Oh boy.... My search for a car continues. I posted previously in the Gen 3 and 4 sections, thinking that Gen 2 are just too old now. After reading how Gen 3 have too many issues, I settled on Gen 4. But my problem is that inventory is very low and prices are very high, often above KBB values (echoes of the Covid era!) -- usually around $13k for cars with around 200k+ miles. The vast majority have salvage titles. Removing the date filter I had set in my searches (FB Marketplace, Craigslsist, Car Guru etc) I find that there are tons of Gen 2s out there for around $4k-$5k, and with clean titles. I've had Gen 2s twice in the past and they were great. I started being swayed by the fancy safety features etc. of the Gen 4, but honestly I don't really need them. The simplicity of the Gen 2 is starting to sound appealing, as are the prices and availability. I really just need something reliable and comfortable for long trips between CA and NM for regular visits to an aging parent; and for weekend excursions. No daily commuting. So is this a good idea or a bad idea? Are there certain years I should avoid? Should I only consider cars that have had a replacement hybrid battery? I understand the last 2 years of the Gen 3 are good, so am open to that. Any opinions there? I've also checked out Ioniqs and they're about the same as Gen 4s, maybe $1k-$2k difference. Niros are cheaper, though, at around $10k for cars with under 100k miles. But even at that price I start looking at Prii again....
Sounds like you might not be driving enough for Prius .? You should really think about that is the Prius going to spend all its time sitting until you go see Mom and Dad or Mom or whoever and and groceries locally? So your yearly mileage would be under 5,000
I have four generation 2 and I have friends driving the three I can't . Only have one rear end ya know. That's how bad it can be if they sit so I try not to let them . So ya might consider.
I'm planning on taking plenty of drives up and down the coast, exploring central CA etc. I moved here almost 3 years ago and haven't had a car, so am feeling stir crazy! I also have family in SoCal, so will likely go down there once a year or so. I'm thinking probably 8k-ish a year.
Might work out well for you I'm easily putting 10,000 a year on mine and everything seems more than reasonable
It sounds like most of that 8K is in big trips. The car cannot just sit unused for weeks at a time, it will trash the 12V battery quickly and the HV pack slowly. It needs to be driven, not sure exactly, 30 minutes a week? I think 60 minutes would be safer. Although on a Prius "driven" isn't really needed for the 12V, the car just needs to be in READY. If you want to sit in it for an hour reading a book that will work. That might be true of some other hybrids. It isn't true for "regular" ICE cars, where if you want the 12V to charge the motor needs to be spinning, and the faster the better. I used to live in SF and most of my driving in town came to around 5 miles a week. I kept the car mostly so that I could go visit my parents who lived elsewhere in the Bay Area. At that point in time I could get anywhere in the city easily on public transit, but going anywhere outside of town that wasn't near a BART stop was a PITA. This was decades ago, and that old Toyota didn't have any parasitic draw, because it had power nothing (not even power steering). Modern cars with all their ECUs and fobs that open the doors remotely and even alarm systems all have some amount of parasitic draw and it isn't really a good idea to let any of them sit too long. If you have a garage with a power outlet (not at all a given in SF) the car can be put on a battery minder to keep the 12V topped off and then it can sit weeks at a time without damaging anything. If the car will be parked on the street, any modern car really, you will need to take some action to keep the 12V charged, as deep discharges damage them.
It'll be in a driveway and I could conceivably run a power cord under the garage door into the car. But I could also easily find excuses to drive an hour or so a week, to the big box stores in Daly City, lunch in Pacifica, a hike in Marin, and exploring all these oddball little places I've heard about like Port Costa.... My second main reason for getting a car is to just generally improve my quality of life. Even though it's a peninsula, it can feel like being on an island sometimes! The BART still has the same limitations, not mention how slow it is -- especially because I'm way out in the avenues. So to go look at a car in Hayward it's like 3 hours round trip. I think I'd also be more likely to drive a hybrid more, being conscious of emissions and MPG. I haven't totally ruled out an ICE car, like a Corolla or Civic. I'm seeing one with high mileage (+/- 2k miles) at around $7k-$8k.
Shiet I have and 02 Corolla in almost perfect shape drive it anywhere rt now . One of the cheapest cars on the planet to keep for the last 45 years the Corolla . if I tried to sell it even in the perfect shape that it's in it's not but a $2,000 car if that just for the year and the mileage this car has 535,000 miles on it doesn't use a drop of oil seriously original auto trans fluid serviced maybe twice .
There's currently a 2014 Corolla for sale near me, with 214,000 miles, for $4,500. The guy has been trying to sell it for like 8 months, though, so I wonder. As for Gen 2 Prii, I guess restricting to 2008-2009 priced at $4k-ish, and only cars that have had the battery replaced would be the way to go. Unless they're even cheaper and otherwise well maintained, and I'd just factor in an eventual battery replacement.
My '06 is still performing excellently, just did a same day 1,000km round trip in it. Besides the rattle and squeaks that a well experienced earns (344,600kms on the clock) can't really fault it. I also have an ex taxi '08 Prius, 700 and something thousand kms on the clock, it only became a parts vehicle because I couldn't drive both of them and needed the battery and front brake pads for the '06 Unless you put an LFP 4 cell 12v battery in it, you will always be cursing the flat battery, yet the 12v LFP battery, even though mine is built out of very exhausted EV cells, never lets me down ..... T1 Terry
So here are some of my current choices: 1. 2007 Prius w/ 185k miles for $3,500. At around 174k miles, it had a new hybrid battery installed; then at 180k it had a new combo meter because the speedometer display had blacked out. Waiting to hear what trim level. Cosmetically a little funky, with some rubber coating on the bumper and one side. Not sure if it's to hide something or they're trying to be sporty! 2. 2008 Prius w/ 140k miles for $5,000 Hybrid battery replaced Jan. 2024, but it has an electrical drain issue: "no issues when it is being driven regularly but sometimes it needs to be jumped if it has been sitting undriven for a few weeks." Also "a broken tire pressure sensor (so the light is always on)." But has had regular maintenance. Waiting to hear what trim level. 3. 2014 Corolla LE Eco Plus w/ 214k miles for $4,500. Good service history through 2023. Waiting for clarification on what happened after that. It's been listed for months so I'm a little skeptikal. 4. 2017 Prius C, w/ 200k miles for $6,000. Nice condition, recently inspected. I'm not super crazy about the C, but could live with it. I'm just not sure of it's comfort level from longer trips. Any thoughts?
