What to look for when buying a used Prius

[sarguy01]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

That's a decent price for that many miles, if it's in decent shape. What year?

Good luck & keep us posted.

2005. I am kind of excited to look at another gas saver!

Oh, please let your memory remain foggy...I have a problem buying expensive cars and then trading them in...!

Probably should start my own thread to attempt to explain...

[MetroMPG]

Oh yeah, that's a much better than average price* for an '05, at least around here. (Says the guy with the ever-growing spreadsheet of used Priuses.)

[user removed]

Saw one on DC craigslist for $1500 in drive able condition without significant body damage (200k miles).

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/5126362464.html

Sitill there for now. Possible scam-fishing expedition for ph# or email addy.

regards
mech

[sarguy01]

Don't worry, I have several spreadsheets!!

I just got back from looking at the Prius. It was 10 minutes from work.

Paint and interior are a 9/10 for a 143,000 mile car. There are worn spots on the interior plastic and the paint has some rubs, but overall good. No rust.

Odd smell. Not a deal killer for me, but the wife? She is on the fence.

Whoever owned it last ran over a large curb or something. There is a dent about 12" long down the bottom of the rocker. Passenger door opens and closes fine. To go along with this, part of the air dam between the bumper and radiator is missing. Not a big deal, can be fixed cheaply.

Passed VA inspection, but the front two tires are bald on the outside edges. Also needs an alignment. Rear tires are new and brand matched, but they are cheap, cheap, cheap.

Windshield has cracks, but passed inspection.

It comes with one key. I think a new one is $200. The key it has is falling apart and rubber banded together.

So, four new tires from tirerack.com are $312 minus shipping. Bridgestone Ecopias. I'd have to do more research, but those should work on the cheap.

I am not sold. I hate getting rid of a 33,000 mile Mazda that gets 25 mpg that we owe $9,800 on for a 143,000 mile Prius that is going to cost $5k.

I think I should focus on keeping my damn cars instead of selling a year or two after I buy them!!!

[MetroMPG]

I finally picked up a 2004 Prius with 270k kilometers / 168k miles on the clock which came with a complete maintenance history from 2009 to present.

From that history, I'll add a couple more to the list of things to watch for:

Control arms: Both front control arms were replaced due to worn bushings (one by the previous owner, one by me).

Frequent friction brake issues: a side-effect of regen braking means the friction brakes are lightly used vs. a non-hybrid. This car seems to have had constant, repeated brake work due to rusting components, from a combination of regen and salty winter conditions in this part of the world. The rotors were resurfaced multiple times and replaced; rusted backing plates replaced; caliper sliders siezed; drums resurfaced. The rotors need to be resurfaced/replaced again.

Fortunately, rotors/pads/shoes are relatively inexpensive to replace if you DIY.

It has also had both front wheel bearings replaced once (not unexpected based on this thread) and 3(!) coolant pump replacements, one of which was for the inverter, the other two not specified.

Lastly, many of the gen 2 cars I saw were missing one or more of the trim rings for the alloy wheels (the seller didn't even realize 2 of hers were gone -- same side of the car). Some owners probably take 'em off because they prefer the look of bare alloys, but these are likely drag-reducing pieces, so it's something to consider.

Trim ring vs. no trim ring:

[dirtydave]

nice! looks decent man!

[oldtamiyaphile]

Hey guys, I'm looking at a one owner '04 tomorrow. 125K miles with a new battery. Price is a reasonable for Australia $7k.

My question is how easy is it to add a grid charger for a partial plug in set up. This car will mostly be used for short trips at low speed that I hope to complete in EV mode.

[EDIT] Never mind, the Enginer kit is what I seek

[MetroMPG]

I wondered the same thing as well (grid charging but without an add-on-pack). Didn't wonder hard enough to search for it though.

I know it's been done.

[planetaire]

If you want to use more ev, the best is to add lithium cells and charge/discharge them.
The oem nimh cells are not designed to have deep cycles. There life will be shortened.

There are two ways adding lithium to a 2004 prius:
-engineer way, so using a dc-dc converter with max 15A. The converter had thermal problem and the bms could not work.
-direct HV but you need a bms, bms+ or an orion bms. Don't have the 15A limitation and can regen energy in the lithium cells.

[oldtamiyaphile]

Joined the Prius Club today, silver 05 one owner with 55K miles.