I have never owned anything other than vehicles that run on gasoline. I'm somewhat mechanically inclined, but I want to buy something that doesn't have any current problems. I'm considering 3 different Priuses, and I wanted some opinions. All of these are on Market Place and do not come with a warranty. Which one should I consider and why? 2009 Toyota Prius Touring - $4,999 - Green paint. Approximately 120k miles Looks like it has leather interior. This one looks pretty good, but it does have some slight damage on one of the doors. If I bought it I would take it to a local body shop and see if they could make it look better. 2007 Toyota Prius Hatchback 4D - $3,700 - Red paint. Approximately 201k miles Looks like it has leather interior. Body looks to be in good shape. 2007 Toyota Prius Hatchback 4D - $2,800 - Black paint. Approximately 175k miles Looks like it has cloth interior. The body looks a little rough. Mostly it looks like it has some chips in the paint. If I bought it I would replace the front bumper cover, because it looks a little cracked.
I wouldn't buy a Prius without first checking it for codes and the state of the battery. If it needs a new pack, and you are paying somebody else to install it, that could be $4k or more. The dongle has to be able to read all the computers on the car, many cannot. If the seller is nice they would also let you run the HV pack test in the Dr. Prius app - there is a list of dongles on its web page which are known to work with it. There might also be mechanical issues, so rather than doing those tests yourself, it is is probably worth it to pay a mechanic to do so, and also put it up on a lift and do a general inspection. The Autel MaxiAP AP200 is a common choice here for a dongle to check the car, but it may not work with the Dr. Prius app, only its own app. Rust is a problem for cars from certain parts of the country. Unless you can prove it has spent its whole life in Texas, minimally get down on the ground with a light and look for rust on the bottom. Flood cars are also a problem. Look for signs of that. Which to buy? For me, a big plus is when the owner can hand over the service records for the life of the car, or at least as long as they have owned it. 120k miles is low for a 2009. Suspiciously low unless there is a good reason to explain it (like it was a grandma car). Rolled back odometers are unfortunately still a thing, so that 170k could really be 290k. If they won't give you the VIN before you go to see it, that is a red flag. Definitely pull the CarFax (or equivalent) to confirm the odometer (at least rule out major roll backs).
@pasadena_commut I appreciate the tip about the Autel MaxiAP AP200 I checked Amazon and they are reasonably priced. I looked at the 2009 Toyota Prius Touring - $4,999 - Green paint, they failed to mention it had lights on the dash. I used my Elm327 and Torque Pro and scanned for codes. I got Code P0A80 Anyway that one is a hard no for me. Even though it may be fixable I don't want to start off with problems. I will keep looking. Thank you all there is lots of good advice in this thread.
Are you saying people do a complete dash disassembly and swap the combination meter with one that reads lower mileage?
I've never done that; but I think they re-flash the eeprom to display any number they want. This also breaks the odometer, so it no longer advances. That's the tell tale signs it's been messed with. There are legitimate software for fixing gauge clusters and programming the correct miles in it. But that's what I've seen so far. YMMV
Yeah I never considered that odometers can still be manipulated. I know on some cars you can buy a digital speedometer cluster from a salvage yard something with less miles and swap it out with another car. Not sure if this can be done on a Gen 2 Prius. I hope not.
Maybe. Or maybe they have figured out an easier way. Whatever method they use, odometer tampering has been reported on some Gen2 Priuses, so you have to check. There are videos on youtube showing some methods of rewriting the odometer. The two I saw involve pulling a circuit board, isolating an EEPROM, and rewriting it. Probably easier for the crooks to find that board from an old wreck with lower miles and swap it in. This would still require the dash to come apart, but maybe they have a shortcut of some kind for that too?
Besides checking battery health, you should also check if the brake actuator pump is good. One obvious sign of a failing pump is if you can hear it cycling every few seconds - it sounds like a rattle snake. It's normal to hear it every second or third time you depress the brake... but if you hear it every time you depress the brake and even when you don't, that's almost certainly a failing pump. Replacing that pump is a bitch and if you have someone do it for you (with a new oem part), you're likely looking at a $2k job.
Swapping Clusters is still a thing, and as far as taking apart the dash to do it, this is the easiest car I have owned to do it to. So yes, pull a Carfax and make sure you're in the ballpark for mileage. I recently bought mine, it's been a month for me. I knew going in that I would have to do maintenance work and perhaps related repairs as a result. My Prius is an 08 with approx 165K. Here is what I knew going in; - It had been handed over through the auctions about three times and had three previous owners - It sat for about 6months - It had a new 12V battery - It ran, sounded healthy - Front brakes were squealing like a stuck pig - It had good tires, (2yrs old) - It had been repainted - Clean on the inside and inside the door jams What I discovered after my thorough inspection at home: - Looked like I was the first to do a tune up on this vehicle, everything was caked with dirty, grime or age. - The rear Hatch latch was screwed into the hatch, then the screws were Bondo'd over before paint. - The HID Headlights it came with were removed and replaced at some point with standard headlights, which were now broken - Their was a family of rodents living inside the wiper cowl - Throttle body had to be replaced, it was almost rusted shut - The brake noise was the previous owner, bent the shield and the clips from the pads, so they were rubbing on the rotor. I paid, $1800 for an all Florida history car, so even though I knew what I was getting into, their will always be surprises. NO ONE sells a car because it is to goo to drive. So work on driving those prices down, don't get bullshitted by the gas price narrative, that is temporary. Other than Carfax, I went in with my scan tool and Dr Prius. At the time the battery was too weak to register a proper test, I used that data to negotiate a lower price. Currently, what I believe is the original battery is at 54%, with two bad blades. Be wary of cars with front license plate holders, not an absolute, but those cars generally come from the north or places that snow, as states like Florida do not require front plates, therefore no one drills one on. That will at least save you from checking for undercarriage rust right off the bat. Also, changing the O2 sensors is doable but a PITA, so don't fall for the, "its just a bad O2 sensor". If it were that easy they would have done the repair.
Well, yes, but CA and TX also require front plates, and cars from those states are generally rust free.
