Recommend a used 09 for frugal family?

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Check for undercarriage rust, and run a carfax on it. You may end up spending additional thousands in the near future, or before 200k+ miles.

FYI : you're moderated until you've posted 5 times.

 

Mostly great cars, but if you get a bad one, it can get very expensive.
Just depends on your risk reward level

 

You've been reading history.

They were great for the characteristics you desire. The properties that made them so great have largely worn off due to age. That is not to say that every example is bad news- some are going to do okay for years to come.

But when new cars are scarce, good used cars are even more scarce. People tend to keep the good ones and trade in their problems- be careful.

 

Would rather not give you advice and it turns into a lemon. Are you mechanically inclined or a do it yourselfer? At least minimally be a competent troubleshooter to own a Prius.

Have a reputable hybrid repair shop go over it with a fine tooth comb. Your east coast location doesn't help to suggest a reputable hybrid shop. Run ViN through Toyota.com owner portal or through a Toyota dealer to obtain maintenance history.

09 with 100k? May be questionable, odometer rollback? Speedo changed? Salvage writeoff with washed title.

What Is Title Washing? - CARFAX

Major repairs for 2004-09 Prius?
ABS actuator approx $2-3000
Dreaded ABS Actuator | PriusChat

hybrid battery esp in the south $1500-2000 - mint 2006 with only 46,000 miles?????
My P0A080 fault code and battery rebuild | PriusChat

 

As long as you or a friend or family member has basic mechanical skills and understands how to use this website to fix whatever comes up a 2009 Prius will last a long time and will be affordable and awesome. But if you don't have an honest mechanic in your life, there's way too many predators who rip unskilled and uninformed Prius owners off in awful ways, especially at Toyota stealerships...

 

Guarantee you will spend $5k while you own it, probably $2500 at a time. This is not a car the average mechanic will work on and dealers are pushing $200 an hour these days. Buy simple and conventional or your rolling dice and the house always wins.

 

If you don't have good DIY skills, tools, and work space, then I would stick with a "normal" car like Corolla, Civic, Yaris, or Fit.

An old Prius CAN be a good car, but has more complex stuff in it, so more likelihood something will go wrong.

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Not if you or a friend or family member enjoys fixing cars... In which case it will cost you more like $50 than $5000... This website can walk you thru every possible repair a Prius needs. There's almost no other car with this level of online support that's entirely free!

 

They're great cars, but a 2009 is 14 years old now. At some point you start looking for a part you need and it comes up NLA. My old Bronco II got that old and that was a real challenge. They knew me at every salvage yard in 100 miles, I found businesses that catered to collectors and could manufacture things like the A/C hoses, I started buying parts preemptively so I would have them if needed ... that got into time AND money.

 

Same here with a 20 year-old Alfa Romeo. People in salvage yards in Italy and France know me

 

I would stay away unless you absolutely know that the HV battery is in good shape or has been replaced. Also check for oil consumption & Inverter coolant pump. Don't ask me how I know lol, my footprint is all over the forum . But if you are good with swapping out parts than go for it, you can find decent parts in the junkyard if you get there fast. I wish I had asked the same question as you before buying my junker but I don't give up that easy nor a quitter but I gotta be honest my patience is running thin these days. Oh one more thing, get a OBD2 reader if you do decide to buy it will come in handy, trust me. Good luck!

 

Be sure to buy a hybrid compatible obd2 scanner. Most low cost versions canʻt scan the hybrid specific modules. You can have a check hybrid system alert and get no codes. Other than Toyota's Techstream pc based scanner ($1600 for a legal copy), there are some bluetooth modules that work with apps like Dr Prius (specific for hv battery scans) or Car Scanner app (live data and some better codes) but for more factory type functionality you might try an Xtool brand for $220.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09KT9XNML/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

The reality is even the best Techstream setup requires fundamental knowledge and good experience to solve issues. The hacked version is illegal and difficult to install on a pc.

 

I wish people would quit using the price of the bundle that includes a year subscription and $500 dongle as the price of "a legal copy" of Techstream.

If you don't run an auto shop that needs a full year $1295 subscription, you can activate for two days at a time for $65 whenever you need to.



And while the $500 dongle that comes in the bundle is the one Toyota tests and will support if you have problems, the software will let you select any J2534-compatible dongle, and there are a bunch under $200 and even under $100 (before you start getting into the dodgier ones for under $40). Sometimes not all Techstream features will work right with a dongle Toyota hasn't tested, but often everything you want to do will work fine.

If you do want a full-year subscription and the Toyota-endorsed dongle, then yes, the advertised $1495 bundle is a better deal than buying the $1295 yearlong subscription and $500 dongle separately.

For a typical DIYer, buying a decent, less-expensive J2534 dongle and a two-day $65 activation whenever you need it is a lot less dough.

 

Two days won't be enough to even begin to understand the Techstream Scanner (unless you have past experience) much less a hybrid vehicle's specific issues.

When it is time to do a repair you may want to have a subscription to follow links embedded in Techstream. Which can be done for $20 as required.

We see inexperienced diy'ers take weeks to sort through a head gasket and often inadvertant rework.

Often the best approach is a professional diagnosis followed by careful consideration of the best pathforward. Or don't buy an older high mile Prius at all which is what the Op asked.

 

Even in threads where I've watched somebody take a couple months to resolve an issue, if they were subscribing for Techstream access I wouldn't expect them to have needed it active the whole 60 straight days.

Often diagnosis follows a think—do stuff—think—do stuff cycle. The think parts don't cost anything if you do them yourself. But skipping them often does. (Which is why "haven't got time for that think nonsense, have to get back out there and do more stuff" is the call of a person who is about to spend unimagined amounts of time, and probably money.)

But one thing about the TIS web site, whether you're subscribing for Techstream activation or just for access to the manuals, has come up in other threads. The part of their system that takes your payment is insanely clunky, and sometimes falls over and you've paid but can't get in yet.

You can call the phone number given for support and they will give it the kick it needs to let you in, and they've also extended my subscription period by whatever time I couldn't get in.

But they're only there for business hours weekdays. So my habit is, if I've been planning some big weekend project where I'll want access, I'll be sure to pay before close of business Friday, so I can call in case something goes wrong. Once past any payment-to-activation hiccup, the rest works pretty well.