Advice re: traction battery failure

If at all possible I'd be looking at selling the the vehicle you owe the money on and paying out the loan, then getting a loan for either a remanufactured battery or one from a low mileage wreck.

Yes you'd just be exchanging one debt/loan for another, but on the plus side you should end up with lower insurance costs and a more reliable car with lower running costs.

 

It sounds like your husband and I understand 'cash strapped' differently. To me it means prioritizing needs over wants.

For edutainement, an attempt at summarizing your cars:

#1 A 'dream car.' I wildly guess this is not a fuel efficient car
#2 A car less than 7 years old that is already unreliable and has a leaky moonroof and a loan.
#3 A Prius that needs $1500 - 2000 to likely run reliably and cheaply for years.

Your plan: Dump the Prius; keep the Toy, the debt, and the Lemon

 

I'd put a battery in the Prius first, hands down.
Sell the leaky moonroof car, cut even - pay off the loan, and cut your losses before they mount even more with that car.

The investment in the Prius traction battery will pay off. Keeping an unreliable leaky moonroof car over the Prius will not. Sell that turd before its worth less than the loan payoff. Then with the money you are saving on the loan payment, put it toward the new traction battery. There! They dont call me a genius with a penius for nothing

 

Now I really want to know what the toy and the lemon are.

 

People never make logical decisions with vehicles. How does leather pay off ?
Why not take public trans - it is cheap?

 

Wasting money is fine if one, you have it; and two, you have savings to cover an uncertain future.

OP has a fancy car 6 years old that is still unpaid for, and no savings to repair that car or her Prius. The story just screams "living beyond one's means," and AKA "living paycheck to paycheck."* Her current choices seem to suggest she and/or her bubby have not learned the lesson yet. Now she is inclined to make decisions that will put a little money in her pocket now but cost a lot more down the road.

*Somehow people have decided that if they can manage to pay all their monthly debt obligations they are "OK." Unfortunately the house of cards collapses with the first additional bill or loss of some income.

 

People never make logical decisions with vehicles. How does leather pay off ?
Why not take public trans - it is cheap?

 

Why is this thread turning into a financial discussion? It has really gone off the topic of traction battery.

SM-N900P ?

 

People forget what it is like to be student for whom $1800 may as well be a million dollars. I would agree that since leaky moonroof needs a new transmission, keeping the Prius is likely the best option, if you can scrape up the cash. However, if you can't, you can't. In that scenario, you can sell the Prius for whatever you can get and fix the leaky moonroof car. Another possibility is to see what you could *actually* get for the leaky moonroof car. Maybe it's more than you think.

 

Wait a minute there, not so fast... In the OP's own words, in their opening post in this thread:

"Well...my 05's traction battery finally bit the dust after 9 years and a hair over 175k miles. It was a good ride and I'm sad to see it end. Buying a new battery is not an option and we are having trouble finding a salvage battery or anyone to put it in, within our budget.

My question is this - has anyone sold their Prius for salvage with just the battery issue? Is there any market for a prius with just the shot battery? Mechanically it is fine otherwise. I just don't want it to keep sitting in the driveway but kind of at a loss as to the next step. Thanks in advance for the advice"

It is not difficult to see how it could be inferred that that OP could use opinion regarding the financial aspect of repairing their Prius with a failed traction battery, as she stated in her 2nd sentence that they are having trouble repairing the Prius within their budget. Now, I'm no finance major; however, when I hear "budget" I do think of finances. And I believe that's exactly what people did - point out the ways the OP could repair the car and make it a smart budgetary decision.

Either way, it sounds like the OP's mind is made up, but it is human nature to try and help others (for some people at least, lol). I cannot agree with your assertion that this thread went OT.

Huntergirl- If I were closer, I'd buy your Prius just to replace the battery with a salvage one and sell it to a family member. Ive got people all pumped up over the Prius since I bought mine Now the family is fighting over who gets to drive my car when we go on vacations, lol.

 

Yeah, let us know what Taylors says. Wishing you good luck!

 

hgirl,

Have you tried disconnecting the 12 volt battery to see if the Prius could be driven again?

Ron (dorunron)

 

If you're still looking for a resolution with this Prius I may be able to help you within your budget. Whether you want to repair the car or sell it.