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Questions from a possible new 2006 Prius owner

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Yellowmitch, Nov 27, 2015.

  1. Yellowmitch

    Yellowmitch New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
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    Hi there,

    I am thinking about purchasing a 2006 Prius gen2 t-spirit in the UK with around 100,000 miles on it.

    The car appears to be in good condition, and has a full main dealer service history until 72000 miles and has had the steering shaft and water pump recalls done.

    It appears clean and everything appears to work.

    It has quite heavy corrosion on the inside of the front hood/bonnet which has partially erupted on the outside leading edge of the bonnet.

    It also has a badly fitted aftermarket parking sensor kit and unfortunately no rear camera etc.

    It does have jbl sound and nav so hopefully the rear camera can be retrofitted?

    My main questions are as follows

    Does the Prius rust anywhere? (Including underbody and suspension)

    What is the real world UK mpg? 80% urban driving

    Is there anything I should be scared of?

    Can I check battery health myself with a diagnostic tool?

    Is it a better car than my 2003 rover 75 diesel estate?

    Thanks

    Alan
     
    #1 Yellowmitch, Nov 27, 2015
  2. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    I don't see much corrosion on mine, so I would wonder if it has been exposed to excessive road salt or sea salt. This gets to age when the HV battery can fail, so you need to take that into account.
     
    #2 wjtracy, Nov 27, 2015
  3. Yellowmitch

    Yellowmitch New Member

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    Apparently hood corrosion is common in the UK. It is mentioned on honestjohn
     
    #3 Yellowmitch, Nov 27, 2015
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i thought the hood was aluminum?
     
    #4 bisco, Nov 27, 2015
  5. Yellowmitch

    Yellowmitch New Member

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    Yep. Aluminium corrosion. Turns out car was fairly rusty on the floorpan and rear suspension too so I will give it a miss
     
    #5 Yellowmitch, Nov 29, 2015
    bisco likes this.
  6. Data Daedalus

    Data Daedalus Senior Member

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    II
    Curious! I've literally never seen a Prius II with a corroded bonnet, or indeed, floor pan. I wonder whether it's been caught in a seawater flood incident in the past?


    iPhone 6S +
     
    #6 Data Daedalus, Jan 1, 2016
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2016
  7. Yellowmitch

    Yellowmitch New Member

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    Yep. Corroded hood/bonnet is par for the course in the uk. As for rusty floorpan thats also common for japanese cars here in ireland. Ireland is an extremely wet country and it is unusual to have 2 dry days together. This car also lived in a seaside town further compounding its problems
     
    #7 Yellowmitch, Jan 1, 2016
  8. Dion Kraft

    Dion Kraft Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    You can get surface rust corrosion on the underside but its a question of how much and how deep. Most is slight but there are issues with water being trapped in doors and bottom of the door rusting because of the moisture entrapment. Also same goes for areas near the rear wheel wells which can also trap mositure and damage occurs. Depending on the area it can vary but they are not without issue just like any other car which has a moist environment. Nonetheless, I feel even if yours has these issues the good out weight the bad as long as your floor pan is intact and your feet don't touch the road!
     
    #8 Dion Kraft, Jan 1, 2016
  9. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    As member Data Daedalus said I have never seen a corroded bonnet on a gen2 Prius. Some light surface rust after 7or 8years on the underside may be visible, but should be of no concern.
    Real world fuel consumption is 60 mpg. This will be more like 65 in the summer, and 55/57 in winter.
    You can check every detail of the car with a Mini VCI, and laptop. This should be considered an essential buy if you wish to maintain the car yourself. Most other scanners will read engine codes, but not the hybrid codes.
    VCI costs about £15 on ebay, and is more than a scanner. It enables things like bleeding the brakes "do not try if you do not have the VCI", zero point calibration of the power steering "required when you have the steering tracked", linear brake solenoid calibration. Adjustments can also be made to the AC configuration, interior light time out, and many other configurable features.
    Is the Prius better than the Rover 75D. This is pure conjecture. The Prius will be cheaper to run, and I believe more reliable, but is not in the same size category as the Rover,and is difficult to compare as such. It will not have the comfort, or space of the Rover having said that the Prius has plenty of rear legroom and is comfortable to drive. Different people will have different views.

    John
     
    #9 Britprius, Jan 2, 2016
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2016
    Data Daedalus likes this.
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