Today I bought a used Prius

Of course, it's the law of the universe. 
 

a friend's 2000's 4-runner had an abs motor go out and it had the same results less the electrical smell.  But the motor was toast. 
 

it did  start working again when I tapped it with a hammer.  But I didn't want her having a sketchy part of the brakes so I replaced it.  Actually had a local electric motor place rebuild it.   Way cheaper than the dealer and they fail enough that I didn't want used.  
 

not sure where it is on these gen2's but try hitting it with something.  At least it feels good. 

In reply to pointofdeparture :

If you think of the Prius C as an upscale competitor to the Toyota IQ/Smartcar/Fiat 500, it makes a lot more sense. I've been able to jam my Prius C into some dodgy downtown parking spaces without fear. That being said, I do believe it gets significantly worse highway MPG than the regular Prius. Round trip Austin to Phoenix, I averaged 42.5mpg

And then there was a 6th.  This 6th Prius, known as P6 is also the $500 Prius.  After having watch it sit for years and noticing that t now has 4 flat tires from sitting, I left a note with the seller.  At 225k mile 2008 Silver Prius.  

I had a hectic day but I did meet with the seller at the bank to sign title in front of the notary and pay for the car.  This is Friday and I have plans for Saturday so I'll likely pick up the car Sunday.  Pick up means I'll put my valid plate on the car and have AAA tow it to my house.  Sunday mornings are slow business for tow companies.  

With the title, the VIN is printed on it.  I ran it through the Toyota Owners site and pulled service records.  The car was sold new here at the local dealer. First day of service: 2-11-08  The lady I bought from bought at this same local dealer on 1-4-11 @ 23,303 miles for $18,462 before tax.  Sounds like a 3yr/30k miles lease turn back.  

Tons of dealer service.  Oil changes on the 5's.  I knew my local Toyota dealer was shady but boy!  Every oil change references a coupon and EVERY oil change has an additional entry for either misc lamp/bulb replaced or leaking tire repaired.  Sure seems like a little money grab of false service making up for the coupon oil change!  

Keep in mind the car's plates expired in 2019.  I think it has 225k miles.  The last service was:

10-'18 @ 223,926: 12 volt battery.  Great.  Fresh dealer battery just 3 years ago.  I'm now confident that it will take a charge!  I might even be able to warranty the battery before Oct '21 (3 years.)

11-'17 @ 223,918: Oil, Blower motor, 1 Wheel bearing and 2 CV shafts.  Yeah!

9-'17 @223,884:  Freon recharge.  I'm not confident the AC will be good???  Just says leak detecting recharge. No parts listed as having been replaced

11-'12 @ 94,560:  Front pads and rotors but they're probably only good for another 120k or generally due for repair (unless they were done elsewhere since.)  

From 6-'17 @ 215k miles to 6-'13 @ 116.9k miles there are no dealer services.  Many before and after but a 100k mile gap.  Probably serviced elsewhere.  

OMG. I'm sitting here waiting for AAA. The Prius fired right up on just a jumper pack. 

The seller pumped up the tires too. 

Gauge is working, now.  224,007 miles. 

Oil change sticker says due at 228,918

The AC is cold! 

Looks like the new one has a pretty nice body!

congrats again on snagging it

keep us posted

In reply to CarKid1989 :

One little whisky bump, garage scratch, grocery cart scratch on the passenger rear.

Some rust on rockers. Mild by local standards. 

Walmart, Douglas brand tires were manufactured 31st week of 2017 and all have great tread

Dang, nice!

Why'd you have to tow it??

Is this worth looking into?

Vermont CL Prius.

jfryjfry said:

Why'd you have to tow it??

It crossed my mind that, "I could drive this home."  But, the AAA truck was on the way.  Also, I drove a car over there so if I drove this one home I'd still have to go back for the other car.  Additionally, all the other question marks the car could have.  But, very true, I think I could have driven this home.  

vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) said:

Is this worth looking into?

Vermont CL Prius.

Get the VIN from the seller and then register on the Toyota Owners site to get the free dealer service history.  

Seller lits it as Salvage.  What does this mean in your state?  Here salvage means the car can not be titled to drive on the road until it is State Inspected.  Or, the sellers use of the word "salvage" could just be his opinion that the car is in rough shape.  Ask him what he means by "salvage."

Search FB Marketplace in your area for keyword "Prius Parts"  This should find you people who refurb/recondition the hybrid batteries.  Could be $500-$900.  

Does this car still have the factory catalytic converter?  If it does, you have the safety net of recoup.  If not, then additional large expense.  

All my Prius are between 150k and 200k.  I'm glad to say I've never had hybrid battery issues. But, its probably worth noting that hybrid battery replacement is "plug and play."  No ecu coding is needed if you swap out a battery.  The worst part of the whole job seems to be that EVERY piece of plastic rear cargo area trim has to come out and some unbolting of the rear seat back.  It's an hour of plastic removal for a few minutes of battery removal. 

In the earlier thread about this $500 Prius, I had diagnosed the PO issue that the car would randomly not turn off to be an issue with the digital spedo/odo panel called the combination meter.  In that thread I had learned that when the speedo/odo screen is not working the car will not let you turn off the car.  The reason seeming to be that since there is no readout of how fast the car is traveling the car thinks you might be driving and does not allow for the turn off.   Seem the problem comes down to one bad capacitor in the lcd panel/board.  The capacitor is $0.69 but only sold on amazon in 10's so $6.99

I also added the $14.00 soldering iron kit since I do not have one. 

Last Sunday I broke down the dashboard of the Prius to the point that you can removed the whole gauge.

Before:

During:

The parts arrived during the week and on Friday I tackled my first duties of a soldering iron.  A little tricky and not great with my unsteady hand but upon putting it all back together, I do, in fact, have power to the combination meter.  Yes, it was working when I took it out but my understanding was it worked intermittently.  I figured that since I had removed a whole capacitor, I must have successfully got it soldered in if it now works at all.  

I figure that I have $20 bucks of parts into this repair.  Labor time is probably more like 5 hours.  That includes the learning and shopping time as well as the real teardown time.  

Todays success was celebrated by taking my daughter to the beach in this Prius.  I figured it was the best car to get sand into because Sunday morning may be dedicated to some interior deep cleaning of this one. 

All total, I have put about 25 miles on this Prius.  The previous flat tires seem a bit "flat spotted" but even at 70mph its slight, not extreme. 

I had put the 12v battery on the charger during the week and it seems to be back to life!   

The car has a half a tank of gas but I need to get some more to add some fresh fuel to that multi year old fuel.  

John Welsh said:

After all the Prius joy that I spread in this thread and the thread of my yet to be acquired $500 Prius, today I am in Prius angst. 

While very routinely taking my daughter to school today.  In mid travel my 209K mile Prius, daily driver, threw on ABS, Traction, Brake lights as well as a continuous beeping.  

Braking got weak mostly feeling to just be the rear brakes doing the work.  The distinct smell of  "electric heat" emanated from under the dash area.  

Initial indications are failed ABS Actuator.  A big job.  

 

 

Oh, I love 'em but right now I'm sort of hating this one.  

 

I was supposed to go complete the $500 Prius purchase today.  Just what I need, 2 non roadworthy Prius.  But, I might need a parts car!  

 

 

To add fuel to the fire.  I lent my F-250 earlier this week to a family friend who called me telling me it was leaking and then later called to say she couldn't turn the wheel.  Power Steering fluid was bone dry.  I refilled it and brought it home where it is leaking in the parking lot next door.  Better there than on my concrete.  Ha.  

 

All at once!!!

Congrats on the new Prius P6! The '04 I got from you that now lives with my brother had the ABS go out a couple months back. Went through 3 "good used" ones before finally getting it sorted. Best of luck on the new one, looks really nice.

Bill

Prius #1 (P1) was sold today. 

Documented here: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/cars-sale/experiment-in-the-post-covid-used-car-market-prius-content/190806/page1/

Bought for $5,800 and then 5 years and 81k miles later, sold for $5,800.  Just maint costs which included struts, wheel bearings, 12v battery and just front brakes.  Super happy with that!  

Next to sell will likely be P6 after some small fixes:

 P6: '08 w/227k, clean title and the car I drive daily.  RF wheel bearing is just getting noisy, common.  I noticed this week as we're in a cold spell that the heater is weak and mpg is down.  I suspect thermostat.  Recently threw code for misfire but age of spark plugs is unknown.  Parts car gives me coil options if plugs are not the answer.  The clean title and newer year of 2008 makes this a good candidate to sell.    Local market analysis in posting #1 implies an asking price of $4,500 after some easy fixes.  

Evolving Gen2 Buyers Guide: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/prius-people-help-me-look-before-i-leap/191269/page1/

I guess some update.  P6, the $500 Prius has been sold.  It never was listed.  It went to the brother of the guy who details some cars for me and who I originally met because his sister worked with my wife.  Seems easier to just call them "friends of the family."  This brother drives about 45k per year.  I have been coaching him on some Prius shopping to replace his Accord.  

The $500 Prius was never fully intended to be a flip.  I personally drove it for 6 months and about 5k miles.  

$500 purchase
$200 battery (value, pulled from P4, parts car)
$250 tires (used tires I bought last summer for $100 but in great shape.  I then added $50 for all new tmps since the car was riding on '04 rims that didn't have sensors at all)  Mount and disposal and tax cost about $100. 
$350 front wheel bearing ($100 part and $250 for the 2.5hr job...I had a shop do it.)
$250 for thermostat and new coolant (I too had a shop do it.)
$500 for combination meter replacement (a $0.69 part but I associated 5 hours of my time to learning and doing the job @ $100/hr)
$50 self replace spark plugs (I used cheap, $15 in plugs but added some labor)
$50 self replace clock spring (again, $13 part and some labor)
$50 self replace stock radio from parts car

$2000 lets say that's what I had into the car. Or, look at it as $1,200 into the car when you factor out parts I already owned and labor I provided.

Now, with all "quirks" fixed and all operating correctly, I sold the car for $4k.  If I had listed the car my intention was $4.5k ask and settle to $4k.  Crazy new world for a car with nearly 230k miles.  But, it has been sorted and it is solid.  Nothing left to wonder about.    

Well done!

Congrats Jon!

BBC

Sometimes "friends and family" can have a boomerang effect.  Seems like a well sorted car, well done.

In reply to Dirtydog (Forum Supporter) :

I had considered this "boomerang."  So, I gave him the car on Friday. I told him to run it for work for a week and if you like it...pay me.  By Monday he was happy enough to pay me on Tues.

He, but mostly his brother who details cars, are handy enough to handle owning an old Prius.

Cool thread.

In reply to Harvey :

And then there was a 7th Prius (P7) 

While with someone else, in someone else's car, on a Friday, I drove past a JY with this Prius out front where they sell some cars. Could not stop that day.  I did go back and stop, in the rain, the next day but with no money.   I tried to go back and get it the next business day, Monday and that turned into Weds. 

Some of that detailed over here in the sale listing.  Yes, this one will be sold. 

2009 Prius w/ 239k.

Some history of starting life in Florida before coming to Ohio. 

The JY acquired it after the catalytic converter was stolen and the victim pocketed the insurance money rather than fix the car. But, it is a clean, not salvage title. 

Before getting off the dolly... 

The oil pan and trans areas are wonderfully dry.  Sticker on the window says its due for an oil change in another 1k miles. So, it's within it oil change service interval.  Glad to not see it something like 5k miles over due. 

Every body panel VIN tag is present. That means no major previous damage. It's also worth noting that all the underbody aero is correct. This often gets discarded or replaced wrongly if it's ever been off. 

Some cosmetic damage to plastic bumper cover. 

Nice score!

What do you think those holes are from? were they trying to pull out the dent?

In reply to trigun7469 :

Yes, drill in to insert something to pull out. Not the best way.

But, $100 usually buys a color correct, used cover. But this isn't that bad.  On a positive note, the bumper cover has never been off and is installed correctly with all the original under body aero.