Need advice on possible trade in.

So I need advice. I currently own a 2013 Prius V two. I got the car almost 2 years ago at 78 thousand miles. As of today I’m creeping closer towards 109,000 thousand miles. I like the car, I don’t love it. Long story short, I was forced into it and the dealership made the whole thing a nightmare. Anyways, I have a loan on her, still owe around 12 grand. My main concern is how much longer will the car last once it’s paid off in about 5 years or so. I’m debating about trading it in for a Prius with lower mileage, it’s a little more in price, it’s also a year older than my V.

I’m debating if I should trade my V in for a 2013 PIP, the one listed looks great and seems to be in great shape. I’m thinking doing it once I get my tax returns. My budget is limited, I can’t afford anything newer like a prime. Really, my car payment monthly is $261 and that’s pretty much my cap off point. The car listed, i think I can swing a car payment for what the car is worth.

Am I making a mistake or should I just stick with what I have?

 

I drive over 648 miles a week for work. It varies on what the family and I do on the weekends. I’ll often drive longer distances for family road trips.

 

Well I talked to the dealer, it’s precertified. Clean up to date car fax. Maintenance all up to date. So I don’t think they rolled back the odometer.

My V has is creeping closer to 109,000 miles. It had 78,000 miles when I first got her. My work requires me to do a lot of driving. I was set up with a 7 year loan so now I’m going on nearly two years of owning her, so I got about 5 years or so remaining on the loan.

There’s pros and cons on comparing the V to the Pip.

pros:
The V is a station wagon, which is wonderful for hauling stuff around. My family and I love road trips, camping trips, and we love hunting for yard sales in the Spring and Summer. So having that extra space is great.

The leg, elbow and head space is great for me because I’m 6ft tall. I like having room to shift around while driving.

For the long drives, having rear seats that recline back is comfortable where those who are in the back seat can lean back and fall asleep.

I like that the V is higher off the ground compared to a regular Prius, which I’ve cut through 6-7 inches of snow on all season tires without getting stuck or losing traction.

Cons: What I don’t like about the V. It gets lower gas mileage that a standard Prius/PIP.

It has terrible blind spots.

And nothing to do with the car itself but mine has higher mileage.

So I have more pros on the V than I do cons.

For the PIP;

Pros:

Better gas mileage, even on my long hauls to work and road trips, I think even with the short driving range on EV only is greatly benefitical with saving the most in mpg and from I’ve read about other owners, recharging the battery is hard not impossible to do when driving. The idea of charging from a standard outlet, especially at work for a few hours to get a full charge really appeals to me. Granted the EV range is short, it still saves money on gas.

The blind spots are not as bad as the V. I’ve driven the PIP and I felt comfortable switching lanes on the highway. With the V, because of those blind spots, I’m often questioning rather or not it’s safe to changes lanes or watching for pedestrians.

It has quicker pick up than the V, which makes sense because of the weight difference.

The drive feels a lot smoother and quieter.



Cons:
It’s obviously smaller, the cabin room feels cramped when compared to the V. When I drove the PIP, I felt a little claustrophobic. Even with having the seat adjusted close to the floor, I felt like I didn’t have enough head space and I had the seat slide all the way back and my legs still felt cramped.

The back seat felt cramped, with me sitting back there, my knees were up against the front passager seats.

The trunk is not bad but obviously noticeably smaller than the V. With the V, I was able to move my small one bedroom apartment in one trip, with storage containers, a dresser, a tv, and other items.

The ground clearance worries me due to the snowfalls we get up here, and not because I’m worried about getting stuck, unfortunately it’s the deep potholes that often pop up during the winter here, which often get hidden by snow. With the V, though it wasn’t exactly pleasant, I’ve hit potholes and suffered no damage.

So in all, the Pros of the V kinda outweigh the pros of the PIP, however at the end of the day, I still want better gas mileage and lower mileage on the odometer.

I’m still torn on what to do.

 

I appreicate everyone’s advice. It really gives me something to think about. I guess what it comes down to is me being worried about the longevity of my Prius V. I’m super anal about the maintenance, but I’m worried how much will she last as I continue to pay the loan off. Like I mentioned before, I’m creeping towards 109,000 miles (as I do a lot of highway travel for work; over 640 miles a week) and road trips on my time off. I got her at 78,000 miles. I’m really wanting a Prius with better mileage that better accommodates my highway driving. Mean the V handles great but obviously not as gas Efficient.

 

What type of equipment do you mean?

 

I see you have a Plug In. What made you choice the Plug In over the V?

Mean, I'm starting to just forget the idea of trading her in all together but that constant nagging feeling of I could be saving more money on a Plug In Prius still lingers in my head whenever I'm at the pump.

 

Honestly, after reading your post, It was a wake up call. You made excellent points and you pretty much told to me bluntly on what I shouldn't do. Not that its an excuse, but some relatives of mine just bought a new car and I guess I can say, the new car bug bit me. So thank you for giving me a verbal wake up call.

I will say, I do keep up with the scheduled maintenance, so I guess that doesn't make me super anal. I just never miss an appointment to get what needs to get done. There is a well trusted dealership with high customer ratings that I only take my car to get serviced, and I do research on the forum on what needs to be done and what doesn't need to be done. As the surprisingly, the dealership echos what a lot of the forum members say. And far as DIY maintenance, if its easy for me to do, then I'll do it.

The transaxel fluid change I believe needs to be done. From all the videos I've seen on youtube and how dark the fluid is after its changed compared to the new fluid, its a chance I'm not willing to take if something goes wrong.

Forgive me for being naive, but what is the maintenance that you're mentioning that has to be done very month/1,000 miles? Maybe I'm overlooking it, but I can't seem to find it in my owners manual, I've also been up for 18 hours because of work, so that could be why I'm overlooking something thats probably looking straight at me.

The ERG cleaning, I'll probably end up watching another youtube video on how to go along with that step by step as well.


I'll definitely take your advice to heart, and save that money to the side for a rainy day whenever something major happens with the car. You're very right, its better to know your service history first hand, than take a chance with another vehicle that could have low miles, but could also turn into a money pit, its a gamble. As of right now, I haven't had any issues out of her since I've owned her. Still drives just as good as the day I drove her off the lot. Even with all the driving that I have to do for work, it still feels like a good sturdy smooth drive.

Anyway, I thank you again for the insightful advice and no need for apologies.