Hi all, I've enjoyed my Prius since I purchased it new in 2008. It was my daily commute car and has been the most reliable car I have ever owned & has been such a great car. However, we have purchased a new Toyota Hybrid to use for traveling and now need to sell one of my other two cars. The first is the Prius, one owner, non-smoking family, 118000 miles, no accidents, there is one small ding over the wheel on the front driver's side where a neighbor backed into the car, otherwise the inside and outside are in good condition, inside very clean, and it runs great. It does have the original hybrid battery, and no major mechanical issues. My second car is a 2010 Honda Civic. That car is one owner, no smoking, no accidents and it has several scratches on the front fender (teenagers) that are covered with touch up paint. Otherwise the car is in great condition and very clean on the inside. It only has 45,000 miles. It is a very basic 4 door LX with no back up camera. I have never been a fan of driving this car, but it drives fine and there have been no major issues with it. I was thinking since I'm getting a new Toyota Hybrid, it may be a good idea to keep the gas car since the Prius would not be driven as much, and the hybrid battery may become an issue and expense. However, I really love that Prius, and am having a hard time making a decision, or letting go. Which would you choose to keep? Thanks.
I like your original logic: If you're going to have a second car that does a lot of sitting around, let it be the 2010 Honda. Sell the old Prius and give the new hybrid the real love.
Depending upon where you live the '08 will need to have its 12 volt tendered to sit other than that it would be as reliable as the 2010 Honda well probably more so or neck and naked least I don't really care for the Hondas that much so I would be keeping my Prius if it's the fact that a lot of driving is the problem I'll get my housekeeper that comes twice a week to take it to the store and get the stuff she needs or something. I'll personally still get in it and drive it because the wife is the one probably going to be driving this new thing more than likely it won't be me.
As a second car. which one drives better in snow & ice? I would guess the Prius would drive better than the Civic.
No brainer. Sell the Honda. Not because I'm a Toyota shill (I own 4 GMCs) but because the Honda will net the most cash and you only need the G2 Prius as a spare car.
Thank you all. I must confess, I think I have an emotional attachment to my Prius as it has been such a wonderful car -- and still is! Perhaps that's why I asked on a Prius forum! I ran some errands today with the Prius, via highway driving, got 52 mpg on a 17 year old car with the original hybrid battery. It was such a pleasure to drive. I thought to myself, there is no way I'm selling this car!! LOL. As a second car, the Prius would be used weekly for local driving/errands, so probably 10-15 miles a week. I think my next step will be the Dr. Prius hybrid battery test to see how it is holding up. And yes, we were thinking we would get more $$ for the civic. Not selling to them but I was curious and put the information into Carvana and they offered me $6200 for the civic and $1800 for the Prius. There is no way I would give away my Prius for $1800.
Carvana knows there is a $2500 battery coming and most likely a $2000 brake booster on the Prius. Possibly a catalytic converter might get stolen if you keep it which means insurance should be higher if you keep full coverage. I would sell the Prius on Facebook Marketplace for $6k (start at $7k) and keep the easy to repair by any shop low mile Civic.
The Honda and the Prius are both depreciating assets. The Honda will depreciate MORE over the next five years and not knowing anything about your debt loading or what part of the tri-state area you live in one can only go with FINANCIAL aspects and 'what we know.' It's idiotic to keep full coverage on an elderly car, and even though the OP does not live on free soil, a cat-napping is only about a $500 event in her area. The battery IS a thing, and selling the Honda and using the cash to keep the Prius on the road makes better FINANCIAL sense - especially if the OP LOVES driving the Prius and doesn't love driving the Honda. You can either attack personal debt with the 6k from the Honda OR if the OP is debt free - put the money into something liquid so that you CAN replace the traction battery - or get the brakes fixed when the time comes. Not having to pay comp and collision on any of these cars will save a little more. It works the same, both ways around actually. You can sell the Prius for probably 3-4K as is, where is - on this forum even and 'drive the car you don't like.' Or? Make the Hubster drive it - since he's the one who probably wants to dump the Prius. $3,000 in CDs or some other liquid account makes for a nice buffer when the Honda goes Tango-Uniform. My 2012 and 2006 are liability-only as far as insurance goes, but that's ME being ME again. Americans are not very bright about this and use auto insurance as a replacement policy for everything except wiper blades and gas. I use insurance companies to indemnify me against an unsustainable loss. YMMV.
Keep the civic, it drives better than the Prius. why the civic? HV battery doesn't last long when they are not being used, they need to be daily driven. You have expensive repairs looming in the prius (ABS pump and HV battery) You can park the civic for months and just jumpstart it...and most of all you're not a DIY-er so fixing the Prius will rip your pocket out for a car that's barely used.
My 2009 Gen 2 had 100K miles more than that and was still going on the original battery when I sold it. Depending on the other parts that may be going out. Check for rust on the suspension/frame components. That may give you an answer too.
