I fell in love with a silver/green colored (what appears to be) base model 2008 Prius with 55,000 miles. Its for sale at a local car lot. I test drove it Saturday and again today. Its so nice and accelerates pretty good. Im very impressed with it. Id be upgrading from my 2002 Envoy with 162,000 miles that Ive had for 8 years. Ive driven SUV's or trucks for the past 15 years. I bet my family and friends will be shocked to see me pull up in a hybrid Its ok, they dont pay my gasoline bills! Anyways, anything I should look for, in the area of common problems? Im very mechanically inclined. All of the fluids appear to be full and clean so far. No dash lights or unusual noises except today when I pulled back into the car lot and turned it off, something (a pump?) ran for about 15 seconds after I shut it off. Is that normal? The car Im looking at doesnt have the NAV or leather. I test drove it for 20 miles today, reset the gas mileage and was getting 49mpg average. MUCH MUCH better than the ol' Envoy (15mpg)..lol So you can probably imagine Im pretty excited about becoming a Prius owner.
The pump is pumping hot radiator water into a thermos so the car will warm up quicker. I would change the Transaxle fluid with new ATF WS, about $40 if you do it, about $110 if your dealer does. I wrote a post about who should not own a Prius, you may wish to be sure it is not you: considering a Prius | PriusChat
Haha, no. thats not about me at all. In between my eight years of Envoy ownership, I have owned several "small" cars. I just sold my Saturn in December. I would always have my Envoy and a small car. Envoy for winter & towing, small car for my work commute and travel for the mpg's. In a lot of ways, the Prius front seat is WAYY more roomier than the Saturn was. I dont feel smooshed inside like I did in the Saturn. Thanks for the reply on the water pump - I had no idea what it was doing or what that sound was. So I got insurance on the Prius, faxed everything to my credit union, just waiting for a closing date. Probably tonight or tomorrow sometime. Im so freaking nervous about selling my Envoy. Im just connected to it, thats all. But on the other side of the coin, Im giddy about the Prius. Ive always dreamed of having one and now I found one that I like with a nice price to boot. Any common problem I can check for in my 2008 before I buy it? I checked the headlights already, they work. Ill change the ICE oil and filter and refill with some synthetic 5w/30 when I get it.
i gave my 08 to my daughter. no common problems that i recall seeing here. it should be good for another hundred thousand. all the best!
Ended up finding a MINT 2007 Level 5 with 53000 miles. Brand new tires & brand new winter tires on separate rims. Its $2000 more but the cleanest used car Ive ever seen & original owners to boot.
