Okay, folks. I need help making a decision. My 2008 Prius with 150,000 miles had its catalytic converter stolen. (Bastards.) I just sank $2,000 into new brake pads and maintenance last month. Here are my options. Replace the cat for $3,000. (It costs that much because of California air quality regulations; no, I can't get a better price, I've tried, the cat itself is $2,200. My insurance won't pay.) If I repair the cat, the car is probably worth $5k-$6k. However, it's going to need a new hybrid battery ($3k-$5k) in the next couple years, and it's starting to burn oil at the rate of 1 quart every ~4,000 miles. (Also see above: I just spent $2,000 on repairs.) Sell/trade it and get another Gen 2 Prius. A Toyota dealer in my area is selling a 2009 with 81,385 miles for $8,900. This is almost half the miles on my current car, so I imagine I would get many more years out of this "new" car. (If you think $8,900 is a lot, check prices in Northern CA -- it's maybe on the high side but not totally ridiculous, and comes from a dealer so less hassle and risk for me.) Buy a Gen 4. To give you an idea, on cargurus in my area, there's a 2018 Prius One with 5k miles for $18,950; or a 2016 Prius Two with 41k miles for $15,796; or a 2016 Prius Four Touring with 26k miles for $19,000. (Honestly, I don't care about all the fancy extras and would be happy with a One or Two as long as it has a cargo area cover.) What should I do?
This is a personal financial situation that none of us can really answer for you. I would seriously look into finding a way to park more securely; that was an early lesson I learned from motorcycling. On the cars themselves, we have both a nice, low miles 06 with a new Toyota battery and a Gen 4 and the differences are quite astonishing. If you haven't, I'd suggest a test drive as that should make your decision easier. I'd take option 2 off the table as what's to stop the scumbags from stealing its cat too? GOOD LUCK!
My first impulse would be to fix it but at $3k I’d think long and hard. I’d look at some theft deterrents (hardware or big nasty dog) and a new insurance company if I did the repair. What I really wanted to chime in on is the oil consumption. 1 qt. Every 4K miles is nothing to worry about for a 13 year old car.
A buddy of mine had his Catalytic converter stolen recently and he was able to find a seller on Ebay to ship an aftermarket catalytic converter into CA (this wasn't easy to find). The item shipped out of Canada for about $180 and he bought a Denso oxygen sensor to replace what was stolen. Installation costs as much as the catalytic converter itself, but at $500 it was well worth it to him. This item will never get stolen like an original Catalytic converter because it doesn't contain the precious Palladium that the thieves are after. Your insurance company has to pay the loss if your car has full coverage. It's no different than if someone were to steal a bumper off your car, it is a covered loss
How long can you go until you have a required state vehicle inspection? The 2018 Prius One with 5k miles for $18,950 would be my first pick of the litter if you can get a decent trade-in. However, with incentives and zero percent financing, a new car might be an option (depending on the tax and excise situation). I agree with the earlier post, go test drive a Gen4 (and while you are there, ask about trade-in).
