I've found a 2005 Prius with 216K miles, private owner proceeds to charity. They will accept $3000, the car runs few small rust spots and needs tires. Was maintained regularly and garaged. I've read some of the forums other threads regarding high mile vehicles and understand there us risk involved. What I want to know is what should I expect to fail first, second etc and what are the corresponding cost or difficulty for DIY?...also I have extra cash to afford repairs and this is not my only vehicle. Also what should I check when I inspect/drive car? What questions to ask? Thanks! Jim
welcome to priuschat! other than normal car stuff, the hybrid battery is probably the most likely culprit. followed by the inverter, transaxle, engine. perhaps the dash multi function display, air conditioning, etc., these are all expensive on a prius. expect to spend several thousand on each, although much can be saved by the dedicated shade tree mechanic and ebay/salvage yards. i would start with a history of service and repairs, and checking the computer for any fault codes. all the best!
There is no practical reason to accept it, but there no reason not to... I would bet in a few failures, but this forum holds a lot of info to get it going!!
Your best bet is to see if you can get someone to check it for error codes using an OMDB-II scanner. It might be worth paying a mechanic that specializes in Prii $100 to give it a once over. Other than that, you just never know. Congratulations!
