Divorce Vehicle - Need Tips

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to get a reliable prius in your situation, i would want a 2012 or newer with under 80,000 miles. is jersey a carb state?

 

I'd pass on a used Prius - but that's me.

If I planned on living in a car for the next year, I'd buy a Subaru wagon. Those things never break, and you'll have a bit of room. Or move to Indiana where I'm from. We can't find people here to fill jobs and new housing going up everywhere here.

Best of luck to ya.

 

Yeah get a Subaru, as dubit said thy don't break, Subaru used to make planes and trains so they dont know how to make a vehicle that breaks,

 

Living in a vehicle in a somewhat harsh climate (winters) for years is a serious decision. I strongly suggest looking into social programs or help from charitable organizations, family/friends, get a second job, etc. Living on the street should be your absolute last option.

GOOD LUCK!

 

I wish mine ('97 Legacy wagon) didn't break. It did, though I kept it 17 years and 175k miles (short compared the household's Honda and Acura). At least I didn't yet have the common head gasket failure.

My replacement Subaru, a '14, now suffers the common oil consumption problem, though not yet as fast as the loud complaints heard elsewhere.

 

Leaving a car on all night for heat or air is not ideal for the motor or the battery. Can it do it, sure, but it's hard on the car. As someone else suggested, you should look for housing assistance until you get financially able to find housing.

 

Sounds like a rough spot.
I would actually buy a larger vehicle for space and storage. Cold, get a sleeping bag. Warm, get a small USB fan, small solar panel, and battery.
Then go to a Planet Fitness gym or something and get a $10/mo gym membership so you can have access to unlimited showering and restrooms.
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As a biased Prius Prime owner, I was actually thinking you could live in a prime if you were small enough. You would just have to find someplace that has a free car charging station or "unguarded" wall outlet to plug into. That way you could get 'free' HVAC. Course if you could afford to have a Prime, you'd probably not have housing issues since they're expensive.

 

Just general car-buying advice:

Buy from a private seller if at all possible. You see the environment the car was in, you get a better picture of how it was treated and why they aren't keeping it. When you roll up and see it parked next to their new minivan, it can be a sign that you've found a good car- they just needed more room, as an example.

When it's sitting there anonymous on a dealer lot, you'll never know if it was traded in to dodge an expensive battery repair or it got flooded in Houston last year or some expensive nonsense like that. Used car dealers won't know any useful details about the car, they just want to sell it.

I'm new here as well, still in the 1st month of owning a prius but my impression is that the battery is far and away the biggest risk in a used prius. It is known to deteriorate over time, it is expected to be replaced after "a lot" of use, and it's unusual enough that not every mechanic can diagnose it properly.

 

If you are so financially constrained, why the car with little money you have now? Do you have steady job or job prospect? I would think reliable used Prius will set you back at least $10k. If you live in city and public transportation is available, I would think it would be much wiser to look for housing assistance in near your job, and save that money for your living expenses until you get more financially stable. I can't see living in a car is going to save you money if you have to buy that car, unless, your situation absolutely requires a car. Good luck.

 

First thing, heating a car takes energy. Unless you're purchasing a prime and have access to 120 V outlet you're going to need to run the engine to create that energy to heat the car. This is going to take expensive gas to do.

Secondly, there are certainly better options then living in your car. There are plenty of social services available. A shelter is certainly a better place to live than a car. I would strongly suggest getting into a shelter now (there is likely to be a wait list, so hopefully by the time winter hits you'll be in one). While in the shelter you can apply for subsidized housing.

Living on the street makes getting a job very difficult as you have no permanent address. I don't know where you live in NJ but a quick web search will point you to any number of homeless shelters. If you're not tied to any particular location it may make it easier to find a bed.

Good luck

 

Most people who are really destitute are NOT looking to buy any kind of car.......particularly not a hybrid.

Typically they look for a REALLY cheap place to live near to their job.....or near to a mass transit stop.....and don't even have a car.

I think this is a bad plan.

 

Greetings.....and I'm sorry about the divorce!

If you're going to be living in a car, I'd probably pick a minivan or a conventional car over a used Prius....and I DO KNOW about cars enough to maintain a G2 or G3 without having to pay a mechanic for maintenance items or minor repairs.
The thing is.....there are a number of things that are not the traction (big) battery that will leave a G2 or a G3 inoperable and cost four figures to fix. This is true for all $10,000 cars, but not all 10,000 cars have inverters, stator (MG) windings, regenerative brakes, etc....

While you're still sleeping indoors, read through some of the articles in this forum concerning used Priuses in the $5,000-$10,000 range.
Almost always.......it makes much more sense to get a used Corolla or other small car, and in your case a used minivan or crossover might be more reliable and more comfortable to live in.
They're cheaper.
They're just as if not more reliable than a $10,000 Prius.
They have a MUCH lower resale value because people do not think they're 'cool.'

The only reason that I can think of to run a Prius overnight would be environmental issues.....and if you're that concerned about environmental issues then you have no business trying to live in a car until and unless you have fully explored other options FIRST.

If you insist on going down this path, provide some more details about your price range and specific vehicles that you're interested in possibly purchasing. Also.....please indicate whether or not you're tethered to Joisey.

One of your greatest advantages in embracing the hobo life will be MOBILITY, but if you're immobile due to your personal situation then this will alter my first piece of advice which would be to MOVE.
No knock on the Garden State, I can just think of regions in the US where there are more job opportunities, and just yesterday I heard that for the first time in almost 2 decades there are more job openings in the US that there are qualified applicants.

You may also consider the second biggest advantage to the hobo life:
Time.

Consider getting a small student loan and becoming a starving college student.
Normally I would NEVER advise this, but it might be the spark plug for living, working and taking classes on campus, where something like a bicycle can serve you as a transport device or as excellently pointed out above......public transportation.
A very small student loan, and a LOT OF HARD WORK would make that small initial investment pay off handsomely.


The thing is?
There are ALWAYS OPTIONS!!!!
Do not be governed by the word "CAN'T!!!"

Best of luck!