Looking at a "reconstructed title" Plug In Prius
 

Is there any way to tell the condition of the battery? I have an ELM237 device and torque on my phone.

The guy is asking $14,500 for a reconstructed title 2012 Plug in Prius with 35,000 on the odometer. That is very close to 70% of normal private party, which is about what I consider a reasonable discount considering no more warranty.

I don't know why, but it's only Russians that sell these reconstructed vehicles.

I was planning to hold off until the gen IV is released since it might drive down the cost of the gen III, but the PiP is a very rare car in these parts. What do you think?

Why was it reconstructed?

For the same price you can just about get a used Leaf or Volt that isn't reconstructed. I'm not really sure exactly what you're looking for though. Those might not suit you.

Do you have the VIN?

The car had right front damage and the headlight, bumper, hood, and quarter panel was replaced.

The Russian guy barely spoke English and told me the battery was full. Well, the car wouldn't go into EV mode because the charge was too low and he doesn't have the charge cable. The hybrid mode indicated a full battery, however. The guy selling bought at auction and had the damage repaired.

The car drove perfect and appears to be in good shape, but who knows what condition the battery is in.

Jtdkn3dp1c3013619

Doax has a good point about other vehicles. I looked at a 2011 Leaf for $12,500 and decided to pass because I was so mad about how they implemented the heater on that model year. It would have been a harder sell for the wife too, who scoffs at the idea of plugging in a car.

I haven't considered a Volt, but perhaps that's a good option. It would be best to wait until the end of the year when people upgrade to the gen II Volt and gen IV Prius.

Still, I don't see that many plug in Prii around here, and the guy is asking a more reasonable price than most have asked. I'm thinking $13,500 will be my firm offer, considering there is no charging cable and I can't fully evaluate the health of the battery.

I have an easier time selling the Prius to the wife since she doesn't have to plug it in, and it looks much better than a Leaf. It would also be very economical for road trips.

Not sure if the 3 digits below the main number are important. Can anyone tell me what history exists for this VIN?
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y26...rum/PiPVIN.jpg

Id walk, how "convenient" he didnt have the cable. :D

Doesn't seem like a great deal without more pertinent info available. Seems a bit risky to me, but it could work out.

Would you purchase the cable eventually? It really sounds like there is not any way of knowing without the cable. Perhaps you could find a local PiP owner through Prius Chat.

This is the least-expensive one that I found. Most were $750+

Brand New Toyota Prius Plug in RAV4 EV Scion IQ EV Charging Cable Genuine OE | eBay

I'd certainly get a cable. That's the whole point of getting a PiP. I figure at $13,500 the car is worth it even if it doesn't take a full normal charge considering salvage title regular Prii go for that amount. The cable is a standard J1772, and those can be had for $100.

How can you be sure the mileage is correct? Just because the odometer says so doesn't mean much. Be wary.

Would it be possible to get the local dealer to charge and check the condition of the battery as a condition of purchase? Might cost more than a cable and you would still have to buy one. Nissan dealers will charge a Leaf for free.

Regards
mech

This site is kinda cool:
Vehicle salvage history: VIN number - JTDKN3DP1C3013619
Often, it will include pictures of the car from the insurance settlement. Unfortunately, it doesn't for this Prius. It does show the public record for the damage from the accident and what the mileage was at the time.

The NICB is also useful:
https://www.nicb.org/theft_and_fraud_awareness/vincheck
It shows that the car was not stolen, but was totaled due to collision as of 2014-09-10

I haven't found any sites that provide any further history without paying. AutoCheck and CarFax are both decent for that.

The carfax would tell the millage. When I take my cars to get inspected yearly the station reports the odo readings and it shows up as I got a car fax on my car. Funny the second accident didnt show, guessing cause the cops never showed up plus no police report.

+1 on a dealer inspection. Is it USA model or export since a Russian is selling it? Hell, you maybe able to get a reading through the cars diagnostic system like they do the hybrid battery.

The car was sold in Eugene Oregon from the research I've done. Last service at the dealership was performed in May of 2014 at 26,000 miles. It now has 9,000 more miles on the clock, so that sounds reasonable.

My question is, when did it get in a wreck, how long did it sit without the engine running to keep the battery charged up, and how likely is it that the battery sustained a little damage due to discharging too deeply? Only a charge and a drive would tell. Not sure a dealer would allow me to charge if I'm buying private party, but it's worth a shot.

EDIT: 2 dealerships in the area both say they don't have charging stations. The PiP must not be a hot commodity in these parts. I can see why; we don't have HOV benefits here, and 11 miles of EV range is nothing to brag about.

I take it the pip battery is a separate battery from the one used with the synergy drive? So its only chargeable from the main vs regen braking?

Guess plan b is buy a cable and go to a charging station and see.

Plan C, make a CL add and see if someone has a cord and charger you can plug in?

The PiP uses a single lithium ion battery for both EV and hybrid mode. The car reserves a portion of the battery for hybrid use so that it always functions at least as well as a normal Prius. I don't remember what fraction is reserved though.

In any case, all problems are now my responsibility. I traded 135 bills for the car and it's now registered to me. I've never carried so much money before, and I had some reservation about meeting the Russians alone. Best I can tell, they were good guys that didn't know much about the car and were just trying to make an honest buck.

I have a 300 mile round trip to Bend tomorrow, so we'll see if any gremlins shake loose.

Did you carry the money in a suitcase and meet them in an empty parking lot? :)

I sure hope this works out better than Ben's iMiev! Good luck!

It's surprising how little space money takes up. The whole $13,500 fit in an envelope and in my front pocket. Here is what $10k looks like:

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...-2hXAYvx1CoDQA

What's really scary is this video that visualizes the US national debt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKpVlDSIz9o

You know when you deposit or withdraw more than 10 g's the bank sends a note to the secret service. Some bankers will make you split the transaction so avoid that limit and paper work.

Hope it goes ok.

The car was declared a total loss in Oregon, Sept.10 2014. Lots of Russians here buy salvage cars from the salvage auctions and put them back together as well, there is good money in it if you do it right. I've done it myself a few times, but always found it was way more work than just buying a non-write off for a good price and doing a decent job making it a nice car to resell. But none of that matters now as you own it! A hybrid car will get written off by an insurance company easier than a regular car, as they are concerned with liability if they repair it etc, and hybrids are still a mystery to most people so I find they tend to err on the side of caution and write them off where as the same damage on a regular car would have been fixed. Good luck!

As for the cash - when I sold my '55 Chev years ago the guy that bought it was, er, "alternatively employed", and paid $10k in rolled up $5s, $10s, and $20s! I literally ran out of pockets to put all the money into. To this day I don't think I've ever had a bigger smile on my face than I did driving home from that ha ha :snail:

Yeah, I asked if it would be easier to withdraw half from 2 different accounts and the teller said no. It annoys me that the govt tracks something that is none of their business

The teller asked if I was purchasing a car, and I was half tempted to tell her that there was a sale on heroin.

There is good profit in fixing up cars for people, not just Russians. That's the mystery to me. If the profit motive exists for all people, and Russians account for less than 1% of Americans, then why is it only Russians I see selling branded Prii? They don't even seem to have any particular in depth knowledge of the vehicle in my experience.

Well, I made it to Bend without a hitch. It was raining cats and dogs sideways all day and I havent found a single problem yet. I did vacuum safety glass out of the glove box this morning though. Can't wait to plug it in!

Glad to hear everything seems OK.

Watch out for glass blowing out of the defroster ducts!!!!!!!!

I usually turn the defroster on max and use a vacuum cleaner to try to get most of it so I don't have small glass shards bowing up in my face.

regards
mech

You used to rebuild salvaged cars right?

Yep, a couple hundred.

regards
mech

So, a small child could carry around my net worth, a beetle, chewing gum, and Matchbox car in one pocket. Sweet.

I've had the car for a week now, and no problems found except for a slight misalignment in where the lower passenger side windshield seals. There is a very faint wind noise coming from that area, but no water intrusion. I'll fix that with some silicone sealant.

I purchased a Leaf charger from CL for $200, and it works great. The car says I have 13.5 miles of range after charging with 3.15 kWh. A full charge takes about 2.5 hours.

I'm only averaging 50 mpg in hybrid mode, which isn't nearly good enough. I'm wondering if the Federal Super Steel 657 tires have higher rolling resistance than the OE tires? They are M+S rated.

My current tire
http://shinabu.com/sites/default/fil...s/ss-657_2.jpg

I'm wondering if I should keep the current tires for rain and snow season, and purchase some LRR 3-season tires. I would think I could make back the expense over the course of the 70k miles I'd put on them, assuming a decent improvement in FE.

That just sounds bad, I'm sure they're more like HRR tires if anything. I would probably just sell them if you replace them, I doubt they would be better in the wet/cold than decent LRR tires.

Can you describe your daily commute?

Its much harder to beat the EPA with hybrids, especially at highway speeds IMO. The slower you go, the easier it is to beat EPA.

I don't have any commuting data yet, as the only tank of fuel I've gone through was on a trip to Bend and back. On the highway, I set the cruise to 60-65 mph. I drive in "Eco mode" and try to keep the HSI in the eco range. It's basically impossible to do that when accelerating from a stoplight. There was some hard driving rain and headwind on the drive to Bend, but I still think the fuel economy should be a little over 50.

Paying great care to my driving and route while speeds below 40 mph, I'm getting only 11 miles in EV mode. I was hoping for 13, as this gets me round-trip to work and back.

I'll be completing the lower grill block this week, and I might keep an eye out on CL for some stock wheels to mount some LRR tires to. That way I'll have winter tires and efficient 3-season tires.