2010 Prius Advice: Tuition Payments Versus....?

Hi Again, we are still in our pursuit of a Prius. Lower cost is very important with 2 in college (one finishes in May), and we wouldn't be purchasing at the moment if we weren't fairly worried about our '93 Volvo, though we really would love to buy a Prius (we would wait a bit more if we could because of $/college.)

Questions; on the market:

Behind Door Number One: there is currently a 2010 with almost 145,000 miles - it has everything we need at a under $8,000 (backup camera, bluetooth - it also has solar roof, which we don't need.) The records are sketchy on the Toyota Owners' site.

Behind Door Number Two: there is also a 2010 which is currently very overpriced, but I have questions and comments in to the dealer (not a Toyota Dealer) - hopefully they will reduce the cost to a reasonable amount. It has about 57,000 miles on it, and what we need, with excellent records on Toyota Owners.

Behind Door Number Three: last, there is a 2010 which has everything we need, with about 85,000 miles - however, there are no Toyota records until 50,000 miles (no listed oil changes - nothing) for the "first owner" when it was a lease. Records only began once it was "sold" to the second owner.

Would you risk sketchy records, hoping the car would last at least 3 more years (until my 2nd kid finishes college) for the "cheap" car, or hold out for a Prius with good records/wait for another Prius? Once the kids finish college, we may even buy a Gen IV Prius! (I don't want to sound like I feel like cars are disposable - we've nursed along the '93 Volvo - it is just beginning to cost a lot, and we need to think of options.)

Thanks so much for the experienced advice!

 

Thanks Bisco,

That surprises me. We wanted a Prius because of the reliability and safety as well as the environmental concerns. While gas prices are down, we want to use as little as possible. We also need a hatchback (art teacher who hauls a lot, and we need to bring our recyclables/trash to the transfer station - also known as "dump" - ourselves.) We also need a backup camera and bluetooth on the steering wheel. My husband is also really tall. We considered a few other cars, but the Prius appears to be the one to fit our needs and size. My husband doesn't fit many hatchbacks. He is 6'5".

 

Tideland Prius, I was surprised by that as well. The dealer is a non-Toyota dealer, and did say that the second owner purchased it directly off a lease (their own lease) - there is no documentation of this, but directly after the purchase, good maintenance begins to show up on the Toyota Owners site.

 

mrbigh, we looked at one Prius v, but there was no difference in the seat comfort for my husband. They are also a a chunk more expensive around here, so we are looking at the regular Prius hatchback for now.

 

qdllc, I've been looking through all the sites, and Craigslist. There are not too many being sold by individuals. The fewer I've seen with what we need (backup camera and bluetooth on the steering wheel) are fairly expensive - there is an individual selling a 2010 Prius IV currently listed for $15,000 (I can't afford that) - there are plug-ins, and cars with over 100,000 for over $10,000. Then there are pre-2010 cars - we want to stick with the Gen 3 cars because of snow/traction control. I was hoping $10,900 for a 2010 with about 80,000 miles on it. Maybe that's unreasonable?

 

yeltdogt, we will need to take the money out of our home equity line of credit, so it would be cash. We don't want to take out more than 11,000, because we don't know what the Financial Aid office will offer us for next year for our daughter, when our son will have graduated.

Also, as a heads up to anyone else reading this, depending on if colleges require the FAFSA or the other "dreaded" CSS financial aid form/s, financial aid officers may count that $12,000 as income to be used as tuition. (Especially the CSS). I also definitely do not want to be sitting across from my daughter's financial aid officer explaining why I need aid when I just bought a brand new car. Your logic makes sense, but I also do not have $375+ a month for a new car at the moment.

 

Thanks Snow - my husband, at 6'5", doesn't fit in a Corolla (his legs are relatively longer for his body). We also looked at Camrys, which do fit him, but for our situation, which means hauling a lot (as an art teacher), we really need either a hatchback or a wagon.

When we bought our Volvo 940, about 13 years ago, it had 148,000 miles on it, or so, and we bought it for $3,000. We truly "won the lottery" with that car (we call it Dory, because it is blue, and it "just keeps going") With almost 250,000 miles, I wish it would just last three more years. Then we could buy a 2016 Prius off lease! We've been back and forth on this, and last night decided that I would keep up with the market of available Priuses/Prii, (I can never pluralize that word!), pay for an entire new exhau$t system on the Volvo, and cross our fingers. If Dory dies, we can rent for a week or two while finalizing which Prius we will buy. We would both prefer the environmental benefits of a Prius, but maybe being uncertain with Dory is the prudent move right now. I would be a little more comfortable with this decision if it were warmer weather out - I'd hate for one of us to become stranded. Thank you!!!