keep the 07 or buy new?

Many have gone far beyond the 100k warranty. I would advise to wait until the economy improves (if) before I'd buy. Right now things are so uncertain-is the glass half full or half empty?

 

keeping the 07 makes for fiscal sense as a car depreciates the most its first year and still quite a bit the second year. I owned and 05, traded it for 10, and now I'm back in an 05, why you ask?? simple, gen II had the best interior of any car in human history, but the outside looked nerdy, so I bought the gen III, it looked beautiful in barca red with big 17" wheels and looked great at night with LED headlights, but after 8 months I was just fed up with the interior so let me warn you about the gen II shortcomings:
nav screen is too low for safe driving.
scandanavian dash is claustrophobic and has 4 times more buttons than the gen II
steering wheel is missing a couple of vital vital vital climate control buttons
cup holders are stupid, you lose the use of your armrest if you want to hold 2 drinks and you have to expose the contents of your center storage bin to the world to use it.

if you have never driven a gen II than you may be happy in a gen III, but I think its impossible to go from gen II to a gen III, it will just drive you mad at how Toyota can ruin an almost flawless interior.

 

Funny posting considering some -other- owners think just the opposite. They think the GII interior is horrible and the GIII is wonderful.

I suspect this shows the OP will have to make up his/her own mind about which car they really want. These decisions are almost never made for fiscal reasons. It's desire, pure and simple.

 

Getting rid of a four year old car with no mechanical problems makes no economic sense. Replacing it with a new car would cost you several thousand over the lifetimes of the cars. If you just want a new one to please yourself, that's a different question.

 

If it a matter of lowest cost, keep your current Prius.

Tom

 

If you already know that you like the G2, and it's paid for, why not keep it?
It seems to me that you're considering spending money (for the G3) to guard against the possibility of having to.....spend money.
Fiscally speaking, keeping the G2 is the way to go. Your tax bill (if applicable) will be lower as well. Maybe your insurance too.
OK...so.
If you have that new car bug, you also have an advantage over somebody that has to buy another vehicle. Time.
If you decide to illuminate the "change owner" light on your G2, then I would try to sell it privately. The used car market is pretty good for clean, one owner Priuses.
Since you're not in a hurry, you can throw out a line or two and see if somebody nibbles. You'll get probably four figures more than the dealer will offer you in trade-in value, and you can negotiate the new car price (with a pre-approved loan from a CU) from a position of greater strength.
If you trade at the dealer, they're going to either lowball the price of the new car to hide the fact that they're not giving you what your used mount is worth, or vice-versa.
Throw in all of the doc fees, and "dealer installed options" and "special financing" AND warranties and the deal gets more and more convoluted. Easier to make some "additional profit."

My first choice: Keep the G2.
My second choice: Sell the G2, get pre-approved at a CU for $X, and start getting OTD pricing from at least three dealerships over the internet before you drive on the lot.

The Dealership's first choice: You drive your G2 in and say "what kinda deal can I get for that nice 2011 over there?"
Hint: When they ask you how much you want your payments to be...say $0.0, and ask for another sales representative. Tell them you're shopping for a CAR, not a payment! Also....do NOT buy the extended warranty at the dealer.

ONE more thing.....drive a G3 first.....like, rent one for a weekend. There are differences. Buyer's remorse sucks! The only thing that a 10-minute test flight will prove is that that particular car is functional (at that time.) They pretty much all are going to be. Just sayin....

Good Luck!

 

After reading your posts from the past few years, I'd say you are nervous about keeping your 07 even though you haven't experienced any serious problems with it so far. It's definitely a comfort to have a bumper to bumper warranty that comes with new. I tend to visit stealerships only when I buy a car. Hate the service department! Rip off city IMHO.

Are there many new 2011s left? Was Toyota able to produce many after the tsunami hit? The 2012 Prius should be available now.

80K is less than half the miles on my 2005. I think my 2005 will reach 200K easy without a serious fault and may make it to 299,999 without having to replace the traction battery.

So, in summary, I vote that you keep your 07 and drive it until something major occurs which could be many years away.

Save the money you would have spent on the 2011 or 12 for now and buy the Gen IV Prius, which if the past is any guide, will have even better fuel economy than the Gen III. Just think of what the body and chassis might be made of: carbon fiber and the newest nanomaterials. 1800 lb curb weight and 80 mpg. That's what I'm talking about. And it could be available in less than five years.

Worth the wait and you shouldn't have any problem waiting, believe me.

 

We've got a 07 with 145K and the only problem we have had is front wheel bearings ($500). We recently purchased a 2011 Model Five with the Advanced Tech package (and kept the 07)) and I definitely have to agree with you on the STUPID interior design of the 2011. However, I love the advanced tech features.

However, 80K is nothing - my vote is for the OP to keep the 07.

 

I have an '07 Touring edition that has ~101,000 miles that I bought new in April '07. My experiences with the car:

1) If you haven't already, replace the (horrible!) 12V Aux battery with an Optima battery. My 12V failed within 9 months of buying the car. The Optima just runs and runs like a champ!

2) This might not apply to you but I've had to replace the HID headlights. The bulbs are ~$100 (for the pair) at Amazon.com, and about 10 min to replace. I now have a replacement set sitting on the shelf.

3) I did have to pump for the hot water storage tank (under left fender) replaced under warranty - it was squealing.

These are all the repairs I've _HAD_ to do.

Work I've done to play it safe:

4) I replaced the interter coolant pump myself. There's now a recall on that so Toyota will replace that pump for free. I'd take advantage of that if I were you. So, no net cost to you.

5) I've replaced the PCV valve, the spark plugs, the engine water pump and the engine water pump belt. All were reasonably easy if you're a half-way competent do-it-yourselfer.

6) I've replaced the inverter coolant, the engine coolant, and the transaxel fluid (twice). I figure these are just playing it safe.

7) Also done the regular maintenance things - oil, oil filters, air filter, cabin filter to keep all that stuff clean. The cabin filter never really needs replacing - you can simply take it out and wash it in the sink.

I've been overall very happy with my '07 Prius. I plan to run it up to about 160 k (when I retire) and then replace it. I think I've got a granddaughter who would be extremely happy to get my old Prius when she hits 16.

I've never seen any sign that the hybrid system has any problem - it's never shown any sign of distress.

By the way, the California hybrid battery warranty is 10 years or 150,000 miles. So if you're worried about paying to replace that main battery, you're only a little over half way to being out of warranty. Keep that in mind.

 

The cheapest option is almost always to drive it into the ground. If something catastrophic like a transaxle failure happens, then you can reconsider. However, most of the repairs you'll require will run you much less than a new set of car payments.

The other tradeoff is potentially less reliability, and (depending on how you've kept it) driving a somewhat beatup car.

 

if you want a new one go for it. why not

 

I'd keep it to. I really like the G2. Very distinctive auto! They call us Tree huger's, but I think that is a good label to have these days.Hal

 

Kind of off topic, but I'd advise the exact opposite. The best time to buy anything is when the economy is in the dumps. When do you think the dealers are willing to discount - when the showrooms are empty, or when they have a line out the door? Interest rates are at record lows. And so on. It is precisely during a poor economy that you can score the best deals - on a car, a house.. anything.

-MKL

 

And, in the case of the Prius, when gas prices aren't going way up (that will likely be happening soon with Iran stirring the pot).

 

Exactly so.

 

Oh my gosh, you just voiced out exactly what's been bugging me about the gen3 that I never could place into words. :rockon: