Divorce Vehicle - Need Tips

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Well it seems you are very committed to executing your plan to become 'The Hybrid Hobo ". So what good would it be for me to say that the overall plan doesn't sound the best to me?

So assuming I'm not going to talk you out of doing it, let's just say the challenge with a $4000 dollar budget would be getting the reliability you absolutely need.

IMO once you get towards the decade old, or 100,000+ mile range, you simply cannot guarantee reliability. Especially with a Hybrid Battery which is a non-moving parts, chemical based component.
I have said this to others, just shopping in the same budget area, without the added parameters involved in this situation. And that is, you cannot really guarantee or predict the life of the Hybrid Battery.
Depending on what you end up with? The hybrid battery could last 1,2, 5 years or more...or it could fail on the very first night. So I usually tell people shopping in this price range and age and mileage range, to be able and willing to deal with the potential cost of a failed hybrid battery. Because that is the inevitable risk of failure you take buying an older used Prius for $4000 or less.

Again IMO, the hybrid battery in most cases, works and works well, until it fails. Sometimes it gives some warning, but the most common refrain is that " My Prius was working fine, until this morning....." Then the owner is faced with the big hybrid battery question.

Given your situation and budget I wouldn't want to take that risk. But if you do? I suppose you just hope you get a older Prius that does have enough Hybrid Battery life left to meet your needs.
But in general and to anyone, I would say, don't buy an older used Prius unless you have the resources to deal with the "potential" worst case scenarios.

Whatever happens, best of luck. Maybe someday you can write a book entitled " The Hybrid Hobo " . I hope it doesn't have a chapter about the day the Hybrid Battery died.

 

I considered the option for my summer vacations, and still fantasize doing the entire North AM in a Prius when I retire.

When my oldest was only 2 yo and we could barely afford it, we'd travel by car camping and sleep in camping areas and 24 hour store parking lots) Prius was not yet available back then) Youngest came along and we upped to a minivan which I mcgyvered the last 2 rows into a convertible bed. 2 minivans after and they got too big. So I caved in and bought a 24yo Class B motorhome for $4,800. We still sleep in truck and rest stops along the way to save money. We've hit all the major National Parks all the way to the West coast this way (Badlands, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon etc). About the only place we haven't visited yet is the Midwest tornado alley area lol.

As to my previous and current Prius, they both paid for themselves (and some) via sidelines like courier and ridesharing.

 

Again Best of luck.

My concern is you simply will not have the immediate financial resources to execute a plan for the worst.

Because it seems to me the ONLY reason you are considering a Prius over a Mini-Van, Camper, or any other vehicle is to take advantage of the Hybrid Synergy Drive's gasoline/electric climate control.
The risk and the danger is that advantage immediately disappears if the Hybrid Battery fails.
But you know this.
And it's your risk to take.
I can't tell you your plan will work, I also can't tell you it absolutely won't work.

Honestly, if I planned on living in my vehicle for extended time, with projected limited resources, I'd probably look at buying a pretty plain Chevy Astro Van. Then invest into insulating it, and making it as comfortable and secure as possible.
But there are probably a million holes and risks in that plan too.....

 

I guess I'm not surprised that you've had some advice to stay out of a used prius- apart from the noise on going nomad vs. something else altogether.

I'm sure I'll take some heat for saying this but as a relative newbie here I have found prius owners to be one of the most risk-averse groups I've ever encountered, and let's face it- trusting an old Toyota to be more than transportation carries a lot of risk any way you slice it.

 

Sound like a plan. I don't have much of advices to add to what's been presented here already, but I wish you the best of luck. Out of curiosity, I have a question. Someone mentioned earlier about registering your car without permanent address. How are you going to do it? Similarly, how about insurance on the car? Can you buy an insurance without permanent address?

 

Sure you can. It's guaranteed to fail...... sooner or later.

I've been used prius shopping on and off for the past few years and once you start talking lower end pricing, you HAVE to figure battery replacement costs into the equation unless it has been replaced with a new or newer, used Toyota pack. Those are very, very rare birds.

On a $4k budget, I suggest finding the latest model year first (09), overall condition second, and miles last (gonna' be high anyways). A salvage title in the NE could mean hurricane sandy flooded but it's usually a repaired wrecked.

GOOD LUCK!

 

That's why I say you can't predict or guarantee THE LIFE OF....
IMO there is no real way to predict WHEN...that failure might happen.
Yes, of course we all should know batteries will eventually, inevitably fail.

 

Give it up.
He doesn't want to hear any practical advice.

Throwing your last ~$4000 at a used hybrid car......to live in.....is monumentally stupid.

 

Hey, I think it's a great possible book.
The adventures of living in a Prius?
The Hybrid Hobo sounds better than "The Lincoln Lawyer".

Or you could go with...Homeless Synergy Drive....

 

And on the lighter side might I suggest watching "The Other Guys," an otherwise throwaway comedy featuring a running gag concerning homeless people in a prius, if for no reason other than understanding the jokes when you hear them recited.