thinking of trading in for Civic Si

If you are inclined to make this move.....sell the Prius privately; you will make several thousand dollars more than trading it in. Do not just give away your Prius to the dealership where they will wash/wax and mark it up $5K and sell it quickly. Cars are a black hole for money-always try to minimize your losses by making smart decisions.

 

I agree - sell privately, especially a good used Prius. But no matter how you do it you are almost certainly going to take a big hit. I finally got it in my head at age 57 that when you start buying and selling cars for reasons other than a need for reliable transportation you are going to be spending a lot of money basically for recreation. That is fine if you have the dough. I have other things I want to spend my recreation dollars on. But if a cool car that flips your switch is important to you then by all means - go for it.

 

I've trimmed down your post a bit, to make answering it a bit easier.

1) Try not to tie your self esteem to your car. I have family members who do this and end up spending tons of $$$ in cars over the years. Absolute and utter waste of money.

2) Here's a telling part, you are bored and miss a stick shift. You barely drive anymore. You work 3 miles from your house. You drive 150 miles/week. There is no urgency nor reason to sell this car. You aren't driving it. If you are bored, you need to come up with some hobbies and not look at the car as a cure for your boredom. The Civic SI will be a fun vehicle for a couple of years, but then you'll be bored of it, then what are you going to replace it with? S2000? 911? Vette? Motorcycle? And after you get bored with that next vehicle, then what.....

It is a car. A mode of transportation. However, this car is reliable, inexpensive, and pollutes less than any other car out there. No, it doesn't have testosterone enhancing 0 - 100 mph times nor will it attack a slalom course like a slot car. However, the times you are called upon to floor it to 100 mph or save the world by taking 35 mph mountain road corners at 60 mph are extremely few and far inbetween. The times spent filling up at the gas station, schleping 3 adult friends around town, or arriving at your destination without AAA intervention are far more frequent.

Honestly, take the money that you would lose by trading your car in, the $$$ spent on gas, insurance and whatnot and invest in a hobby.

 

I think you are a car dealers dream.

 

"It's the best car I've owned by far", "..am I nuts?" Read again and again what you wrote. I had a Honda Civic and have driven other Hondas and can tell you there is no comparison for comfort level between Honda and Toyota cars and suvs. I do not know what Honda uses to cushion their seats with but it can't be much. If you go to Edmunds.com and read some of the reviews of the Honda cars/suvs you will see where much of the complaints run along the way of uncomfortable seats. As far as your job goes, although it is only a few miles away as of today, you do not know what is down the road and what happens if you change jobs and have to travel quite a distance? I think the reply directed to you is correct when telling you to get a new hobby. You are obviously very smart by choosing the Prius. Don't let your emotions get the best of you - car dealers LOVE that!

 

Sorry that you are getting bored with your Prius. If you want more excitement in your life, try marriage, or divorce.

From a financial perspective, the best thing you can do is to keep it and drive it for a long, long, long time.

Good Luck!

Keith

 

My suggestion, since you live so close to work, don't waste the money on a new car because you're bored with your current car. Buy yourself a bike with the money you save and ride to work every day. Talk about boredom relief!

 

Our new Prius just completed it's first road trip, a five hour 350 mile trip from Atlanta to St. Simons Island and then a return reverse of the trip. The Prius replaces our 1997 Honda Civic as our road car (we bought it new) so I can make some comparisons. Normally my wife and I would swap off driving on a trip of this length (two or three hour shifts??) but we returned early after my wife got food poisoning and I had to do all of the driving with minimal stops. After the return trip I was much less tired than I would have been driving my "share" of the trip in the civic. The civic is not as sporty as the SI and is an automatic and there is no comparison in the comfort. I love Honda's reliability but I would suggest you cure your boredom in some other way. A bike or motorcycle would be a good solution but you need to find what works for you.

 

I was beaten to it, but get yourself a nice bicycle. There are some really cool and functional technological advances in them now. For a "top line" one you will only have to pay in the $3000 area. Hydraulic disk brakes, suspension, carbon fibre, etc. But better not leave it outdoors. They are so high tech they seem to walk away.

 

I would keep the Prius and buy a motorcycle to satisfy your hunger for performance. You could pay for a motorcycle with the money you would lose trading your Prius in on a Honda. Plus, a motorcycle is easy to park, and gets pretty good mileage (although most don't do as well as a Prius).

Mike

 

Don't do it!!
Go test drive a VW GTI 6 speed.
I have a 2006 30+ MPG!!
Fun and fast!!

Just got a 2009 classic silver PKG5 (wifes car)
I talked her in to it he!he!

Check out this forum
GolfMkV.com - VW Rabbit / VW GTI / VW Golf Forums

 

:nod: The older I get (and I have no doubt that I'm amongst the oldest on this board), the more I appreciate how short is life. Sell the Prius and buy the Honda. And when you tire of of the Honda, do it all over again (and again, and again, etc.). Enjoy! Life is indeed too short to do otherwise.

 

FWIW, the '06 GTI is rated at 24mpg same as the '09 Civic SI. The '09 GTI gets you up to 25mpg. If you get EPA in any of these cars you are pretty much defeating the point of owning it. Thats why I sold my WRX. It was rated EPA 20mpg, I rarely saw better than 18. If I tried I could get ~25, but it took all the fun out of the car. At some point wasting gas and T2BIN9 emissions stopped being fun, despite the adrenaline rush.


Rob

 

I agree. Life is too short. If you have the means, sell your Prius and get the Si (or another car/bike/whatever more suitable for you). Some see cars as just a mode of transportation, but a lot of us enjoy the act of driving. Prius does it for some, like the whisper of the electric motor and the seamless transmission. Others enjoy the control of a stick shift or a more powerful engine.

If you have the tendency to get bored with cars quickly, consider leasing the car. You pay depreciation and have nothing to show for your payments at the end of your lease, but it also means you're always covered by a warranty, save on sales taxes, and can get a new car every few years. This may provide you with the means to enjoy other parts of life.

Good luck.:rockon:

 

If your commute is that short, maybe you need one of these. No vroom, buts lots of zoom. Charge it on solar and its emissions/petroleum free.

Welcome to Plasma Boy Racing, home of White Zombie, the world's quickest street legal electric door slammer in the 1/4 mile drag.

Rob

 

Nonononononononono. Think: Yamaha R6.

Funny you mention the MS3 though, I hear they make a lot of power with a few bolt-ons (I mean, if you're looking for speed do it right). You do realize that an Si is going to require you to keep it "on the boil" near (the albeit high) redline to keep things interesting, right? Have you considered a used Evo or STi? Either will be considerably faster (and likely handle better) than an Si.

 

Even the Honda Shadow would be fun. Most cars wouldn't be able to keep up with it.

My motorcycle will do a 10.52 quarter. Plenty fast to entertain me, and satisfy that bad boy in me Then I get back in my Prius and putter along again.

If I lived in Vegas, I would ride A LOT! In Idaho, my riding season is limited. Bikes and snow do not mix.

Mike