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More buying-used help!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by endac, Oct 25, 2009.

  1. endac

    endac New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2009
    3
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    Location:
    Ireland
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Hi again folks!

    I'm after coming across a good condition, 92,000-mile 2005 model T3 Prius for sale up in Dublin for 6,900€ (I can haggle him down, I'd say) and I'm going up to test drive it along with the only original Honda Insight for sale in Ireland - I'm very excited altogether! :D

    The Prius has a full service history and seems to be in a well-kept condition. I need help though, I'm aware people have done over 100,000 miles in their Prii, I've been in taxis that have done well over that (170-something thousand in a 2004 taxi in my city) but should I be okay? I know the HSD warranty ends at 100,000 miles and the dealer is offering an extra 5-year warranty once the Toyota warranty ends but this is my first car, I don't want to spend a lot of money on a battery pack or worse in a years time.

    I'm also not the "trade up/sell on" type with cars, I plan on driving it until all that I can do with it is recycle it, which is a bit of an American tradition, I understand, its not so common in Ireland.

    So just general advice is what I'm looking for really! What should I look out for when I test drive it? Is there a way of seeing what kind of condition the battery pack is in? Should I just not buy it? The Insight has 76,000 miles on it and I'm just plain not buying a car that isn't a hybrid.

    Thanks for all the help so far guys, hoping I can start posting my EV-mode records/hyper-miling stats soon enough. :)
     
    #1 endac, Oct 25, 2009
  2. endac

    endac New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2009
    3
    0
    0
    Location:
    Ireland
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    65 views and no reply? I think I'll assume its okay to buy this Prius tomorrow!
     
    #2 endac, Oct 26, 2009
  3. creature0077

    creature0077 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2009
    42
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    Location:
    Austin, Tx
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Only way to check the battery is to actually take it to a dealership or someone who can rest the battery by pulling some juice out of it against a load and see where it is on the I vs V curve which helps pinpoint how good the battery is doing from a standard set.

    Best advise is to agree with the seller that after you purchase it you want to take it to a place to have everything checked and if there are any problems found ya'll will work together to adjust the cost for the problems.

    However you "could" do a simple voltage test but it won't tell you a whole lot since batteries react different under loads.

    The battery should be good till 150k miles. I've heard of someone driving his 2002 Prius on the original batteries with over 250k miles. Wouldn't be surprised if someone already exceeded that.

    Check the frame and body to make sure there is no telltale signs of a wreck or really bad driving. (No hairline cracks anywhere in the metal and no welding points in a place where there shouldn't be one)
     
    #3 creature0077, Oct 26, 2009
  4. don_chuwish

    don_chuwish Well Seasoned Member

    Joined:
    May 1, 2009
    816
    182
    0
    Location:
    Southern Oregon
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I can't speak to the battery technology, maybe there's something that can be checked to get an idea what the remaining life is. But one thing I'd suggest, since I'm dealing with it on my own used Prius right now, is get them to align it properly and show you the results before you'll take it. You'll see other threads about alignment, but the Toyota dealer network is well known for not doing much to fix Prius alignment properly. An independent tire place is going to set my car right when I get new tires next week.

    - D
     
    #4 don_chuwish, Oct 26, 2009
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