Thinking about a Volt

You get most of the $7500 tax credit in the lease terms with an ALLY or USA BANK lease on the Volt.

 

I would have considered one if the dollars made sense, but without being able to charge at work, the numbers game went to the Prius for my commute.

 

If you can stomach owning a GM, then why not. Keep the Prius and buy the Volt as your primary vehicle. It sounds like you are itching for something new. Nothing wrong with that, just don't do it to save money because it never works that way.

Volt is an... interesting vehicle. Mostly love/hate, just like the Prius. Because of the badge on the bonnet, I would only go so far as to lease so you can dump it later when the inevitable GM problems appear.

 

If your utility is with PG&E, you can enroll in the new EV-A program. That means no tier, just 9-ish cents off peak per kwh. Since the battery stops at about 35% before engaging the ICE, you are looking at about 10 kwh of electricity charging. about $1 per charge.

In your case of not using the car much, it might not make too much sense to buy a new car. My wife's 05 has 150k miles and it still runs like new (hybrid battery is a little used), but it still runs like a champ. I have a hard time to justify replacing that car with a Volt, which has been in my mind. For me, I might wait for the next gen Volt. I doubt GM will be able to sell 200k units by then to not get the $7500 tax credit. The $1500 CA rebate, that is another story not known by then.

 

You only average 5K miles a year so you're not going to get much fuel savings, or expenses, no matter what you drive. After 7 years with a car I can see getting the itch for something new, but in your case nothing will make sense financially. IMHO you should stick with the Prius for a few more years and save up for something down the road when there will be more options for high efficiency cars.

Keep in mind this is coming from a happy Volt owner.

Jeff

 

It is a nice vehicle. The EV experience in the car is very nice without ICE intrusion.

With only 35,000 miles on your Prius in 6 years long trips on a routine basis do not seem to be a major issue. It is also not an economic decision. Do what makes you happy. After the lease is up there will be new technology available.

Perhaps a Gen 4 Prius with a 25 mile battery pack and 60 mpg at the perfect time when the mid cycle refresh is done and all the initial problems are resolved.

 

The Volt is certainly one option. I would also look at the other good option.
The Ford C-Max Energi plug-in is another vehicle you should look at before
committing to a Volt. Ford is offering a $2K rebate and Zero % financing,
I just bought one on Aug. 18th. I was driving a Prius C, but found it's not for me.
The Ford is an SEL package and has a 7.6 kWh battery. I get 28 miles form a charge.
I didn't like how the volt will run the ICE to produce power to charge the battery.
It's an inefficient setup and after the battery is empty, you'll get about 38 MPG.
Have a look and take a test drive before you buy the Volt so you'll know what else is
available. My local Ford dealer screwed up my C-max deal, so I bought the C as an
interim vehicle. 90 days later, I got the deal on the C-Max at another dealer and saved
a lot of money with the zero % interest loan from Ford. Not to mention the $2K and
another 3K with the Ford AtoZ family plan

 

It really depends what your primary concern is.
If it is using less gas, and your long trips are rare, and 38 miles meets your daily uses, I'd say the Volt is a great choice.
As mentioned above, the 2nd gen Volt is due out next year. That may be worth waiting for.

We leased for exactly the reason mentioned earlier, I was skeptical of GM but we found the Volt very reliable.

 

Do you mean the rear wheel alignment is off and can't be adjusted easily?
I had this same issue with my previous car, 2008 Honda Fit. Far as I know the Fit uses the same rear torsion suspension layout as the prius. My Fit had rear toe issues after 3 years(160,000km) and Honda told me the same story, can't fix it, something to do with the nature of the torsion beam suspension, only camber was adjustable in the rear. Sad to hear it is the same with the prius as thats one of the reasons i dumped the fit after 4 years and 200,000km of abuse. Mechanically it was great, suspension/body was starting to show signs of wear. The rear "toe" was out enough on the one side that the rear end tended to break lose and swing to the left when hard braking on slick surfaces. I could've just drove slower and took it easy on the old girl but it was enough of an excuse for me to go buy a new prius. I hope I make it at least 7 years before that happens with my v. I had my fit paid off within 2 years of ownership, this time i'm in it for 5 years with the v, i miss being payment free and sometimes wish i just kept the fit till it fell apart.
If your financially comfortable with taking on car payments i'd say go for it, thats the only downside i can think of trading in for a new car. Can't beat the new car smell

 

I'm a happy Volt owner of 6 weeks.

The driving experience is amazing.

If you don't want to go over this cliff I'd advise that you avoid a test drive.

Good luck with your decision.

[Note: we still have our 2011 Prius].

 

Do consider the 2013 Ford Fusion Energi Titanium as an alternative. Having owned all three Prius generations, currently on the PiP, I and my son bought the Fusion Ti this Memorial Day weekend.

We turned 11 thousand miles on it so far, and just came back from a three-week, 7,000 mile cross country trip with it. It is a surprising, well-built, well-designed car - had it been available in early 2012, I would have never gone for the PiP.

 

A simple spreadsheet will give you the numbers.

But car purchases are sometimes lifestyle driven and sometimes emotional decisions.

I rationalized and spreadsheeted but the real deciding factor was I wanted something different. Make sense economically, heck no. Do I enjoy the change? Yes. (and it was radical...Porsche and CRV to Prius v)

The cheapest car is almost always the one that is paid off (lower depreciation, lower taxes, lower insurance, continued investment income) as long as it is reliable.

Wife made the decision on an "I don't trust it" basis selling a perfectly maintained car with 70k miles for almost nothing. She enjoys her new Avalon. Her choice was very very different than mine, but it was what she wanted.

 

You have a wide range of choices in BEVs in California. The Spark EV has 80+ miles of range, starts around $28k, and is qualified for the full $7500. I think they all are qualified for the full credit. Keep the Prius, or just rent. Though, some companies, like Fiat, offer free rentals with their EV model.

 

This is total BS and the person who told you is an idiot or wants to sell you a new axle.
The rear toe can be adjusted by putting wheel shims in. Easy DIY job. If are not comfortable yourself, it should be $200 job at a competent alignment shop. I had it done in a corolla, same torsion axle construction.

I also considered Volt as my new car when I'm bored with my 2010 Prius, but I don't think so anymore after discovering this:

DailyTech - Chevy Volt Can't Handle Hot Southwest, but Otherwise is Looking Good