No cars for sale - How to upgrade from 2014 Gen 3? Advice needed

have you tried online dealers like carmax and etc?

 

A lot of dealerships will give you an online cash offer pending an inspection. You can use that value towards the new car that you want. That way you can sell and buy your new car all at one spot in the same day. I would only buy a car in the state you want to register in to avoid extra taxes.

 

Wait a year or two? Things are nuts right now, and you seem to be saying you have a creampuff.

By the way, what's your meaning with "forecourt"? Just a typo?

 

They’re all used car lots these days

 

Don't get a Volt...there are no new replacement Hybrid batteries available...if something happens to your battery even under warranty they replace it now with used cells...... also very long wait times for part (3 months plus on a BECM). Chevy doesn't seem to care about them any more because they are discontinued.....
I had a 2019 2 years ago and loved the car...but sold it because I could see these problems coming.

 

Since you indicated that you need the sale money from the old car for the new car and can't be without a car, Bisco makes a great point (as usual).

To sell to CarMax, you drive in--they tell you what they will pay for your car on the spot and hand you the money.

To purchase from CarMax, you can shop CarMax nationally and pay a transfer fee to have the car delivered to your local CarMax, if your local CarMax doesn't have what you want. There is no obligation to purchase any car transferred, but you are out the delivery fee.

CarMax upsides: easy, no hassle, no negotiation. 30-day money back, no questions asked if you don't like the car or take it to a mechanic who finds a problem. From what I have heard anecdotally, they couldn't care less about taking cars back. No pressure whatsoever.

CarMax downsides: you are not going to get the best price -- either for the car you sell or the car you buy.

Each buyer has to determine whether the upside outweighs the downside.

 

Carfakes is not a reliable place. Several stolen vehicles caught after the sale.
They will never give you what your car is worth. Even though they over charge, they make
a lot of money off people.

I know you're not is a good place and have to take what you can get...

 

To answer “no cars for sale, how to upgrade...”

You either have to steal one, trade or borrow one.

 

Honestly buying a $10k used plugin will never be a good idea. The cost to replace that battery will make standard Prii batteries seem like a super deal.

I would buy the best standard Civic, Corolla or Camry with some exceptions. Then privately sell the gen3 quickly before the gen3 market crashes back to reality.

 

Useless on a modern fuel injected engine and hard to do on a computer controlled engine that must stay in sync with the electric transaxle

Requires removal and hours of effort. Nothing poured into the intake ever makes it to the egr.

The holy grail and only achieved in the movies and people's dreams. A few companies attempted to parallel the hv battery to increase 20 mph ev from 1 mile to 2 miles. Wasn't worth the thousands required.

Best use of ten grand? Either fix your gen3 with an engine rebuild and a new hv battery

or

Buy one of these and sell your gen3 in the next four weeks.

Budget Oldies But Goodies (w Lower Miles)
2000-04 Avalons (no rust)
2004-06 Camry V6
2005-08 Corolla (very good)

Option 1 means you have a solid gen3 for five or more years and good mpg. No money left.

Option 2 means hybrid issues are someone else's problem. You get your $10k back because you flipped that gen3. You open a 5% CD and have $12.5 in four years which you put on a low mile 2022 hybrid with low miles. Along with the majority of the new to you Corolla value added in for a down payment of $20k.

 

Was just reading in the news, scarcity of new cars and consequential rise in car theft:

'$100K vehicle, $10 doorhandle': Car companies called out as theft epidemic continues

interesting comment near end of article, about push-button start “innovation”.

 

i tried the italian tune up (hard acceleration and high speed) it worked for the problem i was having with the engine not shutting down, but didn't help with the stuttering and juttering.

i messaged my local dealer about their online inventory. the only thing they had in stock (that i was interested in) was a prime rav4. unfortunately, it was gray. i can understand

 

A dealer near me has red and gray rav4 primes and two toyota evs. For significantly over msrp and all kinds of distributor and dealer add ons.

 

I wouldn't use the Techron in the Gen3 with an older head gasket. Seems that was a root cause in my ~284K 2013 going.

Granted; overfilling with oil, PCV Valve bad and having my engine grill 100% blocked aided. All in all, did make for cleaning the Intake and EGR Circuit easy albeit goopy versus sintered dry.

Still getting great MPG performance, though I hear bubbling when I start the car and yesterday was my first almost three times in a row starting the car having the shakes rattle and roll for a second or two. Between the first and second experience, I filled up the gas tank and at the station for some reason started typical.

 

I don't think techron caused any damage to the head gasket.
It's been in fuel for a few decades already.