Author Topic: Car Purchase  (Read 2464 times)

nsmustachemom

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 15
Car Purchase
« on: September 26, 2019, 09:35:38 AM »
Is there a car thread?  I'm weighing some used car options in Canada (Nova Scotia, to be specific), and would like to bounce some ideas off like-minded folks.  Things I care about with this purchase: reducing carbon footprint, fitting two car seats (one of which is rear facing), long-term maintenance.  Thanks.

nsmustachemom

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 15
Re: Car Purchase
« Reply #1 on: September 26, 2019, 10:22:29 AM »
Hi again,

Ok, going to drop this here and run since I won't be able to check in again until late tonight. 

Short story: a 2010 Prius with 192,000 kms for $8,500,  or a  2013 with 161,000 kms for $12,800??  Figures are in Canadian dollars, pre tax, pre negotiation.

Background: We live in Nova Scotia.  We have a 2010 Matrix XR with 170,000 kms on it.  It's zippy and reliable, and we get about 8.5L/100kms.  We bought it used for $10K in 2015.  We have two kids: one is nearly 5 and is forward facing in a five point harness, and one is nearly 2 and rear facing, so back seat room matters because we need to fit a passenger in the front seat with a rear-facer behind them.  FWIW, she's in a Diono Radian XR with angle adjuster.   We live in a small town and we're walking distance to work, so many days the car doesn't leave the driveway. HOWEVER, 5yo is now in school one town over and there's no bus option, so we are now driving him to/from school most days. When we do use the car, the vast majority of our driving is in the 10-20k distance range (groceries, school & daycare, etc).  We try to avoid driving we can, but it's just not practical to bike on a highway with a 5 year old in the winter, so we drive.  A handful of times a year we do trips in the 400km range, and as the kids get older we'll likely do an annual road trip between NS and ON.   We are starting to get twitchy about our carbon footprint, and in addition to reducing driving in general, we're looking at a more fuel efficient vehicle. 

Current situation: As much as we'd *love* an EV, there are two issues.  1. The price tag, as there is no used market, and 2. the 'long tail pipe' problem.  NS is still very much on coal (and that's another story for another day), so plugging in an EV effectively cuts our emissions in half but not down to zero (see https://www.plugndrive.ca/pnd_evcar_cat/chevrolet-bolt/).  Unless we also get solar, but then the car price tag gets into another league.  Enter, a used Prius!  They get closer to 4-5L/100kms, effectively cutting our carbon in half at a fraction of the cost compared to an EV.  If the market is right in 5 years, we'd consider a used EV, but those don't really even exist right now.  So we're looking for a 'bridging' vehicle to tide us over until there are used EVs on the market at a price that doesn't make me queasy, as well as enough infrastructure to prevent range anxiety on longer trips.

Decisions:  There are two used Priuses on our radar.  Car #1 is a 2010 Prius with 192,000kms for $8,500.  Car #2 is a 2013 Prius with 161,000kms for $12,800.  Figures are in Canadian dollars, pre tax, pre negotiation.     We'd sell the Matrix to make this happen, and initial research suggests we could probably get about $6,500 for it.  So, car 1 would be a $2,000 cost and car 2 would be closer to $6,000

Questions: 1. The price gap is 4K.  Is it worth it to get a newer, lower mileage vehicle?  If we are planning to sell in ~5 years, the older car will be 14 years old, which is getting up there and perhaps harder to sell.    2. What kind of maintenance might we expect on a 6-10 year old Prius? Is buying either of these cars setting us up for pricey repairs?  Or are Priuses as reliable (or more?) as the Matrix?   

In short, what would you do???

Wrenchturner

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1341
  • Age: 36
  • Location: Canada
Re: Car Purchase
« Reply #2 on: September 26, 2019, 10:31:29 AM »
I'd just keep the matrix.

use2betrix

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2492
Re: Car Purchase
« Reply #3 on: September 26, 2019, 10:49:39 AM »
I'd just keep the matrix.

I agree, keep the matrix

When you have an old, used, semi fuel efficient car, it’s rarely beneficial to switch to another old, used, slightly more fuel efficient car.

If you were going from an old F350 at 12 mpg to an old Prius, many here would say jump on it, but this change isn’t much.

nsmustachemom

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 15
Re: Car Purchase
« Reply #4 on: September 26, 2019, 11:44:18 AM »
Interesting.  I don't think of any of the cars on the table as old, but maybe that's because we kept our 1998 Camry doing until 2016 and 350,000kms, so anything less than that seems young :)  But I take your point.

use2betrix

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2492
Re: Car Purchase
« Reply #5 on: September 26, 2019, 01:16:54 PM »
Interesting.  I don't think of any of the cars on the table as old, but maybe that's because we kept our 1998 Camry doing until 2016 and 350,000kms, so anything less than that seems young :)  But I take your point.

I have a 1999 Camry I still drive daily :)

I don’t necessarily mean old. More so just replacing your vehicle with another just slightly better vehicle of a similar year and miles.

Xlar

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 264
Re: Car Purchase
« Reply #6 on: September 26, 2019, 01:28:56 PM »
...We have a 2010 Matrix XR with 170,000 kms on it.  It's zippy and reliable, and we get about 8.5L/100kms.  We bought it used for $10K in 2015.  We have two kids: one is nearly 5 and is forward facing in a five point harness, and one is nearly 2 and rear facing, so back seat room matters because we need to fit a passenger in the front seat with a rear-facer behind them.  FWIW, she's in a Diono Radian XR with angle adjuster.   We live in a small town and we're walking distance to work, so many days the car doesn't leave the driveway. HOWEVER, 5yo is now in school one town over and there's no bus option, so we are now driving him to/from school most days. When we do use the car, the vast majority of our driving is in the 10-20k distance range (groceries, school & daycare, etc).  We try to avoid driving we can, but it's just not practical to bike on a highway with a 5 year old in the winter, so we drive.  A handful of times a year we do trips in the 400km range, and as the kids get older we'll likely do an annual road trip between NS and ON...

Is there a problem with the Matrix? Or are you just looking to reduce your carbon footprint?

mm1970

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 10880
Re: Car Purchase
« Reply #7 on: September 26, 2019, 01:46:26 PM »
+1 for the matrix, 'cuz that's what I drive (though a 2006)

Hubs is itching for a new car, but it's mine and I say no

nsmustachemom

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 15
Re: Car Purchase
« Reply #8 on: September 26, 2019, 07:22:23 PM »
Is there a problem with the Matrix? Or are you just looking to reduce your carbon footprint?
[/quote]

No problem with the Matrix - just looking to reduce carbon footprint in affordable way.  We do other things too, unrelated to cars (food, clothing, etc).  At a glance, it seems like we could theoretically spend 2K to cut our transportation footprint in half.  Over time, it would also save us cash, but if that were the main motivation it wouldn't make sense.

The Fake Cheap

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 343
  • Location: Canada
Re: Car Purchase
« Reply #9 on: October 08, 2019, 05:57:20 PM »
I know this reply is a bit late, but how many KM per year do you drive?

brandino29

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 327
Re: Car Purchase
« Reply #10 on: October 08, 2019, 08:08:26 PM »
Stick with the Matrix. You have a paid off car that gets good gas mileage and serves your purposes now.

I'm sure the actual data isn't that hard to find but isn't it the case that keeping a relatively efficient regular old gasoline car on the road as long as possible results in a smaller carbon footprint than turning over and getting a newer hybrid car?

Just Joe

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 6720
  • Location: In the middle....
  • Teach me something.
Re: Car Purchase
« Reply #11 on: October 10, 2019, 07:51:23 AM »
Or skip the hybrid. I put about 200 miles on a Nissan Altima rental this week and it was getting ~43 mpg without any hybrid black magic complexity. Wish they'd offer that with a hybrid. Would prob get north of 60 mpg.

Car Jack

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2141
Re: Car Purchase
« Reply #12 on: October 10, 2019, 10:37:44 AM »
I'd keep the Matrix.

I'd also think of it this way:  Say I trade a Matrix for a Prius.  Ok, so I use less fuel.  And someone else buys and drives the Matrix.  So the Matrix is still being driven, so you haven't taken that out of the carbon generation chain.  Ok, now what is the person who sold you the Prius going to do?  If he's getting a Trek and bicycling everywhere, you've achieved the carbon reduction task.  But if he buys a Ford Explorer, not so much.

I know this is all sort of silly, but your goal doesn't seem to be to simply get a different or more practical....it's to save the world in some respect.  You've already considered that going full electric gets you to the coal driven world, which I'm glad you looked into that.  But effects down the line can be considered.