My Prius is Getting Old -149k miles, 9+ years - should I replace?

If you need this car to run every day. Then I suggest you replace it. You will have another 9/10 years of worry free driving.

 

Five thousand sounds good - take it NOW!

When I traded in my 2007 Prius (10 weeks ago), the dealer only gave me $6500.

My car was close to 100k.

 

If I could get $5000 dollar value for a vehicle with 150,00 miles on it and afford to get into a new Prius? It's a no brainer.

I think it's good, to get as much usage and value out of a vehicle as possible. But for a daily driver, even a Prius, there is a limit where maintenance realities and concerns start to factor in.....

If you can afford to do it? I'd do it.

 

To me it depends on how long a term for your new car payments, if you can pay it off in 48 months, go for it, if you can get 60 month 0% financing, go for it. If not you should start saving for a new one.

 

Decade old car time for new if you can afford it. However if you can invest $500 a month rather than a Car payment it may be helpful

 

I would take the $5K, then go and buy the best used Prius I could get my hands on. This way, I avoid the growing liability without taking a huge depreciation hit of buying new. In addition, it will cost a lot less to buy used so you'll save even more money in the long run. Money you could and should, put aside in case of future car repairs that may be needed.

 

best i could do for my '04 with 95,000 a year ago last may was $5,700. private party. i would grab it and go sopping for something shiny. then park away from everyone else and walk further. have you looked at pip?

 

A good idea.^^^

 

I used to own VW's, my last a MKIV GTI and I frequented a large VW forum. If you want a reliable car, that is not going to break the bank to maintain and/or repair, I'd recommend steering clear of any VW. They are solid cars, this if for sure, however, the cost to keep them in good working order is higher than many other vehicles.

 

BH- where do you live (what state?) may impact decision...I am not a diesel fan but everyone has their own preference on cars. I am pro-choice.

 

As a owner of a VW Jetta tdi...they r costly to up keep. I had to sale mine because it cost to much. A mine was paid off. But every couple months I was back at the dealer. The last repair was $900 for alternator cable burned out.

SCH-I535 ? 2

 

If you can afford to get a newer prius after selling for 5k, then do it. It's your highest convenience option since you won't have to deal with replacing the transmission , engine, and batteries over the next fifteen years. Plus think of the greater good-if nobody buys new efficient cars then they don't become available to the used market.

Of course if you compare the cost of trading in every seven years vs. maintaining an older prius, it is almost always cheaper to maintain the older car, even if two of the three big ticket items mentioned above have to be replaced in that timeframe. If you consider ~2k depreciation per year for new, after five years you've lost more in depreciation than you would have paid to replace the batteries, transmission, and the engine with brand new parts. That's the price of convenience and having a warranty that eliminates your exposure to the risk of part failure.

Also, it is highly unlikely that any other new car will have a significantly lower total cost of ownership than a prius. The Jetta for example costs $600 per year more in fuel costs alone according to edmunds.

 

One thing that struck me about Prius chat is the relative lack of disgruntled owners posting horror stories. Go to VWVortex and read the Jetta or Golf threads. Or the TDI forum. Kind of confirmed my fears.

 

Exactly!! I'm a member on that forum and it's helped me save money while I owned a VW. However, I prefer to have a car that is reliable and inexpensive to maintian, relatively speaking. Took me a while to finally get a Prius, I'm just glad I finally got it.

 

You answered yourself above. My VW was 10 years old. I got tired of paying 25 to 75 cents per gallon more than premium. I had to cut my car off at drive in windows because it was so loud. But in the car could not hear it.
Read the VW forum. One theme that stands out is "if you do your own work".
I enjoyed driving the car but that is all.
SCH-I535 ? 2

 

Take the $5k asap.........