Hello all! Just looking for a little advice. Currently own a 2011 Prius, and am considering purchasing a 2018 Prius Prime Advanced with 118000 miles on it. Visually it appears in good condition, and the price is $14K.
That price sounds a bit too good. I recently got a 2019 with 50K for about $8K more than that. I'd look at the service data (carfax). Look for collision damage. That seems to take a lot of the $$$ off of the value of the car. If there was a collision, and it's been repaired correctly, or if there's an extra bump that you don't care about, that works. Some jerk is going to give your car a door ding or leave a shopping cart where it rolls away in the parking lot sooner or later, and when that happens it won't be the end of the world. I'd rather have the $$$ in my pocket. Maybe look at where the service was performed - shy away from cars in the rust belt north east areas where the winters are snowy and they use a bunch of salt. They look good from the top, but underneath is a different story. Also, Look at the intervals between oil changes. If it's 10K miles - that's a red flag for me. Especially at the first one. I know Toyota says you can go 10K between oil changes, but they only warranty the car for 100K miles. 5K mile oil changes makes for the life of the car after 100K miles. Of course, with a prime 100K miles doesn't mean 100k engine miles. You can get a hint of how much of that was EV by looking at the average MPG since day one. (Cycle through the TRIP button on the steering wheel, like you would for your 2011. When you get to the overall mileage, it should have the MPG since day one - unless someone's reset that specifically). I'm thinking that the mileage probably means they drove it more than the 25 miles of EV range regularly. In that case, you'll find the MPG closer to the 50 MPG mark or less. If they drove a lot of EV, they'll have used the ICE less and it will be higher.
