Author Topic: Which car should we keep?  (Read 1965 times)

almeidajh

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Which car should we keep?
« on: July 11, 2018, 07:27:16 AM »
Hi Everyone!,

Next year, our small family of four is going to be relocating and going from 2 cars to 1. We're wondering which one should we keep.

We have a 2012 Prius C and a 2014 Camry. Both cars have around 45K mi and no loans. We have 2 kids, so longer trips might necessitate some sort of cargo add-on if we keep the Prius C. Zero commute, but it is a rural area, so regular trips for weekly grocery shopping, doctors, etc. will be about 50 mi round trip. If the local IGA is not as terribly expensive as we are assuming, we might be able to cut down on some of those. We also anticipate visiting a relative 30 mi. away 2-4 times per month (possibly combined with shopping), and relatives 120 mi. away about 6 times per year. We will probably also travel occasionally to go on day trips and see interesting places. It is snowy and hilly, and we plan to purchase snow tires. We keep our cars for as long as possible, until they are old and facing extensive repairs.

While "Normal" people might think the Camry is the obvious choice because of the kids, we're leaning toward the Prius C as more cost-effective. What do y'all think?

lbmustache

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Re: Which car should we keep?
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2018, 08:36:19 AM »
You can use the compare feature on fuel economy.gov.

I just ran some quick numbers based on 4k miles a year (about 300ish miles a month) and fuel for a Prius C is $250, fuel for a Camry is $400.

The Prius C is quite small and the two things I worry about are: climbing through the snow and hills with a full cargo load and is it comfortable for long trips with 2 kids (you don't mention their ages)?

They are probably both equally cheap to maintain (tires and brakes would be more $ on the Camry), although insurance on the Camry might be a bit higher.

RWD

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Re: Which car should we keep?
« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2018, 08:43:44 AM »
I would lean towards keeping the Prius though they are both good choices. What's the insurance cost difference?

terran

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Re: Which car should we keep?
« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2018, 09:26:37 AM »
My experience with country living is that the lower than highway speeds without stop and go should keep your gas mileage at the top of the highway rage your car is rated for. This might somewhat favor the Camry in that I think the Prius advantage tends to be larger for city driving. The Prius will still probably be better, just not as much better as if you were expecting city driving.

ketchup

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Re: Which car should we keep?
« Reply #4 on: July 11, 2018, 10:35:42 AM »
My experience with country living is that the lower than highway speeds without stop and go should keep your gas mileage at the top of the highway rage your car is rated for. This might somewhat favor the Camry in that I think the Prius advantage tends to be larger for city driving. The Prius will still probably be better, just not as much better as if you were expecting city driving.
+1 all around here.  I drove my sister-in-law's Prius C for a few months and while I'd get 65-75MPG pretty often driving to work (half hour/12 miles of suburban driving), on the highway it'd be more like 45MPG.  Hardly bad, but notably different than one might expect.  On my non-hybrid Kia it's more like 27 on the drive to work and 34 on the highway.

almeidajh

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Re: Which car should we keep?
« Reply #5 on: July 11, 2018, 02:22:49 PM »
You can use the compare feature on fuel economy.gov.

I just ran some quick numbers based on 4k miles a year (about 300ish miles a month) and fuel for a Prius C is $250, fuel for a Camry is $400.

The Prius C is quite small and the two things I worry about are: climbing through the snow and hills with a full cargo load and is it comfortable for long trips with 2 kids (you don't mention their ages)?

They are probably both equally cheap to maintain (tires and brakes would be more $ on the Camry), although insurance on the Camry might be a bit higher.
Thank you. They are 6 and 9. They seem comfortable now, but I'm not sure if that will change in a few years.
Currently, the insurance on the Camry is $160 more per year, in a very high cost area. The difference might go down a bit with the move.
Since we won't need to commute to work, we can avoid driving in big snow storms. We've driven the Prius C in a little snow with no snow tires without a problem.

almeidajh

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Re: Which car should we keep?
« Reply #6 on: July 11, 2018, 02:23:42 PM »
My experience with country living is that the lower than highway speeds without stop and go should keep your gas mileage at the top of the highway rage your car is rated for. This might somewhat favor the Camry in that I think the Prius advantage tends to be larger for city driving. The Prius will still probably be better, just not as much better as if you were expecting city driving.
Thanks, that's good to know.

chemistk

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Re: Which car should we keep?
« Reply #7 on: July 12, 2018, 05:28:20 AM »
Would you consider selling both and purchasing a standard used Prius? I think the extra hatch space over your C (plus a larger interior) would solve most of your problems - traveling and visiting relatives coupled with grocery runs.

I am dead serious when i say this, as I am speaking from personal experience: in the winter (I live in PA, so plenty of hills), given the option between a Prius with snow tires and any other vehicle with AWD or 4WD and standard All-Season tires, I would choose the Prius every single time. I once drove a Prius past stuck trucks up unplowed hills through 6 inches of snow - the thing was nearly unstoppable.

Car Jack

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Re: Which car should we keep?
« Reply #8 on: July 12, 2018, 07:05:07 AM »
This sounds like you're somewhat in the middle of nowhere.  If that's the case, one consideration is that if you need a mechanic, anyone will be familiar with a Camry but lots of non-dealers might tell you "go to the dealer" with a Prius of any kind.  I mean for brakes, and normal stuff, no, but if you have something go wrong, you'd want to be able to get it fixed anywhere.

Also with kids, I went through this in the last month.  We have been contemplating replacement of an 04 Outback that we named "the Death Car" with either a Subaru Impreza or a Subaru Crosstrek.  A couple recent trips with our 17 and 21 year old in our present Crosstrek resulted in nothing but constant complaints about the lack of space (21 year old is a weight lifter).  I made the executive decision to drop the Impreza/Crosstrek idea and we bought a 1 year old Subaru Legacy Limited.  I am sooooooo glad I made this choice.  The cost was right between a new Impreza and new Crosstrek and the room is worlds bigger.  Your kids are growing and they'll learn to whine even longer and louder as they get older and more cramped, believe me.  The Camry is more in line with our Legacy size wise while a Prius is closer to an Impreza.