Found a 2008 toyota prius with 175,000 miles, new hybrid battery pack & clean title. The owner is asking $3,000 on Craigslist. Is it worth it as a daily driver for my girlfriend?
When you say new, is it brand new from Toyota or just a refurbished new battery pack?
I’d only consider it if it was a brand new hybrid battery from Toyota.
Before you go any further, verify the battery’s health at your nearest Toyota dealer & take it from there.
Do not buy it without the inspection from Toyota!
The hybrid battery pack was changed, but what else was changed on it? At that high mileage, it can become costly to repair the rest of the components in the hybrid system as they fail/wear out. I would go with a regular gas vehicle as more mechanics can work on regular gas vehicles over hybrids. Regular gas vehicles have enough complexity as it is; going hybrid adds to that. Also, finding a competent mechanic that knows how to work on hybrids will be a challenge and being a specialty expect to pay more; going to a dealer would be very expensive as well for any repairs. I would pass on that Prius.
If the battery is new OEM (which I doubt it), the generator on that car is on its way. Do yourself a favor and avoid that car.
Definitely don’t buy a used hybrid with that kind of mileage. That battery will cost $5-7k to replace and they seem to usually go out around 200,000-ish miles.
Scotty has explicitly said, in his unique way, on more than a few occasions, that the Prius is a good buy, new, but a terrible choice, used. It's too expensive to diagnosis and repair, as it ages. You're better off with a good conventional used vehicle.
Lots of miles for a hybrid. If the battery isn't brand new from Toyota like said above, don't consider it in the first place. If not, still don't buy it unless you are fine with spending fortunes on repairs.
You are better off with a conventional gasoline car, like for example a ninth generation Toyota Corolla.
