Hi everyone: I am the owner of a 2010 Toyota Prius which I bought right after I graduated high school in 2011. It was my dream car. I live on Guam and will be moving to Washington DC this summer for graduate school and need help deciding if I should bring my Prius over. The estimated cost is around $3000-$4000 to transport it from Guam to the West Coast and onto DC. For the most part my Prius is in good condition - all it needs is a new paint job. The original battery gave out last summer and was replaced at no charge as it fell within my car's ten-year warranty. All else equal, I think the car has a solid two to four years conservatively left before something else pops up. I understand the cost associated with transporting the car is quite high but given that it is traversing the Pacific Ocean and going cross-country, it seems reasonable. I will definitely need a car once I move as my apartment is a bit far from my school (AU) and my partner will need to get around as well once he secures a job. If I were to leave my car on Guam, we would end up buying a used car in DC anyway and probably spend anywhere between $7000-$10000. Pulling out that much from our savings while being unemployed while in school for a year makes me anxious so any advice is greatly appreciated!
That sounds like a huge hassle, even assuming that your Prius is eligible for titling in the US. Also, parking can be in short supply around AU. If you were to get an apartment in the Cleveland Park neighborhood, that would be a pretty short bike ride or walk to AU and put your partner near the Metro (subway train). DC traffic has the second worst in the entire US, so taking the Metro is often a much better choice. DC is really big into ride share (Uber/Lyft) with rides always immediately available. Also, there is ZipCar and Car2Go locations throughout DC which rents cars via an app on a walk-up basis for about $15/hr. If you are only going to be here for a year, you might want to think through alternatives.
i'm going to assume that used pri are a bargain in the dc area, since people come from all over the country to get bargains on new ones.
