SageBrush said:
I sold a 2013 Honda Fit and a 2013 Prius Vagon last year for $10k each. Either would have been really good cars for you. My nostalgic wife remembers the Prius in particular as a great car. I enjoyed driving the Fit more, but I am partial to small cars. They are both REALLY good cars.
Thanks! On paper, those would work ok. I may end up driving some 30,000 miles per year. Even if I would get 60mpg in a regular Prius and only 40mpg in a Fit or Toyota Yaris that would mean I'd save about $750 per year or $62 per month in fuel, which would be an amount that could possibly be made up for with lower initial costs, especially when comparing new cars. And of course in reality it might be more like 45mpg vs 55mpg, which would be even less of a difference. But if I could find a cheap Prius and just need to change out the battery, that might be best bang for buck like you said. Although my wife would lean towards a Prius v as well.
But like I said, for me, if I get worse fuel mileage than in my 1985 diesel I'd feel like I'm going backwards. Plus I think I can pull off getting a Prius Prime. And that would also make me feel better about having a permanently installed EVSE on the side of my house; because I'd actually be able to use it. The Prime could be the best of both worlds with the Colorado and federal tax credits. Basically I could get a plug-in hybrid for the price of a small ICE car.
LeftieBiker said:
You might also try crunching numbers on leasing a base<a class="interlinkr" href="http://www.mychevybolt.com/forum" target="_blank"> Bolt <span class="tip">Visit the Chevy Bolt EV</span></a>LT, because that car is the one - maybe the ONLY one - you would likely love driving in your terrain.</span>
Ya, I'd love a long range EV! Maybe I should just keep driving the Golf until I have the money for one. But that's probably a far fetched idea, mainly because I could very well be putting some 30,000 miles a year on the car. That probably would wreak havoc on my bill at the end of the lease. Plus the lease on a Bolt would be some $400 or more per month. That's the most I want to pay total for all car related expenses on average per month.
Basically I have to either pay cash for a vehicle or get really low payments. Then, if it gets 50mpg, that would be about $150 per month in fuel and hopefully $50 or so in insurance leaving me with $200 per month for maintenance and repairs. The Prime could be a little less in fuel since I would use the plug-in capability as much as possible, not to mention there are a lot of places I can charge free at. If I charge for free twice, then my 150 mile route would only be a 100 mile route as far as gasoline goes. As far as paying for the car, the good thing is I have that $7,000 from selling the Leaf that I have dedicated for buying my next car and I will hopefully soon be able to add to that what I sell the 1972 Bug for.