Added a second Prius to the fleet the other night. More details later but for now enjoy these pics.
Added a second Prius to the fleet the other night. More details later but for now enjoy these pics.
Yes, the wheels are hideous, and the corrosion makes them leak air and causes flats. But at least they are wrapped in really good Michelin tires.
Here's a few facts:
The "Waiting Room"? You ask? . . .
Well, this was first contact with the seller (it was posted on Craigslist)
Note the date: November 17th, 2021.
So, the 2nd Prius was actually the 1st Prius you were after...interesting.
With Nav and leather, this was a highly optioned Prius. Add to that someone spent additional dollars on chrome and chrome accessories. Someone once really liked this car.
Easy fix.
Undo the the two phillips headed connectors in the wheel well that hold on the bumper. Peel back the bumper some more so you can get you hand/fist behind the bumper cover. Pour hot water on the exterior of the bumper to make the plastic warm and soft. With your hand/fist, message the plastic back into shape. 10 minute job.
I went and looked at it the next day.
We agreed on the sales price, shake hands, and then he goes to get the title, but can't find it......
So, I left that night and asked him to call me when he finds it. That was SIX months ago.
I've been calling and texting him about once every three weeks ever since. He finally received a duplicate title in the mail.
I know you're wondering, "Indy, why would you wait that long and all the effort for a simple Prius" ? ? ? ?
Well, it's a rust free California car in Indiana, and gas prices (as of this post) are $4.39 / gallon
Picture shows why you do not chrome plate alloy wheels ,
I see a lot of Porsche Fuchs alloy rims that were chromes and are peeling like yours ,
there probably is a way to chrome it correctly , most chrome shops cannot do it correctly ,
PS , my buddy had a chrome shop for 30 years plus
Are these chrome wheels still 15"ers?
In reply to John Welsh :
Yes, I truly had given up hope of ever getting the title/ability to buy this one after so long, so I jumped on the one you were selling.
At the buy in price, the Catalytic converter alone is nearly worth it, even if it won't be drivable...... Stay tuned, there's more to the story.
So, seller listed it as a parts car with zero pics. After sending an email he responded as you see above.
Here's the highlights of the information given to me:
I took a spare 12 Volt and "jumped it" to get the display active.
To my untrained eye, it looked like the high voltage battery was still good. Maybe.
But it did say something like " Add Fuel". Could it just be out of gas????
With the jump, I was able to verify the engine starts, Cat was still present ( because quiet) and it would drive a few inches forward and reverse. Also, Rust free California car 
Fantastic!!
John Welsh said:Are these chrome wheels still 15"ers?
I missed this question earlier. No, the tires are 16"
I have high hopes I'll be able to bring back the 12 Volt battery, it has a 1/'20 date code
Here's several more pictures of the "as purchased" state.
For a double dose of that pimpin'
Out of respect for the previous owner, plate obstructed:
Look how clean and the rust free it is under here:
Oh, and here's the best part.
There's NO problem with the hybrid battery. The guy simply ran it out of gas.
I poured a few gallons in it and .... it fired right up and I drove it a half mile last night No problem
Indy - Guy said:Oh, and here's the best part.
There's NO problem with the hybrid battery. The guy simply ran it out of gas.
I poured a few gallons in it and .... it fired right up and I drove it a half mile last night
GREAT , it's always amazing how feed up with a car some people get and just want to get rid of it........I am sure the car has some tales to tell ......
Out of gas! Yippie!
Just catching up. I was wondering if it was the one we talked about in February. It pays to be stubborn.
One of the things that really drains a 12v battery on a Prius is the smart key. This is a key where when you approach the vehicle, it senses or "sniffs" your key and proactively unlocks the door. Well, when parked, the car is constantly sniffing for the keys RF signal. All that constant sniffing drains out the 12v battery when the car sits for extended periods of time.
Actually, if your Prius is smart key equipped, if gets a larger 12v battery than the cars w/o smart key.
To combat this drain, on the lower dash, under the steering column, there is a push button breaker to disable the smart key function (or stop the smart key from sniffing.)
I remember reading once, Probably on Prius Chat that someone who was a Toyota Tech or Service Writer commented that the most common reason Prius come to the dealership is...out of gas. No further explanation was given but the source seemed trustworthy.
Being leather, nav and having 16" tires. I'll bet this was a Touring Model which is just another way of saying "all the options." The Touring model had these 16" alloys that were oddlu covered with plastic caps.
With plastic cap:
Shown without plastic caps:
Yeah, I have no idea why that came with caps/cover. They look good w/o.
Finding replacement 16" wheels is probably easy on car-part.com Other 5x100 Toyota wheels will fit too from the smaller Toyotas. Camry wheels and the larger cars will not fit as they are 5x114. But, Corolla, Matrix, some Scions will fit so seek out those too.
What is this a picture of? Hood scratches? Is there a clear bra on the car?
In reply to John Welsh :
As usual, great information that you share on these cars. I'll have to look into that smart key button to save the 12V battery.
So, because it looks like this is a touring model with 16 inch wheels, does it need to stay on 16's or could I swap over to those 15 inch wheels you linked up there earlier in the thread?
Oh, and it looks like the touring got a sublte spoiler on the rear deck lid.
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