Advice on Pricing or Repairing my 2010 Prius (185k) on in MA?

And your situation you want to find a late 2006 to 2009 Prius that's been reasonably well taken care of You probably won't find it in Massachusetts I have lived there I have watched my cars strut towers rust right out even had a garage for a little while up there Western Massachusetts so that's not really going to happen. So you may want to do like I used to do when I lived in Springfield I would drive down to North Carolina Virginia wherever by my Corolla there and then drive it back home keep it 3 years it would rust out go back to Virginia and North Carolina pick up another Corolla or Tercel or whatever and drive it back like vacation time or whatever that was the only way I could survive in Massachusetts without continuously having to buy expensive rusted vehicles generally speaking. So anything you're buying up there if it's not going to be very new you're going to be getting into this vicious cycle of destroying vehicles. And that makes vehicles a premium and premium money If it was me I would take the $2,000 or what have you for the generation 3 that you have now and run get away quick could have got 5,000 before the death rattle started probably people just see the car they don't really understand what they're getting into A lot of people buy these and they become paperweights in their carport or their driveway for months while they trying figure out what it is they need to do. Which was not to buy the car in the first place their daughter wanted it It was red and they had to have it whatever the case was. This is a model that you don't want to be vested in ever It's not the Toyota that your dad was used to.

 

Go to kelly blue book and put in the information and see what price they show.
Then you'll have an idea.
Replacing the head gasket ranges from about $1500-2500. Depending if the head is warped.
Since you have coolant in the oil, likely it is warped.
$2000 is more or less a "fair" price for the condition. If you could do the work yourself, you could
fix it for about $1000.

Did you get your $750 back? Since that didn't solve the problem?

 

Those two phrases are somewhat at odds?

Presumably EGR components and intake manifold never cleaned?

The reality of 3rd gen ownership without ending up where you are, is that cleaning needs doing, ideally every 50K, with the first cleaning "maybe" delayed to 100K. And Toyota is not a friendly witness in all this; their main concern is @ss-covering.

There's various relevant links in my signature (on a phone turn it landscape to see signatures). Where you're at the head gasket related links, plus the full engine section (last link) are of immediate interest.

If you want to repair/keep the car, after the engine is sorted do have a look at the first two (EGR cleaning) links. It would be convenient to do EGR cleaning while the head's off.

 

A friend of a friend of a friend... etc...
I can't tell you. Have him put the original parts back in and take the other parts
and give you your money back???
It will depend on your relationship with all involved.

 

i would ask your dad

 

It could be argued by a lawyer, that Toyota saw this happening, and chose to downplay it, placate owners with a warranty extension (in 2014) that stressed the problems were rare, and made no recommendations for increased attention to the system likely responsible.

 

Here's the spot you're in:

It's fair to sell that car for $2,000

It's possible to sell that car for $7,000

(notice the change of terms)

Somebody out there wants to make an easy $5k, and they aren't too worried about the 'fair' thing.