Hey guys, just wanted to circle back on this. I decided to do it, and did it. Bought an '08 Prius with 92k on it for ten and a half. I know that this isn't the most Moustachian car I could have gotten, but it's a big swing in the right direction. I haven't sold my MINI yet, but I will shortly. I think I can get $20k from it, thanks to some slightly more frugal consumer sucka than the sucka I was when I bought it.
I posted some thoughts on the issue to Facebook that I'm copying here, because maybe someone will find them edifying or interesting. This is shared with all my friends:
Needs and wants. The MINI is on its way out. This used Prius is my old-new baby.
I have a few reasons. And you know I'm gonna write 'em down.
- Baby on the way, and because of our schedules, WIFE'S-NAME and I will need to switch off having him or her with us. Easier to get a carseat in the back with a four door. Also, in the MINI, it would have been impossible for mommy to sit in the back with baby because of how far back my seat needs to be. Not so with this car.
- I have ALWAYS had a thing for hypermiling. Look, to get from CITY-A to CITY-B for my wedding, I rented a Prius and we hypermiled the crap out of that thing. And it was glorious. I think I got something like 60 mpg on the way down. But don't worry all y'all fast folks. The left lane is anathema to me, so I'm not getting in your way.
- While I still like the MINI a lot, I don't LOVE it any more. Shifting in the stop and go traffic back and forth from work has become a bit of a chore. Given this and the previous point, I don't think my net happiness-due-to-car will change much. I guess I should have bought this car two years ago rather than the MINI and saved myself a bunch of money, but seeing as how I didn't, we live and we learn.
- Between this deal and what I can sell the MINI for, there are ten thousand more little green workers in my investment account. I know it's a bit crass to talk about money in our culture, but I think it should be done more, and it is a motivating factor. *Especially* we should talk more about how we spend our money. If I think I'll be equally happy with both cars, why not be equally happy and ten thousand dollars ahead? It's not just the cash infusion either. My insurance drops by $200 per year. Given gas costs of around $500 per year, I guess I'll save another $125 there. And I expect the MINI would depreciate another $500 per year for the next six years, at least, while this vehicle has basically finished its depreciation due to age.
- Taking a step toward curing myself of/as a prophylactic against "tiny details exaggeration syndrome." For a moment let's just consider how insanely luxurious it is in the space of all possible human experiences that we can drive to work in a reliable car. On that scale, I moved barely an iota downward by selling my luxury car in exchange for something a little more practical. Do I want to be the kind of person to whom an iota matters? Voluntary "discomfort," if you can even call such an amazing car that, is sometimes healthy. As a philosophical statement, I think this transaction makes a lot of sense.
So, yeah, wanted to share that with y'all. And all that said, does anyone want a like-new MINI with 7k miles on it? It's a manual. Hit me up if so. We can work out a price real friendly-like.