$500 Prius!

Just tonight, I agreed to buy a Gen2, 2008 silver Prius for $500.  

It has over 225k miles and the plates expired in 2018.  I drive past it many times a week in my small town.  It has sat in the same place in the driveway of a house on a main road.  It has degraded to the point of 4 tires have no air.   Weeks ago, I finally dropped a letter in the mailbox at the road.  Just tonight, I was driving past and someone was outside...I stopped.  Since I was driving a silver Prius which I had mentioned in the letter, the owner recognized who I was immediately.  

She mentioned that she stopped driving it because the car became unreliable to turn off.  Yeah, off.  Not a turn on problem?????  Just off???? 

With that many miles, she didn't want to invest more in repair.  That must be why there is a silver Gen3 Prius in the garage; the new daily driver.  

I did confirm just one thing and that is the car does have the factory catalytic converter in place.  This means, worst case, full recoup and more from just the cat.  

Just two seconds of search finds me this:

Example of a bad combination meter (dash board lights out) that causes the car to ignore inputs on the power button. This is a safety feature to keep the car from turning off if the power button is accidentally pressed while driving. Because the combo meter is out, the car isn't sure the vehicle speed, and therefore interprets presses of the power button as if it were moving.

The owner did mention that the speedo, odo LCD panel doesn't always work.  That panel is known as the combination meter.  

Video for myself later:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX0RqFoErCQ&ab_channel=Petruchio

This video says $6.99 capacitor is needed.

More, as the story develops.  

The Prius is not a car i like much. I'd still pay $500 for that! Great score

Paging JG. 

Are you going to sell it? And does anyone know, what is the tow rating on these?

In reply to mtn :

Re: Sale... 

I currently have one more Prius than I need but too good a deal to sell. This one will likely be leaving but the list is already about 4 deep of people asking me to find them one.  I'll put you at 5th.  First step will be some analysis to what we have here.  The undeniable need for tires drives this to probably another.$150 for used and $300 for new.  I have little faith in the 12v battery but I have high hopes that the big hybrid battery is good.  I'll test it when I get my hands on it.  From there, struts are about $100 per corner for loaded Gabriels but there are $30 no-names too.  Brakes are cheap and probably fine.   Bad front wheel bearings are common but $100 for Timken; others cheaper.

Re: Towing...

The answer lies somewhere between Toyota says no towing (probably not good for cvt) and  Curt makes a 2" receiver hitch rated for 2,000 lbs (which seem like too much.)

Ah, cvt. I'll pass on towing. Still potentially interested. 

But, unlike some companies, like GM and Nissan, these Toyota cvts in the hybrids are generally trouble free.

To give you an idea of supply vs demand,  I just checked car-parts.com and a used cvt with 86k miles runs $225, really!  And, many to choose from.  I even found a 97k mile example for $109

Low mile engines are sub $300.

John Welsh said:

But, unlike some companies, like GM and Nissan, these Toyota cvts in the hybrids are generally trouble free.

To give you an idea of supply vs demand,  I just checked car-parts.com and a used cvt with 86k miles runs $225, really!  And, many to choose from.  I even found a 97k mile example for $109

Low mile engines are sub $300.

 

Yeah, wasn't concerned about the CVT as a problem as I have never heard of it being a problem, but I wouldn't tow 1,500 with one now that I think about it. 
 

I had just been going through different "3-car scenarios in which 1 is a manual and 2 can tow and 1 is a stick and 1 is a truck" and was wondering how many ways a Prius could fit in there, because at their low prices and high reliability they make a lot of sense as an extra vehicle. 

LS Swap?

Congrats!!

I like these kinds of stories as I have had some cool luck with the Same scenario. 
I wonder if this one was the one on FB marketplace for a day or so. 
 

seems like there have been a few really cheap ones lately but mostly parts cars. 
 

keep us posted!

In reply to CarKid1989 :

I was motivated to drop the letter when you and another here were shopping.  Sadly, this one comes back as 225k miles so it might not meet your needs, but, you're on the list.  

This one was not on FB.  The car needed repair, the seller bought a replacement Prius and parked this one to the side.  It has sat in the same place for so long that this Google street view from July 2019 has the car in the same place.  The plates on the car expired in 2018.

I feel foolish.  When I spoke with the owner I didn't take a picture of the car and I forget to capture the vin for further research.  But, as noted, it has the cats so that leaves me with an exit strategy if needed.  

Most of the cheap that you find on FB have had the cats harvested and then they are trying to sell the remaining vehicle too.  As mentioned above, the would-be drivetrain parts aren't in high dollar demand.  

Just a few miles from me is this $500 Prius and it sits untouched.  When it arrived I spoke with the motorcycle dismantler that has it.  He bought it cheap via auction (sight unseen) only to find out when picking it up that the cats are gone so he just wants out of it.  I never pursued it any further given its rough state.  A cheapo aftermarket cat still runs $300.  I could have a door for $100 but that still leaves other questions of it's condition at 225k+ miles.  

I smell a new challenge sub-class 

The issue with towing (and a general issue with the car) is that there is no clutch/torque converter/etc.  The traction motor is what gets the car moving from a stop*, and it isn't exactly powerful.  If you are on a hill with a trailer behind you it simply may lack the power to move.

*The ICE does not add any power until a few mph or more.  This is why you can drive the car without any gas in it (slowly), but you cannot drive the car with a dead battery.

captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:

I smell a new challenge sub-class 

Yessssssss

ProDarwin said:

captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:

I smell a new challenge sub-class 

Yessssssss

Is it bad that I have thought more than once about swapping the whole hybrid drive into the back of an x1/9?

Or the fact that these atkinson cycle engines have super high compression and you might be able to swap in cams from some other toyota?

Not to mention all the cool stuff you could theoretically do with the CVT. 

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

I'd be willing to enable! 

If this project goes south and I take the scrap cats route, I might be willing to "join your team" and forward you my zeroed out drivetrain.   

i saw this thread and immediately thought "i need a challenge car for this year..."

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

Not to mention all the cool stuff you could theoretically do with the CVT. 

Elaborate?

The CVT is the main issue with making more power.  You can boost one of these to the moon, but since the ICE is balanced by MGU-2, the "trans" can't utilize the extra power.  You wont break anything, you just wont be able to produce the power.

captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:

I smell a new challenge sub-class 

My P4 (the 4th Prius I bought, detailed on this page) is my current daily driver.  Last month, I drove it 10 hours each way to Atlanta.  It has 210k miles.  Other than tires and brakes (both challenge exempt) this would still budget in at less than $1k: 

• $648 purchase
• $107 bumper cover
• $24 fender liner
• $10 rear tail light bulb and epoxy to fix a headlight crack
• $53.50 Inspection
• $882.50 for a running Prius w/188k miles

Oh, it got replacement front struts too in the past year but even that keeps it well under $2k.  

ProDarwin said:

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

Not to mention all the cool stuff you could theoretically do with the CVT. 

Elaborate?

The CVT is the main issue with making more power.  You can boost one of these to the moon, but since the ICE is balanced by MGU-2, the "trans" can't utilize the extra power.  You wont break anything, you just wont be able to produce the power.

I'm not really hip to the realistic process of actually doing it, which is why I said theoretically. 

But, again theoretically, if you had control over the CVT function, it should be a pretty ideal transmission for autox (and drag racing). Get immediately to peak power RPM using electric assist off the line, and then don't waste any time shifting. Very repeatable and efficient. 

FYI, the OEM catayltic converter on the 2nd Gen Prius is worth anywhere between $1200-$1800. That's why so many get stolen. 

I recently recycled my 3rd Gen cats for $500. 

I'm ready to sell my 2010, 225k Prius. It uses inordinate amounts of oil. 

In reply to pheller :

I knew it was high.  I didn't realize that high for Gen2 cats!  

Rock will ship me a Walker brand replacement cat for $335 after shipping and tax.   I want to keep these Prius on the road but $1500 for old and $500 installed for new becomes a interesting business model?  

I wonder how well these run on Walker cats?  In my rural portion of Ohio there is no smog test but residents in the urban counties do have to do smog testing?  

Just $250 delivered via RA for a no-namer.  

In reply to pheller :

Gen3s seem like nicer cars and they get better mpg, but they cost more.  The Gen3, especially for '10 & '11 have a reputation of burning oil as well as HG issues nearing 200k and beyond.  As mentioned above, a Gen2 engine cost $300 because there is no demand since they don't have issues.  A Gen3 engine is more like $1,200 because the demand is much higher.  

Gen2 = 1.5L
Gen3 = 1.8L

Will they run OK with no Cat  ?

• California wants you to replace your stolen Cat with  an expensive  factory Cat, it cost the lady next door $3400 to get her Honda Cat replaced !

This would be perfect for my dream of building a coal fired Prius.