I am about to purchase an 07 with 269k miles. Refurbished battery and 73 comprehensive records in Toyota owners. All scheduled maintenance and intermittent fuel system and brake flushes. Carfax is clean. New tires, brakes, and rotors. Battery refurbished by the hybrid shop in VA beach. Appears to be in great shape for age and miles. Asking 3500 I'm able to get for 2900. Should I have any concerns? And how do you all feel about price? Also, having never owned one, how much longer can expect this thing will last. Thanks!
Appreciate the specifics, Cookie. Your professionalism really makes you stand out as a real authority on this site.
oh, i know, believe me. but, to be honest, i'm actually an amateur. if you have a specific concern, i will be happy to answer it specifically.
Hard to say with an older high mile vehicle, can you post the service history? Whats the remaining warranty on the rebuilt HV battery? Have you had a chance to drive more than one Prius already, if not you should test drive a handful so as to get a better idea of how other vehicles behave differently or the same. Might be best to continue shopping around, and after test driving a bunch of them at different price points you will know the right one when you drive/see it. Used 2007 Toyota Prius Liftback 5D Mileage & Options – NADAguides Start with the lowest price from the link above.
Before I bought it I would see if you can get some sort of hybrid battery warranty. Even 30 or 60 days would help you build up some cash for when you have to replace it. I would pay much less for a car with that high of miles. Would be nice if you could take the car to a hybrid mechanic and have the megg out the transaxle. To make sure you aren't buying into a bad transmission. Hybrid Shop may have already done that as an upsell when the battery was worked on. Can you do repair work yourself? (ie replace transmission, work on battery pack, etc) I know I've seen prices under $2,000 for a car with 225,000 miles on it. But each market is different.
Outside of the obvious wariness of mileage that high impacting the engine and transmission, my concern would be the suspension, which would likely need replacement (speaking from experience: our car is over 200k and likely needed suspension service).
