Looking to buy a 4th gen. What to look for?

There’s a cars for sale forum, but it’s rare to see anything there.
As for a gen4, good luck finding one. The only thing I can think of is to see if the exhaust coolant heat exchanger has been repaired.
All the best!

 

“Private sales” down near the bottom of the main forums page

 

Really whatever you normally look for in a used car purchase. Gen 4 came out starting 2016 model year.

Trims and options have changed a little through the years but it's still the current generation of Prius.

Some earlier years in the run have had coolant leaks into the exhaust system as bisco mentioned. Some shops may misdiagnose that as a blown head gasket. Beyond that, not much that has shown up as far as common issues.

Run a carfax on any used cars and have your mechanic or a trusted 3rd party prius or hybrid mechanic look over any used examples you're considering buying. If a seller refuses that then move on find another seller.

Priuses are hot tickets with gas prices still high. You may need to cast a wide net and consider traveling out of state to find what you want.

 

There's a TSB and Toyota is replacing the part under warranty (96 months or 80k miles, 180 months or 150k miles in CARB states). Outside of the warranty it could be $1500-2000. So far it seems rare. If you're looking at high mileage cars it's a cost to consider

 

We have a 17 and a 21 and have not had any issues, not even the coolant leak at the exhaust exchange. (I keep an eye on those.)
Ask for maintenance history....I've heard of Gen 4's starting to burn oil and/or lose a head gasket when the owners didn't get the oil changed at least every 5,000 miles. If no maintenance record is there, ensure ICE engine is checked out by a mechanic. Other than that, solid cars so far!

 

once it's fixed, it's fixed

 

Fix is to replace catalytic converter. Set me back $2100. It occurred to me 5 years and 190,000 miles into ownership. I really can't complain though because this car has still been way cheaper to maintain than any other I've own.