Newb w/ Volt looking to go Prius or other high mpg
 

Hey guys & gals,

First time posting, intro/history:

Always been a car guy, first was a 30th anniv Camaro, white on white with the orange racing stripes, modded...blew the engine, replaced it, and continued to break it, i was young and dumb and somehow could afford that insanity.

Second was a gift, paid off Infiniti g35 (2007), loved it until i made the dumb move to trade it in on an 08 sport, same model and gained a shiny new car payment! Yay! (bigger meeestake!)

Got tired of the car and payment, sold it and got a 08 Tundra 4x4, lol right? It was a phase. Thankfully sold it a year later and decided to buy a beater...

A 99 Carolla, 5 spd. Drove the **** out of it, even inadvertantly through Deals gap, just about burnt the clutch doing that. Not long after the transmission went, great way to spend a grand, sold it for 800.

Took my lessons and what little cash i had left and bought a "safe" and uber efficient car: my current Chevy Volt 2012 gen 1 base model. Had it for just over a year and put about 36k miles on it. Averaging about 57.5 mpg (i know i know) but that's partially due to 3/4 road trips in and around the SE.

Looks like i went too safe, as this volt is awesome, i love it, but it's financed and that's never fun. So i'm paying it off and looking to get a Prius (04-06 for 3-4k) as i don't haul anything and don't care to haul ass anymore, just want to retire early and travel.

That's my story, what other car would you recommend for around 3-4 grand that gets close to the Prius? or maybe less $$ but equivalent mpg?

Look forward to the future of this site and community.

Seriously? ;)
Look here and pick one.
I bet many of those are solidly within your range both cost and MPG wise.

Oh, and welcome :)

There really isn't anything that can beat the Prius in that price range. The Civic hybrid will get close, but has battery issues. VW TDIs cost more and will have a quarter million miles on them to get down to that price. The only other car that might come close is a 1st gen Honda Insight. It will have battery issues as well, but you can run it without the pack if need be.

how much $ to pay it off?
 

OK, so maybe if you had it to do over again, you wouldn't buy the Volt.

But, that's where you are now. How much to pay it off, and what would it be worth in trade toward the next vehicle?

Sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know.


Perhaps the paid off Volt will have a longer lifespan than the next cheaper car you are considering, so in the long run, the operating cost per mile might actually work out quite well.

maybe...

Did you really put 36K miles on it in one year? Hopefully it'll outlive the payments! I'd be afraid to rack that kind of mileage up in a 3-4k beater, you might be better off staying in your current car.

Say hello to my little friend! If I sold it today I'd sell it for 4 grand, and there's not a Prius on the planet (other than a couple of guys here) that could touch it for mpg. Funny thing is, I'm looking at a Volt :D

Details: Ron Burgundy - 2001 Honda Insight base Fuel Economy - EcoModder.com

^ Sounds like a matchmaking possibility! :D

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Gouldness, welcome to the forum. That's quite the varied automotive history!

I know a hardcore Prius owner (one of the first of that description) who has 2 or 3 in his family right now, and doesn't shy away from even the older ones (2004+) with high miles. He has bought two with 300k+ miles on them with no regrets (regular maintenance, of course).

Of course you can easily get one with half that many miles in your price range. Point being: they'll go the distance if they're looked after.

FYI:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ius-22514.html

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ems-18892.html

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PS: I still haven't tried a Volt.

There's a Volt "evangelist" in my little city who has a 1st gen. I'll have to track him down this spring and get the grand tour / test drive.

If you're usually riding by yourself and are very confident you'll never have to carry more than two people, a first-gen Insight is about as stingy as you can hope for. Some guys here push them over 100mpg in summer months.

There's also a couple of modded Civics that go past 70mpg, I'm not sure how they do that. I am in awe of those guys, Donkey CRX, OG VX and my personal favorite Gasoline Fumes, who is banging down numbers that would look great on my Hybrid, but he's doing it with a 25-year-old minivan.

So if you have your heart set on a hybrid that's great, but it's clearly not the only path to great mileage numbers.

Speaking from my experience I'm going to recommend against the Civic Hybrid. I like mine well enough but the IMA battery is a proven weak point. It's more the great depth of experience in the commentariat that has kept mine in good nick than anything else; I have leaned on the wisdom of others and have gotten my IMA battery back into good working order.

I will say this: not having a timing belt in the HCH is VERY nice. I think all models of Prius from 2001-2012 also use a chain. One less thing to worry about.

There's an '06 Prius on the Tampa Bay Craigslist pages right now, $4000 and looks pretty good, but only one picture and sparse description.

If you're willing to go very old school, there's also a '90 Geo Metro 5-door going for only $1800, that would leave a lot of scratch in your car budget for, for instance, swapping the power-robbing automatic for a 5-speed. That Metro is described as having only 65K miles and from the pictures looks surprisingly good. They don't have much occasion to salt their roads in Florida, most of the undercarriage might even still be there.

Crap, I might need to run down to Florida.

Wow guys, thanks, that was quick and already learning more & more. #newb

"How much to pay it off, and what would it be worth in trade toward the next vehicle?"

I am upside down on the Volt, but a few grand should make that right again. Even if it were paid off 100% it'd be more car than i need for where the rest of my finances are (according to MMM & ERE early retirement forums & my own opinion). Just kind of resetting a lot of things in life.

"Did you really put 36K miles on it in one year? Hopefully it'll outlive the payments! I'd be afraid to rack that kind of mileage up in a 3-4k beater, you might be better off staying in your current car."

Agreed, but i'd rather it be on a beater with a good history than on a car that has a payment, for other people this would make sense but not yet for me.

"Oh, and welcome "

Thanks RedDevil, never saw that page until now. Newby, handle with care ha.

Tons of great advice guys/gals. Lots of reading and learning to do on my end. Thanks for the welcome everyone!

Out of curiosity, how did you find us? IE. what led you here?