Is there any genuine cheap Priuses left, or all dodgy?

[Jamaica]

Looking for a Prius for the wife, and every single one i have seen has been dodgy. Sold be even dodgier persons.

Fake service history, even dodgier MOT history, it is if every single one for a decent price is being sold by a scammer. Is there any reasonable dealership you trust?

Edited by Jamaica on Sunday 9th February 09:44

[eltax91]

Does it have to be a Prius? We just find dog after dog ex taxi when we were looking recently (less than 2 weeks ago!) she ended up in a Hyundai Ioniq hybrid instead which seems tantamount to the same thing as a Prius!!

[Don Roque]

If you're wanting a cheaper Hybrid, look at a second generation Honda Insight. They are excellent cars and a lot cheaper than a Prius.

[Jamescrs]

Most of them seem to be getting used as private hire/ UBER where I live now. They must be in demand.

[Jamaica]

Don Roque said:

If you're wanting a cheaper Hybrid, look at a second generation Honda Insight. They are excellent cars and a lot cheaper than a Prius.

Dont the Hondas have a terrible reliability record?

[kieranblenk]

You might get better value with a Yaris or Auris Hybrid.

[shake n bake]

If you’re looking at that end of the market then it’s the risk you take.

[Haltamer]

Being in London, every Prius, Ioniq or Insight either is or was an Uber. I'd avoid all of them like the plague.

[Don Phil]

Seen a few imported ones in Bradford for taxi use.

Not sure on price but might be an avenue to look down

[AmitG]

OP, what is your budget?

It might be worth going to a Toyota main dealer. I know they normally deal in the upper end but my 2 local Toyota dealers always have cheap Prius/Auris lying around and I presume they do a better job on warranty/prep than some backstreet bloke.

[AmitG]

I forgot to add - Priii (?) are generally ripe for dodgy mileage/MOT/service history. As others have mentioned, these cars are the default choice for private hire drivers, certainly in ciites. They buy them at high mileage and take them to intergalactic mileage, and spend as little as possible to keep them on the road. So it is not surprising.

Ditto Honda Insight (second gen, not the ultra cool first gen).

OTOH, Priii (?) are basically indestructible. They are the modern day K12 Micra. You can abuse them for hundreds of thousands of miles and they won't go wrong. So the cars you are looking at probably have a dodgy history, but are probably mechanically/electrically OK. Some TLC may be required, but the bork factor is generally low.

Depending on budget, it may be worth trying a main dealer. If nothing else, they will tell you where the good PXs end up.

[Camelot1971]

Don Phil said:

Seen a few imported ones in Bradford for taxi use.

Not sure on price but might be an avenue to look down

Bradford is the last place anyone should look for a car.

[Don Phil]

Camelot1971 said:

Don Phil said:

Seen a few imported ones in Bradford for taxi use.

Not sure on price but might be an avenue to look down

Bradford is the last place anyone should look for a car.

Ha, I see how that reads! I meant look at importing one rather than buying one from Bradford.

[Pistonheader101]

Looking at cheap ex- Uber’s and not expecting a dog?

[Jamaica]

AmitG said:

OP, what is your budget?

It might be worth going to a Toyota main dealer. I know they normally deal in the upper end but my 2 local Toyota dealers always have cheap Prius/Auris lying around and I presume they do a better job on warranty/prep than some backstreet bloke.

Got aroudn 5k budget, do you think this will be enough?

[samoht]

Jamaica said:

Don Roque said:

If you're wanting a cheaper Hybrid, look at a second generation Honda Insight. They are excellent cars and a lot cheaper than a Prius.

Dont the Hondas have a terrible reliability record?

I think the hybrid battery often dies on those, rendering them fairly useless and a new one is more than the car's worth.

[Crumpet]

Jamaica said:

Got aroudn 5k budget, do you think this will be enough?

Why not spend £3k on something similar with a basic petrol engine that hasn’t been hammered as a minicab? £2k would cover a few years of extra fuel costs.

[Jamaica]

Crumpet said:

Why not spend £3k on something similar with a basic petrol engine that hasn’t been hammered as a minicab? £2k would cover a few years of extra fuel costs.

Like what? Has to be auto and once we start looking at autos many of hte newer ones have transmission issues... And before you know it we are up to 3k money and thats where decent Priuses become available.

[AmitG]

Jamaica said:

AmitG said:

OP, what is your budget?

It might be worth going to a Toyota main dealer. I know they normally deal in the upper end but my 2 local Toyota dealers always have cheap Prius/Auris lying around and I presume they do a better job on warranty/prep than some backstreet bloke.

Got aroudn 5k budget, do you think this will be enough?

I just looked at approved used cars on the Toyota website. The cheapest one is listed at £6,890, which is not far off your budget.

So it's got to be worth a try. Ring your nearest one and see what they say?