Just looking at a 2006 Prius with a quarter of a million miles from the original owner. Never had a main battery or really much else done to it for that matter. Seems to run great and looks good. Any thoughts as to whether I should pull the trigger? Really just buying it to have a little fun with it.
Personally I wouldn't buy any car with 250,000 miles on it. Now if it was a family member or other well know person and they were going to GIVE it to me, maybe I'd take it and budget for future expensive repairs.
As long as you don't intend for it to be reliable transportation, then you can have "a little fun with it". You'll set yourself up for disappointment if you want something reliable and trouble free. I also agree about not buying a car with 250k miles on it. The original owner sounds like the type that drives a car until it dies.....so you have to know why it's being sold.
You're right. Any money at all get's to be too much when it comes to cars. I don't need a car (I own a rental car company) and the kind of "fun" you could have with something like this is not probably worth it. Thanks for talking me out of it.
I wouldn't hesitate to buy one with 500k miles if it is in good shape and everything seems to be working. As long as you have access to google, Priuschat, Youtube and a 10mm wrench that car has tons of life left in it. When you are done with it, it will still be worth about what you paid for it.
It's impossible to know what you're getting, based on the information provided. It could be on the edge of needing a really major repair, and you don't know if the seller is being completely honest either. If you like gambling with $4500, go ahead.
Found another one with 187000-a 2008 model for the same money. It's nicer than the other one and is a loaded car. The interior was filthy but it is a one owner with all service records at the local dealer. Got 47 mpg in the first 150 miles so far and it is definitely a fun/different kind of driving. We re going to use it for bumming around locally (retired) and if it dies I'll kick it in the ditch and walk away.
If you can afford to lose $4500 without blinking, the go for it. If not, then you probably should not.
Thats way overpriced. I just saw a 2006 sell for $1,500 locally with 230k on it. I'm sure I could get the new owner to sell it to you for $4,000, though.
