Hi all, I am helping my son find his 1st car to go with his 1st job and we are looking at the 2012 - 2014 Prius Plug In. At then moment I am confused as to which route to go as far as mileage & value of the car later on. These are the thoughts at the moment: 1. Find a 2012 PIP with 80k or lower for under $11k....shouldn't be expensive for maintaince/repairs and if he decides to sell in 2 - 5 years he should still get a good price for it. 2. 2012 - 2014 with higher mileage under 150k for around $9k.....higher mileage so concerned about maintenance/repair cost and resale value in 2 - 5 years. The reason I mention resale in 2 - 5 years is because who knows if he will want a fancier car as he starts to make more money...at that point I won't be involved but right now my goal is to help him find a good reliable car with great mpg and avoid losing alot of money if he decides to sell down the road. Which route would be better overall? Any downside to buying a 2012 vs a newer 2014?
I am not familiar with any other Prius models at all so the reason I am looking for a 2012 - 2014 PIP is because I have friends that own some 2014's and in roughly 5 years & around 95k miles all they have spent on the cars is around $800 for maintenance (including the cost of 1 set of new tires) and get around 45 mpg. Also, if we are lucky enough to find a PIP that did not get the CAV stickers in the past, we should be able to get them now which should be good until 1/2023 I believe....this would be helpful being in the Los Angeles area.
Well, this has gone unanswered for too long. Sorry about that, and welcome. I'd say that if your friends are only getting 45 mpg in a PiP, that's pretty atrocious. I think I averaged about 95 mpg when I had mine. That, of course depends on how far your commute is. Driving in hybrid mode around town, I got usually 60-70 mpg. Interstate was about 50 mpg. The upside of a newer one is that the battery and the warranty are newer. I'd get the newest one you can afford. The batteries on the plug ins are much bigger and more expensive. So far, failures have been extremely rare, but they will have to start happening one of these days, so I think it's wise to push that off as far as possible.
Not sure which purchase strategy is better. Will say that I have a 2012 and it just works. The hatchback is good for hauling things too.
agree on the 2012, mine is perfect at 65,000 i would discount resale as it is usually relative to what you pay. you're much better off with lower mileage imo. in any case, whatever you buy, do your due diligence on the egr circuit
