Hey, newbie here, looking to pick up a Prius in order to cut my gas cost (My minivan is getting about 20 mpg). My basic criteria when I started looking included something under 100,000 miles, back-up camera, navigation and heated seats. My budget is about $10,000. I have found two that I like but with stark differences: Option #1: 2007 Touring with Package 6; so if I have read everything correctly, this car has every option possible including the heated seats which apparently are rare in the Prius (I do have back problems, so heated seats would be really nice). Mileage is under 99,000. Clean carfax: one owner, no (reported) accidents, maintenance done every 5,000 at the dealership that now is selling the car used. Slightly over my price range but it has the main items I was looking for: back-up camera, navigation and heated seats. Option #2: 2007 Base with apparently no option packages - no camera, no navigation, it looks like just the basic model. But, it has less than 60,000 miles on it which is very attractive to me. It is advertised as one owner, but Toyota's service records shows spotty service - so if anything was done to it for regular maintenance it was not done at a dealership. This car is at a used car lot, not a Toyota dealer lot. Priced right at $10,000. Both cars are priced about $1500-2000 under KBB (which is just a guide I use to identify a good price). I'm putting about 600 miles a week on the car driving to/from work and hauling the kids around to sports. Summer driving would be somewhat less, still looking at 25,000 +/- a year. I'm a single mom and I work at night, so something that is very reliable when I leave work is very important. Any thoughts or comments on the two vehicles? Is there something I'm not thinking about? Both of these cars are priced right, so I know I don't have a lot of time to decide; dealer on Option #1 is 'hiding' the car until I can see it tomorrow.
The drivers seat in the Prius is not comfortable for some drivers. Since you have back problems maybe it will be comfortable for you and maybe not. You will have to decide that. Just thought I would mention that.
how many years do you plan on keeping it? starting at 100k, your going to close in on unreliable fairly quickly.
Yes, thanks, I did catch that when I was skimming PC; I did test drive a 2007 and it felt fine; only time will tell but that is true for any car I buy.
I had a 2011 Prius Two that I drove for 3 years. My back did not hurt when I drove it but I could not seem to ever get the seat adjusted right. I now have a 2014 Avalon Hybrid XLE Touring and the seats seem to be fine in it. I am almost 77. I think it is my age and not the Prius seats. When I was younger no seats ever bothered me so that's a pretty good clue it's my age that is the problem.
How much are all the options & gizmos worth to you? How much is the 40000 mile difference worth? Are you sure it's a Touring? The Touring has 16" wheels, a larger spoiler & different suspension. Crawl underneath & look for the colored stripes . The Gen2 Prius does not have power seats. The Base or Package 1 was for fleet sales. HIDs were a bit of a problem based on the threads here. Both cars are almost out of warranty. I would expect the Touring to have slightly lower fuel economy. Heated seats are nice & heating your torso is more efficient than heating the entire cabin. Navigation units are cheap. Your phone may be one. The camera & bluetooth are useful. There's no guaranty your phone will work with the car. Both are good cars.
