Buyer's guide for probably the best used car in the universe - Udemy

I was always interested in cars. When it came to the point to buy my first one, I read all the reviews I could find and watched all the videos on youtube on what to look out for. But I felt somewhat disappointed. There was a limited number of resources out there.

Even though there are materials covering the Prius, I found them geared towards people who just heard about the car and wanted general information on its mpg and how is it to drive, instead of someone who is looking to buy one, needing practical information.

But why the Prius?

You could buy one for $~3-8k in the US and around $~6-8k in Europe that makes it a bargain commuter and a car you could drive around cheap.

I have a 2005 , my wife a 2004, my sister-in-law a 2006 and my brother-in-law also a 2006.

All four of us wanted an automatic car that doesn't need expensive transmission servicing, has cruise control (another limiting factor in Europe), AC, is a practical car with really good use of space. This preference only left Prius in play.

The reason we all bought them and are satisfied with them ever since is due to their price/value ratio.

When I was checking out cars to buy, one owner asked if I could come with him to check out a newer model he wanted to upgrade to, as he saw me going over his car meticulously.

I personally looked for 3 months, until I found the Prius I decided to buy for myself, that passed my pre-purchase inspection checklist.

With the help of this course, you can identify parts on the Prius which are due to replace, service, giving you a heads up you can highlight when it comes to negotiations with the seller to grab a good deal.

You will get to know how to identify:

need for new tires (~$500 a set)

a faulty tail lamps (~$120)

faulty water pump (~120)

faulty inverter coolant pump (~$300)

leaking trunk

front suspension check (~$400)

faulty wheel bearings (~$300)

just to highlight a few.

Adding this up is about $1740. For the price of this course of $44.99, you will get to know how identify $1740 of service needs on the Prius before purchasing.

I've seen cars listed with reasonable mileage and with images that looked fine. But often the truth was far from how the car was described.

One time, I asked the owner of a Prius I wanted to buy to go to a Toyota dealership so they could request the service history. Dealership only provide such information to the owner, so I could not ask for it myself. The owner requested her car's service history. It turned out that the car was in the service station when the inverter coolant pump was changed at 280,000 km (174,000 miles) 3 years ago. Seems fine, but the car had 170,000 km (105,000 miles) on it's odometer and was listed with that as well. The owner was shocked. I don't think she knew her car's mileage was manipulated.

I've got lots of stories like that, but enough of my rambling, let's get into the course.