Riding the fence - help me decide

haha, that was the nonsense of the Bush era credit bubble.

Reality today is different.

 

I'd be inclined to list the house and start house hunting. Don't buy until the sale closes or make any purchase offers contingent on closing your sale. No car payment will be huge in how much and on what terms you can borrow for new home.

The SUV will come in handy while moving and setting up new home like you want. Then trade for the V.

 

I'm on the ten year plan for vehicles myself, and so glad that overcame my frugal side to spring for the Prius v 5 with adv. tech. package. Everybody's life/financial situation is different, but I know that you will end up with the right Prius for you. Let me just give you a final push in the ATP direction.

7 inch Nav screen with split screen capability is great. This is the first built in Nav system that works as good or even a little better than a Garmin.

Moonroof view is fun from front and rear seat.

Dynamic cruise control works AND is useful.

The self park takes some learning, but eventually pays off with big WOW factor. Hint: get your car into position to back into desired space, make sure stearing wheele ends up straight, then when you put it into reverse you have a good chance that the system puts the blue square on your spot and all you have to do is press OK and use the break to ease it in the spot while screaming "Look Ma, no hands."

Pre collision System could save your life.

Good luck and best wishes.

 

How about Leasing a new Prius AND getting a bigger house! There are GREAT lease deals out there. You can enjoy the low car payments vs buying. At the end of your lease, you can purchase the car from the leasing company and only then paying the tax on the agreed purchase price.

I heard PenFed credit union has great deals on new car purchases also. (penfed.org) you can become a member by making a donation.

 

I'd say that given the support you have to maintain cars you should look for an efficient used car and avoid the high depreciation hit of a new car. With your good credit you should be able to borrow at a good rate. A used Prius should give you 45mpg on your commutes and should let you keep the Blazer for other uses the Prius can't meet. Or something like a Civic would save you a bit up front and easily return 35mpg.

But if you insist on Prius v or nothing I'd say Prius v. It's a hedge against staying in your home and an expected increase in gas prices. If gas prices do rise the Prius v should hold value extremely well.

 

I prefer the liftback Prii. Honestly for a daily commuter vehicle, I'd stick with lower cost but still enough features so you have what you need in a vehicle to be comfortable. But if you want some bling bling, all the power to you and go order what you want. You are not stuck buying off a lot unless you want to. It takes 30 days from factory to in your hands ordering a Prius with exactly your choice of features. That's what I did and thankful I did now that it is in my garage

The wife & I were able to nail down 2.90% 72 month financing on my car Monday. The dealer & credit union were the same interest rate. That kept the payment way down and little money thrown to interest. Maybe you can get the low rates too. Good luck in your adventures and thanks for updating the thread Do remember that we like seeing pictures posted when people buy new cars so get your camera warmed up

Mike :tea:

 

I think you'd see well over 40mpg in a v. You are driving at relatively low speeds without loads of stops.

I personally think the long wheelbase helps the v ride better than the regular model.

 

OP, I think you made the right choice on the house.
As for the car, I had a rental for a week and I can say with confidence that the v loves your driving condition. I think in the 55 to 60 mph range you'll be seeing more like 55 mpg. I'd bet for sure over 50. It just feels like it floats along at that speed with little wind resistance and very low rpms.

Now, granted the std prius might get 65 in those same conditions, but when you're talking about that difference, the weekly cost difference in fuel is so little, that I would buy the car I am more comfortable in.

Let me add that I am comfrot driven. People say my sofa and chair in my hose are just so super comfortable, because I sat on probably 150 sofas before I bought. As with cars for me, my comfort is priority one. The liftback will save a couple grand, and get about 10 dollars less gas cost a month, but in 10 years I'll be forgoten about that 2k diff and 10 bucks a month is nothing when its gettin 2.5 times the fuel economy you get now.

I personally don't love the look of the v, I do love the features it provides. I like the look, but I don't love it, but because of its other great features is the only prius I'm considering. I'm nailing it down between the v and the hycam. I like the camry styling, but as far as looks I like more that the v is so unique over the "everybody has one" camry.

I would like to suggest you get a v from a toyota rental center and try it for a couple days. I think you'll be impressed.

 

I like the idea of the v myself, since you may need more room in the future, and those driving conditions are awesome. I wouldn't use the cruise control myself, since not using it can help fuel mileage in some situations. I think you will really be surprised at how you beat the epa estimates in either car.

Rhizzlebop, I am going to hang in there until I see an Avalon hybrid, since I am comfort driven as well. I owned a hycam and it was great, and the new ones have more power. But I want that hybrid boat. Hopefully soon.

 

That Cruze may see 36 mpg on all highway driving but it will not go above 30 mpg with any stops in the trip. GM vehicles are tuned way rich. The Prius in any model will dominate anything in mpg's.

Mike

 

Have you given any thoughts to the Prius C?? Way less money and as an owner I can recommend it for commuting. I'm very happy with mine and I came out of a full size pickup. Just food for thought!

 

Drive both models and pick the one that works best for you. While having two vehicles that can carry your whole family is great, it must be pain to switch the car seats between the vehicles.

For the home, great that you decided to stay put. But why do you need to use one of the bedrooms as a dedicated office? Make it a bedroom for you and wife, or for one of the kids. Do you spend a lot of time in the home office when at home - or does wife need to spend a lot of time there? Make it a bedroom and put the desk somewhere else, maybe your bedroom?

 

If you can see a Prius C right next to a Yaris, note the chassis is the same. It is small, I'd bet way too small for you & your family. It's a cool little car for it's purpose.

Mike

 

To be honest, if you want the MPG of the standard Prius, the c might be the better option. From the few times I physically went and saw the c, the rear passenger area is about inbetween the v and the standard. The only real 'shrinkage' would be in the 'trunk' area, but more between the back seat and the rear horizontally, but you get some of that back, I believe, on the vertical space.

If I were you, go look at the cars, physically. Don't buy, just look. While I admit I bought my v the day I looked at it, that was more born on the fact that I wanted to replace my Nissan Sentra cause I had a dead car radiator fans and wanted a vehicle to replace it and my curiousity and desire for the Prius v outweighed most conventional sense.

 

the 3rd row seating in the V as an option would have virtually eliminated the US mini Van market. still scratching my head over that decision

 

Politics possibly an influence why it never made it to US soil? I'm waiting to see a Swagger Wagon Hybrid some day :rockon:

Mike