Car totalled tdy. Replacement recos?

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My family went Prius long ago. I drove an '08 for 12 years (now has 150k & still going), & I'm now driving a '14 with only 22k on it. Hubs & I are looking to get a Kia Niro this year. We wanted something with more space, higher up, & about the same gas mileage.

problem with priuses and other hybrids is they tend to total early and expensively, resulting in higher insurance premiums. that was my experience when i drove one, twice the premiums. turbos should be avoided as well, higher maintenance. try to avoid cars with the feature that stops the engine at stoplights and such, the starters wear out sooner. if you have any major powertrain/electrical issue go wrong with a prius out of warranty, it'll cost ya.

But on the flip side:

I don't think insurance on them is much much higher or cheap people wouldn't drive them. Insurance cost can't be that much different than my car I don't think. Here, anyways.

Taxi drivers were the first to adopt Prius' here. Almost every cab switched to be a Prius. The next most popular a Corolla, and then Prius V now. But Prius was HUGE for cabbies and some of them were the first to put over 1M Kms on Priuses.. proving they're ultra reliable and cheap to drive. Lots of them that are for sale here have over 500k kms on them. I don't want one that's super warn out like that I don't think, but they are still driving. Not much goes wrong with them so for how far they drive between expensive repairs they sound cheap to drive.


Saw another option.. Lexus Hybrid. Would be a much more luxurious sedan and get a bit better fuel economy as my last car did but not quite as good as the Prius - one JDM model I looked up is that fuel efficient, anyways.

Just searched the word hybrid to see what other ones come up. Some decent looking cars.. and some very nice looking cars of other brands. Just got wowed by the look of a car at the very very top end of how much money I might spend on a car.. and it may be just the right hybrid engine configuration that gets near prius level fuel economy.. but, it's not a Toyota nor Japanese. 2015 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. There's one for sale near me that looks really good. Like I REALLY like the look of it!

I like my prius. Wins on range and gets good milage, plenty of room for groceries. Ev gets better “fuel” cost but not range. Second one I’ve had. Just got another one used for my daughter. Milage not quite as good in cold weather so check with local drivers if you are up north for actual experience. Holds value. Ev batteries can be rebuilt or replaced but cost dollars so consider ev battery age and years to replacement if buying used. I replaced the one on my first prius (before son got t-boned) and the third party battery didn’t quite get the mileage of the original. My mechanic is a Prius owner. Good car. Total cost of ownership is the way to compare ev or hybrid to non. Seeing more and more Teslas on the road.
Hydro in canada can make electricity cheap when oil/petrol goes up - i used to live in Massachusetts and they would get surplus electricity from canada - my heating bill for radiant electric heat was better than friends who had oil or gas one year during a oil crunch. Ordinarily the opposite would have been true. Cheap hydro-electricity from canada was part of the picture.

I guess that I wasn't paying too much attention to the price. I was only thinking about appearance.

There are a few Prius candidates to maybe check out, especially the couple very low mileage ones at dealerships that might be interested in taking my van in trade.

But I still just messaged the guy with the Lincoln hybrid. It doesn’t have a sunroof, which would be amazing.. but I still want a check it out and see how big the trunk is etc. see if it’s a viable option or nah no go. It’s a great looking car!

There’s a white ford fusion hybrid for sale with sunroof. Probably the same car different body.

Toyota hybrid would be very very reliable.. but, there don’t seem to be complaints about these soooo never know maybe. About the max I’d spend.. but looks 10x better and definitely more luxurious while still almost as good on fuel as a Prius.

I hope your nose is alright

It’ll heal.

I’m gonna go look at the Lincoln, but apparently they have expensive transmission problems at 100k miles so probably won’t end up buying it and will go look at Priuses.

Didn’t work out to go look at the Lincoln, but with a reputation for bad transmissions I probably shouldn’t buy it anyways.

I did message the guy with an ultra low on Japanese RHD Prius and see if he wants my van in trade. If so, maybe perfect. If not, I might buy it anyways if it fits my needs.

I haven't owned a car since the 90s and I don't want one because I am a terrible driver, so I can't offer any advice, but it seems like you have a lot of knowledge and are on top of things. Good luck!

I have vehicles and only went without at least one for a couple years when I was bankrupt a decade ago. Currently driving my father's truck. Gotta trade/sell my van very soon. I did email a dealer yesterday that has a Prius I'm very interested in to see if they'd be interested in my van in trade. No response yet. If they're not interested in my van, I won't be able to save some of the sales taxes.. but it might have been a wash anyways as they'd likely offer me a bit less than I could get as a private sale. I'd be Okay with a wash just to have a smooth simple transaction vs. having to find a buyer for it, though. Whatever.. if they don't want the van and they Do still have that car I'm gonna go check it out anyways as it might be just the right car for me if the cargo area is deep enough - and I think it is. Ideally my van would be sold and I'd be paid out for my totalled car, but, those things take time.. so I might just go buy this other car anyways if it's still available and ideal for me - wouldn't want to pass this one up.

Too many cars though! I've gotta go cancel the insurance on the totalled one asap, maybe tdy. And get the van sold because it's just costing me insurance money sitting at my friends place. And buy another car - Maybe this one that's advertised. And get the other car's transmission seal fixed and then sell it.. etc.

Yes, the Lincoln and the Fusion share platforms. The hybrids use a different transmission from the regular models.

The Mexico plant they're made in received a quality award while they were being made there.

I have a formal education in Quality Control. It is entirely possible for the worker bees to produce a Very High Quality Consistent Product by doing everything precisely to spec.. however, if the Quality of Design is flawed, then it doesn't matter how good they assembled a transmission according to specs.. it can still be problematic and fail - which it sounds like that's the case as my friend that manages a used car dealership tells me the transmissions on these are ticking time bombs and to avoid the car.

So, not gonna spend an Extra $5k to purchase a car that Looks Prettier in order to then likely have a $3-4k transmission replacement bill within a year or two. Waste of money when a Toyota product is Much more proven.

if the ventilation/a/c system breaks in a fusion, it'll cost ya. some relations have its stablemate, a lincoln, same as the fusion but with luxury bits attached, dealer charged them almost $6k in labor to fix theirs.

Ya that’s another crazy expensive repair job. No idea if that’s a common problem on them. The biggest most common issue is engine failure and the second is the transmission.. = problematic design. That’s why they’re like $50k new and have an asking price of $15k used. Just not worth it.

Waiting to hear back about viewing a very specific Prius. Might go check it out today even if the guy replies. Otherwise maybe tmw.

I’m at an insurance brokers now to cancel my insurance on the totalled car, as the insurance company told me I can go do.. and they can’t cancel it without an authorization code that isn’t on my file. On hold on the phone waiting to try and get some ICBC weenie to update my file and allow me to cancel this policy so I do t have to pay it for no reason.

One of the employees here has a Prius outside. Might be newer generation than the one I’m considering but I’m gonna see if they might open the doors and let me sit in the drivers seat to see if it’s even an option for me. Some cars are too cramped. Also, the cargo area is shallower than I would like.. buuut I Could make it work; especially for a fuel bill that’s 25% or so cheaper than the fuel bill was in the dodge.