1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

'02 purchase advice needed

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by nvillerod, Dec 27, 2007.

  1. nvillerod

    nvillerod New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2007
    2
    0
    0
    Location:
    Indiana
    Long time lurker...first time poster.

    I have never owned a Prius, but have had many Toyotas ('06 RAV in the garage now).

    Here's the setup...

    I'm looking for a car to drive about 15K miles yearly to work for the next 4 years (hopefully retirement thereafter). The daily work commute is 40 miles round trip, 40% highway, 60% stoplights. I live in Indiana, with temp extremes.

    I've found a '02 Prius, side airbags, 122K miles for $8,500. Carfax comes back clean, but no service records are available. The car is in excellent shape for the mileage and age (at least it appears that way). If it were a Corolla or Echo I could take it from there. But am looking for advice from seasoned Prius owners...battery issues with this mileage, tranny? Any advice would be appreciated.
     
    #1 nvillerod, Dec 27, 2007
  2. Bear68

    Bear68 Member

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2007
    373
    72
    0
    Location:
    West Palm Beach, FLA
    Best Suggestion I have.... Take it to a dealer you trust and ask them to do a full inspection including checking for open Special Service Campaigns (there were several for the 02's) checking for any Diagnostic Trouble Codes and checking the HV battery for a comparison of the individual cell voltages and condition. Some Prius of that mileage and age have been having issues with the HV batteries. I have an 01 in my bay right now that I had to change the HV battery. It has 115k miles. Interesting part is, this is the second Gen 1 Prius I have seen with high miles, out of warranty, with a bad HV battery, and Toyota has covered the FULL cost of replacement.

    If you have an issue, the main thing to remember is to politely become the squeaky wheel. Toyota has publically shown that they will stand behind their Hybrid technology, but you won't get anything if you don't ask.
     
    #2 Bear68, Dec 27, 2007
  3. nvillerod

    nvillerod New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2007
    2
    0
    0
    Location:
    Indiana
    Thanks for the specific info...I wish you were closer to Indiana...I'd bring it to you!!
     
    #3 nvillerod, Dec 28, 2007
  4. HighBreed

    HighBreed Member

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2007
    113
    3
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles/Orange Counties
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius

    When you're outside of warranty priod, is there a charge if you have SSC performed on your car?
     
    #4 HighBreed, Feb 9, 2008
  5. Bear68

    Bear68 Member

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2007
    373
    72
    0
    Location:
    West Palm Beach, FLA
    None whatsoever! Also be aware that if an SSC is open on your vehicle and there should be some sort of parts availability issue, Toyota will cover a rental!

    Just remember the Cardinal Rule.... Polite persistance! Don't take no for an answer, just remain polite and keep working your way up the chain of authority. Past performance has shown that Toyota will not allow the reputation of their hybrid vehicles to be tarnished. (Unfortunately, there was a real reason that Katsuaki Watanabe stood up and apologized for the quality level of the latest Toyotas. Luckily the hybrids have not been hit by the quality issues some of the other models have seen.)
     
    #5 Bear68, Feb 12, 2008
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)