Buying a secondhand Toyota Prius?

reni10

I am on the lookout for a new secondhand Automatic car and have started to look at the Toyota Prius.

Looking to get one to save some money over the next 3 or so years as I will use this car to commute about 25kms per day to work.

At the moment I am paying about €800 a year for road tax and filling up with about €40 of petrol every 2 weeks so about another €1,000 - €1,200 a year in fuel which makes the running cost about €2,000 a year.

Now if I am right then any 2008 Prius onwards comes in on the €190/year road tax and I should hopefully be able to halve my petrol spend to €20 per fortnight so the overall running costs per year would be about €700 - €800/year so save about €1,200 a year.

One question I have is are Prius's that are made before 2008 also able to take advantage of the €190/year road tax?

Also as there is not many secondhand ones available here in Ireland would a cheaper and better option be to import one from the UK?

I have never imported a car before so what would I need to pay and does the Prius because of its efficient engine etc. get any import tax exemptions?

Any guidance here would be great as I am looking to spend about €8,000 - €10,000 on a second hand Prius and I am only interested in an Automatic car so this seems to fit the nicely if I can get it for the right price!

Any guidance from anyone who has done this before would be most appreciated and what do others think of the doing something like this?

reni10

Looks like not much interest in the Prius here at the moment!

Anyone got any guidance on this please especially the importing from the UK part?

BrendanD

Hi Reni10

I bought a Prius Christmas week it is a 2007 high spec UK import high mileage but with full service history.

In answer to you question on a car older than 2008 you will pay the full road tax.

This is what i have found out about the car from my experience.

If you do a lot of motorway driving you wont see much fuel savings.
The way the Prius works is up to about 35 K per hour you run on battery , anything more and you run on a combination of petrol and battery.
I Am averaging out 54 mpg on a combined run

Strange car to drive at first in town no engine noise on battery.

For a 2008 Prius the vrt is from memory about 500, tax 192 ? plus initial cost of car.
With all this unless you do a lot of town driving your probably looking at a savings of 600E on tax and 400e on petrol,

Mr Benevolent

I'm filling up with about €40 of petrol every 2 weeks

You won't save much on petrol using a Prius if you only spend €80 a month on fuel. It would be insanity to spend 8-10k to save €500 a year on fuel.

reni10

Confab wrote: »

You won't save much on petrol using a Prius if you only spend €80 a month on fuel. It would be insanity to spend 8-10k to save €500 a year on fuel.

Looks like You can pick up a 2008 Prius from the UK with about 90,000 miles on it for about €6,500 and then about €500 for the VRT so you would be looking at about €7,000 landed.

I am looking for a reliable Automatic car so would probably be spending about the same for a Petrol only Automatic anyway and it would be much less efficient and it is quiet hard to find a good Diesel Auto so that is how I have come to look at the Prius.

Also I have an existing car that I would probably be able to sell for about €2,000 so all up I think it makes sense with the Prius when you take into account what I am looking for.

colm_mcm

reni10 wrote: »

Looks like You can pick up a 2008 Prius from the UK with about 90,000 miles on it for about €6,500 and then about €500 for the VRT so you would be looking at about €7,000 landed.

Where are you seeing these cars?

reni10

colm_mcm wrote: »

Where are you seeing these cars?

Here is one with 86,000 miles on it for about €6,800, I would say a good chance of getting it for €6,500 if you went in with cash:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201301154928303/sort/default/usedcars/maximum-age/up_to_5_years_old/model/prius/make/toyota/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/30/page/1/postcode/wc1b3au?logcode=p

landcrzr

Did you ever consider a Honda Civic hybrid, there's a few around and probably for less than the Prius. Tax would be a bit cheaper as they have a smaller petrol engine, 1.4 l I think.

colm_mcm

reni10 wrote: »

Here is one with 86,000 miles on it for about €6,800, I would say a good chance of getting it for €6,500 if you went in with cash:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201301154928303/sort/default/usedcars/maximum-age/up_to_5_years_old/model/prius/make/toyota/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/30/page/1/postcode/wc1b3au?logcode=p

That's a good bit cheaper than all the other 08s on autotrader. I wouldn't expect much if any discount.
Add the cost of transport etc

Still good value though if the car is right

reni10

I fly over with work to London every few weeks so the only cost would be about €250 for the fuel and ferry ticket back to Ireland so maybe more like €7250 landed.

Will have a look at the Honda's too and see what I come up with.

colm_mcm

There's a 2010 insight there for handy money, listed as a Prius.

Filter out Priuss under £7k

Personally I don't like them but you can't argue with the price (if its a genuine car)

bazz26

OP, what sort of driving is your daily commute? Is it all city driving as the hybrid really only comes into around urban areas where the electric motor is primeraly used at below around 40mph. If the majority of your daily commute is spent doing 50mph or motorway speeds then a hybrid will still use the normal petrol engine. Given this and the initial purchase price of the car and potentially the cost of borrowing for it, work out the sums on how long it will actually take you to make that money back on motor tax and fuel bills.

bren11

I would be concerned about the life of the hybrid batteries. How much to replace, and are these dealer only parts? There is also some specialized components here; a combined electric motor, starter and altenator, ecu's etc again is it dealer only. Is there such thing as independent hybrid garages out there, because if not I can see huge maintenance costs if you have to go to a main dealer with a 6 year old car.

Atlantic Dawn

I wouldn't be too pushed on getting a 2008 one purely to save money on motor tax, the 2008 model is €190, previous to this is €413, saving equats to €223 a year, will take you 4 years to save a grand on it, you will likely spend well over a grand in the difference to purchase a 2008 instead of 2007.

The cars hybrid battery comes with an 8 year or 100k miles warranty but as far as I know this is only if the car has a full Toyota service history. I don't think the failure rate is high on them so shouldn't be an issue.

Tradnuts

Is there any glaring disadvantages to buying an older Prius, perhaps a 2004 model like this one,

I have a 2004 Passat, 1.9TD, and its just unnecessarily big for me as it gets little use - about 30/40 miles a week.

I was thinking a 2004/2005 prius would suit me better and be a little cheaper to run and tax. I've been reading the forums etc. and the reviews of the older Prius are generally very positive. Is there a fear of very high repair costs if something does go wrong with them? (apart from the batteries).


Thanks

OP, what is your current car ? Would you consider converting it to LPG ?

Depending on how much you can get LPG for in Limerick, but I can get it for 81 c a litre here and it usually drops to 75 c a litre in Summer. Anyway at that price a 30 mpg petrol on LPG 81c a litre would work out as cheap as a 60 mpg (real per tank mpg) diesel and as cheap as a Prius at 60 mpg.

The Prius takes learning to get the best out of it. It's not a sports car nor does it pretend to be anything other than a normal car.

If you drive it like a normal car you will still get 50+ mpg without worrying about using the battery power properly which is good for a petrol automatic and is as good if not better than most Diesel automatics.

Forget about what people say you get on the motorway, it's all about how you use the energy in the battery off the motorway that matters. There are tips you can use.

My average is around 58-60 mpg now that I've f rated winter tyres on it, but with proper a or b rated tyres that should easily be 65 mpg.

I went for a drive 130 Kms last Sunday around the Wicklow mountains and averaged 64 mpg because with all the up hill and downhill I was able to use regen on decents where the car would maybe slow down if not on the throttle by pressing gently until only power comes from the battery and not engine this is where you got to learn how to use it but makes a big difference.

It's far more engaging than any other car you will drive if you want to learn.

The Prius is an ultra reliable car and are known to go for 350,000+ miles without any problems.

I wouldn't hesitate in getting one with 160,000 Kms with a full service history.

The new model can get 73 mpg, if I can get or beat the official mpg rating In an 07 MK II Prius I see no reason for this not to be true.

Just think carefully about the road tax, if an 08 car is going to cost 3,000 more for instance than a 07 that's a difference of say 460 euros a year, that's 6.5 years of driving to make up the difference, you probably won't even keep it that long anyway.

If you do get one I can give you tips.

Tradnuts

Tradnuts wrote: »

Is there any glaring disadvantages to buying an older Prius, perhaps a 2004 model like this one,

I have a 2004 Passat, 1.9TD, and its just unnecessarily big for me as it gets little use - about 30/40 miles a week.

I was thinking a 2004/2005 prius would suit me better and be a little cheaper to run and tax. I've been reading the forums etc. and the reviews of the older Prius are generally very positive. Is there a fear of very high repair costs if something does go wrong with them? (apart from the batteries).


Thanks

I don't think anything goes wrong with them, servicing should also be cheaper as there is no timing belt. The only belt is for the engine water pump. The AC compressor is electric, power steering electric and the engine is started from one of the electric motors and also acts as the alternator.

I service mine now as I've 92 k miles and the hybrid warranty goes at 100 k so won't worry me anyway.

There is a risk of something going wrong and could be quiet expensive out or warranty, but that's the same with any car, the batteries are also a fraction of the cost they were even 5 years ago and can be picked up from time to time on eBay.

But the Prius is a lot more reliable than most of today's diesels.

trabpc

Good luck with purchase. I agree with Bazz and few others on this. Why do people not take into account the monthly loqn repayment when working out costs. You slight reduction in tax, fuel will be dimished by new repayment on loan. At current interest rates about 11_12% a 9000 euro loan will have interest over 5 years of about €2800. Plus repayment on the 9000. Works out about 196 per month repayment.

reni10

Thanks for the discussion guys. I am going to see if I can source a cheap 07 from the UK or if one comes up here in Ireland around the 7k mark I will have a serious look at that.

Luckily enough I don't have to get a loan to purchase one at about 7k so I won't have to factor in those costs.

I have a 01 Almera at the moment so don't think it is worth converting this.

Is there anywhere online that has some good prius driving tips to get max mpg?

galwaytt

trabpc wrote: »

Good luck with purchase. I agree with Bazz and few others on this. Why do people not take into account the monthly loqn repayment when working out costs. You slight reduction in tax, fuel will be dimished by new repayment on loan. At current interest rates about 11_12% a 9000 euro loan will have interest over 5 years of about €2800. Plus repayment on the 9000. Works out about 196 per month repayment.

11% Eh ? Where are you getting your money from ?

I can borrow money for a car a 6.5% locally, so that figure is bananas.

Actually..........I could borrow it.........and finance you for say...........10 % ?? Win-Win ?

galwaytt

trabpc wrote: »

At current interest rates about 11_12% a 9000 euro loan will have interest over 5 years of about €2800. Plus repayment on the 9000. Works out about 196 per month repayment.

I can borrow €9000 over 60 months, at €175.33/month, giving a total interest bill of €1518.99

That's €1281.01 less than you for the same loan.

Cheque in the post, yeah ?

furtzy

Interesting to hear real world experience of them. Will be getting shot of the old E39 later this year and a Prius is definitely in the running as the replacment :eek:

air

furtzy wrote: »

Interesting to hear real world experience of them. Will be getting shot of the old E39 later this year and a Prius is definitely in the running as the replacment :eek:

If the E39 is running well why not convert to LPG for Prius like running costs.
The E39 is a far nicer car to drive / own.

furtzy

air wrote: »

If the E39 is running well why not convert to LPG for Prius like running costs.
The E39 is a far nicer car to drive / own.

Its a 10 year car so no point in investing any money in it. I dropped down from a new 4X4 to it for recessionary reasons so I've never warmed to it

650Ginge

Just put prius driving tips into google.

Or hypermiling.

Prius is a car and most tips are not prius specific but the info u get on the screen on board a prius makes the results easier to see.

Slow down - the slower the better for mpg but tedious if journeys arent short.

Try not to brake ever, anticipation, awareness and smoothness, stay well back from the car infront at least 5-6 seconds, take corners as quickly as you can, don't approach faster than you need, trying to not brake.
Use ev button to pull away at junctions/lights and to stop the ice starting when you start it. Better for the ice to start when you are out on the road not the driveway. Learn to find the downhill gradients on your normal route and get the car in glide, no power and no engine braking or regen.

Pulse and glide, if you are so inclined I am not....

Wheel alignment

Tyre pressures

Decent tyres with a decent energy rating.

Service on time.

Use the heater sparingly, but use air-con if the car is moving windows down if it is not.

Keep a squeegee in the car to clear inside windows obviously before you start the engine/put in ready mode.

Drive off without delay. Open gates, load car or whatever before starting engine.

Keep a record off mpg and money spent on fuel on www.fuelly.com or similar and compare whst you get to the average.

Again most importantly slow down.

I don't agree with 650Ginge when he says use ev mode for pulling off at lights, it's not the thing to do as you will use a lot of battery that way.

I do agree with him on a few like turn off completely the climate control when you don't need it, when you hit the AC button it turns on the compressor so you have to go into the climate settings every single time,to turn it off again when not needed. Sometimes when it's cold enough it won't turn off the engine at lights etc, then use your e.v button. But don't use e.v mode to drive the car at all.

The greatest trick is using the battery energy correctly when on the open road going down decents where a normal car would slow down, if you press gently enough on the accelerator you can make the car go a fair distance on battery alone just by keeping the momentum going.

Then for slower driving, town etc you use as Ginge said, the pulse and glide mode, this also makes considerable difference. Pulse and glide works only up to 71 kph where going down a slight decent or hill you back off the power then press gently until no energy flows from battery, motor or engine you are essentially free wheeling, bit like a normal car with the engine off altogether, but obviously in a normal car you will eventually loose brake power and power steering, not so in the Prius as all the breaking and steering is electrically controlled.

All those techniques I've learned helps me get 4.4 L /100 Kms when it's not mad windy, to around 4.8 max,when it is mad windy. But I'm also on F rated winter tyres. Not bad for a petrol automatic.

Most importantly I don't need to drive like a granny, but I rarely go past 100 kph and don't get much of a chance in my 135 km commute.

If you can get the MK III Prius then do, there are good spec T spirits around and go for around the same money especially in the U.K, I wouldn't go with a low spec car if I'm going to live with it for 2 or 3 years.

650Ginge

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't agree with 650Ginge when he says use ev mode for pulling off at lights, it's not the thing to do as you will use a lot of battery that way.

Just to clarify that then, on my commute I have a junction after 2 miles, then a set of lights after another 6 miles, then a roundabout 4 miles later, followed by a motorway that joins another motorway with a freeflow junction. If I need to stop at any of these I will use EV button. Last mile is off the M50 into an industrial estate, I don't use EV here.

Due to the distances between the uses of the EV button to deal with lights and junctions, it is not drained as it will kick but to auto mode at 50k/h. It is then recharging for a number of miles. The Prius generates enough electrical power to both charge the battery and power the electric motor in assist mode when driven at normal speeds 80-85k/h when in Auto State S4. So with such gaps between the use of the EV button the battery will never get drained.

I never use the EV button in town as it could be come drained, and the auto system manages it better than I do. Also I would never run on EV within a mile or two of my house, so the battery would not be drained and then the engine turned off. Two reasons you don't want to leave it drained for long periods and you want to be able to use the EV button to get you out of the drive and estate and up to 50k/h before you have to let the ice start.

trev44

so did you end up getting one?

ceekay74

trev44 wrote: »

so did you end up getting one?

I'd like to hear about your experience if you did go ahead.

beauf

reni10 wrote: »

I....Looking to get one to save some money over the next 3 or so years as I will use this car to commute about 25kms per day to work.

At the moment I am paying about €800 a year for road tax and filling up with about €40 of petrol every 2 weeks so about another €1,000 - €1,200 a year in fuel which makes the running cost about €2,000 a year....

Why do you ignore depreciation. Isn't that as big a cost per year?

Is that 25k each way 50k total?

650Ginge

beauf wrote: »

Why do you ignore depreciation. Isn't that as big a cost per year?

Is that 25k each way 50k total?

Old thread I think the op bought the octavia in the end.

beauf

Ah ceekay74 for the love of mike....

mrsergej

As @reni10 didn't reply about his final decision on prius (or not), I just want to share some info for future readers.
Bought 2005 prius from UK two years ago now (in 2013). It was high mileage with full service history car and TOTAL COST then was 4000 Euro. I mean TOTAL: 2 flight tickets (for me and a friend), car hire in the UK, Car I bought, petrol and ferry to bring it here, VRT (320Euros) and NCT. That was 2 years ago. These days it might be more but car worth every penny. I drive it locally and usually do over 1000km a month. No issues what so ever! Over last 2 years I have changed oil, tyres, 12V battery (manufactory one lasted for 9 years) and that's ALL. And I have to say that I usually do take proper care of my cars.
Talking about fuel consumption, my lowest is 40-41MPG (town driving during the winter), 45-50mpg (combined) and 60+ when drove about 400km at around 80-100km/h speed, during the trip to Europe last summer.
Talking about comfort to drive: everyone is different and feels different when driving. I have 20 years driving experience and owned 17 different range cars at different time, form Corsa 106 to Citroen C8, but PRIUS is the best car I ever had!

So good luck with the future choices!

loughrey

mrsergej wrote: »

As @reni10 didn't reply about his final decision on prius (or not), I just want to share some info for future readers.
Bought 2005 prius from UK two years ago now (in 2013). It was high mileage with full service history car and TOTAL COST then was 4000 Euro. I mean TOTAL: 2 flight tickets (for me and a friend), car hire in the UK, Car I bought, petrol and ferry to bring it here, VRT (320Euros) and NCT. That was 2 years ago. These days it might be more but car worth every penny. I drive it locally and usually do over 1000km a month. No issues what so ever! Over last 2 years I have changed oil, tyres, 12V battery (manufactory one lasted for 9 years) and that's ALL. And I have to say that I usually do take proper care of my cars.
Talking about fuel consumption, my lowest is 40-41MPG (town driving during the winter), 45-50mpg (combined) and 60+ when drove about 400km at around 80-100km/h speed, during the trip to Europe last summer.
Talking about comfort to drive: everyone is different and feels different when driving. I have 20 years driving experience and owned 17 different range cars at different time, form Corsa 106 to Citroen C8, but PRIUS is the best car I ever had!

So good luck with the future choices!

I'm considering buying an 05-07 Prius but I think with these cars the longevity of the expensive hybrid batteries are a concern for me as they can cost as much as these are worth to replace. I'm worried about getting them over 100k mileage. I'm thinking that buying an 05 under 100k is better value for the same price as buying an 07 over 100k. What do you think?

mrsergej

loughrey wrote: »

I'm considering buying an 05-07 Prius but I think with these cars the longevity of the expensive hybrid batteries are a concern for me as they can cost as much as these are worth to replace. I'm worried about getting them over 100k mileage. I'm thinking that buying an 05 under 100k is better value for the same price as buying an 07 over 100k. What do you think?

I sold my loved Prius last week with 125k miles on the clock and it still is the best car i drove ever! Within 2.5 years I had no issues with the car AND with the Main battery at all. It behaved exactly the same as when I bought it. Regularly had battery charged to the top green level. So it's not an issue at all. And even if it would be, there is no need to replace the whole battery, usually it is only separate battery cell that fail and they could be replaced separately. The only thing that it's a common thing on these petrol engines that when mileage is over 100k kilometres, it oil consumption is noticeable. But neither performance or emissions or anything else are affected. Jus needed to check oil level monthly and add if needed.
I would happily drive it further but kids are growing and I am getting a 7 seater. I wish I could afford 7seater prius...
Still hoping that will be able to afford a second car and it will be prius again...

mrsergej

BTW i am driving friends 09 Avensis now and prius is BETTER and more spacious inside!
More driver friendly (controls) and much more fun to drive with stepless auto gearbox

colm_mcm

loughrey wrote: »

I'm considering buying an 05-07 Prius but I think with these cars the longevity of the expensive hybrid batteries are a concern for me as they can cost as much as these are worth to replace. I'm worried about getting them over 100k mileage. I'm thinking that buying an 05 under 100k is better value for the same price as buying an 07 over 100k. What do you think?

The battery on the 05 will be 2 years older though.
Battery wear isn't in proportion to mileage. there are other factors.

loughrey

loughrey wrote: »

I'm considering buying an 05-07 Prius but I think with these cars the longevity of the expensive hybrid batteries are a concern for me as they can cost as much as these are worth to replace. I'm worried about getting them over 100k mileage. I'm thinking that buying an 05 under 100k is better value for the same price as buying an 07 over 100k. What do you think?

One of the most reliable cars ever built!

There are prius taxi's in the U.S with over 400,000 Miles on the original battery. NiMh batteries are not as susceptible to time degradation as lithium.

I had an 07 for 4 years sold with 230,000 Kms, nothing failed. Never a problem.

Just check the recalls were done by a Toyota garage.

Prius is a great car but not that I've gone fully electric there is no going back !

Regarding the years, that's really up to you, better price V younger car !

make sure it has a full Toyota service history as always any neglected engine can give trouble if the oil/filters were not changed etc and having a full verified service history pretty much guarantees mileage is correct too.

loughrey

I really appreciate the info guys! My current budget only allows for the second generation high mile Prius. I was worried about the battery as unlike the US etc. there aren't any Hybrid battery reconditioning centres in Ireland meaning you have no choice but to replace the whole battery in a Toyota dealers, unless you happen to get one on Ebay, which isn't that often. I'm looking at a 06 T Spirit with 113K miles but the battery worry is holding me back a little.

loughrey

loughrey wrote: »

I really appreciate the info guys! My current budget only allows for the second generation high mile Prius. I was worried about the battery as unlike the US etc. there aren't any Hybrid battery reconditioning centres in Ireland meaning you have no choice but to replace the whole battery in a Toyota dealers, unless you happen to get one on Ebay, which isn't that often. I'm looking at a 06 T Spirit with 113K miles but the battery worry is holding me back a little.

The battery is probably less likely to fail than an engine in a normal ICE car, so it's important to check the maintenance has been done every 15,000 kms , oil and filters, and that the record is backed up by the garage.

The setup gearbox needs an oil change also at 160,000 Kms, not part of the service but well worth while according to prius owners over at priuschat.com

The gearbox is also one of the most reliable Auto's ever built and is simpler than a regular automatic so less likely to fail.

The prius is one of the most reliable 2nd hand cars with high mileage you will find on the road.