Hi Folks So I bought this 2010 Prius of a Salvage auction where it said "Run and Drive" . However the car was out of state and totally misrepresented . When it got here..it looks like it had some body damage and an attempt was made to repair it . The entire trunk portion , where it has all those plastic flanges and planks was removed out . Trunk was empty and you could see the bone though . All the fabric / carpet "flesh" is gone. GPS and tail lights ( I assume head lights also ) are disconnected. It started after quite some waiting and gave message "Check Hybrid system" and then after a min or so - the engine ran ( Wroom) . Its looks like when I drove it - I felt something was obstructing the rear wheel. I could only drive it fee feet. So Def it need a LOT of RE-WIRING , wheel airbag module is missing . A/c seems to work. ANY clue what kind of cost ballpark is this kind of restoration looking at. If you are in the bay area and have some time to restore it , give me an IM
The two things I see are that someone removed the traction battery in the rear and didn't re-install it correctly. Second is that someone removed the driver's air bag. It's good news that it starts. The engine compartment looks unmolested. But you need a Prius expert to tell you what it needs for repair. Since you're in the Bay Area, you're in luck -- there's an outstanding garage in San Francisco called Luscious Garage. They can repair the hybrid system warning message correctly and at lowest cost. Looks like you'll need to tow the car to them, though. Besides returning the car, if you can, Luscious is your best bet. I think you should first take a lot of photos of that car and threaten the auction owners with legal action.
Carolyn at Luscious Garage should be able to handle this. That said, it's likely that this could potentially be serious money here. I hope you make a claim at the auction soon, as they usually only give u a very small window to begin arbitration.
