Just bought a 2013 Prius II, new to hybrids

This is my very first hybrid car. I've been wanting one ever since I saw one on a lot when car shopping in 2007. My 2004 Hyundai Elantra, that was gifted to me just about 6 months ago, had so many mechanical issues that the mechanic deemed it unworthy of repairs (it had 189,000 miles on it.) So, since I didn't have the cash to buy a decent used car outright, I knew I was looking at car payments again (something I haven't had in over 10 years... sigh.)

I figured if I am going to put myself into debt for a car, it may as well be something that I really liked. I test drove a few cars; 2 Prii and a Corolla. After test driving a Prius, I was hooked. I found a 2013 Prius II with 42,000 miles on it at a dealership nearby (I could have gotten a better deal in another city but I had to borrow a car just to go car shopping, that limited me to local cars.)

I did get a pre-buyers inspection at the Toyota dealership and, other than upcoming routine maintenance (it'll need tires in a few thousand miles, new wiper blades, a bulb), it checked out fine. What a great little car! I've taken it on 3 road trips so far, in just a few weeks, and have put $45 in gas in it so far (I have almost a full tank now.) I love how it drives. The only downside is that it's silver and looks like a lot of other cars in a dark parking lot so it takes me a little longer to find it.

I've been reading what I can about the car, this is certainly the most interesting car I've ever had. I can't wait to take it camping or on even longer road trips (if and when I can get a vacation from work.) So happy to be a Prius owner!

 

Thank you!

 

Thanks! I am in Central FL at the moment. I also looked at a red 2013 Prius at a different dealership but they sent me on a test drive with an empty tank and the car had no get-up-and-go, I almost didn't go to the next dealership for a test drive because I thought that MAYBE all Prii took a long time to get up to 40mph. He swore that it should drive just fine on an empty tank. The dealer also told me that they just got the car a day or 2 prior even though it had been listed on a website for a long time, that didn't exactly instill confidence in the guy. I wasn't fond of the red color anyway. I would love to have gotten a mint-ish green one that I saw but that one was too far away; I never even got to check it out.

Anyway, I can't remember the last time that I had a standard-silver car (if ever) so maybe it was time to give it a shot? The car itself more than makes up for the ordinary color. At least it's not white (showing every scuff mark and fleck of dirt.)

 

Thank you! That is super helpful. I will look into that for my next trip into the dealership for an oil change and maintenance.

 

I didn't buy it from Toyota, I am sure that they would have done those few maintenance items before a sale. I bought the car "down the road" from a random dealer that just happened to have a Prius. The Toyota dealership wanted thousands more for a used Prius and that was out of my price range. The pre-buyer inspection was done at the Toyota dealership though and they said that I had enough tread on my tires that they didn't recommend new tires yet. I did let the dealer that I ultimately bought the car from know about the maintenance items that needed to be done and he said that he could either do the repairs or lower the price a little - I took the slight price reduction rather than trust a (strictly) used car dealer with repairs (even minor maintenance.) The Toyota dealership has maintenance records on the car from the prior owner and I'd rather trust Toyota with doing any work that needs to be done. If not for the records at Toyota and the approval of the Toyota dealership mechanics, I would not have bought the car from a dealer that knew very little about hybrids. If I had a bigger budget, I would have just bought from Toyota to start with.

 

The dealership had a buy 3 tires, get one free deal so I got my replacement tires yesterday. They were also out of Michelin Defenders so they gave me the Energy Savers for the same price (I was on the fence about which ones to get but I think that MPG was more important than a 90,000 mile warranty given I don't drive incredible distances; I'll probably have to replace them due to age before I hit the mileage mark.) Even happier with my Prius on the new tires.

 

The dealer listed it at $12,600 (I got him to shave a little more off due to the condition of the tires and a few minor maintenance issues but I don't remember the final price ATM.) I went by the Blue Book values and what other dealers were charging to decide if the car was worth looking at. I could have gotten a better deal if I had the transportation to travel a few hours for car shopping but since I couldn't, I got the best deal that I could where I was. I am sure that your area will differ from mine. There were only a few Prii in my area that I could get financing for (at a reasonable rate... the older the car, the higher the % APR.) Mine will have less options than the 3 model but I was more interested in getting a car with low miles than extra options. I am sure that there are threads in this forum that can give a lot better advice than I ever could about car buying.