Please, help me decide on this prius C, recon

This car had a "salvage title"? If so, does this mean that it was totaled? This was not a Prius C 4 since it did not have aluminum rims. The damage appears to have come from an off center head on collision that ripped off the output shaft from the trans axle. Personally, I would pass on this car and by a new C2. I would be concerned that internal damage to the trans axle that would not be covered by a warranty (in addition to damage to the drive side strut and suspension.

 

Agree. It may have alignment problems that might be impossible/expensive to fix.

Salvage cars have no warranty either. I'd run away from this unless it were thoroughly checked out and the price were less than half what they're asking. No way I'd pay $15,750 for that!

Go get a brand new c w/warranty instead.

That's not a very minor collision to me. Perhaps the seller is shady.

 

I am sorry, but there is no way I would buy that car after that accident. There is no way, unless you know the person who did the repairs, to know it was repaired correctly. That was a totaled car for a reason. Insurance companies do not total cars if it is not the economical thing to do. Which leads me to believe that it was not repaired correctly.

Just my 2 cents.

 

I wouldn't buy a car that was in a frontal accident. I would try to keep saving or try to find another used C. I would pass on this particular c.

 

DON'T.
Period.

You sold your Insight privately....right?
Right.
Selling it may or may not have been moronic (depends on how you did on the sale) but trading it would have been moronic. However (comma!) it's too late to worry about that. Let's pretend that your Insight had a salvage title. How would that have affected the deal?
Riiiiight. It's like mentioning "social disease" on a get acquainted first date.
Kinda wrecks the whole deal, huh?
Why buy more trouble?
Salvage titled cars have a zero-mile warranty.
It will almost certainly be more expensive to write money for.
IMHO?
Not nearly worth tossing the dice over.
So.....
The Veloster is an OK car....but it's not your ride.
Do what you did before.....list it privately. Keep it showroom new. Put some pennies into a mason jar and exercise a little PATIENCE. Somebody out there is salivating over the idea of getting a reeeeeally good deal on a Veloster...I promise you!
PLUS......the trial-size Prius is just getting started here in the Norte Americano market.
That means that unlike the "Rhymes with Sunday" company's offering.....they're still somewhat hard to find and folks out there are still paying MSRP++ for them more often than not.
From what I'm seeing and reading about?
You can almost get the adult sized Prius for what the C-model is selling for.
Get some stick time in the C-model and make SURE that it's THE car for you.
Same with the G3, the Pip, an AC Cobra, a Tesla, or any other car.
A 20-minute test flight with a salesperson blowing sunshine up your stern isn't going to tell you ANYTHING about the car other than the fact that the one that your currently driving is somewhat operable.......and THAT'S not enough!!! Riiiiight?
You test drove the Hyundai...right?
GET some stick time in any car that you're serious about adopting.

THEN....IMHO?
You need to do a few things...
1. Keep the 2013 in 2013 condition, and list privately. Somebody out there loves it, and wants it. Play matchmaker.
2. MAKE SURE that the C-model is what you really REALLY want!!!
3. Save and wait a little.
4. Stay away from auto auctions!!! Do you have a 15-year-old son who is just learning how to drive? THEN you investigate a "previously abused" vehicle. There are a dozen reasons that cars go to the auto auctions instead of the classifieds, or eBay, or Craig's List, or the used car lot where they're traded in...and NONE of them are good. Otherwise? They'd be CPO cars!


Good LUCK!
(you may need it!)

 

OMG...this looks more like a junk to me than a car?? Good for parts may be??

 

megaoptimus, ANY Prius isn't going to give you the FE you should have gotten out of that Insight. If you are going to settle for a Prius c, isn't that the problem? You are settling. If you aren't going to be happy with it then don't buy it. Insights weren't cheap when new & hard to find. I wouldn't expect them to be cheap or easy to find now. That one in CO looks great.

The only way you'll burn less gas is to get an EV.

ETC(SS), that trial size Prius is going to look pretty big parked next to an Insight.

Before the PiPs get spun up, the first time I competed in a rally an Insight won with 75mpg. (I did beat an Insight in my 2006. His driving was so bad I thought he was a DNF.) The second rally was won by a different Insight. That guy knew how to drive it & won with 125mpg.

Note: We are not discussing the 2009 reincarnation of the Insight.

Best wishes for finding one close to home at your price point.

 

Concur!
All things are relative. Time, money, size, etc....
I have two motorcycles, so I don't use "trial-sized" as a pejorative, nor do I have a Napoleonic complex where Priuses are concerned.

 

I would have no problem buying a demo from a dealer. You get the balance of factory warrenty, the balance of the two year service and should be a nice discount off of list which most are charging in my area. The C3 is a nice balance of price and options. I was so partial to that I ended up buying a C3.

 

Just my humble opinion, but what's wrong with a 2010+ Insight? You can get those for significantly less money than a new Prius. I've been watching the prices on both Honda and Toyota hybrids for months for personal reasons and those Hondas don't always move like dealerships would like. You could get a much better deal on one of those. Though the gas FE wouldn't be as high, since you didn't list that as your primary concern (going from Point A to Point B), I'd vote this route for you.

 

I've known a few people that have/had a gen one insight. I'm sorry to say that none of them are/going to be happy with anything else. The gen 1 has a certen uniqueness and soul that just is not in other cars. From what I have seen first hand with REAL insight owners your never going to have that special something you got with your insight. I know that sounds weird to people that never had seat time in a insight. And it most likly is disheartening to people that have but that's what I see. It's funny, I was always envious of the people that have/had insights but after see how unhappy the person I know is not that it's gone. And after hearing how unhappy you are I think I may have seen better off.

In my opinion the prius c is about as close as your going to get. I would, like most others have said, not get the wrecked one. Good luck.

P.S. what was the mileage on the insight?

 

Drive one and you'll understand.
I looked at them when I was considering becoming a hybrid owner instead of just a hybrid driver.
Look at the sales figures for the newer Insight if you have any remaining questions.

If you HAVE to have a hybrid, it might trump the C-model Prius since it's cheaper however (comma!) while you're on the Honda lot glance over and look at the Fit....which is orders of magnitude more fun to drive, one helluva lot cheaper to buy, and probably gives the G3 a decent run for its money in the TCO department....especially in the winter months.
That's kinduva sore subject amongst the Prius/Hybrid cheerleaders, and you'll have to excuse me while I
get ready for counter-battery.....but there you have it.

If you "have to have" a hybrid?
Right now I think I'd stick to the G3 or the starter-Prius.

 

What's a starter prius? Surly your not speaking of the C.

 

I was trying to come up with another appellation for the C-model. People sometimes get their bloomers in a bunch when I call it a "Trial-Sized" Prius or a Yaris Hybrid.
None of these are pejoratives BTW.
If the C-model had kept the power plant that's used by the adult-sized Prius, I probably would have dropped the tow requirement for my next car purchase and be circling the dealerships right now waiting for the price to drop!

Starter-Prius is actually an apt description. The C-model was originally intended to answer Honda's newer Insight, which fortunately for hybrid community scared the CRAP out of the the folks in Aichi.....even though it hasn't really caught on in the hybrid market. Both are literally supposed to be a starter hybrid.....or a <$20K hybrid to attract younger buyers.
However (comma!) while the Insight is only $500 cheaper than the C-model base-to-base........you'll quickly find that It's easier to find complimentary posts in this forum about the Hummer H2 than it is to find a C cheaper than 20K.
I test drove 2 base model Insights last year.....like 19K worth of base, all in.
So yeah.....all hijinks aside if you GOTTA have a new hybrid, the Insight is worth a looky-see, but I found that it's not nearly worth driving just to get 44MPG (EPA, Combined)

AS always....
YMMV.

 

I was just givein ya a hard time lol.

 

Yep, I've test driven an Insight and not surprisingly, it was far from impressive. I wouldn't ever buy one. I doesn't seem like they ever perfected their BMS nor packs (Salvage Traction Battery | PriusChat). The Insight he refers to is a 1st gen, but judging by problems I hear on more recent Honda hybrids wrt to battery packs, no thanks.

As for sales, look at hybrid sales October 2012 | PriusChat, Toyota Sales Temper With A 16.8% Increase In October Sales - Lexus Sales Soften Up 9.7% For Month - AutoSpies Auto News vs. Honda Media Newsroom - Headlines - American Honda Reports October Sales: Double-Digit Accord Gains Fueled by All-New Model; Acura RDX Sets Record, Up 62 Percent, for instance.

Toyota last month sold over 16K members of the Prius family vs. 251 Insights, 453 Civic Hybrids, 244 CR-Zs, and 144 ILX hybrids.