Civic stolen - What next? - Plug in Prius

[redpoint5]

As others have said, if you only drive 3,000 miles per year, buy the cheapest car you are willing to drive. Depreciation is everyone's biggest enemy, but especially the enemy of someone who infrequently drives. You fight depreciation by owning something that costs very little to begin with.

All that said, if you're set on owning a more expensive car with more comforts, at least test drive a Fusion hybrid first. I've driven every compact and midsize sedan on the rental lots, and the Fusion is easily my favorite.

I promise this is the last time I'll mention the Fusion in this thread.

[j12piprius]

I'm going to see a 2005 Prius with 189k miles this weekend.

The battery pack was replaced at 155k miles.
The car appears to be in good condition from photos.

Is there anything in particular I should be aware of and ask about? Thanks

[samwichse]

Originally Posted by j99civic

I'm going to see a 2005 Prius with 189k miles this weekend.

The IMA battery was replaced at 155k miles.
The car appears to be in good condition from photos.

Is there anything in particular I should be aware of and ask about? Thanks

Hm, I would be most concerned that you have an IMA battery in a Prius :-)

Joking aside: was it a new battery, or rebuilt? And what kind of oil usage is there? A lot of second-gen Priuses burn oil. A friend of mine has a Prius with ~200k with low compression on all four cylinders, as well. Press it hard and listen/feel for misfires in all load conditions, that was the first sign they had.

[j12piprius]

The battery pack was replaced at 155k miles, right after the warranty had expired. The dealer replaced it for $2500, which the seller said was a discount. It must have been a new battery, but I'll ask about that and oil use. How do I check for misfires, press the gas pedal hard in neutral? Thanks for the details.

Update: My gf said I'm crazy to look at a Prius because they're sh*tty cars.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by j99civic

Update: My gf said I'm crazy to look at a Prius because they're sh*tty cars.

Well, in the Portland area they are way over-valued. They are cheap feeling due to how noisy the cabin is, and how cheap the interior looks and feels. Then there is the lack of horsepower, which is super annoying when someone is going 10 MPH under the speed limit, but you want to pass them, but are denied because the jerk can't live with a Prius in front of him.

I'd probably not look at anything older than 2007, because that was a mid-model refresh year and they included a bunch of optional features as standard. Seems strange that the battery would need replacement so soon, but I've heard of vents being blocked that cause them to prematurely die.

[ksa8907]

The three biggest things that convinced me of a volt instead of Prius were:
Interior comfort/quality
Oil consumption
Over-valuation

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by j99civic

The battery pack was replaced at 155k miles, right after the warranty had expired. The dealer replaced it for $2500, which the seller said was a discount. It must have been a new battery, but I'll ask about that and oil use. How do I check for misfires, press the gas pedal hard in neutral? Thanks for the details.

Update: My gf said I'm crazy to look at a Prius because they're sh*tty cars.

Depends on what you value in a car. If you value sportiness and (subjective) aesthetics, a Prius is indeed a ****ty car. If you value reliability, fuel economy and utility, it's among the best cars on the road. As for comfort, I'd say it's average to above average.

Dashboard-light plants the Prius as the most reliable compact in the last ~20 years, with data from 256,000 vehicles:



Here are subcompacts:



Notice anything about Toyota's location on these lists? I say this as a Honda guy. :P

FYI the Pontiac Vibe, Scion, and Chevy Prism are all made by Toyota.

[California98Civic]

Geez. I did a morning commute to LA with two people a couple weeks ago in a recent Prius, maybe a 2012 or 2013 or something. I thought it was quiet. And I looked around and thought it was nicely built too. About the same build quality as my wife's 2010 Subaru Forester. I like the Volt a lot too. I would agree used Prius is an overpriced car a lot of the time. Demand supports the price with good reasons though: the engineering and original quality of the build are awesome, there is something of an aftermarket, and parts are easy to acquire relatively cheaply.

[roosterk0031]

I'd bet that Cobalt coupe AKA G5 might be the cheapest car to buy and own thats near the top of that list. Find XFE so no power window motors to die. I do like the Vibe/Matrix as well but tougher to find and demand higher prices. Trunk opening on cobalt's suck or don't cause you can't get much in them.

Always liked the SX4 hatchback, seems great utility and reasonable price, mpg not stellar. AWD probably doesn't matter to you but nice to have here a dozen times a year.

[j12piprius]

Originally Posted by Ecky

If you value reliability, fuel economy and utility, it's among the best cars on the road. As for comfort, I'd say it's average to above average. Dashboard-light plants the Prius as the most reliable compact in the last ~20 years.

Thanks for those details. I decided last night to see 2 different Prius', both of them 125 miles from here and 19 miles apart. The 2nd one has a much nicer finish, is a 2006, clean, but no confirmation yet of battery pack status. A friend has agreed to shuttle me down.

During the night I kept thinking about oil leaks, compression, power on hills, and decided the 200k miles was too much. There's a 2005 black Prius in town I'm going to try and see today, although I don't want black, and a white 2009 on the route south that has moderate panel damage, with 144k and 160k miles respectively. However they probably both have original batteries.

Update: The white 2009 Prius sounds good. The battery pack has likely NOT been replaced. The second owner says the car runs well on hills, but they need to use newer cars.

Would I be able to charge the individual battery pack cells without too much difficulty, (and replace when needed) to prolong the battery pack life indefinitely?