Advice on buying a used 2005 Prius

Well I am very capable on any automotive repair and I would JUMP at it for $1500. Our Gen2 (2005), like yours was well over the 150k and 11 years old when we purchased it. Still has the factory HV battery, I did replace the water pump and two tires (one was bad). We paid $1700 for it last year with ~170k on it and was a steal.

These are VERY reliable and VERY safe cars if equipped with Side Air Bags, ours is. No one can predict the future needs of this, or any other car, but if you can get it for $1300 it might be worth it to do so. There are ways to check the HV pack, it requires software and an interface device to the vehicle, not a long job but many dealers are not interested in helping. Even then, that is the pack health "today" and a cell can fail tomorrow.

As for the not starting, it will need a new 12v battery, they are about $200 installed, give-or-take. If you deduct $200 for the 12v battery off the asking price you are at $1600 for a car you KNOW needs at least $200 worth of work. Again, I can do any repair myself and my number would be $1500 TOPs, but I'd start at $1300.

The real question is how has it been cared for? Same 4 tires, clean fluids (Light amber brake fluid, clear reddish coolant and shiny paint) tell you more about your repair risk than anything else.

 

There are two batteries, you know. A small 12V battery is used to "boot up" the car and connect the large hybrid battery to the drive train. It's common for the 12V battery to last a maximum of 5 or 6 years, and costs about $200 as mentioned.

After going through a hybrid battery failure, I know the early signs and would be able to recognize them in a test drive. You'll see more erratic charge indication on the dash display, and will hear the cooling fan in the back seat grille. But that's hard to do if you've never driven a known healthy Prius.

A hybrid battery failure would be the big gamble here. They're at least $2500 for new, usually more, maybe half that for a rebuild. If you can tinker with the car and afford the downtime, inexpensive DIY module replacements are possible but not guaranteed.

I also would jump on that price for a project car, but maybe not for a reliable car for a dependent.

 

Assume that the HV battery will probably need replacement within a year or two. If you don't have the funds for a new pack, you should skip this one.

 

I was given good advise from this site when I bought my daughter a 07 Prius. Start an account for repairs and put $25 a week in it. Hopefully when a major repair is needed the cash will be there

 

welcome!

what car can you buy for $1,800. and not expect to put at least a few thousand into it?

 

Cannot speak to an $1800 car, but for our $1700 our 2005 Prius