Prius

from_atozinc

Thoughts on this car, supposedly not a Japanese I port, but not sure. Alloys look very small.




https://www.donedeal.ie/view/22943132

For Forks Sake

from_atozinc wrote: »

Thoughts on this car, supposedly not a Japanese I port, but not sure. Alloys look very small.




https://www.donedeal.ie/view/22943132

UK import I'd guess, that's what most of that dealers stock is made of, also the 120k+ reg.

from_atozinc

For Forks Sake wrote: »

UK import I'd guess, that's what most of that dealers stock is made of, also the 120k+ reg.

Are you familiar with the dealer? Or just from a quick gander at his stock.

colm_mcm

That’s a uk spec.

from_atozinc

colm_mcm wrote: »

That’s a uk spec.

Ah ok. Thanks.

Are they 15 inch wheels?

What do you make of it?

Gorgeousgeorge

from_atozinc wrote: »

Are you familiar with the dealer? Or just from a quick gander at his stock.

Herself has been buying off him for years 2 golfs and a civic all uk imports. No horror stories on the cars but he did refuse to fix ac on warranty just slow walked her till it was out.

from_atozinc

Gorgeousgeorge wrote: »

Herself has been buying off him for years 2 golfs and a civic all uk imports. No horror stories on the cars but he did refuse to fix ac on warranty just slow walked her till it was out.

Thanks. Will she go back again?

zilog_jones

from_atozinc wrote: »

Ah ok. Thanks.

Are they 15 inch wheels?

What do you make of it?

They're the standard 15" wheels on the pre-facelift gen 3 Prius (2009-2012), it's just they would have originally had plastic wheel trims over them.

I'd agree it's a UK spec. HUD is not common on Japanese ones, and they'd also have the indicator stalk on the right.

from_atozinc

zilog_jones wrote: »

They're the standard 15" wheels on the pre-facelift gen 3 Prius (2009-2012), it's just they would have originally had plastic wheel trims over them.

I'd agree it's a UK spec. HUD is not common on Japanese ones, and they'd also have the indicator stalk on the right.

Right. So they should it have a plastic trim on the wheels.

zilog_jones

Yeah but a lot of people remove the wheel trims anyway because they look naff. Looks like someone has fitted centre caps.

colm_mcm

Passenger side door/wing area just looks wrong to me.

from_atozinc

zilog_jones wrote: »

Yeah but a lot of people remove the wheel trims anyway because they look naff. Looks like someone has fitted centre caps.

Are they supposed to look like attached?

zilog_jones

Yes, I think so.

from_atozinc

colm_mcm wrote: »

Passenger side door/wing area just looks wrong to me.

Oh ok. Didn’t notice anything unusual myself. What do you think is up. A replaced panel etc. ?

zilog_jones

Looks fine to me considering the low quality of the photos.

Gorgeousgeorge

from_atozinc wrote: »

Thanks. Will she go back again?

Yeah I think so he seems decent to deal with and always gave good prices on the cars she traded back in.

from_atozinc

What would the Prius be like on a 2k short journey twice a day? Then a 15k journey twice a day.

Will it get bad mpg on these journeys due to it not getting a chance to warm up etc.

It will indeed do a lot longer journeys, just wondering on the Above.

bazz26

It's a Prius, not a tiger tank. It ain't going to rob you.

from_atozinc

bazz26 wrote: »

It's a Prius, not a tiger tank. It ain't going to rob you.

Fair enough.

zilog_jones

from_atozinc wrote: »

What would the Prius be like on a 2k short journey twice a day? Then a 15k journey twice a day.

Will it get bad mpg on these journeys due to it not getting a chance to warm up etc.

It will indeed do a lot longer journeys, just wondering on the Above.

You should really look into a PHEV with those kinds of distances...

from_atozinc

zilog_jones wrote: »

You should really look into a PHEV with those kinds of distances...

Not looking to spend much. About 6000. The plugins are a bit beyond this.

from_atozinc

I don’t do many miles a year. So no need for a diesel. I like automatic. But budget only 6000 Euro.

from_atozinc

On short journeys to school, shop, activities etc. All under 5 Kilometres....and all done a few times a day — is the Prius good in the situation?

Or will the starting it from cold/scratch a few times in the one day to do these short journeys just jell the mpg figures?

zilog_jones

Well any ICE car isn't going to be great on fuel with cold starts and short journeys, but the Gen 3 Prius should be somewhat better as it uses a exhaust heat recovery system to heat up the engine coolant faster than a normal car. The ICE startup cycle takes about 2 minutes, the engine will be running constantly during this process, but after that it can turn off in low load situations. I wouldn't expect 60 MPG from a day like that, but it won't be awful either.

A modern diesel with DPF is undoubtedly not suited to such driving.

from_atozinc

zilog_jones wrote: »

Well any ICE car isn't going to be great on fuel with cold starts and short journeys, but the Gen 3 Prius should be somewhat better as it uses a exhaust heat recovery system to heat up the engine coolant faster than a normal car. The ICE startup cycle takes about 2 minutes, the engine will be running constantly during this process, but after that it can turn off in low load situations. I wouldn't expect 60 MPG from a day like that, but it won't be awful either.

A modern diesel with DPF is undoubtedly not suited to such driving.

Thank you for the reply.
So the MPG will probbaly be down in the 40's

from_atozinc

Thoughts on this car:

https://www.adverts.ie/18406943

colm_mcm

Looks good to me.

from_atozinc

colm_mcm wrote: »

Looks good to me.

Is mileage a bit high. 181,000 miles.

vandriver

from_atozinc wrote: »

Is mileage a bit high. 181,000 miles.

Taxi drivers run them to 600k!

from_atozinc

This kind of a car: https://www.donedeal.ie/view/22984459

I think it’s a Jap import.
Are you as well off to stay away from these?

colm_mcm

from_atozinc wrote: »

Is mileage a bit high. 181,000 miles.

It is, but it’s had good maintenance by the looks of it.

from_atozinc

vandriver wrote: »

Taxi drivers run them to 600k!

Mmmm, ok, noted. That’s seriously high though.

from_atozinc

from_atozinc wrote: »

This kind of a car: https://www.donedeal.ie/view/22984459

I think it’s a Jap import.
Are you as well off to stay away from these?

any thoughts on these Japaneese cars?

zilog_jones

from_atozinc wrote: »

This kind of a car: https://www.donedeal.ie/view/22984459

I think it’s a Jap import.
Are you as well off to stay away from these?

They can be good value but maybe slightly higher risk.
Would be interesting to see this "full service history" - do they provide a translation?

Looks like it's been slightly modified as I don't think those leather seats are factory-fitted, and those are certainly aftermarket wheels. That headunit looks like it's in Japanese so may have useless satnav and might not work fully with FM radio here.

The one big downside I see with Japanese examples is they never seem to have the head-up display, which I think is a great feature...

from_atozinc

zilog_jones wrote: »

They can be good value but maybe slightly higher risk.
Would be interesting to see this "full service history" - do they provide a translation?

Looks like it's been slightly modified as I don't think those leather seats are factory-fitted, and those are certainly aftermarket wheels. That headunit looks like it's in Japanese so may have useless satnav and might not work fully with FM radio here.

The one big downside I see with Japanese examples is they never seem to have the head-up display, which I think is a great feature...

heads up display would not bother me, the other stuff would do, no radio etc
plus the lack of service history or not being able to understand the service history etc

colm_mcm

I would stick with UK cars. Leave the taxi drivers buy the Japanese ones

from_atozinc

colm_mcm wrote: »

I would stick with UK cars. Leave the taxi drivers buy the Japanese ones

you coudl be right, there is a crowd in Dublin: Automatic Car centre

They seem to specialise in them. They have dozens. Some of them seem to have a litttle aerial up beside the front light

from_atozinc

colm_mcm wrote: »

I would stick with UK cars. Leave the taxi drivers buy the Japanese ones

The one above with 181,000 miles with thedecent service history was indeed used as a taxi.
If any car was previoulsy used as a taxi, is this kind of a 'no no' for a normal joe soap buyer and stay away

zilog_jones

from_atozinc wrote: »

Some of them seem to have a litttle aerial up beside the front light

It's a "parking pole", so you can see the front left corner of the car when parking. Some are illuminated or retractable.

colm_mcm

from_atozinc wrote: »

The one above with 181,000 miles with thedecent service history was indeed used as a taxi.
If any car was previoulsy used as a taxi, is this kind of a 'no no' for a normal joe soap buyer and stay away

Not necessarily, but I’d never be truly comfortable in a car that was used as public transport.it also makes the car less valuable.

from_atozinc

colm_mcm wrote: »

Not necessarily, but I’d never be truly comfortable in a car that was used as public transport.it also makes the car less valuable.

I hear ya. noted.
I just immediately think of drunk people getting sick etc

from_atozinc

reliability wise though - these Prius should be relatively ok, yeah?

zilog_jones

With high mileage those engines may start burning oil due to flawed piston rings, but that's not too unusual for Toyotas of this era. I've heard it happen more in the US than here though, could be something to do with the many differences in driving conditions there.

EGR valve coolers can get blocked too, and if not dealt with can in rare cases lead to head gasket failure. Again something I've only heard from US owners, and with high mileage (over 100k miles).

from_atozinc

zilog_jones wrote: »

With high mileage those engines may start burning oil due to flawed piston rings, but that's not too unusual for Toyotas of this era. I've heard it happen more in the US than here though, could be something to do with the many differences in driving conditions there.

EGR valve coolers can get blocked too, and if not dealt with can in rare cases lead to head gasket failure. Again something I've only heard from US owners, and with high mileage (over 100k miles).

would a mechanic spot these things in a check?

or are they hard to see?

zilog_jones

You won't know if it's burning oil or not unless you drive hundreds of miles.

Clogged EGR valve/cooler will cause rough/lumpy idling, to the point of misfiring.

bidiots

from_atozinc wrote: »

reliability wise though - these Prius should be relatively ok, yeah?

2010 Prius

Ahem, Full disclosure, i know the owner;)
i know this will be going to a dealer soon enough;)

from_atozinc

bidiots wrote: »

2010 Prius

Ahem, Full disclosure, i know the owner;)
i know this will be going to a dealer soon enough;)

Looks decent.

Cant get over the pricing on these cars in general since I started looking at them. Some are way overpriced. This one not too bad I suppose.

Nice car and all.......But still, it has a 1/4 of a million km’s on it and soon 10 years old and petrol going up the whole time.

colm_mcm

Go buy a Tiida if you just want something cheap

from_atozinc

colm_mcm wrote: »

Go buy a Tiida if you just want something cheap

Suppose. But I think you’ll agree, these Prius’s are indeed priced a bit high.

bidiots

Tiida might be your best bet then.