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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Are you pretty sure because you did the recall yourself or because you trust that someone else did it?

With regards to a new vehicle, you likely could have been driving a new Prius every 3 years for about the same cost of what you sunk into the current one in the past 15/16 years.

Contrary to urban legend, Toyotas don't last for ever. [/quote]

I think I looked at the paperwork about a year ago and saw that i'd had that recall taken care of at the dealer - but I am at my desk at work right now so can't know for 100% sure.

I'm not sure I understand your second comment. For the first 15 years, I'd guess I averaged $500 every 2-3 years. Oil changes plus a bigger repair every few years. Last year I put quite a bit more into it (brakes, cracked tire rod or something, etc) thinking I was buying myself a few more years before needing to get a new car.  Then, due to Murphy's law, a week later the hybrid battery failed so I paid another $900 to have it reconditioned. Hindsight is 20/20 and if I'd known the hybrid battery was about to die, obviously I wouldn't have spent the money on the other stuff. But it was worth it to me at the time to wait on getting a new car to see what other EVs came onto the market. I wasn't anticipating that 8 months later I would be facing another $$$$ issue (perhaps I should have aniticipated that on a 16 year old car) but regardless, at this point I don't want to put any more money into it.[/quote]

What I mean is the 2004 Prius was about 20,000 new, so driving it for 15 years until it's now worthless means you took on about $1300 of depreciation a year - about the same amount as you would pay driving a new Prius and changing it every 3 years or so. You would have no need to change brakes, tires, collant, spark plugs, or any other of the wear and tear maintenance. You'll have the latest technology, safety, comforts, and the peace of mind that you are covered under warranty. 
[/quote]
I disagree with that a lot. I’m the proud owner of a 2005 Prius with only 120K miles. It may be worth it to you to do this for peace of mind, but financially there is no way to come out ahead. My kids drive our old Prius and the savings on insurance alone based on the worth of the vehicle is worth it. [/quote]

We can do the calculations if you want, but this is general knowledge among people who know better than to hold on to a Honda/Toyota forever. We only buy new Honda/Toyotas because there are people like you who have an irrational attachment to old Hondas and Toyotas, to the point that you will pay an absurd amount of money just so you can tell someone with a sense of pride that you have a really old reliable Honda or Toyota. I had a 2011 Prius II, purchased brand new for $21,500 plus 3.9% tax, drove it for 3 years and sold it for $18,500, costing me 1279.00 a year. Looking at your 2005 Prius, I assume you bought it for about 20k new including tax. Current market price for a 2005 Prius with 120k miles has a "private party" value of $4k according to KBB. This means for the 15 years of you owning it, you've taken $1066 per year of depreciation, plus any maintenance you've paid for, including tires, brakes, spark plugs, air filters, etc. According to the following website, the maintenance cost of a Toyota Prius is $4300 over 10 years:

https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/the-most-and-least-expensive-cars-to-maintain-by-maddy-martin

Most of the maintenance cost is back end loaded because a new car only requires oil changes and tire rotations during the first 3 years of its life. I'll be generous and say that only 1/2 of the $4300 is excess maintenance/repair costs for a Prius as things wear out over time. $2150 over 10 years is $215 per year. Add this to $1066 of depreciation and you get $1281 per year of depreciation and *excess* maintenance beyond oil changes and tire rotations.

As for insurance, you should call your insurance company and ask them how much the policy would be if everything stayed the same but you bought a 2020 Prius instead. Go ahead.[/quote]

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