Going to buy a used prius as a second car. What to look at?

[TimV]

I aim going to buy a used prius as a second car.
This is to replace our second car.
An 1.4lx 3door nissan sunny beater.

I can use the prius for 30% for mu commutes.
So, what do i need to look at? What years are good? Witch prius do you reccomend and why?

Thanks!

[redpoint5]

I like 2007 and up. 2007 was a mid-model refresh and many features were added to the various packages.

If buying a gen III, I'd go with a 2012 or newer because they added bluetooth and some other things as standard, and there seems to be less complaints about rattles and noise than the 2010-2011.

I've heard people say in various parts of the US that the plug-in version is often as cheap, or even priced better than the standard Prius, which is crazy because it gets better fuel economy and has more standard features (NAV, backup camera, heated seats...). Those models began in 2012 and ended in 2015.

The best thing you could do is buy an ELM237 Bluetooth adapter and load Torque Pro on an Android device to read battery voltage and resistance values to make sure they are closely balanced. I believe a ScanGauge will also allow this function. The Prius will not drive at all with a bad battery.

Other than that, the process of inspecting a used Prius is the same as any other vehicle. If you know what the parts of a car are and what appropriate levels of wear is, then you should have no problem. If you don't have that knowledge, then take someone with you that does, or have the vehicle inspected.

I always bring a code reader to see if there are any pending codes; just to make sure the seller didn't clear a check engine light in an attempt to pass off a problem to someone else.

Gen II Package Options

2010 Gen III Package Options

[Daox]

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ius-22514.html

[redpoint5]

One last bit of info; starting with the Gen III (2010+), the Prius has no belts to maintain. The accessory belt was eliminated by using electric power steering, electric water pump, electric brake booster, electric cooling fans, electric AC, and there is no alternator. The Prius uses a timing chain, so again, there should be no maintenance required there either.

Kind of nice not having to replace a timing belt every 90k, or an accessory belt every 60k. Who knows what the long term reliability will be for all those electric accessories though. So far they seem to be holding up, as I don't read about many failures on the forum.

[TimV]

I don't think a gen 3 would be withing our pockets budget :P
The gen 2 starts at 4500€ al the way up to 12000€
The gen 3 starts at 8000€ to 15000€
The gen 4 starts at 1200€ to 25000€

The budget is around 4000€ to 5000€...

[redpoint5]

I don't know what the market looks like in Antwerp, but you can usually save about 20% buying private party over going to the stealership. Plus you get to meet the owners and get a better feel for how it was maintained.

A 2007 (Gen II) Prius might be right in your budget.

[Xist]

Hopefully you can get a Gen2, I understand there were significant improvements.

It is difficult to believe that I have been home from Germany for almost four years. I do not remember seeing any Prii out there. Here Prius drivers go 80 MPH in the left lane (65 MPH zone), but in Germany Audis passed everyone. If I were to look at a Prius, I would ask the owner what MPG it got at 80 MPH.

[TimV]

There are 3 gen 1 for sale, but those are also listed at 4500€ to 5000€.

So a gen 1 won't be it.

Deffenetly a gen 2.

Maybe a gen 3 if the price for the nissan would be good.
(expected sell price of 250€ to 400€)
If we get a 1000€ or more, we might buy a gen 3.

But those chanses are small.
The gen 2 is with a 1.5L and the gen 3 with an 1.8L, so taxes and assurance would be a lot higher... That wont be ofset with the slightly lower fuel consumption...

[redpoint5]

I forgot that some places tax based on engine displacement. I'd be much more inclined to get a Gen II then. You can hypermile it to perform as well as a Gen III, if not better.

Due to diminishing returns, I don't think improving fuel economy 10% (Toyota's goal) every generation is economically prudent, or even possible to maintain in the long run.

I would think the market would flood with Gen II from people trading in for a Gen IV, driving the prices lower. With fuel prices low, that should further reduce the price of used economical vehicles.

[Xist]

That would have Gen7 achieving twice the fuel economy of Gen1.

I would like to see it!