Sold my Prius v

After 2 years and 31k miles, I said goodbye to my trusty Prius v. I only sold it because I slightly miscalculated my needs. Before we had my daughter, my wife and I drove ~30k miles per year. We had a 2010 4Runner and an 05 MINI. My wife didn't want to drive the 4Runner due to size and we felt we should have 2 cars that could fit the family. So, searching for reliable, efficient, reasonably priced wagons, the Prius v was an obvious choice. We figured we would have 2 kids, so the little fleet we had would be perfect.

Taking delivery...


Bringing our daughter home in the v a week later.


Fast forward a few years and we are finished at 1 child, the Prius is getting all the mileage, and we barely drive the other two cars. Basically, the v is so efficient and spacious that the 4Runner was rendered redundant other than those days that we wanted 4WD. Living in WV, it is really, really nice to have a 4WD, so I couldn't just go down to the MINI and the Prius. We decided to swap the 4Runner for a RAV4 and the Prius would go to make room for a car I had been eying for a long time.



The Prius was a great car, and I would love to have the space to have kept it. If I lived further south, we'd have the MINI, FR-S, and Prius v. My only complaints about the v were the fuel economy in the mountains on the interstate dipping down to the 36mpg range. The 1.8HSD was pretty taxed in that environment. Around town and highway driving was around 45mpg. I'm excited to see what Toyota can do with the new hybrid drivetrains coming down the pipeline.

Anyway, before we sold the v, we took a road trip. I had agreed to sell the car to a lifelong friend in New Mexico. My family was vacationing out west this year, so we took the v cross country to San Diego, Disneyland, the Grand Canyon, and finally finished up in New Mexico where we transferred the car over to him.




Tandy 400

Disneyland


Eastern California




Entering AZ


Entering NM


We planned on driving cross country in the v when we got it, so it was nice to complete that before we sold it.

I'll definitely have another hybrid some day. Loved the clever HSD setup. Too bad I couldn't get a RAV4 with the hybrid setup. Maybe an NX300h (or whatever they have in 5~10 years) down the road.


Tandy 400

 

She's a pretty kid. ️


Tandy 400

 

I have averaged 30~32mpg over the 2300 miles I've driven it. I have nice highway driving conditions and the vehicle is light weight with a small engine. The 6MT I have is 22city and 30hwy, btw.

You also have to remember that I replaced a 22mpg highway SUV with a 29mpg highway CUV. The fuel cost should be a wash all things considered.

To be perfectly honest, the economics of a hybrid don't make sense for my modest yearly mileage. I wanted a reliable, practical station wagon and that is how I ended up with the v (and we weren't thinking that 1 kid would be the end). If pure numbers drove everything, I'd make my wife drive the paid off 4Runner that seemingly doesn't depreciate and I'd do my 5 mile commute in the long paid off and depreciated MINI. Fuel just isn't a huge expense in my house at $2500/yr.

Tandy 400

 

I don't have Tesla money. I'm also worried about their long term durability. I've read a lot about drive unit replacements and battery issues. The Prius being so reliable was a big reason that I went with it in the first place.

I did price out an NX300h just to see. Yikes. I'm more comfortable in the $35k range.


Tandy 400