Noob trying to decide between two Prii and am nervous

I came from a long line of VWs (owned several generations of Jettas, fox, passat, etc) I will tell you it took a while to get used to driving a prius as IMO it will never have the good drivability as you get in a german car. That said, you will love the maintenance. I have put exactly zero dollars in outside of routine maintenance into my prius over the last 8 years.
Since you are in CA and if those used prius are original from CA the hybrid battery and main components have a 150K miles warrany.
Now as far as your options even at $14.5K they seem pricey WHEN considering I just bought a brand new 2015 prius two (basic model) for $18.2K in the SF bay area this past weekend. Spending less than 4K for a brand new car seems like a no brainier even if you stretch your budget just a bit it will be offset with greater value down the line and less maintenance up front.

 

You should be ok with a prius that has 80,000 miles. They are built to go beyond 200,000 with little issues. I was looking at getting a used one, till I figured that the difference between a brand new and used was not that much, why not start fresh? The main thing to remember in driving a prius is that it is made to last. Less continual moving parts in the enginge (meaning that the gas motor isn't always running, so a prius with 80,000, may actually only have 60,000 on the gas engine). The water pumb is electrical and only turns as needed. The air conditioning condensor also runs separately from the engine, ....it only runs when you turn it on. I could go on and on about the Prius. The main point is you can't compare it to other regular gas engine cars. So, take your time and feel confident in whatever choice you make. I went and got a new one and boy am I happy!

 

The dealer in santa rosa (Freeman) was advertising a few for ~$18.5K new, I'd check those out.

 

First thing's first.
If you're trading FROM a VW to a Prius (even a used one) you have nothing to be nervous about unless you like hanging out in dealer service departments. I'm not a Prius fanboy.....I don't even own one, but there's NO WAY that i would drive a Vee Dubbaya.

Actually, the first thing would be to welcome you aboard.

So....
The price from your dealer seems a bit high.
Here's a thread from a PC member who is also a dealer.
Dianne's 2015 model year Prius deals for fall 2015 | PriusChat
Takeaway: If a "new" (left over) 2015 can be bought for $19,399 in SOCAL, why would you pay a few thou less for the same car with 80,000 miles on the clock?

1. Determine your budget.
2. If you need to borrow....DO NOT start at a dealership. You shop for cars at a dealership. You get money from a bank. Get preapproved for a car loan first. This will set a floor to your car deal. You can always let their "finance manager" try to beat the deal that the CU gives you if you like being on a lot of junk mail lists.
3. Things to "just say no" to: GAP, any warranty or prepaid service, CPO unless it's a REAL factory CPO.

---get back with us later to show us the new wheels and/or ask some more questions!!


Good Luck!
Be not afraid!!

 

Not so much to discourage you but just a question: Why a Prius if you're only driving up to 3,000 miles a year?

Yes, the Prius is very dependable but there are other cars (Corolla, Yaris, Fit, Civic, etc.) you can find nicely equipped that are also very dependable and in the price range. At only 3,000 miles a year the difference is probably only about 2 or 3 gallons of gas a month. The Prius is great but yes, it does like to get regular miles put on it.

It would be interesting to see how you arrived at the decision to get a Prius and the process of elimination that disqualified other cars from your short list.

 

I am unsure why you would own a hybrid only driving 3000 miles a year. A nice Corolla or Camry would serve you well. In an effort to comply with EPA rules, the Prius does not get astounding gas mileage until it warms up, your routine would never yield impressive mileage. If you did 30,000 I would be gung ho.

You may have another 120,000 miles before you have repair issues. I do worry you do not drive enough to keep the battery charged. Dealer service is free for 25,000 miles. The only work I urge you to do at the dealer is Brake work.

No. In CARB states, the warranty is 150,000 miles and 10 years, so if the cars were purchased and are registered in CA You will not be paying even if the battery fails from lack of use.

There are minor imperfections in how the Prius emulates a normal car, but nothing major.

 

I did miss the part about 3K miles a year. Though you should of course get the car you want I'm not so sure I would go for a hybrid either as the first few miles everyday are not run efficiently (gas engine is warming up all emission related components) and if you don't drive teh car for weeks at a time its supposed to be bad for the battery longevity. If I only did a few miles a day with the occasional big trip I would rent a car for the long distance trips (if under a week) and then buy a cheap but comfortable and reliable car for local use. A small SUV (CRV, rav4, CX-5 or wagon/hatch) or full sized car (accord, camry, etc) might suit your needs best and you could probably find one with a lot of miles for a good deal. But again, drive the car you want. My wife actually drives our prius to work only a few miles on normal days and I can tell you its usually less than 40mpg on those shorter trips

Also good luck getting you local dealers to budge on price, the dealers I went to sell upwards of 100+ prius a month. Its hard for small dealers that only sell a few a month to compete with that volume pricing since their relative overhead will be much higher.

 

SoAdorable - Thank you for the explanation. The ability to visit family some distance away is very much the same reason we bought our used Prius this year. We too have family all across the country but the ones we try to visit with most often are 120 and 150 miles away.

Don't plan on keeping your mileage down to the 3,000 a year. You may well find yourself making a lot more trips than you think because it's so easy and economical to do with the Prius. We only put 2,000 miles on our Buick Rendezvous last year and 3,000 the year before because we couldn't squeeze the extra gas into the budget. Our financial picture has improved a little but since June we've already put 5,000 on the Prius.

I definitely understand your reasoning and agree with your choice of a Prius. Personally, I think if you can pull off a new one you'll be a very happy camper for a long time.

 

I just bought a used one because I wanted a four and those are not cheap brand new. However, mine only had 40K miles and was a 2012...maybe try to research the value of the solar roof one to see what it should be priced at. You seem willing to walk away or consider other options if it's too high which is very good.

since you like to keep your cars a long time, I would get the features that you want on it, even if it means waiting a bit for a better deal or saving up for a new three with a solar roof (which by the way runs the fan when the sun is out and the car is off using the solar panel. It can keep the interior temp down and possibly result in less a/c use to cool it down once you start it. I can't speak to how well it works though because mine doesn't have one). If it was between the two you described, I wouldn't look twice at the two since the prices are the same. A Prius is a Toyota and 80,000 miles is just getting started.

I love driving my Prius and had a Corolla and two Nissan maximas as my previous cars. I, like you, knew that I wanted a Prius for a few years and am very excited to finally own one. Good luck!

 

http://priuschat.com/threads/diannes-2015-model-year-prius-deals-for-fall-2015.157833/#post-2247672

 

It is, travel some and buy it cheaper, you can still service it at your local dealer, and if you see the salesman there, you can remind him he lost a sale trying for extra profit.

 

This OP just purchased a Prius Plus Package with just around 30K for just about the same price.

My 2012 Prius 3 (+) | PriusChat

 

Dealer work different ways. They may only sell a couple prius a month and have to make their numbers work. They aren't going to care what you can get it for 2 hours away as that is not the customer they are looking for. Obviously that price is way high and to most it would be worth a couple hour drive to save thousands, you aren't going to convince the dealer otherwise.