Traction Battery slowly going bad

If it stops you from going to your work, you lose sick and vacation pay/time. That alone is enough for me to get another car.

 

Save money by being flexible.

Use another car.

 

This normally is not the solution.

A 300k miles car can have lots of issues.

1. cosmetically ugly exterior
2. worn interior
3. just about everything in the car is worn and can break causing down time.
4. repairs to 300k mile cars are usually frequent as oppose to non frequent.

 

I'd split the difference.

For a G1, I'd go with a re-manufactured battery for about $1500.
Multiple sources exist.
If we were talking about a G3 instead of a G1 I'd get one out of a salvage yard.

ALL traction batteries are slowly going bad.

This seems to me to be about the best bang for the buck.

Good Luck!

 

WADR, that's not financially prudent unless 'going to work' means playing in the NFL where a one game absence can cost you 6-7 figures.

Do the math.
Let's say that you make $30 an hour.
Even if you have to take a week's vacation to deal with a balky car, that works out to less than $1,000.
$1,000 is a significant sum of money - but you could be depreciating many times that sum if you buy a newer car every time you have to deal with a repair issue on the one that you're driving now.

Repairing a paid-for car and driving it even for a few extra months, can save you more than even losing a week's salary.

YMMV

 

So you just deprived yourself a much needed vacation to fix a car.

 

Well....I wouldn't have to because I keep vacation days on the books for emergencies....just like I keep a few thou handy for other emergencies like car repairs.

If I were just starting out?
Yes.
I would deprive myself of a much-needed vacation to fix a car, in order to keep car payments from depriving me of a much needed retirement account.

At some point, a car is going to reach the end of it's service life.
The OP is rolling a ten-year-old car.
At some point, they're going to have to euthanize it.
I just wouldn't do it over a $1200 battery pack that I can self-install in an hour or two.

YMMV

 

You are assuming the car only needs a battery and nothing else. At 300k miles, something else is right around the corner. Besides there are no guarantees that a rebuilt for $1200 will be a lasting repair. It may just be a problematic rebuilt that will cause you more frustration

 

Absolutely correct.....but a one year guarantee will mitigate some of that risk.

That's all we're talking about here.
You have four Priuses according to your info.....and if you're smart they're all paid for.
That gives you options.

Poorer people have poorer options, and risk assessment (or risk management) is entirely different than risk avoidance.

You're right. YOU would not put a re-manned battery in a ten year old car with 300K on the clock.

.....I would.

 

It has nothing to do with poor or rich. It's a financial decision that could milk you dry and you wish you bought another/different car.

 

In Caly, you're probably looking at closer to $6,000 a year if you get a new G3 with higher taxes and insurance.....more if you like lots of options.

 

If you bought a new 2015 Prius 2 now, you can find it for less than $22,000 OTD in California. Maybe that $22,000 will get you another 10 years and 300k miles?

You could also throw money at the 300k miles car now and see how much longer it'll go. I don't like the feeling that I can break down at any time while I'm driving. Breaking down in the highway can cost you your life nowadays, I think I'll retire the car when it's time. But that's just me......

 

Up here taxes on a new Prius are close to 4K! Op, maybe your vehicles performance would improve if you knocked out your cats and cleaned up some sensors, mass air flow, for one. How much oil are you using?

 

You have to do what you think is right but I do NOT agree with your conclusion.

Over 4 years, using your $5K per year guess, you will have spent $20K and will still have a worthless 14 year old car with maybe 400K miles on it. Any money you spend on it will be instantly lost, value wise.

Over that same 4 years, you could have a $20K new car paid off and would have a 4 year old car with less than 50K miles that is still worth maybe $10K.......and hopefully has a long way to go before major repairs are needed.

 

Very interesting. Could it also be possible that because your cats are plugged there is less exhaust pressure coming out of your engine and the oil is not being 'sucked' out as much??