This is sort of a follow-up to a recent thread where I first knocked wood and reported on the longevity of Prius HV battery packs, but jinxed myself on my '03 (Just a little frustrated - #155 by cigroller)
I can now report that I did the unthinkable and actually bought a used car from a - gasp! - Toyota dealer. Ok. The last time I was even in a car dealership was the '90s. And the last time I paid more than $4k for a vehicle was in the 90s. Am I growing up or something?
But I just paid $10k for a car from Toyota dealer used lot for a 2013 Prius 3 Sport. It has 144+K on it. Not great numbers mileage/age, but the 144K means nothing to me. The 13 yr old hybrid battery is another story. But whatās the worst? That I have to replace it? Not afraid of that.
But the key thing is that it was a one owner car RELIGIOUSLY serviced at the selling dealership every 5K. And I have all of the detailed records. (This took a little bit of coaxing at the service dept, but they were helpful). CarMax is selling cars just as old (but with lower miles) at more like $13-14K. If I owned this car with those service records, Iād ask $10K as a private seller. AND, I get 2 yrs free maintenance (which I probably wonāt use) and a 12mo/12k power train warranty. Unfortunately, that does not include the HV battery pack. Butā¦whatever.
Anyway, the āSnowflake Iā and āSnowflake IIā:
Congratulations! Iām glad you found what you were looking for. I had a similar experience in 2012, though the car was much newer. My daughter wrecked my car that she was using. She needed one and I set about finding one. I went to a local dealer and they had a 2010 Cobalt with 14,000 miles. The previous owner traded it on a new car. I was reluctant to buy it. I checked CarFax reports and there was a history of a Chevy dealer for oil changes and other normal maintenance, so the car didnāt spend a long time out of service. There was still the issue of selling a two year old car. It was a stripped Coblat with crank windows. I talked to another daughter and she said that several people she know bought the cheapest car they could, then traded up when they made enough money to be comfortable with a more comfortable ride. I bought the Cobalt.
Lots of new gizmos. Including things like ālane keep assistā and some manner of āradarā mode for the cruise control that does an auto-distancing thing while in traffic. Iām sure Iāll skip them both, and lots of other bling Iāll use the back-up cam thoā once I get used to it
Funny thing is that I ended up with the '03 Prius largely b/c my son wrecked an '03 Neon that I put him in. Both of my kids were in college at the time, and I wasnāt flush with cash. So a $2700 Prius seemed about right to keep people moving in econoboxes. (I was hoping for more like a Corolla or Honda Civic, but none were to be found on the low-end market at that time). I bought the '03 Prius with virtually no history / records with some degree of trepidation.
But it worked out! And I forgot to mention that I sold it this AM for $800. So, letās seeā¦I paid $2700 - $800 selling it. So thatās $1900. And it saved me more than that in gas over the years.
I think Toyota calls it DRCC or Dynamic Radar
Cruise Control across the board, and I use it every chance I get, yes the vehicle will slow down to keep the set distance and then speed back up once able, you can even set it for a higher speed then what the vehicle in front of you is doing and let it do itās thing, I love it cause I donāt have to ride my brakes going down a hill as it will auto brake to keep the distance, as well as it will brake if you get to going over the set amount by x amount, usually 5 to 10 over on mine anyway, if no other vehicles are in front of you, sometimes I will lower the speed to keep from run-a-waying to fast going down a long hill, then just bump it back upā¦
Just be careful, my auto braking disengages about 25 mph while in DRCC modeā¦ but I always have my foot resting on the gas pedal in traffic so I can hit the brakes fast if/when needed anywayā¦
On mine, not sure about yours, if you push the CC button and hold it for a short bit it will put the CC into regular old CC mode like the āgood old daysā lolā¦
Funny thing is my daughters 17 Corolla lane assist will vibrate the steering wheel and turn it slightly to correct it, but my 23 Tacoma still uses an old fashioned power steering pump so it only beeps at youā¦
Anyway, try to use the new fangled techy stuff some, you might find out you like itā¦
Wifey had a 2013 Prius also. Motor off when stopped was different. Was ok to drive. Iām slow. And it fit right in to my mode. I hated seeing 100% battery when starting a long downhill run. I was giving up free charging
There are so many reasons that a 1 or 2 year old car would be on a car lot that I donāt get the trepidation that many people have about buying such a car.
Reasons that my friends or family members have had for trading or selling a nearly new car:
Unexpected family addition required a larger car.
Job transfer to another city that makes the current car unpractical.
Job promotion that comes with a company car.
Medical condition that required going from a sedan to a minivan.
Death in the family and no one willing to take over payments or lease.
Knowing they are moving across the country in 2 years so leased a car with no intention of keeping it any longer.
If you drive downhill more than uphill youāll really be ahead of the game!
Still having trouble with the darned Bluetooth! Although the sound in the old one wasnāt too bad b/c I had redone all of the speakers, and added a USB/Bluetooth gadget.
It takes me about 20 mins to get there. And I can change my oil in about that much time. And then, yes, I donāt have to have go through the upsell ritual every time Iām there.
So I finally had time to sit down and pore over the whole maintenance history of this Prius. And indeed all is up to date - at least according to āofficialā Toyota schedule recs. These people were totally anal about it. They had the dealership replacing their wiper blades and air filters every other visit.
Credit to the dealer who took it on trade. Not only did they do the basics like the oil change and detailing and whatnot. But they also put in four new TPMS sensors AND replaced the leaking timing cover which, by the parts list apparently means pulling the head? So Iāve got all new gaskets from the timing cover, over and up. Iām surprised they didnāt send it to auction rather than doing the timing cover. But theyāre apparently thorough in any case.
The only āmissingā thing, which isnāt really āmissingā is that the trans fluid has never been changed. Itās just supposed to be āinspectedā every 30K. For any of you who have been doing professional auto service (especially if at a Toyo dealer) - what does that actually mean? Iād imagine, pull the fill plug (thereās no pan to drop or dipstick to pull), get a sample somehow and look at the color and smell it?
The maintenance schedule only makes mention of it under a āsevere scheduleā if you regularly haul a lot of weight, and itās then supposed to be changed every 60K/6 yrs. Other than that, I guess it (ahem) ālifetime.ā
Anyway, itās apparently a simple drain and refill, and Iāve got the Toyo fluid in the garage, so Iām just going to do it. (I have the 2 yrs maintenance package, but Iād imagine theyāll want to charge me for that since itās not in the maintenance schedule).
But I was just wondering about thoughts. Like what it means to a Toyo service tech to āinspectā it. And about going ahead and changing it.
And Taco is a food, but yet people that drive them sometimes shorten the names to Taco = Tacoma, and Toyota to either Toyo or Yoda.. I see Yoda Taco some over on TWā¦
BTW Chevy never made a vehicle either, but yet, it is common for a Chevrolet to be called a Chevyā¦
kidding
Iāll use the back-up cam thoā once I get used to it 
