I'm looking at a 2009 Touring Prius with 42076. The car fax looks good, but I have a few questions about what I saw when I ran the VIN through Toyota owners. 1. a week ago it says service called SPIFF...what is that?? 2. In Aug. it says car wouldn't start and battery failed load test..battery replaced. Is this ok? 3. Wet sand was performed in April on one door...what is that? It appears that the car has had all services performed at a dealer, but I'm still not sure if this is a deal or whether too much has gone wrong. Thanks for your advice, Kris
Spiff - they cleaned-up the car? made it spiffy? new 12v battery that's good wet sand - they sanded out an imperfection on the door price - ??? depends on the options (and if it's really a Touring model) It's only a Touring model if it has 16 inch wheels. The Dealers often lie about this to inflate the price. I would go to bluebook.com or Edmunds.com and get the average price from them. You might want to remind the dealer that there is no shortage of the Prius and 23K will buy you a 2011. Good Luck
If it were me, it is probably more than I would pay. One thing to look at is the condition of the tires - at 42k miles it very well could have the original ones on it, and they would likely be at the end of their life - that is about the mileage when I replaced my tires on my 09 last fall. I'm in the same area as you and you really do not want to go into winter with the original tires, and if you do need them I believe that tires for the touring are more expensive than the base due to the larger size rim.
