I never had a hybrid. I was looking at an 04 Prius with 72000 miles. They want 7900 for it. I was thinking about taking it to a Toyota dealer to be checked out. I was also wondering how well the batteries hold up. Thanks in advance for the advice.
A recent CR article about how badly civic hybrid batteries are doing, shows how well Prius batteries do. Honda Civic Hybrid Battery Reliability | Hybrid Batteries - Consumer Reports News Under 5% of 2004 batteries will have failed so far. Should you have a failure, consider a used battery from a totaled Prius. About $1000
Yes, taking it to a Toyota Dealer -or- depending on where you live a hybrid specialty shop is a great idea. There are several independent hybrid shops around the US. You should fill out your location in your profile, it helps us help you... I would search the site on how to check the 12v battery. Go to the Toyota Owners site, register the car and review the service records. Make sure the recalls have been performed. Ask the seller if the transaxle fluid and the coolants have been serviced. Pull a carfax on the car too.
Weird stuff happening? MPGs dropping? Test The Battery | PriusChat Service History Online - Toyota Owners
Yeah that is one reason i am looking at the prius because the CR report. I will look for a hybrid shop to do the check.
The two links that Jimbo just gave you should help you a lot. They are both free too Btw, I joined the site the same way you did I had read a review on Prius reliability, was in the market for something new(er) and decided to join Priuschat first to do some more research. Then, armed with knowledge, I test drove a few and settled on my 2007 level 5.
Just pull the title and doing that it is a wrecked car. That is why it is cheap. It is was hit up front. What do every one think about buying a prius with damage like this. I understand the sensitive electrical system they have. It does not look like it cause much damage to the front structure. I will try to up load picture from the pdf
If you are comfortable that you can do the repair work yourself, then the car might be suitable as a project. However if you are going to have to pay retail prices to have the repairs done, then you should pass. Do not underestimate the retail pricing of new collision parts for this car. Although it is possible to buy used parts (from places such as autobeyours.com) you will find that the parts most often damaged in front and rear end collisions generally are not available as used, because of the relatively high demand for such parts. You can obtain repair manual info at techinfo.toyota.com to help you assess the difficulty of repairs. You should be able to find a body repair manual as well as the general repair manual info at that subscription website.
All of the repairs are done already. I guess I will get a dealer to check it out to see if the rest is OK
