What is going on with my car, how can I fix it?

You just learned a very important lesson about buying a car: get it inspected by a competent, trustworthy mechanic BEFORE you buy. One easy fix is that your intermittent headlight lamp needs to be replaced, but be warned: the HID lamps are crazy expensive.

 

Since you say that you can do electronic work, you can repair the combination meter: combination meter repair - DIY | Page 4 | PriusChat
For headlights do you have HID? Maybe you just have bad bulb.
What do you mean by neutral safety switch?
Get Mini-VCI and you can read the codes from the Prius and do other stuff like bleed brakes. Mini-VCI is cheap and good but you do need Windows laptop.

 

Head light amazon.com/Philips-Standard-Xenon-Headlight-Bulb/dp/B00480J4KA
Serpentine belt amazon.com/Bando-3PK860-Quality-Serpentine-Belt/dp/B000Q08RLI
Complete rear struts amazon.com/2004-2009-Toyota-Complete-Struts-Assembly/dp/B00QH1EQKQ

I do not know how much you are a DIY mechanic. but those are the easiest to fix with a youtube video.
Small hands greatly helps the headlights.

 

That's pretty easy really.

You get someone who knows what they are doing to fix ONLY the items that affect it's ability to run safely.

Anything that is just inconvenient you just learn to live with........and save that money for your next car.

 

Correction: A 13 year old car that needs several thousand$ in repairs, is NOT "wayyy" worth it (regardless of how much you love your family). This is exactly why you should have gotten a professional inspection, with an estimate for needed repairs.

 

Accounting questions: Did your car cost a couple thousand less than others because it needs MORE than a couple of thousand dollars in repairs? Isn't that "above a certain price"? Did they sell it to you for "wayyy cheap" or did they sell it to you for its actual value? Your trusted family should have told you about these expensive problems before they sold it to you.
Now let's try to diagnose another item on your list: what do you mean when you say "Neutral safety switch not engaging". What exactly is/isn't happening?

 

OK, here's a cheap one. The CEL (check engine light) is going off during left turns because the oil level in the gas engine is very, very low. This means either no one is checking it over long periods of time or the engine is a "burner" and consuming a lot of oil. It's usually a combination of the two but mainly the latter.

GOOD LUCK!

 

You forgot to mention that anyone who doesn't know to check the oil level AS THE FIRST THING TO DO, probably can't reasonably expect to be fixing other "stuff" on the car......without some "onsite" help.

 

I have NOT been questioning your decision, but in general, for most buyers, just barely being able to afford a Prius is a bad choice. The Prius is a very reliable car, but when things do go bad, most mechanics can't actually fix it. The just replace entire components, which is expensive. If you are willing to YouTube your problems, many have less expensive fixes.

We do not know your level of expertise, so as an example I showed you complete Strut assemblies. That is more expensive than the bare strut, but requires less expertise to do safely. (you have to compress the spring to install the bare strut, and that is dangerous)

 

That's an interesting statement to make because a hybrid doesn't really need to prevent the "system" from "starting" when it's in gear.......because the computer really has control of when it will actually move........and there really aren't any "gears" in the conventional sense.

If it is in Park, you should not be able to move the gear shift if the "system" is OFF.
Not sure about N.....but it should scream at you if you try to turn it off while in N.

If you DO manage to get it completely OFF in D, for example, I see no reason not to allow it to start up again in that position.......but I haven't actually tried that.......and probably won't.

Summary: It does NOT have a "neutral safety switch" in the conventional sense.

P.S. And I'm pretty sure that NOBODY is trying to make you feel bad about this "purchase" but several of us want to help you understand the situation that you have gotten yourself into.
If you do get all of the critical systems fixed, the odds get greater with each passing year that the hybrid battery will wear out. Fixing that (right) will cost something like $1.500 or more.

In general, a person with a tight budget is MUCH better off with an inexpensive conventional car with high mileage rather than a hybrid with the same age and miles. The likelihood of ongoing expensive repairs is much less........if you shop carefully.

Good luck. Start saving for your next car as soon as you can.

 

If Gen 2 is like Gen 3, it just silently goes to Park any time you turn it off, whatever was selected before. So any time you start it, you are starting it in Park.

The only exception would be if the last shutdown was actually a hard powerfail that left the park pawl disengaged, in which case you're basically in neutral.

-Chap

 

A classic example of where a Prius c is nothing like a Prius.