Just picked up a 2012 PiP!

Yep, that range is almost exactly what I show when I fill up. Actual range turns out to be 400-1,100 miles depending on how much I can plug in and if they are interstate highway miles.

And, yes, 87 is perfect as @Mendel Leisk already mentioned.

We PiP owners, do have the coolest original equipment rims on a Prius.

 

Quite true. I kind of assumed the reader would get that from "what service records Toyota has." But screwups always start with assumptions, so thanks for filling in that detail.

(edit to fix typo)

 

Congratulations, PriusPapi! Welcome.

 

I am considering a 2012 Prius Plug-in Advanced from a Toyota dealer, that has a carfax with no red flags and no open recalls. What important hybrid-related questions should I ask Toyota that would help me know its condition and if it's a good purchase?

 

Not particularly Hybrid related but take the VIN and stick in online searching Toyota VIN check site. It would give you the stock equipment, any recalls and possibly the service records (ever reported by a dealer).
For my car, I have done two days charging test(various tests) only before buying(from an independent dealer/seller)

 

Typical used car stuff, but with a 12 PIP, make the dealer replace the 12V battery and try and get them to extend the warranty on the li-ion one too. It worth a try.

 

Nice! I agree with the others that you'd want to know the same as with any used car. An extension on the traction battery would be nice, but I doubt they would do that, or if they did, they would charge you. Worth asking though.

See if they will charge the battery before a test drive so you can get an idea of its range. Don't worry about the predicted range since that's based on previous trips. Also, don't expect a lot of range in cold weather or with highway speeds.

 

Right. Mine has now been showing 9.8 miles when fully charged. I'm hoping it bounces back up in the spring, but I'm guessing I'll never see 13.2 again.I'll be happy if it gets up to 12.

 

Because of our stupid traffic engineers, I have always maxed out at about 12.4 miles here. Lots of 55-60 mph with frequent "Here comes Jerry, let's turn red at the last moment" traffic lights. But on days when I have a route that takes me through more residential type areas, I get well over 13 miles in good weather. You have more hills in your area, so that hurts, too. I wonder how far I could go at a constant 35 mph on flat ground with no stops. LOL!

 

I would keep running those treads (plenty of tread) but keep an eye out for proper tires and rims on the clearance racks, right now is the best season to buy $25 energy savers at the local Walmart clearance rack.
( If you buy tires before you really need them you can camp out for good deals.)

That is how I got my last pair of $25 195/60r15 Ecopias and oddly my last pair of snow tires.
I only run snows on the front but I keep a full tread set of energy savers for the rear, mainly due to space constraints since it takes less room for 2 rims rather than 4. My handling has always stayed true oddly enough. This winter has not had enough snow to bother mounting the snows

Good luck on your car.

 

Ya, I've never understood 60 mph roads with stop lights at them (unless they have the warning lights well ahead of the stop lights that light will turn red soon).

 

I read somewhere else on this forum that before buying a used Prius from a non-Toyota dealer, a Toyota Battery Diagnostic should be performed before purchasing. There's a Prius on sale from a non-Toyota dealer I'm considering, and unfortunately all the nearby Toyota dealers are at least 40 minutes away. I began looking for another solution and in my research, I came across a web site "priusapp" that claims to also do this. If anyone has used this, can you vouch that it is accurate as Toyota's diagnostics?

 

is that the dr prius app?

how many miles on the car?

did you see jerrys advice above to charge the battery and see how many miles it will go on ev?

 

I looked at the website and watched the video for iOS. Nowhere did I see mention of the PiP or Prime. With those batteries having so much more capacity, I don't know what to expect. It looks like it has you force charge the battery as full as the car allows and then discharge it a low as it'll go and then it measures the capacity. The video was showing 800+ seconds remaining for the discharge part of the battery test. I take that to indicate it runs that battery down as far as the car will allow, which would take quite a while in the PiP and even longer in the Prime. If it doesn't have the data for those batteries, it might not compute. But the basic version is free, so I guess you could try it. If it will give data for the plug-ins, that would be nice info to have. It takes out the variables of speed, wind, and traffic.

But, you can do the same with Techstream and I'm sure it would work with the plug-in batteries. You just wouldn't have anything to compare it to. But it would still take way longer than a regular Prius. Or, just run the car to zero EV miles, and plug it in to a metered outlet.

 

Ok, thanks, that gives me more confidence to consider used plug-ins over the regular Prius