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Used Purchase Advice: Car garage kept but sitting idle for 5 years, likely rodent damage

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by teal_prius, Jan 24, 2022.

  1. teal_prius

    teal_prius New Member

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    I'm looking at a 2012 Prius Plug-in, Advanced trim that is in great condition and low mileage for the age (around 60k). However the last service report was from 2017, and I noticed rodent damage on the cable leading to the inverter, so I know it's had issues before. On a short drive, no codes came up and the car sounded fine overall.

    What service is recommended when a car has been sitting idle for that long? I would be concerned about gaskets, fluids, and the battery system, as well as potentially wiring. They're asking 15.9k and I could easily see these adding up. Has anyone had to make these repairs recently in the Bay Area? What should I make sure gets checked out or replaced by the dealership on a pre-inspection?
     
    #1 teal_prius, Jan 24, 2022
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Rodent damage is probably covered under comprehensive insurance coverage, so make sure you buy full coverage insurance. If you're driving around and nothing is really wrong with the car, the rodent damage is probably not very severe.

    If the car started up and drives fine after sitting 5 years, then I would think it hasn't really been sitting that long. In that timeframe, batteries would go bad, fuel in the car would also probably go bad.
     
    #2 JC91006, Jan 24, 2022
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  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    I wonder what the insurer would say about rodent damage that occurred before you bought the policy though.
     
    #3 ChapmanF, Jan 24, 2022
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  4. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    In general, if you know how to splice wires together, as well as access wires by taking stuff apart this is a really minor issue. But if you don't know how to do that or not comfortable doing that and don't have a friend or honest local mechanic and you take a problem like that to a Toyota Stealership they'll likely look at you with dollars signs in their eyes and tell you they have to replace the entire wiring harness and will rip you off for many, many thousands of dollars.
     
    #4 PriusCamper, Jan 24, 2022
  5. mikey_t

    mikey_t Active Member

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    Have you looked up it's service history? You can do that using its VIN number on the Toyota website. Otherwise, Toyota (at least the dealership by me) is typically pretty thorough with their inspections. If you decide to pull the trigger I'd definitely get all of the regular scheduled maintenance done and change the oil.
     
    #5 mikey_t, Jan 24, 2022
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    is that a good price out there? mine has 80k and only worth around 8k
     
    #6 bisco, Jan 24, 2022
  7. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    West coast prices for used Prius have always been higher... And currently there's hardly any used Prius for sale compared to what it was like a couple years ago so prices are soaring!
     
    #7 PriusCamper, Jan 24, 2022
  8. The Critic

    The Critic Resident Critic

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    The battery is either about to fail, or its lifespan has been drastically reduced.

    Plug-in batteries are a whole different animal than the normal HV batteries. Run away fast.
     
    #8 The Critic, Jan 24, 2022
  9. teal_prius

    teal_prius New Member

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    Thanks a lot for the replies everyone. I'm going to reach out to my insurance and see what they say re: comprehensive when I could see rodent damage. The rodent damage wasn't on the car report so either it wasn't reported, or it wasn't bad enough that the mechanic would've had to report it. The car had been taken to an independent mechanic while it was in use. If insurance is okay with it I'll bring the car to the Toyota dealership for inspection as well.

    As to whether it started right up - honestly I'm not sure and I'm still trying to get that information from the dealer. The tires looked in pretty good condition so I have to assume those were put on recently. So I wonder what else was reconditioned.

    Anyone see any red flags from me feeling that the steering was a little bit stiff compared to my last PiP? Does that indicate anything is up with the power steering?

    The price is decent for the area, since like you're saying PriusCamper, prices here have spiked. I paid in the region of 11/12k for my 2013 PiP only a couple years ago with 60k miles, and this one's sitting at around 16k.
     
    #9 teal_prius, Jan 25, 2022
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  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    charge it up and see how far she goes on a charge

    make sure you get a working evse, and 2 completely working fobs. and make sure the mechanical keys work in the drivers door.
    i would investigate what happens to lithium batteries that have sat for 5 years.

    can't say about the steering, i have only ever driven mine. maybe the tires are low
     
    #10 bisco, Jan 26, 2022
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