When we bought our Prius Prime, I noticed on inspection that the rear bumper was very scuffed up, and I also thought I noticed a crack under the front bumper (I had read on-line about the low clearance). I knew that the car had been used for some test drives (they were very up front about that). At first the salesperson tried to say that the scratched bumper was minor, and must be due to the charging cord being dragged across it. I insisted that they change the bumper. At first they said I would need to order a new car and renegotiate the price. I wasn't happy and expressed my displeasure, so they agreed to replace the bumper. It took a few days to get the new part and do the work. They also put it up on a hoist for me so I could have a look at the underside, and I found out the 'crack' I thought I saw was just a slight raised curve from the mold used to manufacture the plastic. Everything looked good. I'm happy that I took the time to insist they change the bumper, the car looks great.
Run, don’t walk, away from this car. Things like having the engine being misaligned do not happen without a major stress event.
The car arrived in Chicago by rail at which point it is inspected and there was no damage. The next inspection would be after the car is delivered by truck to the dealership. Whomever performed this inspection missed this so it was ultimately discovered during PreDelivery Inspection (PDI).
Update 2: I stopped by the dealership this morning and broke the news that I would be declining acceptance of the vehicle. My guy was quite understanding and responded "that's what I figured". A new order will be entered into his system on Monday. Ideally he will be able to "call in a favor" otherwise it will be a bit of a wait. Fortunately I am in no hurry. THANKS to all who responded to this inquiry. I feel I made the correct decision and won't be kicking myself about it down the road. All the best, J
I admit that I have never read all the small prints in my sales document, but that's crazy. That means on $30K new car, you could have $6K damage before the sale and sell it as a new car without disclosing it. For most other merchandise, that may qualify as factory refurbished, but never as brand new.
Not to my satisfaction. Supposedly at some point between the inspection leaving the rail yard in Chicago (vehicle was fine) and the PreDelivery Inspection at the dealership something happened (likely with the unloading of the transport vehicle) that deformed the forward undercarriage enough the cause the engine cover to interfere with the hood fully closing. It closes enough for the first lock but not the second. In other words the engine assembly was permanently pushed up some distance that only some replacement of damaged components would fix. Since the car should have been inspected immediately after unloading from the transport someone missed the damage at that point. I must admit the gap between the hood and body is not huge (see photos I took earlier in this thread specifiallly #7 and #1). The damage was visibly so small they still took the promo web site photos. See: https://bit.ly/2KoBngk (photo 3 does show the improper closure to some degree). From my own personal observation there is no external sign of trauma other than the hood doesn't fully close as observed standing near the vehicle. I did not crawl under the car. It's 95 degrees here today and that asphalt parking surface is HOT! Yesterday it was sad seeing my new ride baking in the sun with greasy fingerprints all over the hood near the lock. At least today the fingerprints were gone. Addendum: I'm speculating at the point the promo dealer photos were taken and the photos I took myself BEFORE PDI (see attached) the hood had never been open by the dealer so it was still double latched with only minor deformation and misalignment visible. After the hood was opened for PDI the pressure was released from the latch and allowed the hood to pop open fully and now require much more force to close it past the first catch. This would explain why nobody really noticed anything until PDI unless the post delivery inspection should have inspected under the hood which I speculate was not done. J
And read Yeah, just checked the Bill of Sale for your 2010 (new) purchase. Again, it's not a contract till you sign it, and you're free to amend it, if both parties sign off on the revision. See I didn't... It looked good, didn't want to make waves. (Note last sentence.)
Good pictures on that website. And somebody stole your wheelcovers, too. That sure is a HUGE display screen in the Prime. Reminds me of the Tesla. For me, personally, that would distract the heck out of me. I'd have to be extra careful when driving a Prime, learn to ignore that big display and keep my eyes on the road. I hope you get the car you want. (Are you sure you don't want to come visit Disneyland???)
I’m still not convinced it’s anything other than the hood bump stops. If something did something to push up the front of the car, where’s the body panel misalignment ? Definitely not in the pictures presented so far. If I was in the market and saw that on the lot, I’d buy it and put 200 k miles on it. That’s what I’ve done with our 2010. Bought it off the dealer lot after a 3 mike test drive in 2009. Signed a document similar to the one @Mendel Leisk linked, then driving it til a major repair pops up. To each their own.