Thinking of selling Prius!

The cheapest transportation is the one you have, drive it till it dies, if necessary buy a new battery, and start saving for the next car, you probably have 5 or 6 years to go.

 

At 100k miles you will be due for coolant replacement, Super long life coolant. Switching to another vehicle will not eliminate the need to periodically replace coolant, and would incur other periodic maintenance that is seldom needed on a Prius such as brake pads and brake fluid. I believe your model year doesn't even have a serpentine belt to replace. I do recommend changing transmission fluid every 60k miles but most other vehicles would need that more often not less and the Prius schedule only says to change it if you have been towing.

At 120k miles you will be due for new spark plugs and a new PCV valve, at 4 x $8 and $6, for a total of ~$40 rounded up. I only have 119k on my 2006 and my biggest maintenance expense has been tires, as my Nokian entyres started to separate after ~62k miles. I doubt that tires would be any cheaper on another vehicle. I doubt you can save significant money by switching from a Prius to anything else with four wheels. A honda civic does have a slight chance of being cheaper to own due to lower capital costs, particularly if you put much less than the average amount of miles per year on it. But then you would have to periodically change brake pads and fluid.

 

Since you own the car, it's probably one of the most reliable cars available, just continue driving it. Even if you decide to defer all your maintenance (except coolant service), your car should still be able to give you another 5 years of reliable service. So the upcoming maintenance is not a major issue.

 

Keep and maintain.





Unless you "need" or "want" something new... Then by all means go shopping...

 

Ready to hit 100k? Have you replaced the timing belt, the serpentine belt, or the water pump? Have you had your brakes redone?

No? Oh yeah, it's a Prius, and it's like you already paid for those things because you don't need them.

Just look carefully at the cost of ownership for the next four years - the cost for that other car you are trading for and the Prius, and make the decision that you feel comfortable with.

 

Well, the oldest of the 3 Prii we own is the '05 with 161K on the clock.
"What kind of expenses have you all incurred with higher miles?" Humm, gas, oil and tires.

 

I'm pretty much in tune with everyone else. If you trade your Prius, maybe you can get something a little newer with fewer miles, but I think you're being overly influenced by the approaching 100k mile mark. And you're only driving ~12k/yr, so you're still a ways from that. Everything I've read here says the Prius should easily last 150k-200k with just the routine maintenance all cars require. Yes, there are things you can do to increase the longevity, but that's true of any car and having them done is up to you. I used to subscribe to the trade-before-100k rule, but gave that up when I bought my '88 Grand Prix and saw how well it performed well past 100k (154k+) with minimal maintenance; oil/filter change, batteries, tires and brakes. My '99 Montana performed even better (166k+) with minimal work. Yes, getting an oil/filter change done, if you can't do it yourselves like me, is more expensive, but it's only done every 10k vs 3k-5k on other cars.

That said, your car will certainly be worth more at 81k than at 100k+ and there's value in peace of mind. I generally run my cars until they either quit or I want something newer. That means 10 years or more, so I don't pay much attention to how many miles are on them. kbb.com will estimate the value of your car, so you can see how much you'll have to spend on another car. My guess is you'll be looking at $7k-$11k or so depending on trim level and condition, trade or resale. Not sure what kind of car you can get for that on trade or purchase.

 

i would probably sell it. how many miles per year do you drive? how much will it affect you if gas goes to $5./gal, and mpg's go from 50 to 25?

 

I believe some people still have the thinking cars start breaking around the 100k mile mark. That was maybe true 25 years ago, not today. The modern cars will usually go 200k miles with just simple maintenance.

 

agreed, but when you're on a fixed income, you have to weigh the risk/reward.

 

Normally it's to your advantage to fix the car (to certain extent) vs buying a new one. The depreciation on a new car will almost always exceed the cost of the repair on the old car.

 

yes, but he's gonna buy with what he gets from the '10, probably not new.

 

It's a tough call to make based on your income, but the Prius, like most Toyota's, is really not going to kill you in long term maintenance cost.

There really is no other car with a lower cost of long term ownership than the Prius. It has fewer wear items und er the hood, and the wear items it has last MUCH longer than other cars. It's reliability is top of the charts. Honestly, it's the perfect car for someone with a fixed income to own because the chances it needs "surprise" work is very, very low.

We just did brakes front and rear and both front wheel bearings (salty VT roads eat these) on our 2010 Prius at around 95k miles. Six more payments and it's ours and I fully intend to drive it into the ground. I have exactly ZERO worries about this car taking us another 50, 60, 70 thousand more miles over the next 4 or 5 years (we drive a lot less now since my wife takes the bus).

In Vermont, all of the Toyota Hybrids have the 10 year / 150k mile warranty on the entire hybrid system, including the battery. I wouldn't even dream of dumping this car until at least the end of that.

 

I had the transaxle oil replaced at 142K miles this winter on my 2010 Prius. I thought it was leaking but it wasn't, the dealer mechanic got sloppy with an oil change. I think that cost $70. Now that the car has over 150K, it is using a little bit of oil, that's a minor expense. Never changed the brake pads, last time they said they were at 70%. Didn't know I was supposed to change all the stuff listed by breakfast at 100K. The transaxle oil is the only major maintenance item I've done so far. I may be putting things off a little because I'm thinking of getting a 2015 in December or maybe a 2016 depending on how negotiations go at the end of the year. If I can't get a reasonable deal, I'll drive my 2010 for another year. I wouldn't buy a "cheaper" car if my Prius only had 81K miles on it. You'll get what you pay for.

 

You got a transaxle fluid change at the Toyota dealer for $70?

 

Don't buy trouble.
If you've been checking your oil semi-regularly and made any passing attempt at maintaining your Prius, then you're probably good out to 250K.
Even if you're using oil right now, you can decrease your oil change interval and still leg this car out to about 200K.

Priuses have good resale value, but even if you sell your car in the private market and get a good price for it, what are you going to replace it with?

I'm not a shill for Priuses.
They're boring, they have very spartan interiors, and even after 85,000 miles I still curse my company car regularly for all of its ergonomic flaws.
Still.....they're very economical, and they're very dependable.

You've already paid the hybrid premium.
Gas is cheap.....and it's going to get cheaper.
The new (G4) Prius is due out in the next year, and for now G3's (your car) are selling for about $20,000 brand spanking new.
.....and.....for better or worse the car you have now is a known quantity.
Getting another new car means car payments, increased tags and insurance, ect. and buying a used car will be a dice roll.

All of these facts lead me to believe that selling your car and replacing it with another car for financial reasons would be exactly the wrong thing to do!

YMMV!

Good Luck!

 

i'm sure you can buy a very nice corrola or camry with the money from the sale. last i heard, they also are very reliable, and no $3,500. battery, $5,000. a/c or $2,500. brake cylinder, et al.

 

For long term reliability, low operating cost over the years, general usefulness and adaptability to changing needs, I believe that you are already driving the best car there is.

If those are your goals, I think that changing to something else now is highly likely to result in a worse outcome.

Our 2010 drives as though it is just broken in and I expect it would serve us or our kids well for at least another 15 years.

 

My point was that the Prius does not have a serpentine belt, timing belt, or belt driven water pump. Many other cars have these expensive things to replace at 100k, but not the gen 3 Prius - it is completely beltless!