u/Ferngulley26

Been looking into o0tions to spruce up the oem steel wheels and found the idea of center caps. They seem to be very specifically measured though and I cannot seem to find any explicitly for a prius c. Was wondering if anyone else has found good ones?

So I am in the process of buying a car on Autotrader from a private seller in Georgia. There are two options when buying, Full Service ($199) and Secure Pay ($49). The key difference seeming to be with Full Service they facilitate the paperwork whereas Secure Pay they do not. I have read some horror stories of people buying a car and then a title taking forever to get to them because the title needed to go from the seller, to auto trader, to the buyer. Would Secure pay just be a standard used car sale where the actual owner hands me a signed title, with the extra benefit that the money is held until I verify that the title change has processed? That seems way easier but I dont want to potentially screw something up

Seeking some clarity as I am buying a used car with some bent to hell steel wheels. At least two, maybe 3 but I would need to double check. The steel wheels for this model (2013 Prius C) are supposedly nearly as light as the OEM alloy options due to some size differences, so I am thinking of just getting some steel replacements. If so can I keep one of the wheels if it is good, or is it just not worth the effort unless I know for sure they are all the exact same measurements and weight?

I am doing some research on a 2013 Prius C trying to figure out what I am going to do with some janky wheels. What limited information I can find says OEM steel wheels are less than a pound heavier than the aluminum and will not have any significant affect on handling. Is that the case? Is there any other benefit or can I just replace my two janky steel wheels and find a hubcap I like instead of getting fully new everything?

I am going to test drive a prius I am interssted in, and I see a lot of people talking about using the Dr. Prius app to check battery health. There seems to be easy enough ways to read the raw data, but the actual life expectancy test involves flooring the gas while braking? Would this run the risk of harming someone elses car?

I am looking at an old 2006 prius that supposeduly has a rebuilt battery under a 3 year warranty. It may last, but I expect not. In the scenario where it dies in around 3 years, would there be any issue when returning it for the core charge for an OEM hybrid battery?

I am taking a look at a rebuilt title for a 6 year old vehicle in Georgia. Doing my due diligence, I googled the VIN to look at some before pictures on the original salvage. It is tagged as having "front end damage" as the reason for salvage, but all of the pictures look like a car that is relatively untouched. Is it a safe assumption that "front end" damage bad enough to warrant scrapping a six year old car would be some form of engine damage? Wouldnt that normally fall under a "mechanical" classification?

Edit: this thing was scrapped in 2024 with 21k miles so I feel like the damage would have had to have been massive but I am seeing nothing

Going to see a car later today from facebook marketplace, when I asked about the title the seller claimed it is under their older brothers name and signed by him. I assume this is a big fat red flag and to just drop it?

Edit: I let them know I was no longer interested. Was probably fine, but not worth the potential headache for what was ultimately a decent priced, but old and dinged up car

Hi all,

this is my first time purchasing a car in Georgia and I am needing some help understaning how titles work. I know dealerships will file the title for me, are required to do so. My question about dealers who do not technically have the title on hand. Apparently it is somewhat common in this state for dealers to buy cars at auction, and due to that same 30 day delay, sell it before they even get the title.

One car I am looking at seems to have been purchased from potentially an auction in Florida. Carfax shows no new title has been issued, but it has passed Georgia emission as of the 10th. Additionally, looking the title up in Florida shows it was last printed on July 13th, so I am guessing that it was printed with the intent to send to this dealer.

My question is what paperwork can I review if I get there and there is no title on hand? Is there some other piece of a paperwork they can use to confirm that the car has no outstanding issues? Nothing I can find says it does, but I am curious if there is anything particular I should physically lay eyes on once I am at the dealership.

I am looking at a car at a very small used car dealership in Georgia tomorrow. They seem relatively on the up and up from what little I can glean about them. However, the car has come from Florida and it seems that no Georgia title has been issued yet. Potentially bought at auction or swapped with some other dealership?

I do not fully understand who all is supposed to have a title available to view. Some people say they will have a title on site that is signed on particular spots for dealerships, then they will have a clean one mailed to me. Others say they may not have received it at all yet. In that scenario, what alternatives do I have to confirm current status of the vehicle? Nothing on the government vin checks report anything suspicious, but is there any chance with delayed reporting that I buy this vehicle and it gets reported as salveage or something?

Edit: The car was listed for sale in Georgia on 7/09, per Florida records the paper title was printed on 7/13. Would this likely be the last dealer printing a copy to send to the new dealership?

I have been used car shopping for a minute now, the one I bought as a 19 year old finally folded and this is my first time in awhile looking. I dont love spending money on cars and I may be too frugal, but the years I end up looking at are a lot of 15 year old cars with 120k miles on them. Now I see the leaf, five to seven years newer, being sold for cheaper. Looking into it, the range seems to be the big issue.

I work from home. My girlfriend doesnt drive. We need to go get groceries and drive around on the weekends. The farthest drive we will ever realistically do is 40 miles to her grandmother, and that is not very often. Everyone else is more of a flight away.I do live on a ground floor apartment which means I should just be able to park by my place and run a cable.

Is there any other deterrent? Even the charging issue with lack of fast charging seems to have a solutipn based on the adapter talk I see here? Any reason I need to be aware of where some of the models randomly fall off a cliff? Or as long as I biy used and see 10-12 bars om that battery pack it is pretty much good to go?

I have been doing some research and found an old gen II prius near me with some obvious cosmetic issues (old faded paint I would probably just wrap) sitting at 130000 miles. Thats pretty low for a car this old and some people have already told me that prius' like to be driven. My question is what are the potential ramifications? Is it just the hybrid battery potentially being on the way out? They seem relatively cheap and seem easy enough to install yourself. If the worst case is I spend 2k getting that battery replaced and I end up with a car that has 400k more miles in it, it seems like a no brainer. Can the low mileage cause more complex cascading problems or is that the gist of it?

My girlfriend really likes the color and I am wondering if there are any good wrap equivalents

I have been combing a few used car options in my area and found a couple old Mazda2 I am somewhat interested in due to their reported reliability.

I have one that is a 2013, automatic, with 140k miles on it. It's sold on FB marketplace by some small time dealer so I am a little wary of what the actual price may end up as, but currently it is right at 5k. I am sure it is an auction car or something and I will get a PPI before finalizing anything.

The other option is a 2014 mazda2 manual for 5200 with 60k miles on it. Guy seems to really own the vehicle, and a towing company. So maybe something happened to it, but at least a cursory serach doesn't have it marked as salvage. The big issue being I have never driven stick, so I am at best going to do a walk around and then need it taken to a mechanic to get a final sign off. Maybe hire the guy to tow it to my apartment complex. I don't need a car right this very second, so I could take some time to learn in my immediate area

Unrelated 3rd option: a 2006 Prius with 173k that looks okay visually at 4k. Supposedly that generation was tanks and if need be I could just replace the hybrid battery myself.

Hi all,

I am looking into buying my second car ever. First was bought using an envelope of bills in a parking lot. Unfortunately the used car market has apparently really dried up over the last few years. Now I am looking at used cars at dealerships/small used car lots and I am kind of overwhelmed. Everyone wants financing and all the advice I see is to get pre-approved through my bank before walking in. I don't need a loan, these arent exactly expensive cars I am looking at, and I generally try really hard to not be in debt. I want to buy in cash but apparently I need this pre-approval just to make my way through the initial money talks. My bank has a limited auto loan plan ( a list of +11,000 dealers), which I imagine means its useless if I end up going to a smaller lot. Do I just get rates on a personal loan? Is there somewhere I can just get general approval? Or is every auto loan option going to be limited when going to smaller lots?

I have a meeting setup with someone on facebook who on closer investigation is some rinky dink dealership. Nothing says "Buy her, pay here" but they do have their own financing. Is it a waste of time trying to just buy a car with money there? do I need some piece of paper for them to beat so I can get a loan that I immediately pay off?

Hi all,

I have read that Mazda2 are pretty dependable and I see one near me with 150k miles that seems mechanically pretty well cared for. Regular oil changes documented on the last half of its life. A laundry list of stuff done last week:

Vehicle serviced

Air filter replaced

Alignment checked

Axle seal(s) replaced

Brake fluid flushed/changed

Dipstick replaced Drive belt(s)

replaced Engine mount(s)

replaced Serpentine belt

replaced Transmission mount(s)

replaced Transmission seal(s)

replaced Two tires

balanced Two tires mounted

The most obvious thing I can see in just the pictures is really bad clear coat chipping that seems to be restricted purely to the bumper. Currently at 5,200 I am willing to go get a new bumper. But is there any big failures on this model I need to be aware of at that mileage?

I see a lot about yaris being dependable, but closing in on 200k miles feels like a lot for 5700. However, the used market is crazy. I am wondering if this is worth looking into.