09 prius fixer?

[George_San_Jose1]

I liked the car you offered up before this one, the one with some springs missing. I’m not so keen on this Prius however. The problem you may run into is the hybrid technology at this point isn’t particularly diy’er friendly. The no springs car, you seem like a person who could fix almost anything on that car. This one, not quite as simple to determine. I’m saying “pass”.

[db4690]

I think it’ll be easier to make a slight profit on the Toreass with the missing springs . . . assuming the rest of the car really is in reasonable shape

The Prius seems like a bigger gamble

[Nevada_545]

@VDCdriver

In this case, you have a lot to lose unless you have this car inspected by a competent mechanic who is well-versed in the potential problems of used Priuses.

Are you suggesting he may lose the election? Face death? Face a $100,000 loss?

There may be hidden problems with this vehicle that the local mechanic will not identify but the price of the vehicle is less than the first day of depreciation on the vehicles owned by the people who are spooked by the thought of buying a used car.

[shadowfax]

@Whitey

the wiring between the air handler and the thermostat doesn’t have enough connections for the new one.

To divert from cars briefly to help out a regular, this is what you want:

http://www.venstar.com/thermostats/accessories/add-a-wire/

It takes about 30 minutes to install, and through the magic of digital signals, turns one control wire into two, allowing you to use one of the wires as a power lead. Works great - I’ve had one installed for a long time now.

[Whitey]

Thanks! I’ll keep that in mind if we reach a dead end. My current ideas to solve the problem involve installing the new thermostat a foot or two closer to the air handler so we can run the new wire directly from it to the air handler or install the new t-stat on the air handler closet door itself. Part of the problem is that the old wire is already patched together in so many places that I’d really like to replace it.

[wentwest]

First, while it’s fun to jump into the political swamp, it has absolutely no relation to this thread.

Second, concealed structural damage is something I fear when bottom feeding for mechanical projects. It’s just too difficult to assess the risk in a deal. In this case, if the car is driveable and legal, the cheap price is not reasonable. Something’s wrong here.

Third, search carefully about the legal status of the car. If is not qualified to be registered in your state, the effort to clear things up can be long, tedious and expensive.