should I upgrade my prius 2 to prius 4 with atp/pcp

Not great enough to justify taking a loss on the G4 that you already have.
That's for dang sure!!

OTOH if you spend a lot of time in your car, and you're already set with housing, retirement, college/weddings/etc then what the heck?
It's only money, right?
When you said "Should I?" I presumed that you were wondering if it made any kind of financial sense.

If I were going to trade a G4 for another G4 in the same model year, then I would sell the one I have rather than trading it in.
That will give you a clearer picture of just how much the "features" in the "new" car will really cost you.

Good thing you didn't get an extended warranty or one of the rip-off prepaid services, huh?

 

I don't like up-optioned cars for two reasons:
1. You're paying for yesterday's technology at tomorrow's prices. A 2016 G4 is going to be worth pretty much the same thing ten years from now whether you pay $20,000 for one or $40,000.

2. More stuff to break and fix. Simple car....simple maintenance.

OTOH, people with older Priuses that have the ATP features really like them.
Again, it's a luxury thing versus frugality.
People with $50,000 Camaros really like THEM too!

If you "have" to have the tech, then the Prius is a pretty frugal car to bolt the options onto, as long as you don't try to rationalize it by telling yourself that the car will be sooooo much more valuable in 5-10 years.
Look at the delta between a base model Prius and the top-end models.
Then?
Look at KBB values for the same models from 5-10 years ago.

Done.

 

You don't have to pull the trigger but it's worth seeing what the dealer can do to try and entice you to make the switch... At the very least, you'll get a better picture to help your curiosity... Truth be told, it will be the same car in its character, personality, and living with it day to day. I don't think the car will be night and day... The tech features will more so give you something to be excited about over some extent of time duration...

 

Ever bigger Darth Vader visage? That makes it all worthwhile, lol.

 

Remember extended warranty or prepaid services are refundable. You will get a prorated refund from the dealership. Also, selling it on your own is much better idea than trading it in.


iPhone ?

 

Personally, if it were me, I'd hang on for another year or 2, see what "goodies" TOYOTA includes then. 2017 is, really only a 2016 with a few equipment changes and a "2017" year tag. Undoubtedly, TOYOTA will come with a real mid-model upgrade like they did with Gen 3 after 2½-3 yrs. I'd suspect there could be styling changes too this time - maybe not huge, but significant after the negativity TOYOTA received from Gen 4's "in-your-face" visual appeal.

 

Upgrade when the Prius gets a mid cycle refresh. Maybe 2019-2020.

 

I like all the tech stuff quite a bit. All my life I've had the low trims on every car I've purchased. I drove on vinyl seats for many years. I am a real tech freak too. I vowed that I'd get myself a nice car with all the goodies and I did. Had I gone cheap, I'd be kicking myself for it. I'm even liking the sun roof I never really wanted.

Most of the tech works with little to no interaction. You set it up in the settings of the car before you drive and leave it on. I really like the sonar sensors that help me with parking in my garage.

I haven't had a single regret for making this choice. That's odd because I usually do have several after spending a lot of money on something.

 

In California you pay 100% of the sales tax (9%) and it does not matter if you trade your current car in or not. The tax cost plus the trade in loss on your current vehicle dig a pretty deep hole that makes those added options very hard to justify.

 

If you get a better price through Costco, AARP, or some other organization... or if you talk them down some, you pay the sales tax on that price. You will however, pay sales tax on the price before rebate and trade in. I do live in California and my sales tax rate is 8.25%. It varies by county.

 

I understand that. Galactic energy likely paid California around $2500 in tax earlier this year. Trading in the 2016 Prius on another 2016 would require another $2500 in sales tax unlike other states where you only pay sales tax on the difference in value between the cars.

 

Context is everything. I totally missed it. My bad. I fully expected sales tax to be paid on each purchase.