Buying Used - Does Age or Milage Matter?

Hi all,

I've been browsing for a while and the info on this forum has been very helpful in my decision to buy a Prius (I am upgrading from my trusty 2001 Yaris; my first car!), so thank you, firstly.

I still am a bit unsure on what to look for when buying used. I've found 2 cars at the same price, they both have pros and cons but due to the hybrid aspect I don't know which factors are most important.

Car 1: Jan 2006 reg, 33k miles, 12 months Toyota warranty (inc battery) included, 5 day no quibble refund policy, from a Toyota dealership.
Car 2: July 2008 reg, 54k miles, private seller so no warranty (although should have 2 years left on the battery)/ no dealership backup etc.

It's basically a trade off between age and miles. In a Prius, which is more important?

I would ordinarily go for the lower milage car 1, but from the age/ miles it seems it's done lots of short city miles which I've heard can reduce battery life, and the 08 battery is obviously 2.5 years newer.... But then there's no backup if anything goes wrong.

(I am UK based, if that makes any difference at all!)
Many thanks!
Finner

 

I must admit I am swaying towards the 08 for peace of mind, but the 06 has that 12 month warranty.....

I would love to hear others' opinions on this. There's not that much between them but having no experience of hybrid previously, I do worry about battery life.

 

£6k, but probably some wiggle room, especially on the 08 plate. (And actually I just test drove an identical 08 at a dealership for £8k)

 

I think it may partly be due to the London congestion charge. The Prius used to be exempt from the £10+ per day fee but last year the lovely Mayor cottoned on to all the money they were losing due to everyone owning hybrids. Now it's only the super low emission models which are exempt so there's a bit of a flooded market as people trade up. I have to admit I didn't realise how cheap they were until it popped up in my search results.

 

Thanks for the input - interesting point on the price. You have made me wonder whether spending a little more is the way to go, but 6k was my budget...

I test drove the 08 today, it was a T3 and the dealership model I drove at £8k was a T Spirit. I don't know if it was my imagination but it seemed to pull back a bit more than the T Spirit did. I don't know if that's normal for the model but it made me wonder. Also, I really want cruise control so that's that. Tomorrow I have to make a decision on the 06 (T4), still not sure if it's too old but going to see it and get a feel for it, whilst trying not to thump the patronising geezer of a salesman who insists on calling me "my lovely".

I looked at loads of other models too but I don't think the Prius can be beaten on size (boot space is the only reason I'm trading up; it's for work) whilst still maintaining a sensible mpg. I've actually had a friend slagging me off for buying a boring car and being a self righteous eco-warrior, so not everyone's attitudes are changing!!

 

Acceleration. When I lifted off the gas it felt like it wanted to immediately drop back (in speed) more than the other models I drove (reminded me of the disgusting MMT gearbox on the Auris), but as I said, it could have been my imagination... It just drew my attention a little.

As it goes, I purchased the 06 plate yesterday. It seemed a nice deal until we got it home and realised the brake discs were worn down to the point they'd fail an MOT (we even found a report in the docs from JANUARY that they were 75% worn through and should be replaced soon!!). Plus lies about when the service needed doing (July... Not Feb), exhaust rust, and a headlamp cover not sealed properly so that got nice and wet after it rained here etc etc...

Spent most of today shouting at various salesmen and managers; would you believe this is a genuine Toyota dealership?? Although it did give me the chance to bust that patronising, sexist salesman's balls over calling me darling/ love/my lovely/<insert some retro sexism here>.

Ended up demanding a refund. We thought if they've lied this much, what else are they hiding? Their sister garage has a T Spirit 07 for £6.5 (down from £7.5) which now I'm picking up on Monday, so ironically a compromise between my 06 and 08 plate decision.

So, not off to a smashing start on the Prius front...... I hope it gets better?!? :/

 

It definitely wasn't in B mode. It was a very low price so imagination or not I didn't want to take the risk...

As much as I'd like to say it was down to my ace complaining skillz, there may have been a 5 day no quibble refund policy... The other garage (with the 07) was part of the same group so they've transferred my money over to them in payment for the 07. I've not driven it yet (if I don't like it I'll just get a refund), I was supposed to go down today but they've decided to get their service centre manager to personally give it an extra service before giving it to me... just to make sure I think they must have spoken to the other dealership's manager right after his 10 minute ear bashing.

I may be rubbish at haggling, but boy can I complain!