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Something horrible almost happened...

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by PriusGuy32, Aug 26, 2014.

  1. PriusGuy32

    PriusGuy32 Prius Driver Extraordinaire

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    :eek::eek::eek:

    I noticed 4 used Volts at a local dealer. 2 of them are going for $16,995, the others are slightly more expensive.

    Fair enough, I stopped to look at them. I test drove a silver 2011 going for $16,995 with 54,000 miles. Heated leather, seemed to have every option. Got approved for 5.99% with zero down. Priced out insurance and it was $1,000 more per year than my Prius!! Ugh.
    Not only would my car payment go up $100/month, but my insurance would also. I project I would save $105 in gasoline per month (not counting electricity costs here because I can charge for free at work).

    I really wasnt in the market to get rid of my Prius, and I didnt - I really felt uneasy about the whole thing. I have been reading Dave Ramsey's finance self-help books and it was my saving grace :D I just couldnt justify going back to a 60 month loan, when I owe 3 years on my Prius, and pay $380/month @ 5.99% when right now my Prius is $260 @ 3.9%. My insurance on the Prius is $138/month, but the Volt would've been $225. Ive been paying extra on my Prius since I bought it, and I want to pay it off early. The Volt would set me back to the beginning and I am just not willing to do that.

    I am looking for validation that I made the right decision - and please dont be too hard on me for the thought of switching sides :LOL:

    PS. The salesman has been drilling away at me, hes really trying to get me to defect. Throwing in free maintenance for a year, giving me payoff for my Prius, etc etc.
     
  2. Kaos1

    Kaos1 Junior Member

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    Doesn't the Volt require high test gasoline?
     
  3. ftl

    ftl Explicator

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    Worth checking out the Volts, but you'd be crazy to switch given the finances.
     
  4. vskid3

    vskid3 Active Member

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    I'm kinda in the same boat as you, been considering getting rid of the Prius for a Volt. We could do probably 90% of our regular driving on battery power and would only need gas for vacation trips. I guesstimate that our gas costs would be cut about in half with a Volt, $400ish a year. Unfortunately/fortunately, there's almost no used Volts in my area and the cheapest that is available is over $20k. Our Prius is paid off, so all the trade in value or whatever we sell it for would go to the Volt, but then we'd also have payments again. So I think we'll drive the Prius til it dies and go from there (unless an updated Volt is released and happens to cause the prices of existing ones to drop like a rock). I think you're also making the right choice in sticking with the Prius for now. Just don't let the salesmen get to you. ;)

    Have you priced insurance from other companies? Your's sounds pretty expensive, but maybe its your location.
     
  5. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Chevy says so, but many use regular. The high octane requirement is mostly for shelf life with the engine the Volt has. It's required as a CYA for GM in the rare case somebody could go long enough on electric that regular gas octane dropped to the point of damaging the engine. Between the sealed fuel system and engine maintenance cycles, that is unlikely to happen.
     
  6. KennyGS

    KennyGS Senior Member

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    I'm curious why a $1k insurance increase fo rthe Volt. How much more is this than your existing premium?
     
  7. MJFrog

    MJFrog Active Member

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    If you're looking to go Electric and can swing two cars, my advice would be to keep the Prius and check out the used LEAF market. If you're able to commute all-EV with a Volt, you can do the same with a LEAF, and still have juice left over for after-work errands.

    I'm not too far from you (Southfield)...I got my LEAF the end of February (a 2011 model) right when we had those -10F overnight temps and never really had any range problems (my commute is ~20 miles one way and I can charge at work). AND the car is parked outside overnight, not in the garage.

    My wife and I test drove the Volt and we both agree that compared to the Prius, the interior is cramped and uncomfortable. The LEAF is similar seating-wise to the Prius except for a little less leg room in the back seat. Cargo space is a lot less than the Prius, but it's at least as much as the Volt has.
     
    Merkey likes this.
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    6% is a ripoff!
     
  9. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    Prius + Leaf is the way to go.
     
  10. PriusGuy32

    PriusGuy32 Prius Driver Extraordinaire

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    I have not priced out other insurance companies.... I figured its a sign and I should leave well enough alone.

    Re: co-owing a Leaf, I wish I could wing it. But I do have other toys that require my financial attention :D Especially with boating season coming to an end......

    One day, I suppose I might consider upgrading to a Volt - maybe insurance rates will come down and they will be more affordable. The car payment itself isnt such a jagged pill to swallow, although I am pretty comfortable with my $260/month with my Prius. But for the car payment to go UP and the insurance, (n)(n)
     
  11. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Smart money says stop buying cars every 3-4 years, and pay the Prius off early.

    While it may be "cheaper" to spend more money if you look at the numbers a certain way, the G3 is already a fairly reliable car out to lunar mileage if you take care of it decently at all - which is 10 years of average use.

    I've seen people bend numbers this way and that was trying to justify why Priuses are "cheaper" or Volts are "greener" which tells me that the difference between the two would not justify getting more deeply in debt.

    My $0.02.

    Good Luck!
     
    GrumpyCabbie and PriusGuy32 like this.
  12. PriusGuy32

    PriusGuy32 Prius Driver Extraordinaire

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    Ok vskid & mjfrog have me thinking about calling 1 more place for auto insurance before completely ruling out the Volt purchase :confused:
     
  13. kenmce

    kenmce High Voltage Member

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    Close call, broh.

    He gets money any time you make a move, makes no difference if its good or bad for you.

    +1
     
  14. Troy Heagy

    Troy Heagy Member

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    I don't insure any of my cars.... saves a lot of money (about $200/year whether the car is a Civic or Prius or Volt). Recommend you do the same rather than pay an extra $1000 if you upgrade to Volt or Prius G4.
     
  15. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Michigan Annual Car Taxes = Make sure you understand the impact on state taxes of a used Volt. I am thinking Mich is one of those states like Va. that likes to assess higher annual taxes to more expensive cars based on MSRP. It can be a mini-dis-incentive (or more maxi depending on your state).

    I think Mich. calls it annual Registration "Fee" but if it's a tax deductible property tax on Form 1040 Sched A, then it's really an annual car value tax masquerading as a registration fee.
     
  16. ny_rob

    ny_rob Senior Member

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    My insurance (Allstate) went down slightly (-$12 per six month term) when I went from the 2012 PIP to the 2014 Volt.

    For reference- for those curious about the Volt's all electric range- I'm currently getting about 48 EV mi per charge out of the Volt.
    Untitled.jpg
     
    ftl likes this.
  17. silverone

    silverone Member

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    I can say that my insurance went up about $100 per 6 mo. I attributed that to going 6 years newer in car from 2008-2014.

    ~3280 miles w/o gas and counting...
     
  18. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    The insurance premium jump does not make sense. If that is the difference between staying or leaving then call other insurance companies. If you have a good driving record try Amica, and if you are eligible try USAA

    The numbers you report do not make sense to me: a $17k car paid off @ 380 a month at 6% apr takes about 4.23 years. And what about your trade-in ?
     
  19. Ashlem

    Ashlem Senior Member

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    At this point, I'd wait for the Detroit Auto Show in January. This way you can get info on the Gen 2 Volt. And if those stats are good enough, you can then use that against the dealership:

    "Well, the Gen 2 Volt is coming out in a few months, and I'm more than willing to wait on it. But if you guys can give me a really good offer on this gen 1 volt, I'll buy it today".

    If you're serious about that, and the car has been sitting on their lot for a while, they may be willing to do that just to get rid of it.

    As a bonus to waiting, Toyota may be revealing the Gen 4 Prius at that time as well, and possibly tease us with the Gen 2 Plug-in Prius stats. You wouldn't want to get the gen 1 volt, only to find out the gen 2 volt, or the next gen Prius/PiP is even more awesome and suddenly the volt 1 seems like a crappy deal.
     
  20. PriusGuy32

    PriusGuy32 Prius Driver Extraordinaire

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    Tragedy strikes again.... :confused:

    So the other day my friend asks me, because of my near-Volt experience a few months ago, to come with her to test drive a used Volt for sale at the same lot I went to in August, since i might know a little about the cars. Turns out, the Volt I drove was gone but there was another listed for $16,995 with 57,100 miles.

    We drove it, she didnt like it but I did! :D I ended up getting the dealer to drop $1100 off the price. So, $15,895. They are going to pay off my Prius. I got pre-approved at my CU for 4.99%, no payments for 60 days (a promotion going on right now). I also got them to throw in a full tank of premium gas & a complete charge-up so it will be all ready to go Monday. The ICE oil was just changed by the dealer.

    In August, my beef with the Volt was my car insurance would go up $100 per month!! I ended up pricing out Progressive today, and wouldnt you know it - Progressive is $50 cheaper per month than my Prius. Im going to go with them. So the car payment itself is $100 higher; I will be using $100 less in gas every month AND saving $50 on car insurance every month too. (y)

    So I cleaned out the Prius and am planning on trading it in Monday for the Volt!! Im still uneasy about it, I really really like my Prius. At 92,000 miles, I'm afraid that if I dont trade it now, when the new generation Prius comes out and my battery warranty expires in 8,000 miles, that I will not be able to cut even if I go to sell it. Plus it needs tires and soon the 100k mile maintenance.

    The Volt has new tires (bonus), carfax shows 1 owner (fleet), and even though the lifetime mileage said some ridiculously high number, they changed the ICE oil every 5,000 miles...lol. I dont know whats up with that but Im not complaining either.