Something horrible almost happened...

Sell it ??
No no no. It has to be free; it has to be bumper to bumper because you do not know what the problem is; and you get another $1000 discount for compensation for the lying, deceptive salespoop.

Is my bias showing ?

 

I'm curious about the GMPP: is a car loaner included for free while warranty repairs are underway ?

 

Take a step back or two.
If it's been on the lot for a while, you can afford to wait for a few days without someone snatching it out from under you.
Many of the original Volts were leases so there should continue to be a strong stream of them entering the used market.
...and your Prius is working perfectly well, right?
If nothing else you can wait for the cold weather to set in to make it more of a buyer's market.

 

As a general rule of thumb, the last model year of a series has all of the 'lessons learned' either built-in at the factory or recalls in the first 3/36000 miles. Those future, used Volts are at least 2-3 away as are 1st generation Leafs and the California PiPs. In contrast, the first year, first of a new model are going to have infantile problems:

• Oct. 2005 bought a used, 2003 Prius with 49,000 miles - the car is my primary commuting vehicle with ~170,0000 miles. Another set of tires, it is heavily modified.
• May 2009 bought a new, 2010 Prius - my wife's car is used to transport her and wheel chair / walker as needed and on cross country trips. It has had recall patches for the brakes and inverter.

If your Prius ain't broke, don't fix it. Use it and the next 2-3 years to become a crafty shopper. You've had a sample of the local market. Expand the scope (aka., eBay) and let the pioneers keep wringing out your next ride. When the next model is released, the prices of the best version of these used cars will become softer. So why didn't I follow my own advice with our 2010 Prius?

My wife's previous car was a 10 year old, Echo with 30,000 miles. But we fell into a nice deal. Not perfect, it was good enough followed by the infantile problems:

1. Driver-side carpet not installed with floor hooks.
2. Runaway acceleration incidents.
3. Brake pause software recall.
4. Inverter patch.

Compared to the compact Echo, the 1.8L Prius has given capabilities in towing and space that has paid for itself.

Bob Wilson

 

I just bought my first prius after owning a focus for 3 months that was a total lemon. I am on week 2 of owning my prius and loooovvvvveeee it. Where I live car owners tend to be brand loyal. Mostly ford or chevrolet. I think I may be a prius owner for the long haul now! I think from a financial view you made a wise choice. Stay off those car lots!

 

Good choice. Not that the volt is a bad vehicle though. Heck, I was seriously considering one too, though ultimately just chose to stay with a prius mostly for their reliability, should the gen 4 prius/pip, or the next gen volt/leaf end up not being very impressive.

My next car is definitely going to have plug-in capability though. I think I've gone as far as I can with a non-plugin for saving gas, and I think Toyota is also hitting diminishing returns by this point, which is probably why they delayed gen 4. Only other way to really reduce gas usage is to go electric.

 

I don't know how bankruptcy effect loan rates, check out creditboards.com to get an idea of what to expect. Expect a dealership finance person to screw you if you have a bankruptcy on your record. They tried to pass of 7% interest when I already have 2.49% arranged with a credit union. They will try to make money on the trade, sale and financing.

 

I don't know about you but when I start visiting car lots eventually I buy a new car.

 

^^ Once you experience being payment free, I suspect you will not want to return to the days in hock. If so inclined, the Prius will probably let you pay off the loan and save enough money to pay for your next car in cash.

 

If anyone's still interested in a new Volt (or other new Chevy product)....
Chevy runs their "Private Offer $1,000 off" promotion from time to time.. and right now they're running it again.
You make your best deal at the stealership- then spring the "Private Offer" printout on them- they can't refuse it.

It doesn't pop up on every visit to the Chevy site- you have to be lucky... or know the "tricks" to get it to come up. I was able to score one yesterday for a neighbor who's buying a new Equinox. $1,000 off is a good start, so if you're interested- go to chevrolet.com and follow the steps from this post on the Volt forum for the best chance to get the "Private Offer":

 

Man, as much as a Volt would work for my commute to work (38 miles exactly, and I can probably hypermile it slightly more), I'm still going to hold back and wait until Volt 2.0 comes out. By that time Gen 4 Prius should also be out, along with Gen 2 PiP.

I'd better resist the urge to go to different dealerships and test drive a Leaf, C-max energi, and volt all on the same day lol.