I was going to pull the trigger on a 2016 Four Touring with 53k miles at my local dealership. $16k, 4.9% bank note. Its got a dented hood, damaged front bumper, several chips on the roof. The roof may need a repaint eventually. The hood is not repairable, must be replaced. The Dealer says its priced "accordingly" to the exterior damage. Perfect Toyota service records, oil changes every 5k miles at the Dealer. On the service history, the last entry states the owner brought it in for a vibration, and 3 out of the 4 rims were bent and damaged and needed complete replacement, and that the owner declined. The Dealer ended up putting on new rims and tires when the person traded it in. However, while there looking at the 2016, I spotted a 2019 XLE with e-AWD. 2.9% right now with Toyota Financial. $28k. I am in Michigan so that would a functional purchase. In the wintertime, I park my Volt and Prius and drive my 4x4 SUV. Sounds like I would be able to use the e-AWD Prius now safely, from the reviews I have read. Need help deciding. Wish I could just buy both but I cant. Its one or the other... what would you do?
wow, i can't believe a toyota dealer would even try to sell a hunk of junk like that. sounds like it was in a rollover should be straight to the auction imo. the awd sounds pretty nice, but 28k? wow!
I was surprised myself, but wooed in by the price. I realize it is a risk, because with 3 bent rims, I can only imagine what the past owner had to do to achieve that, not to mention any other potential underbody damage that may exist. I was willing to take the risk for a cheap price though, figuring it was an economical way to get myself into a Four Touring. I am very handy and was planning on replacing the hood and bumper myself (have friends that own a reputable bump shop that could paint them for me). HOWEVER, I realize the risk. And all I can envision is the past owner off roading and baha'ing the Prius on some kind of Jeep owners off-road get together The hood isn't completely crushed Bisco, just dented beyond repair. Here's a picture of the damage. Even though, a new hood with paint is ~$700.
The bumper damage is hard to ascertain from the pictures, but the bottom passenger corner of the from bumper is ground away, and "loose". I have no idea how the PO did that, but I can only imagine it is related to the 3 bent rims? lol.
amazing what some people can do to a car. body damage is easy to assess, but my concern would be mechanical damage beyond the bent rims. my teenage son hit a curb when he was learning to drive, and the car was never the same after that. i poured $600. into a new axle and hub, but it didn't help. i finally traded it in.
My guess from the damage is the car was speeding and hit a curb. Since the car sits low, it would've damaged the bumper as well. You can be sure there is some damage to the undercarriage as well. I would stay away from that one. If you really are looking to getting into a Prius, go new or find another used that is better taken care of. And since you are in Michigan, I would get the eAWD for the winters.
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/769339354/overview/ Personally I would just go for a drive and pickup a good condition Prius with high miles 2016’s are $9 grand on up without body damage
My son was forced off the road (not PRIUS) and hit a kerb quite gently - but 2 rims were damaged beyond repair. He used the opportunity to put fancier ones on his VOLVO. The damage to the bonnet (hood) looks like when my Dad didn't stop in time and the nose of his Camry went under the very back of a tray-top truck. Easy enough to do - he said - I'd been telling him for ages that as he's getting older he shouldn't tail-gate so close.
I'd pass on that 16k Prius, way, way too much risk. As far as the AWD-E Prius, also consider the battery chemistries. The AWD-E I believe has NiMH, which Toyota claims is better for the cold. I wanted the AWD-E, but the price was too much, especially considering how much I got the brand new Prime for. No rebates on the AWD, but nearly 11k off with the Prime. The math was easy on that one. Presuming I keep this car (I'm tempted to trade it in for a Rav4 hybrid lately just because I miss the form factor), it's getting a full set of snows which I presume will get me 70% of the capability I'd have with AWD regardless.
Where are you getting close to 11k off? Max 4500 tax credit from feds and nothing from my state of NC
