So I’m looking at used 2017 Toyota Priuses (Prii?) and I’ve narrowed it down to two cars.
Car #1 - $19,800 28K miles
Car #2 - 18,900 40K miles
I’m trying to figure out if there would be any other factors that I should consider besides, price, mileage. There’s a $900 difference in price for roughly 18,000 fewer miles. I haven’t pulled the Carmax report to see when they were manufactured, since I realize that Car #2 could have been made in Nov. 16 and Car #1 in March 17, which could affect mileage.
Thoughts on which one would be “better”? FWIW, I like the color of car #2 better, but it’s not a huge deal. Thanks!
Unfortunately, I need a newer/newish car sooner rather than later. (My car has an issue that isn’t really worth fixing). I drive 72 miles roundtrip and day, so I need something with 35+mpg.
That’s a lot of miles / year.
I would gladly pay $900 more to get a car that had essentially a year and half fewer miles on it. And likely a more normal usage pattern over its short lifespan to date.
How many miles/year do you intend to drive it?
So for you, that $900 translates to one year of driving (1 yr less wear and tear).
If you got lucky enough to get 15 years off use out of it (without major repairs) that would be around $1300 per year on initial cost. Pretty good deal to get one of those years for $900
I’m definitely going to take them to a mechanic. They looked like the same trim level (both Prius two), but I may have to dig around to make sure nothing after market was added. Thanks!
One issue may be the tires. If the Prius with the higher mileage has new tires, and the lower mileage does not, you may want to take that into account.
At 17000 miles a year you have really got to consider new . If you are not paying cash then the loan rates on new are lower , you start with no miles , full warranty and if these are at Carmax they really do not have the lowest prices.
We just bought a new Ford Fiesta SE and on the highway at 65 MPH we get the 37 miles per gallon easily . The sticker on it was 17705 and we paid much less than that.
I have always felt that city driving was where hybrids paid off, not lots of highway driving.
I wonder if the car with 41,000 miles in one year had the oil changed often enough. At 7500 miles between changes, the oil should have been changed 5 times by now. See if the CarFax shows all the oil changes. The same goe for the lower mileage car.
A lot depends upon how they were driven and maintained. Quite often that can be difficult or impossible to determine.
One big problem with leased vehicles is that the person leasing the vehicle knows that they’re more than likely going to turn it in. This in turn means they’re not going to spend one dime on upkeep.
Some do, many don’t.
The '17s are very close to being 2 model years old so if it were me i’d try to negotiate on a new '18 sitting on the lot.
I also would recommend looking at new, with the mileage yo are putting on it probably makes little difference, as suggested tires and brakes are something to consider. You might even look at a couple of years older for a better bang for the buck.
I’d choose the less expensive one myself. That’s got to be mostly freeway miles, and freeway miles are the easiest miles on a car there are. Pocket the $900, car number 2 is the one for you.
FYI: Toyota overproduced 2017 Prius Prime, the rechargeable model. A few months ago, they were still available new, and with Federal and State tax credits, actually quite affordable. With finance incentives from Toyota, you may be closer than you think to owning a new car.
