Plan to buy second hand Prius 2004 in Cambodia

The gen2 Prius was built very well and should prove reliable ASSUMING it hasn't been tampered with or repaired/bodged by someone not knowing what they were doing.

The car has average ground clearance for a compact hatchback so I guess it depend on what sort of roads you'll be taking it on.

The Prius is good at giving warnings if there is a fault, so if no warning lights are lit and the HV battery fan isn't blowing hard through the vent on the back seat, then you should be ok to take your chances. You might want to replace the 12v battery if you can't establish when it was last replaced or at least double check that it holds a good charge otherwise you might get weird error messages.

Otherwise, you'll enjoy the nice quiet ride the Prius gives and will have fun surprising pedestrians as you silently sneak up on them.

 

It is a very bad idea to buy a Prius if you live in a country where you do not have trained service technicians and cannot easily obtain replacement spare parts. It would be OK to purchase it if you have so much money that your purchase of this car is for fun and you don't mind if it fails, cannot be repaired and you end up donating it to a museum or towing it to your local salvage yard.

Prius electronics are far more complex than can be found in a typical "modern car". It is quite likely that your local shop, if it does not have access to the Toyota Techstream service laptop or equivalent, will not be able to adequately determine problems logged by, for example, the hybrid vehicle ECU, the traction battery ECU, the skid control ECU, the transmission control ECU, etc. If you have any doubt about this assertion then I encourage you to obtain the Prius factory repair manual which is several thousand pages in length, and review the diagnostics section.

In the United States, the single largest Prius market outside Japan, it is easy to encounter lackluster service provided by Toyota dealerships which supposedly have trained and qualified service technicians on staff. Once the car's warranty has expired, most major repairs will cost thousands of US dollars. You can find many examples of this posted on PriusChat.

Do not underestimate how hard it will be to get a Prius or other Toyota hybrid serviced, if you do not have this basic service infrastructure available to you.

 

Hey Vanne,

I don't think too many brands can compare with the Prius--just read the 200k threads. I think it is a good buy if it had less than 75k on the engine. How many miles does it have? If you do get it, make sure you turn up the AC to combat the heat/humidity over there. I am from Laos, and I plan to ship my Prius there in 2015. I just hope the taxes aren't so high. Last, how much does gas cost there?

 

how much is gasoline there?

 

Cambodia is a hot climate, and that can cause problems for the HV batteries. Many of the threads posted here on PC complaining of early battery failures come from hot places. Any repairs on the car will be difficult without access to parts and hybrid trained technicians. I agree with Patrick above, and would strongly suggest another option.

 

$1.25 x 3.8 = $4.75/gallon. we're paying around $3.75 - $4.00 right now. how many miles per year do you drive? city? highway?

 

I agree completely with Patrick Wong. It is a poor choice because there is too much in a Prius that the mechanics in your area won't be familiar with.

One way to pick a car would look at traffic and notice what cars are popular there, the more popular they are the more likely you are to be able to find parts and competent service.

I looked at some Phonm Penh car ads online. Toyota is very popular. Toyota Corollas and Camrys are excellent cars. The Corolla is the more economical one of the two.

 

I'd have thought it would be cheaper, but try $2.10 a litre

 

$1.25/liter would make anyone in Europe deliriously happy.

 

Patrick's right. Bad car to own with no junk yard parts readily available and no dealership support.
I know you want one because gas is expensive but all that savings will quickly evaporate with one repair not to mention if its complicated you may not be able to get the car back on the road quickly. Bad used car choice in your country.

Try older Toyota Camry. There excellent very trouble free cars.

 

most popular and no dealer? where do they come from?

 

These are likely very used Japan domestic market vehicles that are approaching the age when they can no longer be licensed in Japan without passing a very costly inspection process. Hence, rather than end up in a salvage yard, they are shipped to other countries where right-hand-drive is OK and the vehicle licensing process is more relaxed.

 

My understanding is that RHD cars are now illegal in LHD Cambodia, though many RHD cars do find their way over the border. Not sure how long they stay like that or if they get away with it.

Perhaps they should change back to RHD and be able to access many more vehicle options available from Thailand and Japan?