** Prius Owners ** I found a used one ('02). Anything to look out for with these???

[masmdu]

Its a 2002 with 125,0000 miles on it. What issues should I keep in mind when checking it out?

Thanks!!!

(on edit)

It's $4950 and everything else car-wise seems good (tires,body,etc) I just wonder if there's hybrid stuff I should be aware of.

[cbayer]

1. Tire wear has been a problem.

If the tires have not been rotated on schedule, you may have uneven wear.

Prius owners may be funny about oil changes. We figure that since we use the gasoline engine only about 50% as much as we would in another car, we can go twice as long between oil changes.

There is a recall in effect for potential problems with the accelerator sticking. This car is most likely on the list for that.

There were concerns expressed about the battery life of the *big* battery, which would be expensive to replace. But, to my knowledge, this has not panned out as an issue. I have not heard of anyone who needed to replace this battery.

Other than that, I can't think of anything. I love my Prius and wouldn't have any other car at this point.

:hi:

[rcrush]

2. I havent had any problems with mine

Its an 08 but I never had anything wrong with it.

[NewJeffCT]

3. Some people are concerned about the battery

They are normally warranted for 100,000 miles or so. I think the exorbitant cost to replace them is a bit overstated, as you supposedly can replace individual cells within the battery for much cheaper.

If there are any Toyota dealers in the area, you might want to stop by there and ask them about issues with the Prius battery and see what input they have.

We have one that is about 18 months old and with 28,000 miles on it or so. No problems so far.

I should also add that there are a lot of Prius drivers in my region of CT, but merely going by my observation, I may easily be the youngest prius driver by far - and I'm 43. I see a lot of people that I would guess are well over 50 or 60 driving them... my guess is the hippies from the 60s and 70s that used to drive VW beetles back in the day are now driving Prius'.