Just bought a Prius. Car of the future, apparently. Learn me them.

The internet support for Prius is vast.  You might try Prius Chat and certainly youtube.  

No start could be as simple as a bad watch battery in the key fob.  A dead 12v battery (like most any other car battery) could be the problem too.   

For that price buy it, you can't go wrong.  Sure, go lower on the price if possible.  The open market will pay you $750 back for the car if you find it is not worth your time.  

History.  On the Toyota website there is a place for "owners".  Set up an account there and then drop in the VIN to this car.  That will pull you up the records of any time this car was serviced at any Toyota dealership in the nation.  It wont provide you with owner details but it will give you service records.  

I've had many of them, I only do the Gen1 cars, I like the way they look vs the 'clamshell' cars, which look pretty dated now, but some people think the Gen1 is the 'new' prius.   I like the "C" version and almost bought one.  Toyota stopped production of it.

Dude, that is a STEAL.  Worst case you sell it for a few parts and recoup the money.  Best case is that it's a simple fix and you have a 10k car on your hands.  

Playing around in the garage today, I discovered that 14" miata wheels bolt right up to the Prius. I have a set of 94 r-package hollow spokes that are ~10lbs each...debating if the rotational mass will outweight the severely limited tire selection...

10 lbs is probably 1-2 lbs lighter than stock 1g Prius wheels. Tire selection wouldn't be any worse than stockers, but it seems like it would mostly be a looks upgrade. 

I'm a Prius owner! 

First things I'll check is the fusible link or the 125A "hidden fuse" under the fusebox. I'll let the 12v battery trickle charge while I'm doing that. 

Not sure how "good" the 12v battery needs to be before it'll let the car start, but just getting the dash on would be an improvement. 

I know lots of people on PriusChat talk about Toyota TechStream and Dr. Prius apps - are they essential? I've BlueDriver which is pretty close to TechStream in terms of supported codes. 

In reply to pheller :

I use $4.99 Torque Pro w/ free Prius Software which only works on Android.

I have heard of TechStream but not gone down that route.

There is some chatter of the Dr Prius app in my Prius thread

I do like the PanLong ODB dongle that I bought with the Dr. Prius recommendation and coupon.  

Vigo said:

10 lbs is probably 1-2 lbs lighter than stock 1g Prius wheels. Tire selection wouldn't be any worse than stockers, but it seems like it would mostly be a looks upgrade. 

Looks like the steel wheels on my 3rd gen weigh roughly 16lbs each. So these would shave more than 6lbs per corner

Gen1 Prius wheels are very lightweight, I would not be surprised if they weigh less than the Miata wheels.

I got the car cheaper than I originally expected to pay - and delivered into my spare parking spot at the house.

The good news is the 12v battery is absolutely dead.  It's from 2013. Trickle charger is charging at 6v, which means it's likely analyzing the battery as so dead it think its 6v. I wonder if I can't convince the trickle charger to charge at 12v. hmmm..

The bad news is the car has got 214,000 miles on it. Bummer. 

The good news is, oil and coolant levels look good it likely hasn't been using coolant. No coolant in the oil, another good sign. Or so I hope. These things eat head gaskets with bad EGR systems. 

The bad news is the tow driver who dropped it off said he heard rumors that the car had a knock. Then he called home base and reported "nobody knows anything about the car." Suspicious. 

Good news is, it's still in pretty decent shape. A few dings and dents here and there, but a solid 10' car. 

I've searched everywhere statewide (Arizona) to get an idea of prices for a 2010+ with 150,000 or more miles. I can't find a car cheaper than $4,000. Plenty of cars listed with 180k+ going for those prices.

290,000 mile example in Albuquerque for $2300. 

216,000 mile 2010 in Palm Springs for $4200. 

201,000 mile 2012 in Ponoma (LA suburb) for $1900

210,000 mile 2010 in Diamond Bar (LA Suburb) for $4500

Now go to car-part.com and see how cheap replacement engines are.  For Gen2s, engines are $350.

You are still in a no loose situation. A 200k mile Prius in a rust free climate does not scare me.  Actually, it makes quite jelly. 

Gen 3's are a bit more. $1000-$1500.

Looks like the steel wheels on my 3rd gen weigh roughly 16lbs each. So these would shave more than 6lbs per corner

Sure, but the only Prii that use 4x100 wheels are the 1st gen and the Prius C. Everything else is a 5 lug.  I'm just saying i'm pretty sure the original aluminum 14" 4x100 prius wheels are already down there at like 12 lbs anyway. If a Prius C has some heavier steelies that'd be a decent weight loss, but some of it is coming from going from 15 to 14, which means to keep the same tire diameter you'd  likely be adding weight on the tire side.  I'm sure there are ways to work it out to be a good weight loss, just have to be picky about which wheels and tires. 

1st Gen Wheels are 14.2lbs. 

3rd gen 15" Plug-In Prius wheels are 18.28 lbs

Stock Prime and Gen 4 wheel weighs at 16.5lb 

It could totally be worth rocking the Miata wheels. 

Yeah, I've got a 2013 Prius C on steel wheels...looks like I might have lucked out and just happen to have the use case where miata wheels make sense

Good news: with a good 12v battery my cheap cheap Prius starts and drives! 

Bad news: it is pretty likely it needs or will need a head gasket soon (214,000 miles)

What I'm finding is that 2010+ cars have a pretty crappy EGR system setup (an EGR cooler that gets clogged up, jacks the cylinder temps and creates headgasket wear). This impacts the Lexus CT200h as well. Maybe even the 2015+ Prius. 

"Cylinders #1 and #2 receive the most of this coolant+oil mixture due to their location in relation to PCV valve and EGR system.
The mixture of coolant + oil throws off the stoichiometry which throws off the engine's compression ratio to a point that the ECU cannot correct for, resulting in the misfire. This leads to engine knock, which leads to the head gasket blowing."

It's pretty possible that we'll start to see A LOT of Prius and CT200h's hitting the used market in need of head gaskets, EGR cleanings, or complete motors. 

I suppose in that regard getting this knowledge now may be worthwhile for later on. 

In reply to pheller :

Dude, phenomenal deal!! 

In reply to pheller :

Anyone know how to check for EGR being clogged? If it is how do you fix it?

In reply to jrflying :

Gotta pull it apart. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Hr2tAK7-c

There is some debate about the necessity of a Oil Catch Can. If you're diligent about cleaning the EGR system every 25k-50k, you should in theory not need the OCC. Others believe that there is actually a few factors to the wear on the head gasket - 1) the intake manifold (which got updated), 2) the EGR cooler that gets clogged and 3) the amount of oil bypass in the system. 

The thought is that the OCC limits the amount of oil circulating, which prolongs the intervals needed to clean the EGR. A cleaner EGR helps to reduce wear on the head gasket during startup. 

Others believe that the revised intake manifold aids in cleaning up the system as a whole.  

https://priuschat.com/threads/oil-catch-can-aka-air-oil-separator.187481/

On the 2016+ Prius it may be valuable to add an OCC to monitor the amount of oil in the EGR system, but other changes to the 2016+ EGR system might have solved the underlying problem. Most notable change is the repositioning of the EGR pipe from above the cat to below, potentially leading to cleaner gases in the system. 

Doesn't the rear sway bar from a Corolla XRS bolt right up?

One more update before I leave this thread alone:

2010 Prius II - Beige

214,000 Miles

Acquired for half a week's wages. Runs and drives. No apparent head gasket leak. Traction battery seems ok (no warnings.) Rides rough, I suspect the shocks are goners. 

Currently have it apart to clean the EGR Cooler, Pipe, and Intake. Will install an oil catch can to limit blow-by recirculating. The internals are just gummed up with carbon to high heaven. I've never seen a dirtier engine. Might try some Kreen in the gas, oil, cylinders. 

Even though I might be able to resell it for a decent profit, I think I'll just drive until it really is truely dead, or something breaks that tips the cost over the value. The downside to not being afraid to fix most problems yourself is that it's almost always worth keeping around.