Refurbishing Applianaces: Flipping a 2005 Toyota Prius

Why not wait until tax return time and keep the price high?

I'm not going to be dropping it entirely too much, I'm largely just playing it by ear. There's also a small chance that my parents may be interested in it to replace one of their cars, but if things go down that route I'd likely be making a lot less on it...

Well, parents bought a new Impala, so don't have to worry about them wanting it. Got one inquiry about it that I replied to but haven't heard back from, and had our neighbor across the street come and look at it a bit since her son needs a car for college. Given though that one of our neighbors apparently GAVE her the car she and her son currently drive, I get the impression she won't be wanting to spend $5k on it.

With some luck, tonight I'll finally get the EV Mode switch installed.

I found something out yesterday that I half wish I hadn't- there are companies that make Plug-In add-ons for the non-plug-in Priusses that add an additional battery and the ability to plug it in to charge and then drive for a limited distance (30 miles for the cheapest, which is about $7k, version) in pure electric drive, and after the plug-in battery is depleted (or you tell it to) it switches back to the normal hybrid system.

If I were to keep the Prius for the long run, I'd be all over this- the vast majority of my driving around town is under 30 miles so I'd not be burning any gas, but unlike a true electric it would have an infinite range in hybrid-mode. And cost less than half what the true EVs do...

Ashyukun wrote: If I were to keep the Prius for the long run, I'd be all over this- the vast majority of my driving around town is under 30 miles so I'd not be burning any gas, but unlike a true electric it would have an infinite range in hybrid-mode. And cost less than half what the true EVs do...

Much like the Prius PHEV, you will still burn gas. Over certain speeds the gas engine will still come on, and above certain loads. You'll use a lot less gas though.

I've often thought it would be fun to try. I wish there were a more DIY version of those kits vs. dumping the crazy coin it takes to get one. I could go for months and months without buying gas, and probably do an oil change every couple years.

Most of the kits override the inherent limiters on the motors and allow full-electric up to highway speeds. I'd never make my money back on it though- being the nerd that I am I whipped up a quick spreadsheet and figured that I'd have to drive well over 100,000 miles in pure electric mode to make the cost of the kit back. Would still be very cool- especially if I could set up a solar charging setup to make it cheaper to charge.

Ashyukun wrote: Would still be very cool- especially if I could set up a solar charging setup to make it cheaper to charge.

Well now you have to keep the Prius and do that. That would make for a great build thread.

FINALLY got around to installing the EV Mode button on Friday. It's nice, but I'm less impressed with the Prius's range in pure electric mode- driving it up the parking garage and out from the concert on Friday night pretty much dropped the battery from near full (about 75%) down to the point where it automatically dropped out of EV mode and fired up the gas engine to start charging the battery. Still, it's nice to have as an option- it's ridiculous for it to start the gas engine up when I'm just pulling it out of the driveway to swap cars around.

Your battery sounds like it is toast.

Harvey wrote: Your battery sounds like it is toast.

What he said. Ours can go quite a distance without the engine coming on.

I don't have much doubt that the battery is getting a bit long in the tooth, but for normal operation it seems to do pretty good and once the engine is warmed up it's easy to get it to drop into electric motor power when mostly maintaining speed. As I said earlier- were I going to be holding onto this for the long haul I'd be picking up a balancing charger and re-balancing the battery.

So, total 'in' the car is now up to about $3,250 total after having to have it towed to the dealership and having them track down why it was running like E36 M3. I still have a hard time believing that it was the spark plugs like they said, but it hs been running fine since getting it back. Also annoyed I had to pay $250 for something I could have done for $40 in parts myself, but initially suspected I'd gotten half a tankful of something other than the regular unleaded I wanted.

Just saw this. Thought of you.

http://imgur.com/gallery/j8Bcp/

Props to that dude! Way to referb a battery pack with nothing but some elbow grease.

I want the OP to try refurbing his pack.

That is pretty cool. I'm not wholly convinced that the battery is all that bad off though- if I thought that it was and worried about selling it with a clear conscience I'd have picked up a grid charger and harness for about $400 and tried rebalancing the pack.

From posting about it on one of the Prius forums, I keep getting told that the lower mileages that I'm seeing are pretty much expected given my usual fairly short (3 mile) commute in to work and normally not driving all that far such that the engine warms up and the car thinks it can run as efficiently as possible. It's exascerbated by cold weather that slows warming the engine up (have actually had several people recommend blocking the grill so that it warms up faster and stays warm).

Yesterday though I had an unusual opportunity. After church I needed to do some shopping and also had a weird hankering for frozen yogurt, so set out to get some. Only to find that not only was the nearest place closed due to 'extreme cold' (it was about 7F ambient yesterday morning, was up into the teens when I was out looking for candy-topped frozen goodness) but the other place we like that is across town was ALSO closed due to the weather. As such, I spent way more time than intended driving around town. I finally found a place that was open, and as luck would have it, that place is right next to a Kroger gas station which was $.02 less per gallon than the one near my place- so I filled the car up there.

Filling the tank resets the MPG tracking and trip distance. The car was also still fully warmed up and I didn't take very long getting my froyo. For the 8 miles after filling up- both stop-and-go surface streets, a short stretch of 55mph local highway, and mostly 45mph main streets- the car got an average MPG of 49.9 mpg, which is about where it should be... so having it all the way warmed up makes a LOT of difference.

So, it looks like I probably have a buyer for it- won't get quite what I had it listed for, but that's also what I expected- and I'll still make a modest profit on it. Pity it seems this time of year apparently sucks for finding other good potential candidates to pick up and flip (or solid, cheap convertibles to pick up to enjoy driving when it warms up).

Ashyukun wrote: So, it looks like I probably have a buyer for it- won't get quite what I had it listed for, but that's also what I expected- and I'll still make a modest profit on it. Pity it seems this time of year apparently sucks for finding other good potential candidates to pick up and flip (or solid, cheap convertibles to pick up to enjoy driving when it warms up).

I don't know about you, but after following this thread all along and with the possibility of catastrophic battery deterioration looming in the background, I know two things for sure:

1-I will heave a sigh of relief for you when it sells and you don't lose money.

2-No way I would ever buy a used EV. As much as I don't believe in them , lease is the only way I would drive one.

I wonder if your fears are somewhat unfounded. Worst case scenario, looking around reveals entire battery pack replacement costs new from dealer are around 3500 bucks with a 1300 core credit refund. So really around 2300 or so (depending on year of vehicle). That's not bad considering it went 200k.(many go much more, some less) No worse than a replacement transmission for your average car.

NOHOME wrote:

Ashyukun wrote: So, it looks like I probably have a buyer for it- won't get quite what I had it listed for, but that's also what I expected- and I'll still make a modest profit on it. Pity it seems this time of year apparently sucks for finding other good potential candidates to pick up and flip (or solid, cheap convertibles to pick up to enjoy driving when it warms up).

I don't know about you, but after following this thread all along and with the possibility of catastrophic battery deterioration looming in the background, I know two things for sure: 1-I will heave a sigh of relief for you when it sells and you don't lose money. 2-No way I would ever buy a used EV. As much as I don't believe in them , lease is the only way I would drive one.

Were I in the market for a full EV, I would almost certainly be looking at a lease of one despite generally despising the idea of a lease- technology is changing fast enough with them that things will likely have changed a whole lot by the end of the lease so there would be a considerable advantage to getting a newer-model one at the end of the lease.

I'm not too worried about the battery- when warmed up, the car is getting the mileage it's supposed to, and it doesn't sound like it's charging or discharging too much faster than it's supposed to. And honestly, even if the battery were to completely crap out I'd probably still be able to sell it for break even...

So really around 2300 or so (depending on year of vehicle). That's not bad considering it went 200k.(many go much more, some less) No worse than a replacement transmission for your average car.

Thank you for your objectivity in this matter.

I wish people would get over it. It's been 18 years and millions of Prii and there never has been and still isnt a high battery failure rate. The Prius battery is more reliable then your average automatic transmission, doesnt cost any more, and to make up for it the Prius transmission is pretty much as reliable as gravity. In total it's one of the most reliable and cheapest to operate vehicles in existence.

TGMF wrote: So really around 2300 or so (depending on year of vehicle). That's not bad considering it went 200k.(many go much more, some less) No worse than a replacement transmission for your average car.

Dorman purchased a battery refurbisher and they sell them online as well as through Advance Auto. Advance Auto lists a replacement for mine (Gen1) as $1562. http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/dorman-oe-solutions-remanufactured-hybrid-battery-587-000/10627832-P

In addition to being better than a trans replacement cost-wise - its about 10x faster to replace the battery in a Prius and it is to replace most automatic transmissions.

So, haven't said much about this in a while because honestly there's not been much TO say. It's still humming (at least when in stealth mode) along happily. I'm looking into a potential three-way trade involving it- somebody with a 4x4 truck wants the Prius, and another guy with an automatic (yeah, yeah- but it would mean SWMBO could also drive it easily) '97 Miata I'd like is interested in trading for a 4x4, so hopefully we can work something out where all of us are happy and have the cars we want.

Ashyukun wrote: So, haven't said much about this in a while because honestly there's not been much TO say. It's still humming (at least when in stealth mode) along happily. I'm looking into a potential three-way trade involving it- somebody with a 4x4 truck wants the Prius, and another guy with an automatic (yeah, yeah- but it would mean SWMBO could also drive it easily) '97 Miata I'd like is interested in trading for a 4x4, so hopefully we can work something out where all of us are happy and have the cars we want.

In other words, it's like the NBA except with cars.

Sounds like this one might be a little harder sell because it's a high mileage hybrid.