Need some guidance

That's a definite maybe. The car is 16 years old, but only 74K on it. I suspect age will have more effect on the battery than the miles. See if you can work the price down to closer to $2500.

 

16 year old battery.
Yeah there is a good chance if she keeps it more than a couple of years. That's an additional $2000-$3000

The lower you get the car for, the more you will have handy for replacing the battery pack.

She might want a non-hybrid instead that does not have that risk. Corolla, matrix, Echo, Fit,. etc

 

2003 is gen 1. very few people know how to work on them. even with low mileage, unless you are a serious diy'er, at 16 years old, it could get difficult and expensive.
agree with eric, better to go non hybrid, at least anyone can fix them.

 

Speaking as a Father and a Mechanic...walk away from it. Get her a late model Corolla or Civic.

 

And when he says Civic he does not mean a Civic hybrid.
Never buy a Civic Hybrid. No matter how cheap it is or how good it looks.

 

Both good choices. We had a 2006 Civic for 145K miles. All we ever did to it was oil changes, transmission fluid changes, new plugs at 120K, three sets of tires and a set of brakes at 100K. Plus a headlight bulb at about 125K. Would still have it but a 15 year old in a stolen car totaled the Civic.

 

$3500 for a sixteen year old car with Two hundred thousand miles. I wouldn't pay more than $1000 for it.

 

I was going to say maybe 1200-1500 tops. Either a) put the rest in a new battery right now, or b) put the rest into an interest bearing account for a battery in the future.

 

The car in question has 74K miles.

 

$3500 for a sixteen year old car. I wouldn't pay more than $1250 for it.

 

A 1st gen Prius with a 16 year old hybrid battery is not a basic car. In fact, this car could be for sale because the hybrid battery has shown signs of weakening. For $3,500, you'll find a much larger selection of Corollas/Yaris with many parts and trained mechanics available.