299,999+ Mile Club

I do own my own business, basically work out of my truck, which is a loaded Chevy,
it is a top of the line model because I drive a lot
It overhead like an office
Do you own your own business ?

 

If you can pay off your truck's financing before its useful life is over and you are happy with the net profit from your business, then no worries.

In the case of 2 fas 4 u, he has put almost 500K miles on his car (which means the car is clearly at or beyond end-of-life) yet his auto financing is still not paid off. Hence, he has to add the remaining principal balance to his next car loan.

That situation cannot continue indefinitely, hence the very reasonable suggestions from group members that he keep his existing car for a while (as long as it still works) or if he really needs a newer vehicle, to purchase a used Prius whose first owner already has taken a substantial depreciation hit, in order to enjoy a lower acquisition cost.

It is not necessary to own your own business to recognize the value of this advice; but to answer your question, I am a manager in the technology industry.

 

Congrats to 2 fas and my opinion on the 'v'.
I also drive a lot -Postal use- and for what is worth think you should drive the v more, maybe rent it a few days before buying one. It costs more, is heavier, has the same engine as the hatchback prius, so its slower, and will get worse gas mileage. I personally wouldn't want a slower car .. But if you need the extra room/carrying capacity....EDIT I did have the thought, the 'v' is a safer car, being larger. Safety would be a good reason to replace your current car with something newer in general.

Congrats on showing what your car can do, I'd email to Toyota marketing in support, can't find a link. There was a 1990 Honda in the news that went 1 million miles for an owner, so the bar keeps raising for extreme mileage. North.

 

There is the ever increasing risk of a major failure (battery, transaxle, engine) that will knock the value from $5000 to $2000. The best time to sell a car is when it is in good running condition.

I agree wholeheartedly, the best bang for the 2 fas 4 u buck is to pick up another 2009 with maybe 60,000 miles on it. But it is not clear that $5,000 would be offered for the trade in, and financing terms are likely significantly worse, if not impossible, to get the old car paid off.

2 fas 4 u, if there is any way that you can afford the 60 month, 1.9 deal, take it. Then, in 3 years when you have 450K on the V, you'll be much closer to having some equity in the car.

Speaking of turning a liability into an asset, can you offer up your car for companies to put graphics on, like a rolling billboard, and then use that income to pay down the loan? A new V is an eye-catching car -- surely somebody is willing to pay something?

 

Very interesting thread indeed!
Although I fully agree with most of the cool, practical and rational advises, I am also at the same time feel the pain and frustration of 2 fas 4 u, the star of the thread.

I wish 2 fas 4 u can take full advantage of vast amount of free time on the trip, to listen to something he is interested, a novel, history, music, joke of the day... whatever. Just load them into the ipod and play.

2 fas 4 u, you need to get distracted from the "V" stuff for a while, because it is torturing you every day now. It is like someone plays video game all night, don't want to stop but getting really tired every minutes goes by.

I was in college in Detroit, and I knew every car models then, tested many of them, envy of this and that from time to time, trying to find the best car that I can afford...

Eventually when I find it, I was excited for a month or two, and realized that it is just a car. Plus, there are already better cars planned coming out next year which looks more interesting. It took me a while to realize that there are many other more interesting, important things in life that I want to explore.

I know it is hard to jump out when you are deep in. That's why sometimes let emotion cool down is good for us.

Anyway, I put big notes on the inside of front and back door:

Keys?
Purse?
Phone?

 

Yes, I do.

Unasked questions:
Do I drive a lot for my business ? Yes, I do (although nothing like 2 Fas)
Did I buy an expensive car to lessen the annoyance of a lot of driving ? I did.

Does the above matter one whit to this discussion ? Absolutely not. If I was not able to afford the car, I would not have bought it.

 

If the fellow between the cars is 2 Fas, I'm amazed he slept comfortably in his G2.

 

Maybe that's why he is in such a hurry

Anyway, glad he finally made a decision.

 

Again to the prius community, I give my thanks to USBSEAWOLF2000 for the pic posting, and all the comments u guys have giving along with all the advice and encouragement. The decision is made, it was a hard one indeed, there is no win for me considering the miles I drive, however I am aware of all the risks.

I would have kept her if Toyota wanted me too. However since they were not interested, I did what I had to do.

I must say I am very much indeed a happy man. I went to the dealer in Lake City, FL salesman's name is Max nice guy. I said I need to drive on the highway at least 5 to 10 miles in one direction, he said no problem car had 8 miles on it.. We got on highway at 43 mpg after 5 miles I gave up because display only said 44 mpg told him I had and seen enough, I turned off the display continued about another 3 miles got off exit turned around came back, from exit to dealer about 1.5 miles. Looked at display it read 49.1. I hooked up the bluetooth to my droid play a youtube clip, after that I was out and driving my Prius V.

Drove about 2 hours, about 165 miles to my house display was at 50.3 Still hoping for the worst took a shower, went to work, the pic above tells the rest. I am not doing anything special, than I did in my 2009, drove the same way I always drive, between 60 and 70.

Very impressed with the bluetooth, I did not need NAV or ENTUNE or XM. Have all that on my droid X.

With that said I will update u guys if interested, with about 3-5 more days of mileage testing to see if the mileage changes. Im use to 89 BP im going to see if there is a difference over 87. With that said again thanks and thanks and thanks.

 

Congrats and best wishes.

 

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The two cars side by side is classic and really shows the size difference. Toyota could use that view in their ads especially for the uninitiated. Their "floating child" ad is getting old already.

 

Congrats on the new ride. Is the dealer going to put your old car on display or just sell it?

 

2 fas 4 u,

I don't know why but I'm grinning ear to ear. Congratulations on the new wheels! Your new buggy looks just like mine. Great choice of colors.

I'm surprised your 2009 Prius looks as good as it does. For some reason I expected your 465k Prius to look like it was ground down to a nub.

Looking forward to reading about your next Prius marathon run. Drive safe!

 

old car looked great 2 fast....new car looks nice too..just wish you kept old one till 500k

oh well congrats!

 

Question is, who will buy this Prius with 465k?

Coming to an auction house near you....

 

I am sure it would be auctioned to a used car dealer. If it then was sitting next to a 50k mile 09 Prius for $14k and this one had a sticker for $6.5k it will sell quick after a successful test drive. It's still only 2.5 years old!

Cars over 200k miles sell on year and condition regardless of incremental miles. In my area it would sell to a cash buyer for $5500 or to a credit applicant for $6500 by a "we carry the note" used car dealer. Add $1000 to those numbers when gas hits $4.

 

if I had any auction leads and the cash I'd buy it!

 

That's the good thing about the UK, all the dealer auctions are open to the public - higher buyer's premium though.

Last time I was at an auction there was a BMW 5 Series Touring turbo diesel (530d I think). 4 years old, 390k miles. £1300!!!!