Looking for some info/advice.

Hi folks
I have just purchased a used 2007 Prius T spirit. The car was being sold as a non-starter. I took a local Prius mechanic to try and start the car that the owner claimed broke down somewhere and was recovered by the breakdown service back to his home and he did not have the time to have it looked at and /or repaired as he was moving abroad.
Anyhow the 12v battery was flat which the owner claimed was replaced only last month but had gone flat as he had been trying to get the car started for a few days.
The Prius mechanic attached the jump start pack to get power but car wasn't showing ready. He then pressed down the orange hybrid battery disconnect switch down on the left side of the hybrid battery and the car got into ready mode and started. Driving the car seems to be fine and the battery is charging, engine running fine and so on. The Prius mechanic told me that this had happened due to some fault in the hybrid battery and I should pay him another £250 to recondition the battery and have any damaged cells replaced. I told him I will let him know if I decide to use his services but it appears that the orange switch is not a trip switch and probably was accidentaly pulled up or perhaps wasn't pushed down correctly and at some point had jumped back up causing the car to no get into ready mode and start! Am I correct and the Prius mechanic trying to pull a fast one on me?

 

Thank you and thanks for the quick response.
It's a high mileage one; 232K (ex-taxi) and I guess I got it for about 50% below the market value so not bad!
The breakdown as per the previous owner was AA so they wouldn't mess it up on purpose. Apparently he checked the car with his ODB scanner and it didn't show up any codes so he just recovered the car to the home address and told them to take the car to Toyota main dealer. Apparently all this happened just days before so when the car was able to start, the Hybrid battery was showing about 2 or 3 bars if I remember correctly and within a couple of miles of driving reached just one or two bars below the top of the scale. I haven't driven the car since except I have started it a couple of times and all seems to be normal. I also just checked the 12 volt battery and with the car in ready mode it shows 13.85 V and with power off it was at 12.85 so I guess that's more or less normal.

I suspect that the hybrid battery has been reconditioned and/or replaced at lease one or more times during the lifetime of this car as it was being used as a taxi so I am going to drive it for a while to see how it goes. I have also ordered the ELM 327 scanner so I will try and check the condition of the battery with it amongst other things.


All advice is much appreciated!

 

So here I am again. I got the ODB 2 scanner and it has been helping me clear the P0420 code that keeps appearing with the check engine light coming on after a 10 mile + trip. Yesterday however it was raining heavily with some sleet and snow as I was driving along with the wife and kids on board and all of a sudden the red triangle appears along with the VSC light but no check engine light came on. So I pulled over and noticed that the ICE has stopped running even when I try pressing the throttle to the floor. So I checked the codes and it only came up with the same catalytic P0420 code. I cleared the fault and the triangle went away but still no ICE. Powered the car off and then on again and after a few moments the ICE started to run. Drove off towards my destination but once again after about 8 miles the same thing happened so had to repeat the same procedure. After that the car had a rest for about 2 hours before made another 10 mile journey but this time nothing happened. Your thoughts/ideas/ diagnosis please!

 

I forgot to mention that the electric pump for the aux. cooling circuit doesn't appear to be running so I ordered a new one although no codes have appeared relating to the system overheating. I have mostly been driving the car on short trips, 15 to 20 miles at the most.