I'm sure this might have been discussed elsewhere but can't find that thread. The situation is I have 2 cars. A 2003 Camry with more than 130k miles and a 2015 Prius with about 26k miles. Thinking to do a road trip of about 650 miles round trip. Admittedly the Prius is more comfortable than the old camry and packed with much more techs. But just considering the depreciation fee and the MPG, which of the 2 do you recommend me driving? In terms of MPG, I'll save about 25$ of gas. So is this fee far above the depreciation fee if I would be driving the Prius? Thx Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Sorry I just meant the depreciation value and maintenance fee that come with putting miles on the car. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Is this Prius on a lease? If so, please give us details of this fee, or the excess mileage charge it will create at the end of the lease. If not leased, then calendar depreciation seems just as significant as mileage depreciation. I'd take the more comfortable, more reliable, safer car.
Both cars are owned. So yeah looks like all votes so far go to the Prius. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
There's a way to calculate this, sort of. First, look up average yearly maintenance cost for Prius, and average miles driven yearly, to get average maintenance cost per mile. Then assume you're going to keep your Prius for 5 years and find the costs for mileage for 5 year old Pri's on Edmunds, Nada, and/or KBB. Add the two figures. My guess is that there won't be any monetary advantage to either car.
i think the prius is depeciating so fast, the extra miles won't matter, and might be good for the battery.
Yes. We have problems with just one car, running it frequently enough to keep the 12 volt battery in good shape. Aim to run it every second day if possible, sometimes it stretches to 3 or 4.
Wow. btw is this battery issue Prius specific, or does it apply to cars in general with 12 v battery? Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Depreciation is also demand-dependent, so 2008 when gaso was $4 and used cars were popular, then Prius depreciated slowly with time. Now new cars are the "in" thing and gas is $2. So really 3 variables time, miles, demand. Re: HV battery, some like to go ahead and put the miles on, so if it fails with the 10-yr window you'd be covered. Ideally you would use 150k miles just before 10 years in OR (CARB).
If you aim to keep your Prius as long as you kept your Camry, no need to worry about depreciation or wear and tear. You can also save more $ by getting rid of one car instead of saving thru reduced MPG's and wear and tear.
I would say if you're driving the car infrequently and/or doing a lot of short trips, it'd be good to get into monitoring the 12 volt battery's status, and do periodic recharge, with a smart charger, around 4 amp range. But that's just me, a lot of owners just drive 'em till they drop, lol.
i was going to say use the prius because it's basically use it or lose it in terms of HV battery life. but seeing that the OP put 25000 miles in one year, my statement may not apply.
Yeah it was used by the previous owner for his road trips. So I'll go use the prius then for the sake of the battery, comfort, and gas Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
