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High Mileage Gen 4 Prius Opinion

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by darkgiant, Oct 7, 2020.

  1. darkgiant

    darkgiant Member

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    I am looking at a 2017 Prius (Option/Package 2) and it is high mileage (sitting at 198,000 to be exact). The price, however, does seem to fall within the Kelly Blue Book range, however, the place selling the car has no knowledge of the cars prior history whether if the hybrid battery, or engine ever were serviced/replaced. Now, I have purchased high mileage (And I mean, super high mileage!) Prius's in the past, but I was comfortable doing so because I have ODB2 + Torque + Dr Prius along with Techstream to do my due diligence of testing, and overall telling if the car is in shape. I assume Techstream with the generic Mongoose cable can pick up any inconsistencies or codes?

    Aditionally, from my research thus far, it seems the engine changes a bit in this Prius, and the hybrid battery changes as well. I was therefore wondering, is there a consensus on how reliable the Gen4 Prius is whether it is related to the engine or hybrid battery? For example, 2010-2011 was notoroius for head gasket issues and some had weird issues with headlights consensating, etc... Any chance this kind of issues exist with the Gen4, or at least the 2017 year?
     
    amos likes this.
  2. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Headlights - totally different from the notorious HID in Gen 3. They're LED - and while we don't know for sure, have the potential to last the life of the car.

    Gen 4 engine, battery and motors - are essentially the same all through Gen 4. There are 2 distinct batteries - Li-ION and NiMH though.

    None of this is carried over from previous generations - entirely. They were all heavily modified or totally new (the platform particularly has nothing in common).

    High Mileage cars - I've bought quite a few over the years. You buy them with the expectation that you've saved MANY $$$$ with capital outlay with the hope that you'll continue to save. But, as with anything we buy, it's buyer "beware", and "be aware". How long is a piece of string? Your choice.
     
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  3. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    Register the VIN on the Toyota owners site to verify trim and any dealer service performed.

    Trim 2 has a rear wiper and NiMH battery. 2 Eco had no rear wiper and Li-Ion battery. If the Trim 2 was made April 2017 or later it also had BSM and some other options.

    the Ni-MH battery supposedly has a higher grade Nickel than previous generations but base on them it is nearing end of life. Perhaps @2k1Toaster would be interested in designing a Gen 4 harness for his kit of new cells.
     
  4. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Not sure if the NiMH would be "nearing end of life" - I suspect not.

    Higher mileage older PRIUS with NiMH (TAXIs etc) went very high mileage on the original battery. Same as many other components on TAXIs - the engines never cool down, gearboxes last much longer than in more incidental driving. I suspect that a PRIUS could well be the same.
     
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  5. darkgiant

    darkgiant Member

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    I appreciate all the responses here! According to the vehicle history report, it is listed as "2017 Toyota Prius Two" on the car history report, based on that and the pictures it doesn't seem to be the "Eco" option. I am curious, would plugging in Techstream or Torque be able to pull any DTCs (if there are any)? For example, in Torque I have a layout setup for PIIDs based on the Gen3 Prius related to Hybrid Battery readings, fan speed, etc... would this be applicable for the Gen4? I couldn't find much information on this. I also have an older version of Techstream (basically the Amazon version that comes with that generic Mongoose cable), so not sure if that version supports Gen4 readings?
     
  6. pianewman

    pianewman Active Member

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    What is the asking price?
     
  7. darkgiant

    darkgiant Member

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    The asking price is $10,000, which technically is already in the Blue Book range, I, however, was going to offer below that, what would be considered a "fair" price?
     
  8. pianewman

    pianewman Active Member

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    WHOA! I must not be paying attention. I was thinking $5-6k.
    We bought a mint condition 2018 Prius Two, in Dec. 2019, with 14k miles, for $19k.

    Just sayin'...
     
  9. darkgiant

    darkgiant Member

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    Haha, at that price range (in my area at least, as the Prius is really popular here in the Seattle area), you still see Gen 2’s with decent mileage sold at around ~$5,000, maybe you can find a Gen3 with super high mileage (250,000+ miles) at around the $6,000 range and above.
     
  10. pianewman

    pianewman Active Member

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    Just did a quick cargurus search around DFW. I was right the first time: I haven't been paying attention. Resale on these cars is very good (after the initial depreciation hit...)
     
  11. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    In addition, I keep hearing that used car prices in general are up these days.
     
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  12. darkgiant

    darkgiant Member

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    Just an update for anyone curious: seems like the seller (a generic used car sales lot) made a mistake on the original price, as the true price is $12,000, which at that point I just walked away since they say they are "price negotiable", but really, he just was willing to knock a few bucks. It didn't even come with the hub caps, carpet pieces, cargo cover... I tried to explain that to the salesperson + the mileage and likely needing excessive work in the near future, but they stick to "this car will run a million miles". Also whats up with these used car sales lots throwing "Touring" onto any Prius, even if it is the base package? It is super misleading and not cool.

    Ironically, the same lot was selling a 2016 Prius (package 4) with only 58,000 miles for $16,500 (just $4,500 more)... lol.
     
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  13. amos

    amos Active Member

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    no more than 7k
     
  14. amos

    amos Active Member

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    dealers are not interested in cash buyers, they are looking for suckers with bad credit score so they can approve them a loan for 24% / year. thats how they maximize their profit. agree?
     
    Tyfly likes this.