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Need better mileage, still saving money for a car

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by occupant, Jun 25, 2021.

  1. occupant

    occupant New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2021
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    Location:
    Lawton, OK
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I do DoorDash and UberEats for a living among other apps and things and I've been doing my best to track my fuel use and running costs. The $900 beater minivan I've been using is starting to no longer earn its own keep at 17mpg and 850+ miles per week, and is costing me about $130-150 a week in fuel. A 45mpg car would cut that fuel cost by at least $80-100 weekly and would pay for itself quickly. I need to get something better at the WORST possible time in the history of used car prices.

    Searching the EPA fuel economy database, came up with a short list of vehicles that are more than ten years old that show up for sale under 4k within a couple hours of my rural Oklahoma location, and it really is a short list:

    city/hwy/comb-years-model
    48/45/46 - 04-09 - Prius hatchback
    40/45/42 - 06-10 - Civic Hybrid sedan
    39/42/41 - 03-05 - Civic Hybrid sedan

    That's it for over 40mpg. Most of the others are basic Nissan Versas or Honda Fits and hovering around 30-32 combined mpg. I am probably not lucky enough to find the few others that are on the big list (Altima/Malibu/Aura/Camry hybrids 07-10 or Fusion/Milan/MKZ 10-12 hybrids) because they are often above 5k. The few I've seen cheaper than that are usually salvage titled or rebuilt, have obvious existing damage, major mechanical problems, or no title available at all.

    There is a 2010 Prius for $1500 but the seller claims it needs an oil pump and that just sounds like "needs the whole engine at a bare minimum" and that doesn't sound good.

    A seller on FB marketplace in Austin seems to have several Priuses at any given time under 4k. They are high mileage but clean looking and he claims to have replaced batteries and instrument clusters on most of them. His prices were a lot lower a few months ago (2700-3300) but now most are 3600-4500 when I see them posted. I guess that's a result of not enough cars to go around. Austin is quite a haul from here so I'll try to look in Fort Worth and Oklahoma City instead. That guy might be where I end up buying though.

    I guess my questions here, other than reading through a few hundred threads, is what should I be looking out for on a used gen 2 Prius with over 200,000 miles? How do I determine in a 15 minute test drive and looking over the vehicle if it's got head gasket or oil burning issues, if the hybrid battery is a few days away from flattening itself, or if a CVT is about to fail?
     
    #1 occupant, Jun 25, 2021
  2. dbstoo

    dbstoo Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2012
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    Location:
    Near Silicon Valley
    Vehicle:
    2024 Prius Prime
    Model:
    XSE Premium
    Using a car for delivery is basically selling your car, 25 cents at a time. It seldom pays in the long run.

    You can not determine the health of the car in 15 minutes. You can examine the oil and the anti freeze. You can look for leaks of water, oil and brake fluids. You can look at the tailpipe. You can buy a OBDII code reader to see if it's throwing any error codes. You might even be able to pull a spark plug to see if it's got a lot of carbon on it.

    But if you are not a mechanic, chances you will not really catch anything subtle.
     
    #2 dbstoo, Jun 26, 2021
    bisco and Mendel Leisk like this.
  3. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2009
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    Location:
    Western Washington
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
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    When comparing to the minivan at 17 mpg, a jump to 31 mpg still gets most (more than 70%) of the fuel savings that a 45 mpg car would bring.

    The MPG scale is quite nonlinear. An increment at the bottom of the scale makes a larger fuel use difference than an increment at the top of the scale.

    Another way to look at it: gallons per 100 miles, an English version of how most of the rest of the world rates fuel economy:
    17 mpg ==> 5.88 gallons per 100 miles;
    31 mpg ==> 3.23 gallons per 100 miles, saving 2.65 gallons;
    45 mpg ==> 2.22 gallons per 100 miles, saving 3.66 gallons.

    Depending on what prices you can get, a Fit-class car might be a better overall deal for your situation than a hybrid.
     
    #3 fuzzy1, Jun 26, 2021
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2021
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
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    boston
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    Plug-in Base
    i would stay away from older hybrids, they'll cost you an arm and a leg in repairs, if you can even find a mechanic
     
    #4 bisco, Jun 26, 2021
  5. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Location:
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    To the extent that you're willing to learn how to do your own work is the extent that this will be the best value... Honda Hybrid batteries are way harder to rebuild than Prius batteries.

    If I were you I'd invest in a 12v and an cheap old hybrid battery pack, as well as an aftermarket replacement catalytic converter and then buy gear to rebuild the battery pack... Then when you find a Prius owner who wants to give up on their Prius because of a bad battery or stolen cat, or both you'll have everything you need to buy a gen2 for super cheap. Also if the car still has an original cat, you can sell that to a precious metal scrapper for as much as $1800 to offset the cost of your vehicle.
     
    #5 PriusCamper, Jun 26, 2021
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