Debating on new purchase - fire damaged

Fixed is a matter of opinion.

The question is whether if even Toyota will "certify" it. Who prints the certificate matters.

 

Hundreds on eBay. Here you go a mint Benz. This guy sells alot of them:

 

And how did they put the fire out? CO2? Water? If it's the latter, then you've got potential water damage that has since dried out, but the damage has been done to wiring, ecu's, bearings etc. Not sure on the laws in the US but water damage to a car will cause the car to be a total loss here where they're not to be resold but broken for parts.

 

If the seller IS the body shop methinks he sure as hell knows exactly what he's trying to sell. He knows it's a V not a IV simply because he would have needed to order a myriad of parts to repair it with - and he would have the documentation (lots of it) including the VIN details clearly indicating what that Prius really is.

Passing it off as a Pruis IV and feigning ignorance as to what it really is, is quite likely a ploy to rope in buyers to a perceived bargain that - ISN'T .

With no Hybrid warranties, that vehicle is probably worth no more than $12,000. And it's still one huge gamble! Will Toyota even want to service it in that state? They can get pretty jittery about Prii that have had extensive work done by uncertified (non-Toyota related) companies.

My final verdict? Unless you were getting it for $12,000 and you really felt like gambling, please for the love of your own sanity and hard earned money, walk away.

p.s. If you decided to buy a top of the range 2009 Prius Touring 2nd Generation with uber low mileage and taken care of by a fastidious Prii enthusiast, methinks you'd have change left over to spend as you please! And the Gen II would take great care of you too - they're all over engineered for a start. Just a thought.

The final decision, of course, is yours.


iPad ? HD

 

A nationwide Autotrader search for package 5 finds this certified for $27K (with 22K and in CA) and this certified for $26K (with 10K in FL). No idea if they have the ATP, but these are dealer prices. There is this one at $30K, but it's a private seller with several accessories and higher than all the dealers. I bet it's priced out of line.

That's my point, it doesn't look totalled. So what are we missing that the insurance company saw? Any other liability isn't going to factor into the insurance company's decision on the car. That's simply dollars and sense, and they're very good at coming out ahead. If it's a $28K car and it can be fixed for even $10K, why would they total it and pay out $28K to the owner? They wouldn't, so why did they here?

This may be a fair deal, but it's not a killer deal. There are a lot of "ifs" to it being fair too. If the damage wasn't more than what's seen, if it's repaired well, if you understand the risks, if you can deal with some further issues that need addressed, etc.

 

^ That also means that you'll never be able to insure it for anything of value either, so you're rolling the dice every time you drive this car. The good news is that liability insurance will probably be unaffected, but have you tried to get a quote for comp and collision on a totaled car? there's a reason that they ask for the VIN.
Usually these kind of cars wind up on a "buy here, pay here" lot because banks like to loan out money and charge interest for it with the expectation that they'll get the money back, which means that they're usually hesitant to lend money for salvaged cars...and most people aren't financially deep enough to stroke a check for 21K.

Remember.
It's not a $35,000 car any more. It was only a $35,000 car when it was sitting on the new car lot with a sticker on the window.
When this car died, it was a $26,000 car if it was in showroom condition (more than 90-percent aren't.)
Now?
It's been transmorgified from a collection of parts back into a car again.
However (comma!) this only means that the bureaucrats down at the DMV attest that it's functionally safe enough to label as a "car" once again instead of a bunch of parts rolling down the road in tight formation.

If you have 21-kilobucks in cash?
Why not just make one helluva down payment on a proper used G3-five and finance the rest???
I know it's not as smart as a cash deal, but have you checked interest rates lately?
Even on a used car they are very competitive, which means that you're only going to be paying about 2 percent on a late model used car if you have a good credit rating. One and a half percent on a 1 year old car is the going rate @ my CU.

 

The deal is a loser. Walk away!

If, however, you are a reporter and want to chronicle the experience, please buy the car and update us on your experience.

 

Ok, time for some dissent (although minimal). This is a very nice car with all the bells and whistles. You will not get a Prius like this for this price unless its salvage. I have owned salvage vehicles before and I personally had good experiences with them. My 2006 Prius was a salvage title vehicle. I was given $7500 for it when I traded it in on the Camry (not much less than a non salvage vehicle would have gotten).

Lets face it, the Prius is a very reliable car and with no damage to the front end (where the most complicated machinery lives), there's a very good chance this car will perform reliably for many years to come. Your challenge is, insuring it for what you owe, financing it (I'm assuming you will finance) and selling it when your ready. If you can get insurance to cover it and can get the financing, and you intend to keep the car for many years, then this may be a deal for you. It just depends on how scared you are of the car. These things don't scare me because I try to fix all problems that come up on a car (or anything for that matter). I mean really, what can go wrong back there? The hatch? The battery? suspension? battery electronics? If the car is driving fine, then that leaves the hatch. Hatches arent that hard to fix.

This is only a good deal if you can a) get insurance, b) get financing c) plan to keep the car for many years and d) aren't afraid of it.

Obviously only you can make that decision.

 

i think you're making the right decision, all the best!

 

This deal is for the self insured risk taker, who has the cash to buy the car, insure it only for liability only, and will drive it until it runs no more.

It would make a good company car or a taxi cab in a fleet of Prii. If it craps out, it turns into a parts car.

 

Sure...in honor of Christmas, I'd say buy the Prius that looks like it came off The Island of Misfit Toys.

I really think it sounds like a horrific idea, but I morbidly would be entertained by how the story might play out.

 

This is true.

Should you decide you are still interested in the car, pay a local Toyota dealer service dept for a couple of labor hours to have the car checked out, letting the tech know that the car was in a severe rear-end accident.

I also suggest you consult your auto insurance company to verify what coverage might be available.

 

Fires tend to damage the entire interior. There is zero soot blackening in your photos. It looks like crash damage to me. Most cars have nothing in the rear except the trailer wheels and gas tank. Ours has the traction battery but your damage doesn't look far enough in to have damaged it. Exposing the floor and tire storage compartment should reveal a good deal. I didn't see anything particularly scary. Having pre-repair photos encourages me. If the wheels didn't move (from their specified position), doors still worked, hatch still worked, and the running of the car prior to repair was normal, I'd be comfortable with it.

I wouldn't compare the 40% discount with the new value of the car, however. That was not a new car prior to the wreck. What is the percentage when compared to a 2013 with similar mileage NOT wrecked? That reflects the true savings. The salvage title should be considered also. For instance, would your insurance (or the other guy's) insurance pay less in case of an accident? If so, the price you pay, $21K, may be its exact actual value.

 

Walk away from it. Buy the new Prius C (stock) for under 20k! Just keep reminding yourself it's transportation to point A to B and back again.

 

I think I would do three things before putting ANY money into getting this car inspected:
1. Get get a firm insurance quote from a real insurance company on that specific car.
2. Verify that the "Salvage Title" is really real.
3. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt earlier about being able to pay cash for the car. If you're not paying cash, then you need to find out if you're able to get a totaled car financed in SOCAL, and if so how much it is going to cost you.
As mentioned above, it is possible to self-finance and self-insure your way into a nice car, but it's like winning at a casino. The odds aren't going to be ever in your favor.

 

<double tap>
Plz disregard.... Thanks.