ready to fly to Honolulu, rent a car, get a hotel room for a night and buy a car there and put it on the boat. It would still easier to find what I wanted and pay a little less. (I was talking to a guy the other day who actually went to the mainland to get a new car. Even with shipping, travel expenses, he saved money. AND he could get what he wanted.) So, to be precise, the owner always took it to Toyota, but the broker works on them, himself.

Welcome to the islands.