Good morning all. yesterday on the interstate a very impatient driver caught the left rear of my beloved prius C, put it sideways then into the guardrail.... i'm afraid the pridget may be done. .I 'm sore and very shaken up, but really irritated. During the at home crisis, i pulled the seats out, shampooed the interior, clayed the whole car and 3 coats of wax...and just put a BRAND new set of ecopias on about 300 miles ago. while i was in traveling sales / sales management i had a number of cool and reliable cars, but for what it was, the pridge was the best car i ever owned. drop dead reliable, almost maintenance free, and oddly kinda cool. I'm thinking i was pretty fortunate to not get really racked up in the crash, oddly no airbags deployed, and it is kind small, so i'm not looking for another Prius C but would like another Prius for about $15,000 if possible. I bought the little pridge used in 2013 with about 4,000 miles on it and drove it to near 100K. I'm looking at a Prius Prime, and might go over $15,000 for something really special...Any thoughts from the collective? thanks much waltinbatonrouge
Well glad you weren't hurt. Can you get the tires off the Prius c? Assuming they survived the wreck in a salvageable state? Those are practically brand new. You could keep them, or re-sell them. As far as what you might want next? I do NOT own a Prime, but all I've read about them has been very, very positive. My only concern would be if your budget is around $15,000, you might have to go SIGNIFICANTLY above that to get one.
given the depressed state of used cars you can probably score a late model c on that budget, or a prime if that's what gets you going lately. Sorry to hear about the crash, good luck!
You think so? Primes are limited to 2017-Today..... It would have to be a higher mileage Prime to get it anywhere near a $15000 budget. Not an exhaustive search at all, but in my area, the cheapest Primes I can find are roughly $19,000-2017-with 57K, and $20,000-2017 with 46K. Most of the rest are well above 21-$22,000. Not knowing exactly how the OP defines "Might go over for something really special", my warning would be, it's going to cost more than a used Prius c. You're basically comparing what was Toyota's entry level compact hybrid Prius, to what is now Toyota's top of the line Prius.
Sad news Glad you’re ok. I don’t know if the 2020 Corolla hybrid is an option you’d consider, but you could probably score one for 4-5k over your budget.. and I think dealerships are offering a lot of incentives for new car purchases right now.
wow! thanks for all of the responses back...got the call this am insurance company totaled the Prius C and will pay out right about $9,000. I sent a note with the new tire receipt and asked that they might offer a bit of consideration for the tires..i hope so. . Yes, I see now that if i want to stay around the $15,000 mark my selection may be quite limited. I'm just wondering in the days of $1.25 gasoline whether the hybrid really makes economical sense. Still looking and thinking ..thanks again... yes i can! i have 220 in my shop that i can easily plumb near the prius. thanks gotcha thanks i just noticed a 2018 PPpremium at a local dealer 28,228 miles for $21k ..lets see what the note would be if i put $9000 down..whatchusay?
I wouldn’t count on gas prices staying this low for very much longer. Fuel prices are already rising where I live. I’m sure it’s true that hybrid sales are poor right now because of the pandemic and low fuel prices, but that could work to your advantage and give you more negotiating room with a dealership that wants to get some of those hybrids off their lot. Either way, you’ll still be saving money at the pump and putting less crap into the atmosphere. You could definitely get a sweet Prius C with your budget. All the best on your search and let us know what you end up choosing
They stopped making Priussys in 2019 and unfortunately there are not going to be that many low mileage used ones for sale in your neck of the woods. If you're willing to drive a little you can definitely score one though, and maybe even for a pretty good price. That's what I would do. Good Luck!
Definitely can find Prius c's under $15k. A 2016 Prius might even be doable. If you want a Prime, it'll definitely be in that "something special" category. I will say that the Gen 4/Prime are much more comfortable than previous versions (I've only a Gen 2 and 3 and I've only test driven the PiP, c and v in California at Toyota HQ. We currently have a Gen 4 and Prime). Try a Gen 4/Prime and see if the new seat design fits you. I find them comfortable and snug (in a good way.. not tight.. but just.. fitting). Depending on your distances, a Prime could save significant amounts of gas, even if you travel beyond its 25 mile range (and the range varies depending on whether you're doing highway or city and outside temperature of course). If you do mostly highway, then maybe a regular Prius or even a Camry Hybrid or Corolla Hybrid would be better. If you have enough "short" trips where you can charge multiple times a day whenever you're back in the shop. If you're charging from empty, it'll take about an hour to gain back 50-60% of the charge (charging slows as the battery fills) but if you're charging multiple times a day, that might slow down since the battery is air-cooled and not liquid cooled but every mile in EV is one fewer in gasoline so even partial charging is a good thing. You might even find public charging outside while you're at a job or grabbing lunch.
Most of what you got in your c is available from other choices, but a little bit isn't. None of the other cars you've mentioned can match the c for close-in maneuverability and urban parking. So think about whether that's actually important to you. I do think gasoline prices will bounce back. That said, I don't think they are going to go high enough to make a hybrid car an economical choice for a few years.
Walt, if you are in Lousiana, you may have to travel to find a Prime and if a local dealership has one, you need to find where he got it. The Prime has not been sold in the southeast region of the US as the Southeast Toyota network never allowed the prime to be sold in Southeas region. SM-S367VL ?
