Going to buy a Gen 2. What should I know?

Yes siree bobtail Peter horsefly! And also in the engine compartment to keep the engine warm.

 

You don't know how tempting it is for me to just keep the old smelly Golf diesel. The car is immortal. But then again it doesn't have any sort of A/C system at all.

But on the other hand I think a second gen Prius would blow the doors off my ol' Golf. No wait, they do all the time. The Golf has 52hp at sea level. Up here it has less than 40hp. And that's with a 5 speed manual, not a CVT. Just last month I got pulled over by a cop wondering if my car was defective or something for going 35mph up a 7-8% grade and offered to follow me home if that would make me feel better.

 

I just checked out Car Complaints and noticed the 2009 Prius gets "The Seal of Awesomeness", so that's encouraging.

 

Thanks @Lucifer !
Anywho, I guess if it's a 2009 it should have good information on Carfax seeing how it probably would still have been on full coverage. Once a car gets too old though, like some of mine I've had, you don't do full coverage and you don't take it to a mechanic or anything else. If it breaks you fix it. I don't know how that kind of info could get onto Carfax.

Just a question, what kind of fuel mileage car I really expect?

I tried my 150mile route in a 2013 Nissan Leaf. The nice thing is that charging was free! (See how frugal I am?)

But the range was too iffy and I went back to my 50-60mpg VW diesel. I love doing my drive and in 4 days of driving this far only pay $50 in fuel.

The Prius is rated for 45mpg on the highway. Not too bad, but then I have lots of climbing to do. But then again, I do in my diesel, and it was only rated at some forty some mpg too. I also try to hypermile a bit. I don't like driving faster than the speed limit, and that varies between 40 and 60mph along my highway route. Plus sometimes I even drive slower just to save a bit more fuel.

Do you think a Gen 2 Prius will be similar in fuel mileage as my diesel? Just making sure, the Prius also uses regular octane too right? (Which is cheaper than diesel too.)

 

Yes, I would like to try to do that. But say I do, and end up not liking the Prius. What should I do then? I bought my Golf rustier than a car that sunk with the Titanic (hyperbole). I don't really want to fix it up if I don't have too.

A little more information. I just sold two other cars, a 2013 Nissan Leaf and a 1972 VW Beetle. I got $7,000 and $5,000 respectively. So I have $12,000 to spend on a car. But I'm used to getting +50mpg. Yes, I know that up at these levels 40mpg isn't going to be a huge difference, even at +30,000 miles per year. But I don't want to drive a Mitsubishi Mirage either. If a Prius isn't for me, any suggestions on what to get?

 

I'm googling about the Corolla as we speak. How to they compare in longevity? Which years? It's kind of discouraging seeing the Corolla rated to get only 33mpg on the highway.

I want 60mpg if possible, but a car that lasts a million miles if possible, and that isn't a lemon clunker project car or a $30,000 brand new car to start out with. Something I can pay cash for, repair and take care of and not ask myself why I'm spending $500 per month in fuel in.

As far as AWD goes, it's overrated. I've been driving for some 18 years in the mountains of Colorado and have never seen it of much use. Even last year during our several feet deep "snowmaggedon" winter I only got stuck once ( happened in my 2013 Nissan Leaf). I don't see paying extra for AWD if it only comes in handy once every 5 years or so.

 

Good one!
I actually had to drive my 2013 Nissan Leaf no more than 35 mph with heat and AC off to make it back home on my route. It did get old after a year.

Anyhow, I could always just turn on the AC going down hills. That's kind of what my Golf does, but with the heater. When it's super cold, it puts out heat on the way up the mountain, but then starts blowing cold air going down. I have three peaks on the way there and on the way back.

 

In what ways would the hybrid not meet my needs?

Anyhow, I guess I'll just figure out what to do here with the Golf. I love the Golf but also would like a bit more safety. (It doesn't have any shoulder strap seat belts in the rear for an example, nor airbags.) And the paint and interior are pretty bad and the sunroof leaks pretty bad too. I guess I could spend money on fixing those things up on this car. And the black clouds of death do bother me. But whatever. If it's better to climb up 65mph hills at 45mph with big black clouds of death in an old diesel than a newer hybrid, I guess I give up.

 

I thought that was a given. Any pre-mid-nineties diesel is not going to have a particulate filter and is going to blow black smoke under full throttle. And a pre electronics diesel (aka: mechanically injected) isn't going to have any way to compensate for altitude, producing more smoke the higher the altitude.

Ok, but I would like to get a car that has the qualities my old car has. I don't want to change 55mpg for 30mpg. Looking at 3 to 5 year old Corollas, they are rated to get only 33mpg. Ok, so to be honest 55mpg diesel is equivalent to something like 48mpg gasoline. What do you suggest? Mitsubishi Mirage?