At a crossroads with my Prius at 90k miles.

No new car ever was as cheap as maintaining the car you own. Buy a new car when you do not trust your current car to go where you need to go.

 

You will never save money buying the new Prius. Keep your old one and put the extra money into a special account for repairs, vacation, and retirement.

 

I say keep the car and save your money. Buy yourself a set of low rolling resistance tires as a reward for making such a smart decision and then try to get your mpg up to 50!!!

 

Keeping a good car running is always environmentally friendlier than purchasing a new vehicle.

Replace the 12V, do the transaxle, etc. Keep on truckin'!

 

Then don't.

I think conciously or subconciously people sometimes have their own answers. You like your Prius, don't want to trade it in? Happy? Then?.....

As far as "The Deal"? Good or not, a salesman is always going to try and make a sale. He's not the one making the payments...

In a year or two? If you then want to make a change...there might be many more options on the table. And deals can always be made.

Within your post you illuminated to me, no reason why I think you should buy a new Prius.

But ultimately it isn't about what I think.

 

My only thought is that the dealer cannot force you to do anything, and he is not your friend or ally. So who gives a sh1t what he wants ?

2007 ... 2010 model year. In 10 years the differences will disappear, but the ~ 10k you pay to change cars will be obvious. However, if you are positive you are going to exchange cars in a year (for reasons I cannot really understand) and you do not care about the opportunity to choose from something available in the future but not now, then I can see the advantage in taking the good offer today.

 

My last Toyota was my car from 1989 to 2000, when my daughter turned 16 and she got to learn to drive in a completely depreciated Corolla All-Trac. In 2009 I got the Prius and she got a more reliable ride, and a friend with 2 children under 2 years and no husband got the Corolla, she needed AWD badly. Now it is 2011 and it is still getting her to work. If it was human it could smoke, vote, drink, and gamble!

I hope my current Toyota does as well.

 

Absolutely keep it. 2007 is new, you'd get robbed on lost money trading it in, selling it, whatever. It's almost a shame cars last so long these days because we have to keep them or we get rid of them way before we ought to.

 

We constantly get mail from dealers who claim they'll offer us a good deal if we trade in our 2002's, probably because they have very low miles (mine is highest at 83k) and we take them in for scheduled maintenance without fail. But they're paid for, we love driving them and they still run just as well as the day we drove them off the lot. So... not a chance!

 

It depends on how much you want it. One interesting rule I read somewhere was to never buy the immediately next generation of any electronics-heavy appliance, you would only be buying its evolution.

So you would pay an extra $12,000 for your new car which would be worth about $12,000 in 4 years. If you keep your Gen II it would be worth about $7 k in 4 years. So you would lose $7k over 4 years minus any extra repairs the Gen II might need.

So is the pleasure of the car's new smell worth that much to you? It would also depend on your disposable income... Tell your dealer he'll likely be able to sell the Gen II for $13,000 so you want $11,500k for your gen II. Then consider it?

If this is a big dealer they might do it because they love to compete for numbers sold and get bonuses from Toyota.

 

It's your call but if I was you, I'd keep the current whip. Dealers like to make you think you're getting a deal, but they're ALWAYS the ones that come out ahead. ALWAYS.

 

Not only should you keep it, but you need to realize this is a common scam by dealerships. I was at the dealership for an oil change and waited in the show room and they tried to get me to trade my car for a V that could "park itself!" Oooohhh Ahhhh. I'm not an idiot. You're not special, they try to give this "deal" to everyone! It's like when your real estate agent comes up to you 15 years later and says you're sitting on a gold mine! Wanna sell your house? Of course not. It's hassle and huge waste of money for you. The only one who benefits is the sleezy salesman.

 

I think the environmental argument is more complex than some people think. The reality is that Scott's 2007 would not end up in a scrap heap if he traded it in, it would end up replacing some other vehicle. Whether that reduces the lifespan of Scott's 2007 (or of some other vehicle) is debatable. What's really not environmentally friendly is not maintaining a car properly, both because you reduce the useful lifespan and because poorly maintained vehicles often pollute more.

From a financial standpoint, trading in is a terrible decision. You have an NHW20 which you have maintained well. It's pretty much the most reliable vehicle you can own, period.

At your current rate you will cross 200k miles in a little over 4 years. Your 2007 will be worth very little at that point (as any vehicle with 200k on it would be).

If instead you buy a 2010, you spend about $15000 right now in taxes, fees, etc. and end up with a car with 100k on it (worth about $10000) in 4 years.

By keeping the 2007, you save about $5000, minus whatever extra your 2007 costs in repairs. The fact that the difference is smaller than it would be for most drivers has to do with the fact that you drive a lot.

The cheapest option is always to buy a cheap used vehicle and drive it until it's no longe r serviceable. Once you get past about 150k miles or so it's all gravy, since the car has no real resale value anyway - the only question is whether maintenance costs will get prohibitive.

Of course, things like fuel economy, safety, reliability, and comfort are all reasons to own a newer car. Anyone who tells you to do one thing or another without knowing the details your situation probably hasn't considered all the facts.

That said, your Prius is still a reasonably new car. It's likely to give you years of reliable service. It's one of the safer cars on the road, and it's still the 3rd most fuel efficient gas vehicle ever sold in the US. If you want a newer car, someone else will be there to take your 2007.

Don't let the dealer make that decision, though. You have to decide whether the additional cost is worth the benefits of the newer Prius. And, by the sound of your original post, I think you want to keep your 2007!

FYI, I plan on driving the crap out of my 2007! It's a great car and it hasn't let me down yet.

 

The stealership is salivating on getting your old car.
Give you 10 grand for it, sell it for 15, sweet!
For them!
Check what other cars like yours are going for.
especially now!
I have a 2008, with 42,000 on it.
I keep getting the postcards offering to buy mine from me.
They are "churning" business.
Can't really say I blame them.
That's how they survive, and that's how the salesman makes his comission.

 

I work at an independent hybrid repair shop and have seen the comings and expensive goings of many a Gen 1 Prius. I strongly agree with those who have said you should hold on to your car because of environmental reasons. It is much better for the earth to keep our old cars running well as long as possible than buying new cars which only contribute to factory pollution and more cars on the road period. And everyone's arguments for keeping your car are spot-on. That said, from a mechanic's viewpoint, I would trade in your car for the simple reason that it is a Gen 1 Prius. The Gen 1 is coming into our shop all the time for HV Battery and transmission replacement. These are extremely expensive fixes here and we do it cheaper than the dealerships! You could easily end up spending $5000 or more in the next 4 years to keep your Gen 1 alive. I've seen it happen over and over again. No battery lives forever and the ones in the Gen 1 are all approaching their natural lifespan. If you have been getting the dealership services, then it is highly likely that they didn't change your transmission fluid as often as they should have, if at all, to keep your transmission in good shape. Gen 1 transmissions are failing all the time. So that said, I would unfortunately trade it in for the Gen 2 or 3. You will end up saving money in the long run and have a car that holds it's value longer. Good luck!

 

whoops...my last comment was meant for the folks with the Twin Gen 1 Pri at the top of Page 2. If you have a Gen 2, by all means keep it!

 

Hey OutWest, can you give us some insight into transaxle fluid changes in your shop, specifically Gen II? Unfortunately, all we have here are anecdotes, where trans failure is reported around 150-200K miles in absence of any fluid change on the one hand, and on the other, no one who changes their fluid regularly has reported a failure yet. There is a loose consensus around changing at 30K and then 60K thereafter. Unfortunately, folks that change their fluid are a very small part of the population. What is the change interval recommended by your shop, and have you seen failures on cars that have had fluid changes?

I have to agree with you on the Gen I, where any owner should budget $2500 of the emergency fund toward a trans or battery replacement if they plan on keeping the car.

 

People grow tired of Toyotas and trade them in versus a Ford or whatever other Big3 that just self-implodes after the warranty and you buy a new one anyways. Some people (including myself) like new-to-them things. Not necessarily shiny-new, but something you didn't have before. A change.

Car dealerships play into this very well. Trade in your working car for another working car. The only difference is that it is newer to you. If that makes you happy, then yay. Otherwise, let it be. One of my friends buys a new car every 3 months and trades in or donates the "old" one. Just likes having something new. Always a different car.