I have a 05 Dodge Grand Caravan that gets about 17/20 mpg. I drive about 15-20k miles a year. We don't have a need for a minivan but need a nice size sedan for 2 kids and it must have decent truck space for a stroller. So, we've been researching cars for the last 6 months and it seems that we have decided on a prius but now they are extremely hard to come by. Dealers have lists a mile long and want to charge premiums. The used ones are selling for WAY over KBB. so, what do we do?? Is there an alternative to the prius that makes sense? Do I just stick it out with my minivan till the 2010 ones come out. We found a used prius here that has everything we want but they're asking about 2000k over KBB, for a 2006. Would it be a mistake to buy a 2006 and pay so much for it, when they finally ramp up production and come up with their new models, I wonder if these older ones will take a hit pricewise. I'm so sick of wasting so much money on gas, if we could buy a car today I would totally do it, but I'm feeling like I'm stuck in this analysis paralysis mode and it doesn't help that there aren't any at the dealerships to buy. We've also considered a nissan altima hybrid, camry hybrid (but trunk isn't big enough with the battery in the way) Toyota matrix, toyota corolla (afraid it's going to be too small although haven't test driven yet). Any thoughts or ideas?
buy a very cheap and used corolla that has 150,000 miles on it. drive it until the prius craze dies down and then dump it... so in other words find a slightly more economical car that costs about 1000-2500 until the right prius comes your way.
I agree with fcc, also look at a toyota Echo, or Mazda protege. The 2006 is probably out of (or near)the 3yr 36K mile (bumper to bumper) warranty and that is a lot of money for a car with no warranty left on it.( it would still have drive-train and battery warranty left though.) Also the $2000 over KBB would buy you 500 gallons of gas (@$4.00) that's about another 9,000 miles on your present car- almost a year, maybe by that time the Prius situation might have settled out a bit.
Don't buy a Prius right now--the market is nuts. There's a good chance gas will come down in price--and that will change the car market fast. The cheapest thing is to do nothing. The next cheapest is to buy a small cheap used car--but you are only going to get 50% better gas mileage and it's going to cost you $8K. I say stay with what you have. That's what I would do. 17-20 mpg is OK.
Totally agree. Prius is not the way to go for most economical right now even assuming $8 gallon gas provided that the craze *does* die down and Prius prices fall in the next 3 or 4 months. Otherwise, when gas goes to $10 / gallon, you might be wishing you'd paid the premium. I'd find an old beater Corolla wagon or a 5 door hatchback. If you buy new, you can still get good deals on other small cars. We really like the Scion XD because it's a 5 door hatchback and still gets decent mileage while having way more pep than the Yaris which doesn't come in a 5 door at all. Keep in mind that those that got 2004's under MSRP after the initial craze died down are selling them now 4 years later with high mileage for more than they were new.
Funny...3 of the people who have responded to your question telling you to buy a cheap used car already have their 2008 Prius.
It sounds like the person asking the question cannot find a 2008 at MSRP... thus the advice. I had to wait approx 6 weeks and I can only wonder how long the wait would be now plus paying more then MSRP. If he can find a Prius for MSRP go for it!!
Keep reading these post. Honest dealers are out there. In fact there was one in North Fl. posted here last week. I checked their web site,seemed good to me. Research forum,see what you can find. If you can fly to buy, go for it. If you are like me driving a clunker is not an option.
