Purchasing used Prius and I just need to vent a bit

surprising, given todays gas prices. maybe look at civic/corolla or whatever?

my 2012 plug in with 60,000 miles in excellent condition isn't worth jack squat around here

 

Almost every vehicle in that area has some form of damage because they're driven into the city. The Prius is a Lyft/Uber/Yellowcab delight and that's what they're used for. Expand your search area and drive to buyit. I actually bought my Prius in NJ right by where you are over a decade ago and had to fly 2000mi out to get it. We just bought our new RX450h in Englewood, NJ because it was one of the few online we like with all the options/colours/etc. Flew out and drove it back. Driving a Prius cross country is a couple hundred dollars max. So if you can fly across the country, save a few thousand then spend a few hundred getting it local, much easier and cheaper.

 

Have you thought of buying your '05 back from insurance and having it fixed? You end up with a salvage title, but if you are not planning on selling the car, it's a good move.

 

There seems to be a good supply in my area of Indiana Zip 46304.
I see you are looking a very low mileage cars for their age.

 

a lot of people drive them and never charge, it is actually better for a lithium battery. other than the spare, you also lose most of the under floor storage.
they have some extra bennies though, depending on what package you compare them two, and whether you buy an advanced or base.

 

as a reference point, mine is worth between $9,000. and $11,000. private party value in very good condition on kbb.

 

This is my “good” condition 2010 with 218k, 5200 ish miles since my Gen 4 transplant/conversion. I’ll drive it into the ground.

 

Sounds frustrating.

Quite a few people from the southeast fly up to NJ or that area to buy Primes and drive them back home since they are not for sale in this part of the country. (Don't get me started on that!!)

You could go the other way. When I lived in Ohio, our neighbor liked to come down here to get used cars that weren't full of rust-rot. I know this guy and he will do his best to make sure you get one you like. Listings - Tampa Hybrids Inc.. I've bought four from him so far and they were all great.

 

I don't know if it'll make any difference, but if you contact him, let him know I sent you. Probably won't make a difference, but it's worth a try. He doesn't dicker; just charges the price he expects to be paid.

 

Contrary to my profile, I live in the tri-state. As a point of reference, my gen2 shopping experience in summer 2017 was three weeks. I wrote a computer program to scan newyork.craigslist.org for new prii listings within a certain radius and under 120k miles. During that time I saw 3-4 vehicles I could take the plunge on. It's fairly easy to tell from the listings if the seller is a normal guy like you and me, or if it's a curbstone (they're usually clustered in brooklyn). You should obviously try to buy from the former, but even the curbstones offer value relative to used car lots.

 

Had to look up what a curbstone is. I'd never heard the term.

 

Ditto. It's what I would have guess, but had never heard it before. Good term.

 

Hi Jerry. In the market for a Prius in the ATL area. Any other advice regarding Tampa Hybrids?

 

Welcome. Here's what's happened in my case. When my wife and I came back from Honduras 4+ years ago, we needed two cars and had decided that Prius was the way to go. We found Todd online before the move and went there first. We had been shopping online so had a good idea what prices to look for. Todd was in the ballpark in the price category.

But then, after meeting him and hearing him teach us more about the car, we developed a strong appreciation for Todd's integrity and his interest in meeting our needs. He gave us no pressure at all, but did give us all the info we could ask for. We bought two 2005's and loved them. A year later, a texter rear ended and totaled my wife's car while we were waiting at a red light. We went back to Todd and got her a 2007. Then, two years ago, my '05 was going to need some pretty expensive repairs and was up to about 150,000 miles, so I went back to him again and he offered me exactly what I was wanting for my '05 on trade for the PiP I now drive.

The cars are sold "as is," but he does check them out and fixes anything he finds. All four of ours came with brand new Yokohama Avids and were clean as a whistle. One had an HID headlight out. He replaced that for free saying he wouldn't have sold it like that if he'd known it was out.

I would suggest you check out his inventory at Listings - Tampa Hybrids Inc. and then give him a call. If you want to fly down here and drive it home, I'd be glad to pick you up at the airport and take you there if I'm not locked into something I can't get out of at that time. If I'm not available, Todd has been known to help with transportation. He's a member on PC as @TampaPrius.com but is so busy we don't see much of him here.

He's not cut-rate, but he is honest. You can probably find an equivalent vehicle for less money if you shop around, but I don't think you'll find better service anywhere.

 

With gas prices tumbling, the used Prius market should loosen up a bit.

 

I've got another new year's resolution now, to take along a skinny inspection camera/borescope now, to any car that has a collision mentioned (or even if it, um, doesn't have a collision mentioned) and poke it into the steering wheel through the opening around the cruise control stalk, looking for any nonsense like this:



(Why not use Scotchloks as automotive splices? The wires fit right in...)

What's in that photo came from a car where the airbag light happened to come on about 150 miles after driven off the lot—but you can't always count on that.