Today I bought a used Prius

eastsidemav wrote: Convenient for this thread to pop up at this time. I'm actually thinking of getting a used 3rd gen Prius 4 or a Prius V 4. I need to get out and drive a few, I've driven the 3rd gen before, but its been a while.

If shopping high mile versions, downloading that Torque software would make a great shopping tool. As an example, it can tell me that the range on my 14 cells is about .2 volts. A typical reading is that the highest volt cell is 16.7v and the lowest is 16.5v. I take that to mean that they are all pretty even and there is not a failing cell.

I like the size of the Prius V but like yourselves, they are newer and rarer so finding a good price/value is harder.

on a side note... I did notice while test driving that it seems most dealers have no idea what trim these cars are... my iv was labled as a ii, I tested what was said to be a v (five) but was at best a iii, and the 3rd car they had also labeld ad a ii but was a v...

on a side note... I was appalled to find that while the car has Bluetooth it doesn't play music though your phone... just does phone calls (2010 with JBL sound system but without the big screen display/gps) so I picked up one of these guys for cheap https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Bluetooth-Receiver-Speakers-Headphones/dp/B01AV6PK3E/ref=cm_wl_huc_item works like a charm although it does give a little bit of ground loop sound/screeching when nothing is playing... but it turns on when the car turns on and the phone auto connects... just lacks controls like skip and such... but right now it does the job

In reply to donalson:

I've noticed that in some of the ads. It's kind of annoying, too, since I can't just search by leather interior, since the Five trim level has it too, and I don't want the big wheels it comes with.

JohnRW1621 wrote:

eastsidemav wrote: Convenient for this thread to pop up at this time. I'm actually thinking of getting a used 3rd gen Prius 4 or a Prius V 4. I need to get out and drive a few, I've driven the 3rd gen before, but its been a while.

If shopping high mile versions, downloading that Torque software would make a great shopping tool. As an example, it can tell me that the range on my 14 cells is about .2 volts. A typical reading is that the highest volt cell is 16.7v and the lowest is 16.5v. I take that to mean that they are all pretty even and there is not a failing cell. I like the size of the Prius V but like yourselves, they are newer and rarer so finding a good price/value is harder.

nice I was just looking at info about it... I'll DL the upgraded version and see what things look like...

the article https://axleaddict.com/auto-repair/Using-Torque-With-A-Toyota-Prius-Using-An-ELM327-Adapter-ScanGauge-Alternative

And then there were two... 

I have liked my '07 Prius so much that this week I bought a '08 Prius. 

Nearly 1.5 years ago when I bought Prius #1 (P1), this green would not have been my first choice of color.  Now when shopping for P2, the right condition at the right price at the right place also happened to be the same green.  

P1 was a '07 w/ 78k miles for $5,800.  At the time I considered this to be a great deal.   

Then 1.5 years later I buy P2 which is a '08 (1 year newer) w/110k for $4,500.  I think this is a better deal.   Full disclosure though is that P2 is a R-title.  I bought it directly off a body shop who specializes in rebuilding Priuses and Camrys.  He had no less than 4 hulks of parts-car Priuses out back. On site was also two other "finished" Priuses and two Camrys.    This one had been a front, passenger side hit and required a new bumper cover, RF fender and door.   He was very forthcoming of the previous and current condition.    In irony, it was not until after I owner P1 that I deduced and discovered that it too had once had a bumper cover and RF fender replaced though it is not a R-title.  

I towed my R-title Prius home with my R-title Super Duty.  

Nice one! 

It's been a long time since I bought my 07 for $4500. At the time i thought it was an exceptional deal in spite of ~217k because you couldnt find a nice Prius for $4500 back then and this car was NICE for 217k. Now that kind of price is a lot easier to find which is great because they are a car that a lot more people need the chance to love! 

The one i bought back when was left to my ex in a breakup, but then bought from her by my mother as a 'spare' car, and oddly enough is now mostly driven by my dad and myself as an errand runner. It's at 276k and while showing some age mechanically (finally!) in my mind it has become sort of a science experiment of finding out how far it will make it with zero effort at maintenance and repair other than oil changes and tires. It may end up sort of like my dad's old Dakota, which at 250k i was thinking 'id drive this thing for another 250k' before doing the math and realizing that was $30000 of gas to pump through a $2000 truck.  At that point the price of a nicer $4k truck (01 Ram still doing fine) is a drop in the bucket of your total expenses.  On the prius, another 250k at current gas prices and mpg would 'only' be 13k.. 

Saw this on the list of Craigs. Fixable? 

I wonder how this one pronounce? 

The 1st gen Prius is kind of a turd compared to the 2nd gen.

2002maniac said:

The 1st gen Prius is kind of a turd compared to the 2nd gen.

Sorta true.  The main issue with the 1st gen is that the 2nd gen exists. 

And the main issue with the 2nd gen is the 3rd gen exists.  And the main issue with the 4th gen is its butt ugly.

1g cars don't have near the utility as the 2g cars.  In addition to no hatch, they also are significantly shorter.  They are pretty much the same speed (slow) and get roughly the same mileage (awesome).

And then there were three.  The two green and now one silver. 

Today's latest acquisition in my ongoing series of Salvage auction purchases is a 2004 Prius (1st year of Gen2) with 158k.  Took a little hit to the rear bumper.  I drove it right off the tow dolly.  Its a little rough and not perfect but so far, I'm all in for $928.  The goal here will be at/under $2k.   

Stay tuned as it later gets its own build thread.   

I'm super interested. I've sort of sold my prius to another family member although it's yet to be paid for. I haven't driven it at all this year. I did pick up a super cheap Highlander Hybrid AWD and flipped it to another relative. That one was cool, but nothing of the overall package that moved the whole game of commuter cars forward like the 2g prius. 

ours is still going strong... just over 160k on her (2010 model)... we put new tires on it last month fairly certain this is the 3rd set it's seen (including the new OEM)... the only things we've done to it is oil changes... I'll be replacing the headlights soon, got new ones in the mail but haven't had time as it requires removing the bumper to get them out :-/... as they stand they are prob the worst lights for normal beams I've ever used... the stock jeep cherokee lamps are far better (old school glass 4x7 or whatever was used for decades in most cars)... I'll likely need new brake pads here soon as well.
 

I'm still impressed with how roomy it is for the size of car... but we are looking at getting something else for the family not too far down the road... my 14 y/o 6 foot son isn't getting smaller... thankfully the 15 y/o daughter is about done gowning... but it is pretty cramped when we add a kid to the back seat... but this will be the wifes commuter for her 30 miles a day drive... 

Good luck with the build John!

I still have a strange fascination with these. I've yet to buy one, though. Consider me subscribed!

I'm looking for an affordable used one up here in the Great White North. Now that I have bought a house with a 65km drive to work, I'm hoping to improve over the 2.0L Golf I have. My targets are either a Prius or a TDi Golf

We just bought a Prius V for commuter/family duty. It seems like the best tool for the job, and I’ve been averaging 4.5L/100km (52 usmpg) so far. They are a 7 seater here, with surprisingly spacious third row seats.

As commented above, I was going to start a new thread for this Prius build thread but then on further thought I figured it might be good to keep all my Prius stuff in once place.  

Though I have 2 Prius, I really don't need a 3rd right now.  I bought this one with the intention of flipping it.  As things progress I'll evaluate weather I keep this one or flip it.  

My most recent flip of a salvage car was this 2004 Chevy Malibu sold for $1950.  This Prius is a 2004 model also but Prius hold their value more than a Malibu.  It seems to me that the absolute bottom end pricing of running, used Prius pricing is $3k.  For that you will get a car with more than 200k miles, often a lot more than 200k.  

I was willing to go as high as an all-in-purchase price of $1,700 for this Prius.  When done, I think this could be a near $4k CL ad with a settle price of $3.5k-$3k.  That should represent a value at only 158k miles even if the car is wearing a rebuilt title.  My goal is to have less than $2k into the car and less than 10 hour of sale prep time.  

Im unsure where to start in this whole Prius story. Lets go right to pictures from the pre-purchase inspection at the auction yard. 

The interior is dirty but not impossible. A full Saturday after noon or $100 to a detailer should solve these issues.  Dirty yes, rips no. 

First, a pic of the driver's side rear door and the proper gap.

Now the passenger side with tight gap (no gap.)  This pic is the passenger rear door. The panel gap is tight. The door opens and closes just fine but there is a "rub" when the door closes. 

If you zoom in, there is a little rub mark

Here's the why. This pic taken from the top of the passenger fender shows there is a little push on the rear quarter causing a little "point out" or "out of round" to the wheel lip. This point is just above the leaf in this photo. 

These Toyotas have a vin tags on body panels like shown by this black tag on the passenger fender. 

All the tags are present except for one. The drivers side may have been replaced but I wouldn't say it was replaced recently and the work is generally good. 

The worst rust of this Cleveland market car is at the passanger, rear rocker.  Zoomed pic. 

Unzoomed

Acceptable by local standards. 

Like seen in this pic, there is no major distortion of the passenger rear quarter. 

NGTD said:

I'm looking for an affordable used one up here in the Great White North. Now that I have bought a house with a 65km drive to work, I'm hoping to improve over the 2.0L Golf I have. My targets are either a Prius or a TDi Golf

Consider the Lexus CT200h as well.  They don't command much more $$ than a used Prius, but are far nicer vehicles in EVERY way except for ulitimate fuel economy and cargo space.  

I like the recently discontinued Prius V but the price they command is out of my comfort zone. 

The rear seat of the Prius V is downright stretch limo-like and the rear door opening is huge. For Donaldson above, the V is an exceptionally choice for large rear occupants. 

I can only assume that the purchase of a third Prius is for a parts car to add a second motor/more battery to one of the others. I know you keep saying it's a flip but I bet that's just a ruse.

In other Prius drama, this happens earlier this winter to Prius #2. 

My driver, who had the car knows nothing about it. My fist inclination is to not believe him but from this photo taken the day it was discovered, I think he may have been swiped by a snow plow in his apt parking lot. Notice the plow line comes really close to the car. 

That leaves me with no one to really blame with any proof. I really don't want to make a claim which could increase my rates.   I have a body guy who did some inexpensive work on the F250. Maybe he can help. 

I hop on car-part.com and find I can get a whole door, in the right factory color for $150. The source is Toledo Core Supply an hour away. I contact them and they say, "come see what we have."  

To be continued. 

In reply to John Welsh :

that's not too bad... I think my Sonata's scratch was worse, especially after the door is replaced

I get to Toledo Core Supply (TCS) and this is not a junkyard.  More of what I would call a dismantler.  It is an old industrial building in an old industrial part of town.  Everything is indoors.  The young guy takes me back into the bellows of the building.  Its super dark and I wait for him to head back to the light switches.  I'll be damned, in this section of the building are 40-50 Gen1 to Gen3 Prius but mostly Gen2.  We search trough looking for green ones.  We really don't find the one.  We then trake the freight elevator up to the second floor.  There in pallet racks is the big parts that have already been taken off the one we were looking for.  All 4 doors are there, and the hatch and rear bumper as well as the full grey leather interior. 

The door looks great.  $150 plus tax, cash and carry and they help me load it into my car.  

Back home:

That $150 gets me THE WHOLE DOOR, unbolted at the hinge and harness cut.  What I have learned from the DCulberson threads of selling parts is that I will be left with a nearly an entire door.  Via ebay, I should be able to recoup a lot of that $150 through the sale of the remaing, glass, interior trim, handles, latches, speaker, window motor, switch, etc.   I dream of "net zero". 

While at TCS, I also dropped $150 on a set of alloys off the rack. Since I run winter tires, this will save me from having to dismount for summer tires. The price was average but the convenience was exceptional. 

In reply to John Welsh :

Awesome! Yeah, I bet you'll be able to zero out that door, no problem. Also, now I want to go to Toledo to check out Toledo Core Supply, that sounds like a cool place.