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Honest opinion...you got a good deal for a 2010 Prius with 43k miles on it, about $1k off what the average retail sale is for that car. However, it was a pretty poor purchase compared to buying a new one. For a scant $2,500 more you could have bought a brand new 2012 Prius. The car you bought was an absolute base model, so you weren't getting much extra bang in terms of things like a sunroof, nav, leather, etc.
The smart purchase would have been to wait the two months for the new car at $22,500, or shop around at other dealers, even out of state, and get the full warranty and the feeling of actually owning a new car. Now, the purchase itself was a good deal on the open market for a used Prius, but it just wasn't as good as buying new.
That is what we were thinking but I don't know where you get $22,500 for a new Prius. They are more like $24k-$25k new, and in my area you have a 2 month waiting period. Absolutely no negotiations with that!
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Estimated base price for the 2012 Toyota Prius Two is $24,500.
Personally I feel we overpaid by about $2k compared to 6 months ago, and probably going forward in the next 3-4 months as supply comes back up. But, we needed a car now, or rather, were prepared to buy now, and the car was in very very very good condition as far as interior/exterior goes. The others that we looked at, including ones on the Toyota dealer lots, were trashed inside.
Also, to add. We had no idea what to expect with this Prius. It was our first one. Depending on our experience with it, it most likely won't be the last. It will however allow us to make informed decisions on them moving forward on them.
Cool, congrats. I've never been much for them, but that's just me. Rather have a VW TDi for 46 mpg, fuel costs more, but more fun in the driving arena. I have a co-worker who was looking at getting a new car, her current vehicle (chevy cobalt / 5 speed manual) is getting 40 mpg, she was wanting to get a Jetta TDi, but i was like "For an extra 5-10 mpg, i don't know if it's really worth it to buy a new car" The real kicker on her is that she's driving 90 miles one way to work...180 round trip/day x 4 days a week = 720 miles / week and that's just for work...not to mention if she picks the kids up from school, goes to soccer practice, or gets groceries, she's could be pushing 1,000 miles a week...her estimates are at about 40k miles / yr...so i'd love to see how long her little Cobalt will actually last, as in a VERY new vehicle with close to 200k miles on it...could be pretty awesome!!!
I looked at VWs as well as others.
1) They are POS. Yes I (wife) owns one. Truly, a POS.
2) HPFP issues. Have you looked at the damage. 5 figures. $XX,xxx.xx
3) Safety. There are other cars that do good MPG but the Prius has excellent safety ratings. So does the Sonata, however we did the math and the Prius still saved us money over the Sonata.
4) Utility. The Prius has good utility, kinda like a mini-station wagon.
This commit has me a little concerned and creeped out...are you threatening people? I would really like some elaboration on this one.
I wouldn't worry about, just the typical misguided thought that they're going to see some huge savings or save the planet from mankind, typical prius owner attitude.
From what I have heard, the battery packs last longest if the car is driven daily or nearly daily. The "little old lady" that drives it just to church on Sunday is the one that has battery pack problems. So taxi service is where this car really excels, not a surprise the battery packs went mega-miles.
To me the Prius is just about "A to B at minimal fuel cost" - not necessarily minimum total cost - but, whatever, I am glad to see a "hands-on" kind of guy buy one. Will look forward to your further tales about ownership experience.
Just wondering - will a Prius still go on just the gas engine if the "big" battery pack is dead?
Yeah I already found a 2001 in my area that "needs work", I plan to buy it and tear into it "for fun" .
I don't believe the car can be run with a dead big battery pack. Unfortunately. But I'm not 100% sure.
Age is harder on the batteries than miles, a cab running all day long will get a longer life from them than someone driving to work and back. I've noticed that the used hybrid prices drop quickly at 4-5 years old, despite blue book, perhaps because of the perception that the batteries may need changing soon.
I have driven one a few times and also a Civic hybrid quite often, of the two
I like the Prius a lot better for driveability but agree they are ugly. Mind you my beater commute car is ugly too, 1997 Escort but gets 32 mpg and that's fine for me.
Yea, I've seen some older Prisus on ebay for ~10k.
That's quite expensive! Our family's '05 Prius was $22k brand new. We've put over 150k on it so far and it still gets 50mpg like a champ. If you figure an equivalent regular car from '05 gets 25mpg combined, we've probably saved $10k in gas so far. None of the Prius owners we know has ever needed to change their battery, even well into the 100k's.
I wouldn't worry about the mileage too much, though. 43k is a lot, but it was most likely highway miles considering how new it is.
Yeah I already found a 2001 in my area that "needs work", I plan to buy it and tear into it "for fun" .
I don't believe the car can be run with a dead big battery pack. Unfortunately. But I'm not 100% sure.
Be careful with the battery pack, it can sustain a lot of amps on a short - just reminding you of what you no doubt already know. Good idea to find an old one to mess around with, so when the newer one needs some work, you can DIY.
I *do* know that at least some models require the small starter battery to be charged or the car won't start, and I am not sure it will go on electric only power.
If this car is mostly for your wife, and she's not an enthusiast driver, I think you made a great deal.
From time to time I look at the (2004 only AFIK) Honda Insight - the one with a stickshift and 2 seats, no interest in the current Insight - the original car has a "streamliner" look to it, like a Bonneville special of some sort, that makes it more cool than geeky to me. But from what I have heard, they are not so great to drive.
That's quite expensive! Our family's '05 Prius was $22k brand new. We've put over 150k on it so far and it still gets 50mpg like a champ. If you figure an equivalent regular car from '05 gets 25mpg combined, we've probably saved $10k in gas so far. None of the Prius owners we know has ever needed to change their battery, even well into the 100k's.
I wouldn't worry about the mileage too much, though. 43k is a lot, but it was most likely highway miles considering how new it is.
Yeah inflation sucks. 150k is good, hope we can go that far on ours, actually I would hope for about 200k if we can keep it running well, even if we have to replace the battery pack once.
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