Which prius to buy for lowest TCO?

Greetings... I live an hour south of you and help friends and family with all their hybrid cars as a hobby... I'm also on PriusChat near every day helping people here as well.

Sounds like you're in a good position cash wise to jump on the very best deal that comes along. Make sure to be patient if you want a good one!

Currently I'm studying how auto-auctions work and live in our state's capitol and due to Covid there's a huge fleet of state-owned Prius and other hybrids that have not been driven in a long time and hybrid batteries don't like that, which means warning lights, which means they'll be selling the cars off at auction rather than the Toyota stealership overcharging them outrageous amounts to repair them. So for $3K and less than $500 in repairs you could get a Prius worth $8K. If that interests you, that's what I'm currently learning to do.

Alternatively, if you just want to buy a Prius that won't have any issues for a decade or longer spending $16K for a 2017 or 2018 used Prius from a private seller is the way to go. A good tip for that type of transaction would be to do it in the parking lot of your bank as there will be plenty of security cameras and paying for it will be way less sketchy.

 

$9500 - 2013, 85k, good condition. I assume I might need to replace the car once over the 10 years of ownership. or the 15000 - 2017, 65k, good condition. are your best bets.

 

Remember: hybrid batteries degrade with age no matter how many miles are on them. Always aim for the youngest Prius you can afford, and accept a higher odometer reading if you want to save money.

 

2017 & 2019 it could depend on the trim level. They are 4th Gen and 2 different hybrid batteries are used.

The lower trims such as my Trim 2 have an improved version of the NiMH battery used in previous years. Most of Gen 4 now have Li-Ion batteries which were only seen in the US in the small number of Plugin Prius trims.

 

I'm still just learning about it... On my list of things to do is call the state motorpool, or whatever they call themselves and find out their plan to protect their hybrid car fleet from the pandemic shut down. I'll post more info to this thread once I learn more at the start of this week.

Also, there's plenty of online reading on all the different types of auto auctions that I'm just starting to dive into. If you have time to help with the research let us know what you learn?