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Gouldness 03-03-2016 10:10 AM

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.

RedDevil 03-03-2016 10:51 AM

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

Oh, and welcome :)

Daox 03-03-2016 10:53 AM

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.

solarguy 03-03-2016 11:06 AM

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...

cowmeat 03-03-2016 12:25 PM

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.

Quote:

There really isn't anything that can beat the Prius in that price range.
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

MetroMPG 03-03-2016 01:35 PM

^ Sounds like a matchmaking possibility! :D

---

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

---

MetroMPG 03-03-2016 01:37 PM

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.

elhigh 03-03-2016 01:52 PM

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.

Gouldness 03-03-2016 01:55 PM

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!

MetroMPG 03-03-2016 07:42 PM

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

Andrei_ierdnA 03-03-2016 08:21 PM

Welcome.
I'm sure you'll find lots of great tips and tricks here. The most important thing is that you're searching and informing yourself.
I too am a big fan of MMM and his "teachings". Also want to retire early and travel / enjoy life, rather than slaving away 'til I'm an old fart :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gouldness (Post 508371)
...
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. ...

What do you mean there...through Deals gap just about burnt the clutch doing that? :confused:
I'm on my first manual transmission car (since Oct 2015) and I am worried I might have done some damage to the clutch while learning.

user removed 03-03-2016 09:01 PM

The gas I burnt up in 3 weeks and 3k miles in my 67 Barracuda 383 Formula S would get me a year in my Mirage. 16k miles in 16 weeks on 1600 gallons at $.0329 a gallon.

That was 1972.

regards
mech

elhigh 03-04-2016 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrei_ierdnA (Post 508408)

What do you mean there...through Deals gap just about burnt the clutch doing that? :confused:
I'm on my first manual transmission car (since Oct 2015) and I am worried I might have done some damage to the clutch while learning.

Deals Gap is a passage through part of the Appalachian range here in East Tennessee, the road through is incredibly curvy, experiences many elevation changes and is the site of seemingly endless motorcycle wrecks whenever there's nice weather. It is a serious workout for any car, and if you don't have a lot of torque under the hood you will be shifting a LOT to keep the power going.

It is a storied road, even internationally, known as The Tail of the Dragon. The Dragon eats clutches.

http://tailofthedragon.com/

Spirited motoring enthusiasts come from all over the world to ride the Dragon, usually to their regret when they discover that the speed limits on the Dragon are generally modest and it is vigorously patrolled by (usually frustrated) local law enforcement. That doesn't prevent people laying the hammer down, however, and occasionally getting in deeper than they can handle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K16YnmJN0fc

Gouldness 03-04-2016 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetroMPG (Post 508405)
Out of curiosity, how did you find us? IE. what led you here?

A friend, who's a member of this site told me about it, surprised me as i would have thought i'd have stumbled across it before now on the interwebz.

Can't wait to get a paid off "beater" to mod myself.

secaturbo 03-04-2016 04:14 PM

Deals Gap/Tail of the Dragon
318 Turns in 11 miles, wow.

vskid3 03-05-2016 01:52 PM

I'll trade you my '05 Prius with 120k miles for your Volt. ;)

A manual gen1 Insight can't be touched on the highway; it'll easily beat a Prius by a good 10-15MPG at any given speed. City mileage is all up to you, but it should still beat a Prius given similar driving styles. Being able to still drive it with a dead/dying battery is also a plus (Prius is big metal brick with a dead HV battery). Both are great cars, though.

Insight for life 03-06-2016 12:56 PM

Good job wanting to get and stay out of debt!

Vman455 03-06-2016 02:58 PM

Wow, your car history sounds a lot like mine (1974 Pontiac Grandville=>1995 Tercel=>1991 Toyota Hilux=>2002 Viper=>2005 Ram SRT-10=>2005 Honda Civic=>2013 Prius). Now, I look back at all the money I wasted on fuel (I drove the Viper cross-country multiple times) and laugh.

How much space do you need in the car? If I didn't regularly haul bikes to races and want something I can car camp in on long roadtrips, I probably would have gone with a 1st-gen Insight in retrospect. The Prius is a lot more flexible when it comes to hauling stuff, and the rate of battery failure is very low. If you don't mind having a funny-looking car, aeromodded Civics of pretty much any generation can return 50+mpg as well, depending on your driving.

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr 03-06-2016 03:05 PM

Must confess that it does surprise me you're considering to replace the Volt with a Prius. Apart from the financial motivation, is there any other reason behind that move?

Ecky 03-10-2016 12:42 PM

Manual transmission Civic Hybrid and 1st Gen Insight fit the bill, but as others have said, have early battery failures.

I just picked up a clean, low miles 2004 Civic hybrid for 3 grand, and with winter tires on, I'm getting 60-70mpg cruising at 50mph on wet roads, which is probably better than you can expect with a Prius. The engines on the Insight and Civic will last virtually forever, so high miles shouldn't be a deterrent, and the manual transmissions have some quirks but are pretty solid. Both cars will still run with a failed hybrid battery, but as it gets weak and starts to fail, you will lose electric assist and the car becomes a lot less fun to drive.

Insights had a 10 year warranty on their hybrid battery, so most of them from the south (where heat causes early battery demise) will have batteries that are 0-6 years old. These cars are really solid highway cruisers that you can expect to reliably run without much maintenance for hundreds of thousands of miles.

When the battery does fail, a battery replacement or refurbishment isn't too expensive in these cars, and you might be able to pick one up for a song with a failed battery and drop a new one in it, and get 10+ years of use from the battery if you take care of it. Many choose to keep driving them without the hybrid functions, though.

Honestly, if my budget allowed for it, I probably would have picked up a 2nd-gen Prius over the Honda Civic Hybrid 1, but I know how to keep the batteries on these going, and it was significantly cheaper than a Prius with a similar number of miles on the clock.


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