Need advice on rebuilt Prius V purchase

Greetings Prius Community!

I am looking a buying a 2013 Prius V with rebuilt title. After scouring the internet for information on risks of this, it seems there are two main camps:

1. You're spending good money on a highly-technical electric vehicle, it does not make sense to risk buying a car with past damages to save a few thousand dollars. There are some horror stories out there about total failures due to electrical malfunctions.

2. If you have the know-how and enough information to make an informed decision, buying a rebuilt Prius is a great way to save a few thousand dollars.

I tend to fall into camp 2, as an intermediate level DIY mechanic. I understand vehicles and have performed many repairs myself. (mainly on a Jeep grand Cherokee including axel change, many seals, bearings, alternator, waterpump, cv joint, clockspring, the list goes on). I will admit that I have little to no knowledge of hybrid vehicle electronics.

The vehicle in question, with rebuilt title, was involved in an accident about 1 year ago. Current owner claims
there is nothing wrong, drives great, no warning lights on. 43000 total miles. The current owner has driven it about 3000 miles. I was able to get a VIN report with ownership details (it was a Virginia/Georgia vehicle for most of its life). On the VIN report there was insurance contact information. By contacting the insurance agency, I was actually able to get photos of the damage that resulted in "totaling" of the vehicle. See the pics, and let me know what you think! Fortunately, most of the damage appears to be in the rear, but side-curtain air bags did deploy. I could save roughly four thousand dollars (roughly 30 - 40%) on recommended KBB private party sale price.

 

Thank you, everyone, for weighing in on this. It looks like this site is a great resource, and will likely continue to use it for years to come.

This is tough advice for the following reasons:
- I really don't want to spend more than 10 - 11K on the vehicle.
- At my price range, the mileage (and very soon, age) of most options will rule out any warranties.
- At my price range, MOST of what I'm finding are rebuilt title vehicles
- The Prius v seems to be pretty rare on the used market, and a traditional Prius (more affordable) simply isn't an option (need to fit the dog in the back)
- I have never owned a vehicle with less than 100,000 miles on it, and have never bought one from a dealer. I simply cant stomach forking over thousands more for a peace of mind.

I may have a professional mechanic inspect the vehicle in question prior to making an offer. Regardless, I will keep your warnings in the back of my mind. But then again, I might just be feeling lucky!

 

Wow, thanks everybody! I am really impressed with the response here.

To update you, I will admit that I was "feeling lucky" and purchased the rebuilt title vehicle. Got it for 11K. There were a few things that helped me feel better about the rebuilt title.

1. I took it to a shop prior to purchase, and had it inspected. They showed me where the repairs were made, and said it was quality work. The structural pillars were not deformed in any way.

2. The fellow I purchased this from was selling it from his residence, he had another couple of Prii in the driveway. He was polite, professional, very upfront about all of the work that he preformed himself. He put a new optima yellowtop in it, like he knew what he was doing.

3. The state of Illinois also inspected it (evidenced by the stickers saying "rebuilt vehicle".) Thats pretty minor, though, i have no idea how thorough they are.

4. The car ran/drove as nicely as any other I had test driven (specifically the one at the dealer that cost 6000 more dollars).

I have put 1000 issue-free miles on the v. Rain and snow, hills and highways So far so good. If anything terrible happens, I will be sure to provide an update. Also, as part of the bargaining process, i scored a free battery! (now that's another thread...)