2007 Prius is it worth it?

Go for it... They're super reliable cars... As long as you know an honest mechanic or have a family DIY strategy and all our help on Prius Chat you can keep 'em on the road relatively inexpensively, especially if you do preventative maintenance on the hybridbattery: FAQ

Also the best part is a $20 bill and some changes is all you need to drive it 400 miles...

 

Well, you left some key information out. What is the price? By the sounds of it (zero issues, looks/runs like new) I am wondering if the guy is trying to get $5000. That would be too high.

There is a guy local to me that charges $400 to replace up to 3 cells if the hybrid battery fails...But based on your mileage he would advise getting a new one. My belief is it is extremely rare for the battery to fail. I have tons of them. Too many to count. Never had that issue and all have high miles.

I called Toyota the other day and with my discount (commercial account) they charge $1560 for a replacement battery (just the part). So I'm thinking it is around $2000 to replace.

If we could make a bet for $50 I would be happy to put money that your battery will last past 250k miles. Just check this forum you rarely see posts about bad hybrid batteries.

 

Grab the VIN and run it for free at http://www.toyota.com/owners , and at carfax (or equivalent) just to be sure of what you are buying.

That way you can get an idea of the service history, including recalls and accidents. Know that some dealers and shops don't always report.

 

Milkyway is spot on, I'd grab it and get it to him for a new traction battery, then five years of excellent mpg's.

Well, after checking the service history with the vin at Toyota.com, but it sounds good.

 

i wouldn't allow my children in any car with 200,000 miles, let alone a prius. your asking for nothing but expensive problems.
look around for a decent corolla, civic, accord, camry and etc.

my (adult) daughter has a 2008 with over a hundred thousand miles, and i have convinced her to invest in a new low end suburu for under 20k because she does 500 miles per week to new york and back, on lonely roads at night.
too many safety 'what ifs' with old cars that are not right for young helpless drivers.

 

Agree with most of what you're saying, but in my experience high mileage isn't a valid indicator of hybrid pack longevity. The vehicles driving conditions, how often the inside of the vehicle is allowed to bake like an oven and how often the car is not driven on a daily basis is the best way to make that determination. And by driving conditions I mean, if the vehicle does lots of climbing up mountains, or if the owner lives on top of a mountain so their pack is always drained down every time they're done driving it for a while.

 

Welcome. Sioux City is my old home town. Born there long, long ago.

If the car has a fair price and especially if you find good service records on the Toyota site @SFO mentioned, it sounds like a reasonable deal. Be prepared to replace the traction battery if that hasn't already been done. It's getting close to the end of its life. If it's been replaced with a rebuilt one, run away from it. They are almost always trouble.

For price comparison, I could go down the road now and get a 2006 with 209,000 miles, leather seats, and a newer (used but not rebuilt) battery for $4,500. Or a 2008 with 195,000 miles and another used battery for $4,995.

Replacing the hybrid battery isn't all that big of a deal, but like many failures, it can be darned inconvenient in its timing.

 

I would say "+1" but I would not be given the chance to opine about this in my family.

All of my vehicles have over 100,000 miles on the clock, but all of them are reliable and I would unhesitatingly jump in any of the three of them and start raising dust for either coast.
Right now....
Today.

However (comma!) there is NO way that I would put a young teenage child into a G2 with 200,000 miles on the clock and from an uncertain pedigree even for short, daytime, regular commutes in our small rural community with excellent cell coverage.....because I would not be given a CHANCE to make that call.
My CFO would veto that plan categorically, even if I were foolish enough to bring it up for a vote.

 

Sorry but that mileage Prius is most likely eating engine oil and unless consistently monitored and kept full usually results in an engine with no engine oil and hilarity quickly ensues usually piston through the side of the block. So a high mileage Prius for your daughter is a disaster waiting to happen. Lets be serious. Your daughter is not going to check the engine oil every 4 days and then top it off all the time.

That's not even counting the ticking time bomb in the trunk the hybrid battery which surely if original is on its last legs.

Everyone wants a used Prius because they think it will get great mileage. That savings goes out the window with one $2000 repair.
And one way or the other your going to see one of those.

Its an awesome little car if you can DIY everything. But without serious DIY skills you are at the dealers mercy at $140 an hour.

Go get a used Hyundai or a used Corolla with less miles.

 

What are you on?

Bad hybrid battery is #1 post on this site right after the deep deep mystery's of the 12 volt battery.

 

To the original poster of this thread... Please ignore all the negative Nellies in the previous few posts... While they mean well, they refuse to understand that you're on a limited budget and can't afford what they can afford. Let them Marie Antoinette you about "Let them eat cake" all they want, they don't understand the majority of people in the US have less than $500 in savings and average age of a car on the road is 11.5 years. They're blessed to be to able to afford newer cars, but the majority of us who can't afford it have no problem with our Prius above 200,000 miles. There's a huge amount of 200K mile Gen2 on the road that are just like us and if we could afford a lower mileage vehicle we would buy one, but we can't and Prius do way better at high mileage than most cars. You're making the most of what you have in your budget for a car and every time you fill up the tank for only $20 you aren't going to regret it, especially if you're willing to learn how to do your own preventative maintenance and repairs.

 

I would say if you or your husband can work on cars you will be ok depending on price. If you can’t I would find something more conventional, like a Corolla. A Prius is reliable but some things that do go bad can be very expensive if you can’t fix the car yourself. Add on the number of shops that can’t fix them and it could be a recipe for disaster.

 

Or you have a family friend who likes to figure this stuff out... All the information you need to fix anything on this car exists on this website. And as I previously mentioned, the cost saving at pump when you fill up is huge, a great reward that requires a small amount of risk. Also you'll be emitting half as much carbon with the Prius, as well as 90% less Nitrogen Oxide...

 

Personally the only person I have faith in when a job needs to be done is myself. It’s a tall order to have someone do some of those jobs for you. Sometimes you are a little too much cheerleader and not enough realist.

 

I've been checking the front page of the gen 2 forum for years. I rarely see a post about a bad hybrid battery.

You have a source or just making things up and because you said so it becomes law?

 

That is a great deal considering you can probably get it for around $2700. They are excellent in snow and it would be perfect for a teenage driver. If worried put on snow tires. It isn't a 4x4 but they perform excellent in heavy snow conditions. (Ran it as an uber driver through Michigan winters never had an issue never got stuck...With snow tires consider it an F350 Dually 4x4 lol

 

Yes but you are an experienced driver who has probably driven in the snow for many years.