Today I bought a used Prius

In reply to AWSX1686 :

I exchanged emails with the guy with this listing last night.  That is where I learned of the two silvers.  The ad is for a '07 (wrong silver) but he claims to have a '04 and '05 in silver (right silver) also so he is investigating today to be sure he has what I need.  For everything, he quoted me $400 which includes rear door and hood too.  That's a killer deal if the colors are right.  Its sort like 6 pieces for the price of 2 or 3.   

He is located about 1.5 hr east of me so generally very close.  

In reply to John Welsh :

If he's got what you need, go for it. If I end up having anything useful for you, I'd be happy to make you a deal. I got your number saved, and I'll shoot you some pictures when I pick it up. 

Any interest in a newer Hybrid Battery?

I would be eager to see pictures and details.  With an engine issue have you considered a engine swap?  Full disclosure, I have never done one and have no idea how hard it is.  But, it is pretty amazing how much detailed info there is out there on Prius maint and repairs.    

As for battery, I have been lucky to have no battery issues but with 4 of these things now, who knows.  On this latest one, when I inspected the car pre-bidding, I did run my Prius software on it and the battery numbers all looked good.  I'll know more when I get the car, maybe tomorrow, Thurs.  

I currently have:

• P1: 2007 w/ 150+k (bought w/ 78k) green
• P2: 2008 w/ 150+k (bought w/ 110k) green
• P3: 2004 sold to Billy had 150k-ish, silver
• P4: 2004 w/ 191k (bought with 188k) silver
• P5: 2004 just acquired w/ 158k, silver

In reply to John Welsh :

It's a friend of mine's, so I'm trying to do her a favor by parting it out.

I looked into replacing the engine, but figured it would be about $2k in parts, and $1k if I charged labor to do it, hopefully a little less in the end, but she didn't want to spend that much. I didn't think the resale value would be worth it in the end. 

The engine was either burning or leaking oil, and I'm pretty sure is totally blown up now. 

In reply to AWSX1686 :

Naturally, parts may be worth more if you have the storage capability but as a reference...  My local Prius Dismantler (Toledo Core Supply) has the following prices on car-part.com for Prius gas engines... $300 for as low as 111k miles.  They have 38 engines listed!  Maybe check to see what prices are in your area.  

I was figuring about $1000 for the engine, and $1000 for misc parts during the replacement process. Now I'm off to look into local dismantlers... I think it's best for her to move on though. 

In reply to John Welsh :

Generally Prius gas engines never wear out, so the supply of them is so high they are almost free.  

I note that the latest thing, at least here in California, is people stealing the cats from Prius, which are very expensive to replace (can't buy used, must buy from Stealership).

I was able to buy a couple of them cheap ($350) because of this, and just swapped over my good cat to pass smog and register them.   

Some very minor update.... 

I picked up the Prius today.

Once home, I got some time driving it in the parking lot next to my house.  Up to 30 mph everything seems great.  The car is requiring jumps to start so now I have it on the battery charger.  I think it is just a very drained battery from sitting a month long (and probably more) in the very cold winter.  

The guy who said he might have the right parts/colors wrote back that in fact he does.  I had a phone conversation with him and we talked about his business parting Prius and my business owning multiple Prius.  He wanted to know how soon I wanted the parts so that he could get a start or be ready for removing the parts.  I figured not until next week so this weekend I can asses and be sure of what parts I need for some one-time shopping to his place. 

As the conversation continued he mentioned having put some cars back on the road and selling them.  Mostly mechanical work but that he had done some body work to them as well.  So, I asked.  Bodywork?  Now that you mention it, If I just bring you my entire Prius, how much would you charge to do the install work too????

Remember, this is 6 body parts for $400:

• L rear door (side)
• L driver's door
• L fender and liner
• Bumper cover
• Hood
• Headlamp

His answer for labor...  $300

How could I go wrong?!

• $928 purchase
• $400 parts
• $300 labor
• $1,628    This aligns with my goal to be on the road for $2k

No brainer.  Also the gov't mule looks so official 

Thanks for sharing all these adventures. I enjoy the read and its made me seriously look into buying one as a DD (work and home, some errands)

In reply to CarKid1989 :

I "might" sell off this Prius, but that would have you about 5th in line of people interested in some bargain Prius (3 people from my personal life and 1 other GRM'er.)  

However, the parts/labor guy who parts out Prius is in Ravenna.  I'm eager to see what he has.  He has a dealer's license (I do not.)   I had asked if he thought maybe we were bidding on the same cars but he stated he has never bought a salvage car.   

Before

After

Did it even come off the dolly for that repair?

Now I have some time, here is more to the story of the repair job.  

The Prius Guy (Randy) and I had exchanged some calls and texts about what day to get the Prius to him.  this had to be changed to Thursday.  Okay.  I figured I would drop it to him Thurs and go back for it Fri.  I regret that I got there on Thurs about an hour later than intended with just some work/life delays so I got to him at Noon.  I stayed a little while and then the 1.5 hr trip back home got me home in time to pick up my daughter after school.  As I arrive, he already has most the parts pulled off his car and piled onto his trailer.  I looked over the parts.  All good.  Originally, I expected to need a rear door too.  That was a strange one.  I thought the door had been significantly scratched.  After getting the car home, that turned out to be some sort of weird, white, grease like substance.  With a degreaser, it cleaned right up.  

Rear door before:

Rear door after cleanup

You will also see that the new front door and fender doesn't have the same pinstripe as the old rear door and qtr.  I think when the weather warms, I will try to removed the stripe, on this side.  Or, it might just stay like this...inconsequential.  

So, I drop this car at Noon and get home about 2:45 to pick up my daughter.  At 3:00, Randy is on the phone saying he will be done in about an hour!!!   Great, I'll pick it up tonight!  
So, I drop my daughter off with my wife and get back to Randy at about 6 pm.  Same day service!  Had I known, I would have just stayed out his way and waited.  Oh well, a little miscommunication on my part or a little failure to understand how long he needed the car.  Hard to complain about too quick a turn around.  Randy also put the car on the Tech Stream software and all came out good for hybrid health.  Note to self...get Tech Stream.  

Some insight to his operation...

An old part of town in a depressed little town.  Literally Main St.  The house serves as his office and lot (which is required for him to have an Ohio Dealers license.)  He is on an alley which makes it easy for him to access the rear lot.  I took the above picture as leaving.  My car is the most left Prius.  The donor car is the second to right Prius.  He had a car cover over the donor which is laying to the front . Some parts are on his trailer attached to the Sequoia.  

The bottom picture was taken when I was leaving.  Interestingly, I noticed that he put my wrinkled hood, door and old bumper cover back on the donor.  I think this was a way to "keep up appearances" with the neighbors.  Most of these cars were awaiting mechanical repairs and he planned to put them back on the road.  He stated he also has cars at his house.  I suspect that is where the "hulks" are kept.  

Great guy of about 30 yrs old.  Great resource.  I expect that he and I will do business again!  

So, to A. Corvair, yes the car came off the dolly but in hindsight, it probably didn't need too.  

Thoughts between a 4th gen and a Prius C? as an appliance commuter

To me, the C seems to stand for Compact or City.  I have not driven a C but my impression is that a C is an "in-town car".  If your commute involves real hyw speeds then moving to a the much larger (and much quieter) standard Prius would be my choice.  

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

To me, the C seems to stand for Compact or City.  I have not driven a C but my impression is that a C is an "in-town car".  If your commute involves real hyw speeds then moving to a the much larger (and much quieter) standard Prius would be my choice.  

even at a 6k price difference for the same mileage

In reply to MrChaos :

Car and Driver summed up its review of the Prius C with "there is no reason to buy this car." The economy is worse than other Priii, it is slower, less comfortable, louder, carries less stuff, etc. My impression is that they are not very popular for a reason.

Buy the nicest Gen2 (04-09) that you can find at even a high price before buying a C.  

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

Buy the nicest Gen2 (04-09) that you can find at even a high price before buying a C.  

ive put many miles in a gen 2 and man did i hate the gen 2, the seats just dont work for me

In reply to MrChaos :

That is my same problem with the Gen 2 but the C is said to be extremely low-rent and lacking in comfort inside so you would probably not be happy there either.

My eyes are on Gen 3s and CT200hs in particular, I quite liked the seats in those.

I'm sorry I didn't bother to read the thread. I just pray that you're not one of the Prius drivers that goes 45 in the left lane of a highway. That is all. 

hey! you! with the prius! swap a diesel! now! JK

John Welsh said:

I would be eager to see pictures and details.  With an engine issue have you considered a engine swap?  Full disclosure, I have never done one and have no idea how hard it is.  But, it is pretty amazing how much detailed info there is out there on Prius maint and repairs.    

As for battery, I have been lucky to have no battery issues but with 4 of these things now, who knows.  On this latest one, when I inspected the car pre-bidding, I did run my Prius software on it and the battery numbers all looked good.  I'll know more when I get the car, maybe tomorrow, Thurs.  

I currently have:

• P1: 2007 w/ 150+k (bought w/ 78k) green
• P2: 2008 w/ 150+k (bought w/ 110k) green
• P3: 2004 sold to Billy had 150k-ish, silver
• P4: 2004 w/ 191k (bought with 188k) silver
• P5: 2004 just acquired w/ 158k, silver

I wrote the above exactly one year and one week ago.  It's been a year of relatively idle vehicles.  

Update:

• P1: 2007 w/ 150+k (bought w/ 78k) green  Now: 160+k
• P2: 2008 w/ 150+k (bought w/ 110k) green Now: 170+k
• P3: 2004 sold to Billy had 150k-ish, silver
• P4: 2004 w/ 191k (bought with 188k) silver  Now: 200k as of tomorrow
• P5: 2004 just acquired w/ 158k, silver  Now: have not added a single mile.  Bought right before covid began. Kept as spare car.

Tomorrow's gonna be the day P4 rolls 200k.  My highest mileage Prius and still a great runner.  At the end of last summer the AC got weak but hitting it with a can of R134a made it good for about 3 weeks.  And, the second can made it good for another 3 weeks...and then it was fall.  I'm gonna need to address that in a month or two.  

No complains for a car that I had on the road for less than $1,100 as detailed on page 7 of this thread.

Funny quirk:  The first two years of the Gen2 Prius ('04 & '05) have a quirk where the odometer only goes up to 299,999 and then stops.  Never registers another mile.  All the dealer can do is reset them back to 0. 
So, I'm 2/3rds of the way there!  

For '06+ the odometers go to 999,999 as expected

Videos for later:

ABS Actuator  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYqKLr8mhqM&ab_channel=Mr.Electric

Brake Bleed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKqxqgL2b4M&ab_channel=Mr.Electric

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!!!