New Prius Owner!!

Hi everyone.... very excited to say I am a new owner of a used 2004 prius. This is the fist hybrid vehicle I ever owned but being a student I was in no position to purchase a new one. That's ok, I heard great things about these generation 2 cars and I was in search of one for a LONG time. I live in Hawaii, and used cars, especially the Prius, tend to run a bit expensive compared to KBB value. Anyway, I would like to share my decision and please feel free to comment. Thank you!

So the first Prius I looked at was a used 2008 model from the local Toyota Dealership marked at 4299. After all paperwork and taxes the total would have been about 4650. This car had 118,000 miles, leather interior ( although I'm not sure it was the actual stock leather interior, maybe just after market leather seats, great condition body gray color with gray interior, navigation, and rear view camera. 0 codes when I scanned it and good AC. The only negative I can think of was a very extensive carfax including two accidents and this car was first in Florida, traveled to Texas, and was now sitting in Hawaii after being sold at auction. The only reason I passed was because my salesman seemed very reluctant to negotiate with me. And not being the Prius expert, I guess I should have realized that this was a good deal for my area. And I would have been able to buy the car with cash and not have to finance at all. Unfortunately I passed on it, and later when I went home the AD was immediately marked up to 6299. When I called the next day they explained that somebody had come in and asked about the old price 4299 and they had to honor it. So the car was essentially sold on the spot. It didn't make me feel too great because I felt like I missed a great opportunity. And not having a car, I definitely wanted to hurry the process up and get back on the road.

Flash forward to today.... my good friend since high school recently purchased a new Prius. He loves cars. He told me that I could look at his 2004 blue Prius with tan cloth interior ( 99,000 miles) and if I liked it we could make a deal. So this car has scratches and doesn't have the pristine body of the one at the dealership. It has cloth rather than leather. It has 0 codes as well. It has good AC but wouldn't consider it ice cold ( hope this isn't a future problem) but it had a much cleaner car fax. This car was from the islands, two owners and zero accidents. Not many service records compared to the other car but that is mostly because my buddy does his own oil changes and services himself. Anyway, I ended up purchasing this car from my friend for 3500. I was able to give him 2500 in cash and will pay him the 1000 later on and he's not really in a rush to collect. What I do have with this purchase is some peace of mind that my good friend is willing to help me with any type of mechanical issues that come up. One more issue that I need to fix is that the display isn't working properly, I will need to get that part and he will help me install it.


So although I can't change the past and my decision was already made, i'm curious to know what you guys think.....

should i have went with the 08 from the dealership? they made it very clear that there was no type of warranties once the car is driven off the lot but I'm assuming the mechanics at toyota wouldn't sell unless it checked out in decent shape. this car would probably have better resell value if I decide to go that route in 3 years.

OR

is the cheaper price, cleaner car fax, less miles (older model) and friend willing to help maintain the car (he loves it himself) worth the difference?

like i said, I can't change anything but just curious to know what everyone thinks. although I wish I could have bought the car for 3000 rather than 3500, I figure I will make up the extra 500 in time when he helps do repairs for free ( rather than pay a mechanic) and he's also giving me a time cushion to make a full payment.

thanks everyone and once again, very excited for my first prius!

 

Thank you for the thoughts and advice guys!

@peecee- the more I think about it, the more I do really enjoy this 04. The 08 was beautiful but i think I would have stressed out about keeping the body real clean because it was a clean car with the leather interior. That's not really a strength of mine and living in Hawaii I need a good beach car and I really think the 04 fits the bill. A couple of dings here and there really wouldn't weigh my mind down as much. Thank you for the response very cool that we both have the 04 I hope we can exchange thoughts in the future!

@ericbecky- my buddy that sold me his car also gave me his scanner- OBD1000. Thank you for the advice!