I am looking to buy a used Prius and finally found one nearby in my price range. My biggest question is whether I should buy it since it has an accident listed on Carfax? The accident was almost 3 years ago. The originally owner kept it for 2.5 years before selling it. The current family has only owned it for 4 months, which I know would normally be a red flag. However, they own 3 Prius cars and originally listed their other Prius to sell but then changed their mind and decided to sell this one because they can get more money for it. It has 103K miles. It's a 2010 Toyota Prius II with upgrades including bluetooth, HID headlights, all power. Recently changed tires and shocks. Extended powertrain warranty till 125k miles and hybrid battery warranty for 10 years and 150K miles. Carfax shows regular maintenance at Toyota dealerships. Asking $10,500. I am having a mechanic look at it today. Any thoughts on if I should buy this or not? Are there any extra things I should look for since it has been in an accident?
Owning a car for 4 months and then selling it....definite red flag. Especially with an accident on the record. The car at 103k miles and 2010 model is a good price. However you mentioned the sellers can sell this car and make more money......meaning they got it a lot cheaper than what you are paying (which already seems like a good price). Major red flag to me. Also you mentioned the owner has 3 of these cars. What's to stop him from changing out the expensive parts in this car and selling it off? Battery??????? The upgrades of the headlamps to HID, I hope you can tell the difference, many people list the halogen lights as HID (which are more expensive to replace). Just want to make sure you are getting what you want.
Well as mentioned above, you are doing the right things. And you are aware of the red flags. But hey...there ARE red flags. I don't know if you are asking for personal opinions if I can give you one that would support justification of ignoring concern about those red flags. Because I guess if I hypothetically put myself in your position, I would not want to ignore those red flags. In other words, I think I'd rather pass on the deal, and perhaps be leaving a decent deal on a decent Prius on the table...and be wrong. Then buy the vehicle and discover belatedly that I was right about my concerns and red flags. Unless you are under some time constraint or other immediate reason you MUST buy now? I would probably just take advantage of the fact that you do NOT have to purchase this vehicle. It "might" be fine. It might be a decent deal. But there are enough red flags that I would "enjoy" not having to be the one to roll the dice on it.
