Wow, I feel really bad and guilty now. Thank you all for enlightening me about dealerships… seriously. Gives me a new perspective.
However… I traded my car in and they gave me the Fair trade-in value for my car. I believe that was accurate for a car that had problems, I didn’t know what the problems were, and Toyota insisted that there were no problems.
I would also like to tell you my experience with the new dealership, where I traded my Prius in (no, I did not get another Toyota). I called them about a car I was interested in. They told me someone was looking at it Saturday (a lie… I’ll explain later), and would see if it was still there. It was, and they told me they would call me at the end of the day and let me know if someone bought it. The next morning, they called me and asked if I was coming out for the car. I said I was on my way, and I drove an hour to the dealership. Of course, no one new who I had talked to. The car just arrived Saturday and was not close to being ready to be placed on the lot (hence, no one could have come and looked at it Saturday). I had to wait at the dealership for 4 hours with my wife and kids while they got the vehicle ready.
Anyway, it was well worth the wait, and I am happy with my purchase. I believe I got a good deal and they got a good deal, as I really think my Prius was worth the Fair Trade-in price that they gave me.
Thanks again for all of your feedback… I will never be deceitful to a car dealership again… I think (actually, I know) I was feeling bitter because I had such a bad experience with Toyota.
The car had problems and you don’t know what the problems were?
You stated that the engine consumed a large amount of oil, sounds like an engine problem.
You had a independent shop check and clear the fault codes. When the dealer found no data history in the computer they told you to return after the check engine light comes back on but instead you chose to disconnect the battery.
This car may get wholesaled to a small car lot, sold “as is” to someone who later learns the engine is no good.
Yes, the engine consumed large amounts of oil (I later learned only when mountain driving… it actually drives pretty good on flat land, doesn’t go through oil, and gets good gas milage). I brought it into Toyota stating this problem several times over a 6 month period, and they continued to tell me nothing was wrong with it… finally saying that when vehicles get into higher milage, they go through more oil (I was at 100,000 at this time). So no, I really don’t know what the problems were… no one could tell me, and they told me nothing was wrong with it.
I did return it to the dealer after the engine check light came on. They told me the code was the 12 volt battery, which I had them replace. They also did an oil change to begin an oil consumption test. The engine check light came back on, and they told me to return after 500 miles (this is when I stopped driving up the mountain and learned it didn’t have the problems on flat land). They also told me to disconnect and reconnect the battery if I decided to trade it in to a dealership… which I did, but I did not think to ask which battery he was talking about (12 volt vs. hybrid). Anyway, I screwed this up and had it towed back to the dealer to fix so that I could at least drive it to another dealer for a trade-in. I didn’t ask to get the engine check light cleared, but it was cleared when they rebooted it. I brought it to a different dealer and traded it for fair value.
I really feel like I am defending myself here. I suppose I could have told the dealer where I traded it about the problems (even though Toyota told me there were no problems… again, which I paid to have them tell me), and I do feel bad about someone else buying the car (I didn’t really think that far ahead). But shouldn’t the dealership do an inspection of the vehicle and fix the problem before selling it? And if they decide not to fix it, shouldn’t they inform the new buyer? I answered all of the new dealer’s questions honestly… they asked how the hybrid battery was… I told them fine, as Toyota told me. I told them I replaced the 12 volt battery. I told them I bought it brand new, had all the regular maintenances done at the Toyota dealership (which I provided records), and had never been in an accident… and I got a Fair Trade-in value. With all that being said, there was really no reason I shouldn’t have gotten an excellent trade-in value, but I accepted the fair trade-in value because I was certain there were problems… despite Toyota telling me there were not any problems.
And to be quite honest, I didn’t even think that disconnecting the battery to get the engine check light to turn off was deceitful… the lead Toyota mechanic advised me to do it before trade-in, and he was even advising me to do it before trading it into the very dealership that he himself worked at. I took it as if it was an ordinary thing to do… sure, in retrospect I’ll admit that this was VERY naive thinking on my part, and don’t know much at all about cars… I just thought I was following the advice of the dealership mechanic. I was in a panic and didn’t know what to do with my car.
This conversation seems to be getting more about my own psyche and me defending my guilty conscience, rather than about car repair. But maybe this is helpful for others to read? Maybe people could learn from my mistakes and we could all become more honest and ethically sound when doing business with cars. From these conversations, I know that I am becoming more conscientious about car dealerships and how they make a living. However, I still find it difficult to have compassion for how car salesmen do their business (from talking with former cars salesmen) because they are trained in techniques of manipulation.
Anyway, please feel free to comment and enlighten me with any more views (because they have all been helpful), and I will have more knowledge for the next time I do business with a car dealership.
So, what is this new car?
Folks trade in cars all the time that have issues. If there were no issues fewer new cars would be sold.
That Prius is yesterday’s tomatoes.
What’s the new ride? Let’s get some positivity going!
Okay, okay. Honestly, I was holding back on mentioning the new ride b/c I felt like I was getting ousted by the Car Talk community because of me not being totally honest with the dealership during the trade-in by not mentioning what I thought was wrong with the Prius. I was concerned that if I mentioned the new ride and later came to you all for help on how to fix the problems, I wouldn’t get any help. Guess I’ll take my chances…
The new ride? I’ve decided to go German… I traded in for a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta, Wolfsburg Edition, 1.8 liter engine, manual transmission, dark blue. Very happy with it, and I love driving stick shift (something they don’t offer for those Priuses, or Prii).
Yes, it’s 6 years older than the Prius, but with 82,000 miles, it’s 20,000 less miles than I had on my Prius. Not being able to afford monthly payments, I had to trade in for something of equal or lesser value. The VW was less, so getting the Fair Trade-In value for my Prius, I was able to avoid monthly payments for the new (used) VW, and I’m even getting a check for just over a grand.
We’ll see what ends up going wrong with it, but I least I have the option to tinker with it myself. With the Prius, one almost has to have a certified hybrid technician to work on it, less one wants to risk getting electrocuted. Also, I was reading a lot online about Priuses, and people were complaining that once they’re out of warranty, if something goes wrong it’s just too expensive (hybrid parts being thousands of dollars). One guy predicted that people will be driving Priuses into lakes b/c once the hybrid batteries go out, no one will be able to afford to replace them. Glad I got rid of it when I did.
I also learned that there is a specific Toyota Prius Emergency Response Guide, for Emergency Responders to safely get passengers out of Priuses during accidents. Who’s to say that all Emergency Responders are informed of this and/or have this guide handy? Having kids, I am again glad I got rid of it.
When things start going wrong with the VW, though I don’t know much about cars, I can at least try to work on it myself, and I love learning. And if I can’t do it, a high costing repair probably won’t be much more than a thousand… and that would be on the high side (knock on wood).
Already had the passenger windshield wiper break on the 2nd day. Gotta love it! 
And I need to replace the fuse for the cigarette lighter (what I will use to charge my phone).
This is my first VW I’ve ever owned. It will be interesting to see how it goes. I feel very relieved, but I also know that I am still high on having a new (used) car.
J
Ohh my friend, you have jumped from the pan into the fire with your VW purchase. VW while they make great new cars, they make horrible used cars. To be honest the dealer I work for refuses to stock them used because we have had so many issues with them. Your car has lots of known issues from poor interior trim, to window regulators that break every year or two. Everything is 20x more difficult to do on a VW, because they are over engenered to a fault. Your very first order of business is to find a good VW mech, because you are going to need him. Much like the prius you have to really know what your talking about to fix a VW. They are not your normal car. I wish you had asked us first.
VWs are known for quirky electrical systems, but I think the power trains are decent. My coworker has one and she’s had very little problems with it. If you have the 1.8T (turbocharged engine), make sure you always use synthetic oil and change it regularly.
I wish you well with the new car. The manual transmission is great, if you had the same car with auto trans that is a frequent trouble area - expensive trouble. You might find some quirky electrical issues pop up with the radio and such but you’ll just have to see how she goes.
This car should be much better handling the hills you described in your original post. I think your old Prius was just the wrong car for the type of driving you routinely do. It should be fine for the next owner.
VW’s have great seats and handling. If you like this car in a few years you can save up for that TDI turbo diesel and that would be a great car for mpg and handling the hills. Your new ride will perform fine, but you might not great mpg as it has to use plenty of gas on the uphill.
John29,
Can you please do all the people out there a huge favor and go to Carfax, and put in some comments under the VIN of your old Prius, so that you can warn the people who will be looking at your car in the future that something is wrong with the motor?
As soon as you see it on sale at your dealer, and they have free carfax listed for it, there’s a link in the report on the car that allows you to enter information about the car as a previous owner, or even someone who test drove the car.
Here’s a link to the form for an RX-8 I randomly pulled off of cars.com:
Heck, all you have to do is change the VIN number on that form over to what your Prius’ VIN number is, and it will save it to your car’s history.
You can help someone from making a mistake they can’t afford or detect on just a test drive.
BC.
Jon29,
I am sorry for your car experience. I agree that nothing you did was wrong or in anyway a deceitful. The issue is that a car is a car and you are not a mechanic. The mechanics told you some stuff which was clearly bs. Resetting a computer is a valid diagnostic step. Some errors on high mile cars are just wrong and due to sketchy wires and not real issues. And you are not responsible for that. The people here who say different are folks who would do the same in a heartbeat. For good reasons, but you are being beat on for not knowing the reasons the TOYOTA techs told you to reset the computer. Some folks here are just not going to listen when they are WRONG.
euryale1; You may have missed some details in the other thread. The fault codes were cleared twice before and the second time the 12 volt battery was replaced to eliminate low battery voltage faults. He was to return when the MIL came on for a diagnosis. If there was a problem with the hybrid system it may have been covered by the warranty.
The last time the faults were cleared was for the purpose of trading in the car.
That is still not his fault. There was nothing that I saw and missed. He was already talking to the dealer, unless you missed that. It is not an issue to clear a code. It is an issue if the code comes back. The fact that the dealer tech mentioned clearing the code gives creedence to the idea that this is a common issue and that the dealer would not fix it. I would not buy a trade in hybrid for any reason. It is not wrong to reset the code. In his case he was unlikely to get away with it at all since it was recycling.
I was responding to your statement "Resetting a computer is a valid diagnostic step."
I don’t believe there was any intent to perform a daignosis. Also tampering witha 288 volt battery is not a vaild diagnostic step.
Nevada,
I do not presume anything except this. The battery connectors are built according to strict engineering standards. This is not a bolt it on your own issue. There is no easy way to put these on backwards or even cross them over each other, short of cutting the wires off the connector. I work with voltage all the time and design electronics and read the design journals in the electronics trade. These connectors were designed about 10 years ago and I might let a 12 year old play with them. They are tough and not easily defeated by idiots. And in what way is disconnecting the high volt battery not a valid diagnostic step?
The ECU’s are powered by the 12 volt circuit, disconnecting the 12 volt battery will clear the memory. I think the O.P. misunderstood the tech.
Nevada,
Yup on that one.
That Jetta is a lot more fun to drive than the Prius, isn’t it?
My experience with these cars:
They’re not particularly difficult to work on if you have the right tools and just think a little differently.
Like the others said, change the oil every 5K, I’d only use Mobil 1 or Castrol Syntec 5W30.
Window mechanisms and brakes seem to need work regularly.
Almost certainly at 82,000 the timing belt/water pump service has not been done. Plan to do this proactively soon. Specify VW approved coolant, not a universal kind.
If and when you need to replace the clutch, you may be offered the chance to save hundreds of dollars by switching from a dual mass flywheel to a soild flywheel. Don’t do it. You won’t be happy with the clutch engagement.
Have fun enjoying the driving experience again!
Just my humble opinion, but I like VWs and especially the Jettas. I’ve worked for 2 VW dealers over the years and seldom ever did we run into a VW owner with the “car is a POS and it’s history” attitude.
On the contrary, my experience is that the above attitude was applied to Subaru more than any other car make that I’ve worked with and that includes SAAB and even Fiat.
It’s still a 12 year old used car and a 12 year old used anything, from vacuum cleaners to cars to ocean liners) can be subject to problems. The mileage on the car is certainly decent for 12 years of age though.
Keep in mind that for every VW owner out there who suffers a problem there’s another owner behind the wheel of Car Make X, Y, or Z suffering from their individual little problem also.