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Leftover Prius C

Discussion in 'Prius c Technical Discussion' started by AtkinsonCycle, Mar 10, 2018.

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  1. AtkinsonCycle

    AtkinsonCycle Junior Member

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    Two
    While I was looking over some threads today, I noticed that quite a few here and have purchased leftover Prius C. I purchased mine (a 2013) as a year old leftover, but actually it was almost 2 years (Oct of 2014). I am curious if there is any downside to buying a leftover of considerable age - 2 years sitting on the lot.

    Will the traction battery suffer? The transaxle fluid should probably be changed. What about the 12V battery? I just wanted to know if anyone had some advice when buying a two year old leftover hybrid. They are very good cars, but I was concerned with some of the hybrid parts. I imagine Toyota treats it as a brand new vehicle and honors the warranty. If there are parts that I guess the downside would be possible frequent trips to the dealer and the chance you have a technician who is not totally familiar with the repair procedure...

    Thoughts?

    Thanks for reading this...
     
  2. ztanos

    ztanos All-around Geek!

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    Considering that I have a 2012 with 95k miles on it and the only "service" I've had done to it are:
    Front and rear washer squirt motors. ($100 extended warranty covered)
    Front driver and passenger door lock actuators. (Did my self for ~$40 each.)

    I don't think you'll have any "extra" trips to the dealer. I bought mine in January 2013 and according to my vin, it's a July car, so it sat on the lot for a few months. I grant you that it wasn't ~ 2 years, but the premise should be the same.
    Sitting shouldn't hurt anything except the 12v and possibly the hybrid battery.

    To make yourself feel a little better, you could look at your door vin plate and see when it was manufactured. Then at least you could know. If the car is a September/October version, then it sat on the lot for ~1 year.
     
  3. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

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    Don't get too carried away here.

    NOTHING will suffer from just sitting.......except probably the 12 V battery and maybe the old gas in the tank.
     
  4. AtkinsonCycle

    AtkinsonCycle Junior Member

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    OK. The reason I ask is I found a brand new 2016 Prius on a dealers' lot and it had me thinking if this would be a good deal or if I would have issues (most likely covered under warranty) with exactly what you have identified - the hybrid battery, the 12V battery, old gas and fluids...

    Thanks!
     
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Our 2010 Prius was built in August of 2009, and we bought in November of 2010. It had been sitting in a sheltered building, not in the elements, and had maybe 10~20 kms. No problems, other than a dead 12 volt battery they tried to mask. The hybrid battery appears fine, no problems now, with just over 74K kms.

    I wouldn't change transaxle fluid at the outset: change at the one year mark might be a good idea though. That would be my strategy with any new Prius.
     
  6. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

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    I think you are seeing things that nobody said.

    The hybrid battery and fluids other than gas should NOT be a problem.
     
    ztanos likes this.
  7. ztanos

    ztanos All-around Geek!

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    Agreed. I mentioned the hybrid battery just because it's a battery. But I seriously doubt that it would die from just sitting, unless it was sitting empty.
     
  8. AtkinsonCycle

    AtkinsonCycle Junior Member

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    Everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion. Most manufacturers give service intervals in both time and mileage (or kilometers). Lack of use can be troublesome to the reliability of a vehicle. If a battery sits in a discharged state for too long, it won't come back.