I am selling my 2003 Honda Accord and would like a 2004 Prius for my #2 Prius. I'd like a new one, but I don't want a car loan. I understand that 2004-08 is the current generation so I want a 2004 with reasonable miles. At 15,000/yr. an '04 should be around 60-75,000 miles. I really don't want any car with over 80,000 miles. I have looked at the NADA & Kelly Blue Book general pricing for Prius's. I went to the Toyota dlr. and they said I might get an '04 for around $16,000. Of course that's their price which means it might be too high. Can someone with more precise knowledge on buying a used Prius give some feedback on this question? I appreciate all info. Thanks all.
Hi - I just bought a used Prius about 10 days ago. I started out looking for a 2004-2005, and found that I felt the prices (both dealer and private) were a bit too high. A car in that age range with low miles was often above the $16,000 point, and I think the only one I found under $15K had about 100K miles on the odometer. Of course, I do think prices vary based on location, too. As I really wanted to stay around $15,000, I started looking at Gen 1 cars. I found a 2002 in wonderful (almost showroom) condition with 65,000 miles, loaded with nav and all the available options at the time, for under $13,000, and I grabbed it. Good luck with your search for a used Prius at a good price. It is nice, as a Prius owner, that these cars really hold their value, but not so great when you are looking for a used Prius to buy! Linda
Auto trader says pretty much the same. Depending on condition, and private party vs. dealer 13K - 16K edmunds.com - AutoTrader.com This is why I bought new.
Personally I do not mind high miles. I bought mine a 2005 Package 5 a couple of months ago for $10,600. The car had 120k miles. The prior owner changed engine/inverter coolant, transaxle fluid plus two new tires. I thought it was a very good deal. Before I bought it, I spent quite some time on this forum and was quite comfortable with high mileage Prius because of its reliability. As long as the prior owner keeps scheduled maintenance, you should be fine. I had to travel 500 miles round trip to get it in freezing rain though, that was another story.
I would buy new again except I can't afford a car loan @ this time. The economy is looking very bad and I am trying to cut all expenses and save some $$ in case we lose our jobs.
What bothers me are 2 things: 1) The battery pack or other super expensive Prius parts could fail. 2) The older Prius's had major problems with their on dash computers. In any event I don't want to take a chance on a BIG bill for hybrid parts failing. If the Prius was like a regular car I would possibly consider one with lots of miles. Last time I read something about the battery pack it was around $3000.
Question: Auto Trader says if someone gives you a cashier's check for your car do NOT release the title until the check clears. Have you ever heard of that? I always cashier's checks were like cash & don't bounce. I'm considering selling the Accord in Auto Trader. I really like the car, but it has 6 cylinders & if gas goes way up I'll take a worse beating financially. I'm so used to getting 54.5 MPG with my Prius that I don't care to drive the Honda @ 22-24 MPG in town. I'd much rather use my hard earned $$ for things I want instead of feeding the oil cos. I also have become a bit of an enviornmentalist in the last 2 years.
There have reports of cashiers checks coming from bogus banks. If it's from a bank you know, there should be less of a concern. Scammers are getting more creative these days.hwell:
We just bought an 04 prius with 80k on it for $14,900 out the door from a used car dealershit last weekend. It was $13,900 before all the crap fees. We're happy with it and my dash is reading just below 60mpg after 100 miles of driving this week. I'm very pleased with the car and the mfd has been great. I thought about buying an extended warranty, but haven't because of all the good reports around here. It'd be nice to know how many of the mfd's are failing and when they are failing. You'd think it would go out by 80k, i'm hoping we're ok.
I don't keep statistics but the MFD failure rate reported on this site seems to be a very low percentage and a number of them were covered under warranty or Toyota goodwill. IMO this isn't any worse than planning for a tranny in a used domestic car.
