Failing Volvo, time for a Prius?

[Jeeves]

http://usedcars.vantagepreston.toyota.co.uk/dealer/{rgen}/{dern}/Vantage-Toyota-Preston/Preston/2471723-605903964-213688.aspx?srcmdc=se_ce_re_

 

I am currently looking to get a Prius. I am currently a V70 Volvo owner but it's done 188k and the steering is going so we need to upgrade soon. Can you please cast your eye over this model for sale in Preston and tell me if the price is right and is there anything to negotiate for when buying a Prius.
Admittedly I know little about cars and more-so about the Prius but I'd like to go Hybrid and the mpg is attractive. In our family there;s 5 of us all adults, well 2 adults and 3 teenagers who are all 6 foot. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Thanks Jeeves 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Hello Simon - welcome to Toyota Owners Club.

Thread moved to the Hybrid/Toyota Prius club.

[unclepoo]

From a main Toyota dealer, at that mileage, that price looks fair to me.

But if you look at a private sale, you could save yourself £1000 or 2 if you don`t mind a higher mileage car. They will cover very high miles without any worry.

Might be worth looking at a Auris or Auris Touring as an alternative. 

[Duffryn]

Earlier this year I p/exd my 2010 T4, which had covered just a few more thousand miles than the one in the pic, the dealer then had it up for resale at £1500 more than your's and it sold quite quickly. Obviously I don't know what that one went for, but I would think that yours seems to be reasonably priced.

If it has a full Toyota service history + hybrid health check certificates then it should be a very good buy. Brakes/discs may well be the originals still (Prius' do last well), as do tyres generally. Over 3 years/20k miles ownership mine averaged c60mpg, which is about average for the model I think.

Do have a good test drive though, try and find some less-than-smooth road surface to make sure you can put up with the road noise and, possibly, some rattles and squeaks - this model/year is renowned for them - as the engine is so quiet other noises seem to be amplified somewhat.

There is good space within, but you certainly have a tall family so make sure they all fit before you commit.

You can check the cars' MOT history (failures/advisories etc.) on the Government website.

Good luck.

[AEB-UK]

I think your teenagers will feel rather cramped on the rear of the Prius.

Especially on a long run!

You could put them in the back of a local taxi for the experience

[Beekeeper D]

14 hours ago, Jeeves said:

I am currently looking to get a Prius. I am currently a V70 Volvo owner but it's done 188k ... 
Admittedly I know little about cars and more-so about the Prius but I'd like to go Hybrid and the mpg is attractive. In our family there;s 5 of us all adults, well 2 adults and 3 teenagers who are all 6 foot. 

Toyota Hybrid does not only mean Prius. 

My Auris estate ("Touring Sports") shares the same power unit package as the Prius you linked, performs close to equivalently, lacks whatever Prius image and can be a better used buy - while getting me a pretty big estate 'boot'. And it is built in the UK.  But the back seat might be a little small for 3 big teenagers ...  

If you are looking for extra passenger space, take a look at a "Prius+" ... its bigger (inside and out) and very very popular indeed as a big mini-cab - which leads to very strong second-hand values/prices! 

Warranty is something important to consider. Big bills do seem to be very rare - but they can be big!

I bought privately (very carefully) with the reassurance that there was more than two years of Toyota's warranty to run, so the dealer-warranty would add little extra 'insurance' compared to what it cost. But for a 5+ year old car, dealer-used-warranty could be valuable. 

I've read that some Toyota Hybrids seem to suffer accelerated brake wear. Reading between the lines, this may be a result of over-gentle driving, where the mechanical brakes are getting little use and corroding. (If you brake gently, the 'braking' is by battery-charging effort, not the real brakes.) 

I'm really pleased with my Auris TS Hybrid. Amazing technology, that you don't have to engage with, but doing so adds greatly to the experience. Minor gripes include the Excel specification 'package' mandating the use of 17" wheels (thus low fat tyres) and being fitted with a particularly noisy model of tyre. The 17's also aren't supposed to be able to be fitted with snowchains, which seems un-necessarily restrictive. But overall, I'm still grinning ... 

[PeteB]

5 hours ago, Beekeeper D said:

...I've read that some Toyota Hybrids seem to suffer accelerated brake wear. Reading between the lines, this may be a result of over-gentle driving, where the mechanical brakes are getting little use and corroding. (If you brake gently, the 'braking' is by battery-charging effort, not the real brakes.) ...

I think it's very low usage that kills disc/pads - my 2nd Gen 1 Prius had negligible (about 10%) brake wear at 70,000 miles, and I did about 80 miles a day, but got the knack of only using regen braking almost all the time (Gen 1 & 2 used 'real' brakes below 7 mph).

I then had the use of a company Gen 2 Prius for a year, and mine only got driven once every week or two, and then mostly for short journeys (plus it was parked outside in all weathers).  The brakes were very noisy (at low speeds) when I did drive it for the first few miles as the rust was scored off the pads and discs, and both ends needed new discs & pads within 7,000 miles.  When I sold the car with 163,000 on the clock, the replacement brakes were hardly worn at all (still parked outside, still mostly regen braking but driven many miles every day).

My last Gen 3 Prius had done 60,000 miles when I traded it for my current Gen 4 and the pads were only 25% worn.  Again, I used mostly regen braking, helped by the Hybrid System Indicator graph to minimise my use of the 'real' brakes.

[Anthony Poli]

Hi Jeeves,

Personally I would avoid that chain to buy from, so bad was my experience that I will not set foot in there.

I did much better from a back street place, when i bought my previous second hand car.

[Beekeeper D]

17 hours ago, PeteB said:

I think it's very low usage that kills disc/pads ... 

That too would do it. 

 

My point was simply to cast an eye (and rub a finger) over the brake discs, as something well worth looking at on a used Toyota. 

The cars have an excellent reputation for reliability/durability, but this is a small simple point to look at - especially since it would be regarded as a "wear and tear" item, and therefore not going to be covered by a used car warranty. BUT, I have a feeling that brake wear level is something that is supposed to be sorted before a used car gets "Toyota Approved" status. Simply something to bear in mind. 

 

Would it be too geeky to suggest buying an OBD2 bluetooth plug and downloading Torque (for Android) to check for fault codes (after your test drive)? Certainly something I'd consider worthwhile if buying a Hybrid outside the Toyota system... 

When test-driving a Hybrid, you should be struck by how smoothly everything works and the absence of mechanical knocks, bumps and squeaks. The engine revs will rise and fall (even stop) in what might seem to be a disconnected/slipping manner - trust me, nothing is slipping, that is the way it works! But it should all work smoothly. 

 

Go and test drive the car (and some others). But make it clear to the salesman that you are shopping around and NOT going to make a decision TODAY. However when you find a car/spec/history and price that hits your 'sweet spot', be prepared to act swiftly as used Hybrids (when offered as a reasonable deal) do tend to sell quite fast. If its been on the sales forecourt for more than a fortnight, it is probably overpriced and your offer should be fairly aggressively low! 

[johalareewi]

If buying privately, you can always buy the Toyota Extended Manufacture's Warranty from MrT to cover potentially expensive problems.  You can do it in 1 or 2 year chunks and the mileage can be unlimited. It also includes Toyota Roadside Rescue/Assistance.  There are a couple of restrictions when the warranty is first taken out  (age and mileage) and it is a condition of the warranty that the car is serviced by Toyota while the warranty is in place.

 

 

[Jeeves]

15 hours ago, Anthony Poli said:

Hi Jeeves,

Personally I would avoid that chain to buy from, so bad was my experience that I will not set foot in there.

I did much better from a back street place, when i bought my previous second hand car.

Oh, second person to tell me that now. Thanks Anthony, I appreciate the candid feedback. Think I will give this one a swerve. Thanks everyone for the brilliant advice and support that I will bear in mind should I see another. 

[johalareewi]

And I often have 3 adults in the rear seats of my gen3 prius but, they are slim.  When they are seated, plugging the seats belts in is not easy. I have the original gen3 where the centre console lid slides backwards to open.  Not easy when there are passenger's knees in the way.  The facelift gen3 (2012+) has a lid that lifts so it doesn't have this problem.  There is plenty of headroom and legroom though.

[PeteB]

24 minutes ago, johalareewi said:

And I often have 3 adults in the rear seats of my gen3 prius ...  There is plenty of headroom and legroom though.

... which is more than can be said of the Gen 4 Prius - still good legroom, but headroom is now very poor - I couldn't have considered one if I still went in the back occasionally.

The smaller single glove box is a right pain too, and the front armrest storage (which now hinges sideways, BTW) seems smaller too, so I have to carry some of the things I use frequently in the boot.  I also miss the under boot storage area too, as getting my folding bike in is much more of a chore with bits and pieces cluttering the boot.

[Duffryn]

14 hours ago, Jeeves said:

Oh, second person to tell me that now. Thanks Anthony, I appreciate the candid feedback. Think I will give this one a swerve. Thanks everyone for the brilliant advice and support that I will bear in mind should I see another. 

Personally, I wouldn't not consider buying a car that seemed perfect for me, simply because I'd heard of one or two bad reports about the selling dealer. If they are a Toyota franchised outlet selling a Toyota Approved used vehicle with a warranty, then the only problem you should have to overcome is the idea that you're laying out money to someone you'd prefer not to. You don't ever have to set foot in the place again once you've bought the car if you don't want to. There are plenty of other Toyota dealers around to support your vehicle.

I travel 30 miles to use my preferred dealer, even though my closest one is only 10 miles from my house.

 

[Beekeeper D]

14 hours ago, Jeeves said:

Oh, second person to tell me that now. Thanks Anthony, I appreciate the candid feedback. Think I will give this one a swerve. Thanks everyone for the brilliant advice and support that I will bear in mind should I see another. 

I'd still suggest that it would be well worth your while to just go and have a look at, and a drive in, any car that is close enough (geographically and economically) to where you are looking. 

Its very well worth investing a little bit of your time in getting yourself some 'experience' to help you recognise when the right one comes along. 

And you could also use your car-dealer visit(s) to compare the room in the back of that "Gen 3" Prius, the Auris, Prius+ and even the (externally) little Yaris - all of which have similar hybrid systems. (The hybrid RAV4 is very new, so likely to be beyond economic consideration.) A big dealer forecourt (or two, or three...) offers you the chance to see what a car looks like in all the different colours. Some you may like, some you may think are not for you at any price. But you need to see it on the car to know. 

Do plenty "shopping around" before you commit yourself! 

You are genuinely looking to buy, but equally genuinely are not sure what you will best suit you and your family ... so go see what is available. 

[Anthony Poli]

1 minute ago, Beekeeper D said:

I'd still suggest that it would be well worth your while to just go and have a look at, and a drive in, any car that is close enough (geographically and economically) to where you are looking. 

Its very well worth investing a little bit of your time in getting yourself some 'experience' to help you recognise when the right one comes along. 

And you could also use your car-dealer visit(s) to compare the room in the back of that "Gen 3" Prius, the Auris, Prius+ and even the (externally) little Yaris - all of which have similar hybrid systems. (The hybrid RAV4 is very new, so likely to be beyond economic consideration.) A big dealer forecourt (or two, or three...) offers you the chance to see what a car looks like in all the different colours. Some you may like, some you may think are not for you at any price. But you need to see it on the car to know. 

Do plenty "shopping around" before you commit yourself! 

You are genuinely looking to buy, but equally genuinely are not sure what you will best suit you and your family ... so go see what is available. 

I wasn't trying to put Jeeves off buying the car, just not using that dealer chain. I agree use them for a test drive

Maybe I expected a better car from Mr Bond, the sales person had the same name as a certain Scottish actor.. Very economical with the truth.

I know a few people who have had problems with them.