Unusual marks on the bottom of passenger doors?

welcome! i can't see anything.

 

If it's wax residue, ask them to buff it off.

 

Are you referring to the rear doors? There's plastic appliqués, and a car that was rarely washed can have those looking pretty knackered around the edges.

 

I see the plastic corner guard on the lower rear door corner, and it has collected considerable dirt or wax or other visible gunk along the edges. If not wax collected at the height change, then is it junk caught by the edge of the adhesive, or slightly underneath by some separation. This has been pictured on some previous cars as well.

Fix it with some combination of remove / clean / replace.

 

They are allegedly there to protect against paint chipping on some lower parts of the rear due to road debris. I believe Toyota's wind tunnel testing determined that they were needed. A quick, cheap fix on Toyota's part...

 

A car that shows a lot of grunge there might have just recently had an intense cleaning, after previous neglect. Yeah look it over carefully, check under the bumpers, wheel wells, door sills, pop the hood, the seat tracks and bolts, pull out the underfloor tray in the hatch, if you can. If it's raining, see if water's beading.

 

is it a local car dave, purchased and driven?

 

that sounds reasonable. are there uber drivers in your area?

 

I wouldn't buy a commercially registered vehicle.

 

CC missing, it is a One. If present, I'd keep checking, as I'm not certain that fleet buyers couldn't customize their order and get some of the missing features of the Two.

 

Search for and download the sales brochure so you'll know what is and isn't included in the different trim levels.

Read through http://www.carbuyingtips.com.

Pink stains or crusty deposits around the hoses in the engine compartment point to leaking coolant. If you see it on the left side of the car it will be from the inverter or it's pump. If it is on the right side it is from the engine and radiator.

If it is a Two or higher it should have the retractable cover. If you don't see it, it could be stored under the deck. Floor mats are an accessory so they may or may not be included.

 

I can't explain it, but I wouldn't either.

Also: tell me you're having it checked out by an independent Prius shop or similar.
My lifetime up/down on this is:
Spent $0-150 on each inspection
I've probably done it about 10 times
I've avoided one lemon and one nightmare, and one that was fine but had an underpowered motor.
All of those under $1,500 to 4,000 in value so you may be in different risk category
One semi-disaster made it through inspection and I bought it, should have known better given the shiftiness of the middleman.

Still, my lifetime net on inspections is absolutely in the positive.

You said you thought it was driven hard.
Honestly, if you have doubts, would you rather have your mechanic discover these before or after the sale ?

Re: pricing:
My long-time mechanic technically charges $50 for these, but I've always gotten them for free.
For the Prius, I found a local Prius mechanic and his charge was $150 for the full rundown, including quality of the 12v battery and the traction as best can be assessed. Worth every penny.

 

Any used car can have hidden, undetectable issues, I've resigned myself to buy new. Misguided DIY is a danger: wrong fluids in the wrong places, woefully neglected/abused brakes, butchered wiring, you name it.

Dealership service is a close second: countless owners when doing their first oil change find the oil filter housing screwed down like the hinges of hell, or even funnier: the filter missing. And Toyota's fragile engine underpanel half-broken, fasteners missing. And of course door hinges looking like an oil spill.

 

Prius Three.

Yes. Mechanics that specialize in Prii.

You can take it to a rival Toyota dealership. At least one, but probably all dealerships in our town do used car checks. I think they're like $80 or something. You simply call the service department, and they set it up.

 

If you go to a competent mechanic with a specific problem, even then your odds of getting a good diagnosis and optimum solution are sketchy. When you roll in with mystery car and $80, there is no way carnac the all-seeing mechanic is going to be on duty, lol.