Buying an 04 Prius tomorrow

I have an 04 Prius, of course I bought mine new, and have done regular oil changes on it, and have never had any problems with it. There where a number of recalls that needed to be done (since that was the first model year for the 2nd Generation Prius)... I have 55,000 miles on mine, and it been very reliable. Good Luck with the car.

mitch

 

Welcome to PriusChat, bigbearballs! I don't think it's easily possible to add airbags. The ones you have depend on the "package" the Prius is equipped with. Models with SKS and the JBL premium radio came with side curtain airbags, I think. Less equipped models didn't have those. The only other major problem the early Prius II had were with the Multi-Function Display. Some MFDs failed early, some later, many never failed. It would be worthwhile to ask if it was replaced, but no worries if it wasn't.

I doubt you have the original tires, which should have the higher pressure. Look on the tire side wall for maximum pressure and fill under that by a few pounds. If the ride seems harsh or bouncy, let out a little more air until the ride is comfortable and the handling still good. Just don't go below the 35/33 psi (I think) on the door frame.

You'll love the car when you get it!

 

Instead of or in addition to CarFax, see if you can get your insurance agent to run the VIN though the Clue database before you buy. I bought a used Corolla with clean CarFax and then my agent told me it had ben repaired three times at about $2 - 3 K each. Once I knew this, I noticed the roof of the car was a little ripply.

IMO, If you can swing it, I would buy a new one, even if you need to have a 72 month loan. The payment on a longer loan could be same as shorter loan on the used one. Four years from now, the 80,000 may have grown to 140,000, and if you end up Loving your Prius, you'll end up wanting a new one then anyway. Sorry, my bias is that I think used cars are priced too high. Just today, someone reported getting a new Pkg for less than $20K.

 

Congratulations on the purchase. The MFD milage and pump milage are close, with the MFD usually a little higher, but it's hard to figure the pump milage unless you average several tanks. The Prius tank has a rubber bladder in the metal fuel tank which can throw off the readings, that is, full may change from tank to tank with temperature changes.

The Prius makes all kinds of unusual noises for a car. The brakes have a little electrical compressor that comes on every now and then. Hot coolant is pumped out of a thermos bottle into the ICE to warm it when you start, and hot coolant is pumped back into the bottle when you shut down. The regenertive braking goes down to about 7 mph before the friction brakes come in, so the front disks can get rusty from under use, leading to "crunchy" stops.

The computer decides when to turn the ICE on and off and it can run at any time. You back up only under electric power, but sometimes, even then, the ICE will start. Don't worry about it. You can get a general idea of what's happening from the Energy screen, but there's a little delay between what's really happening and what the screen shows.

Enjoy!