• FREE SPEECH SOCIAL MEDIA

    If you're looking for a Free Speech Social Media site, check out Blabbook.com

    - NO FACT CHECKING - NO SHADOW BANNING - NO POINT OF VIEW CENSORSHIP

New Prius In The Family

tbplus10

Moderator
Staff member
1000 Posts
Community Leader
With the sudden change coming to my wifes commute pattern we decided a newer Prius might fit the bill for her commuter.

She presently commutes 11 miles a day 5 days a week to and from work, but she's been transfered to her companies hdqtrs in Arkansas and will now be working a 4 day week and commuting home for 3 days, its an 1100 mile round trip she'll make weekly or maybe biweekly if she can modify her schedule for 8 day weeks with 6 days off.

I found a 2014 fully loaded Prius with 4800 miles at a local auction for a great price, the only problem is its a theft recovery with no interior, wheels, and some paint damage.

It was stolen, stripped, and left near a mudhole for a week where the mud damaged the paint with lots of scratches and someone also carved his undying love to his girlfriend in the paint on the hood.

I paid $3600 for the car and so far after wheels/tires, new top of the Toyota infotainment system, used 2013 matching interior, and a few other items I've got $5400 into the car not counting my labor.

This weekend I'm going to scotchbrite the paint then shoot hopefully 3 new coats and have a new looking car.

After that it's to the retailers for a complete inside and outside detailing.

I'm not a Prius fan, but I hate racking all the miles on her new RAV4 and she gets $875 a month with her new position as a vehicle allowance, so this car should pay itself off quickly.
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
WOW! That's a great deal, how is that even possible? Congrats ... you've got to let me know where you're going to these auctions. :)
 

tbplus10

Moderator
Staff member
1000 Posts
Community Leader
I bought this one at an auction in Abilene, only 2 other bidders on this car, nobody was interested in late model cars out there, especially ones needing work or hybrids.
Trucks and SUv's on the other hand were selling way above what what I was comfortable bidding for.
Watched a Nissan Leaf that was driveable with lots of cosmetic damage on the passenger side go for $4200.
The interior and infotainment parts came from a used car lot that was salvaging what they could from a demo ride gone bad. And I bought a set of take off aftermarket wheels/tires from my local discount tires.
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
Yeah, the level of work that needs to be done really drives down the bidders at an auction. Just adding in a new seat or two is one thing, but when you throw in the complexity of a hybrid that would scare a lot of people!

Some people, like many of us on the site, actually enjoy working on cars and trucks and we do it for free all the time anyhow, so a project like that would be pretty nice to have.
 

tbplus10

Moderator
Staff member
1000 Posts
Community Leader
Spent this weekend doing prepping and painting, not sure if I ever mentioned of all the things I can do well painting isn't one of them,
I let my son in law talk me into painting at my shop since I recently got him into a project doing a full restoration on a 1968 Harley Shovelhead that he wants to do all work in house, it'll be his first ever rebuild/restoration and he wanted to learn about paint before he tackles it on his project.
Paint went well, kept original light blue so I really only needed to paint damaged areas, but I put 3 base coats and 2 clear coats over the whole car.
Ill buff next weekend.
Only found 1 small spot of Orange peel low on the drivers qtr panel, which is in the clear coat since I found no issues when I color sanded.
I'll probably find more issues when I buff it out.
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
Paint is very difficult, it takes a lot of practice to get it right and of course the smell just seems to linger forever and kills my eyes. When I wear contact lenses, well just forget it, I'll have a headache for a week.

What are you prepping/painting, the whole exterior?
 

tbplus10

Moderator
Staff member
1000 Posts
Community Leader
Yea I did a full repaint in existing color.
I knew my skills weren't good enough to blend the damaged portions in.
One key to avoiding headaches and eye irritants is making sure you have real good ventilation, I installed a fan with pre filter in each corner of my paint booth and set it up to be a positive pressure area.
No fumes or overstay blowing around.
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
I took an uber ride in a Prius to a postseason baseball game at AT&T stadium in Arlington, didn't want to have to fight the crowds and traffic. The Prius was small but cozy and just enough room for 4 adults with their bags, etc. 5 adults would be possible but crazy cramped. Ride was quiet and the driver said that he averaged between 48 and 52 mpg for all of his trips.
 

tbplus10

Moderator
Staff member
1000 Posts
Community Leader
We took the Prius on a 1100 mile trip this last week.
While I'll never call it "zippy" it did ok with 3 people, 2 adults and the grandaughter.
What impressed me most was the MPG, normally when my wife drives she squeeks top mileage numbers out of a vehicle.
The Prius avg was 57MPG no matter who drove. 95% was on highway at speeds btwn 70 and 80 mph.
This vehicle should serve her purpose quite well.
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
We took the Prius on a 1100 mile trip this last week.
While I'll never call it "zippy" it did ok with 3 people, 2 adults and the grandaughter.
What impressed me most was the MPG, normally when my wife drives she squeeks top mileage numbers out of a vehicle.
The Prius avg was 57MPG no matter who drove. 95% was on highway at speeds btwn 70 and 80 mph.
This vehicle should serve her purpose quite well.
So that's where you've been. Sounds like a fun trip and that mileage is outstanding. Unfortunately for reasons of comfort I'm not a candidate for ever owning a prius, but that mpg rating is phenomenal.

Glad that rank amateurs stole that prius, smarter or more experienced thieves would have taken the batteries.
 

tbplus10

Moderator
Staff member
1000 Posts
Community Leader
Last week my wife complained her Prius wasn't getting good mileage anymore, it dropped from 57 MPG to 44 mpg.
My response was hmmm to bad, I drive a truck that gets 21mpg on a good day.
Tracked the MPG problem to a bad battery.
Then I found out just how expensive hybrids are.
Toyota wanted $439 for the battery and $356 for labor.
Since the car has a salvage title Toyota deemed this voids warranty, I talked them into splitting the battery price 50/50 and I performed the labor.
Its back to 57MPG after 1.5 hours labor.
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
That's still pretty pricey, I'm afraid I don't know enough about how their battery banks work, but they are necessary
 

tbplus10

Moderator
Staff member
1000 Posts
Community Leader
Time for an update on the Prius.
We've owned it 10 months now and other than 1 New battery previously mentioned and regular maintenance its been good.
Its now at 54,000 miles, yep about 5k a month.
Drivers seat is very worn and I ordered a new foam and seat cover kit for it from my friends at Toyota of Dallas on Friday, parts should be here by Tuesday so I can replace them.
Also had new tires put on at the local Discount Tire on Friday.
Bought a middle of the road 50k mile tire mfg by Firestone.
A precautionary alignment, belts, hoses, windshield wipers and coolant change to get an early jump on winter.
Mileage is still around 57MPG.
We plan on putting as many miles as we can until we run into a major repair, then we'll dump it for something else.
At this point we figure the cars been paid for by her vehicle allowance and were putting money in the bank.
Her RAV4 has also benefited since it just went over 4700 miles and still smells and looks like a new car.
 

Related Content You Might Like:

Top