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My mom is looking to replace her 2007 civic hybrid, and as best as I can figure she wants something like the following: Proposed Budget: $<$27,000 New or Used: Prefer new but could be convinced to buy used. Body Style: 4 doors, hatch or sedan. How will you be using the car? 1.5 hour commute 2x per week plus chicago suburb driving (including ferrying my sister and her friends around) and some longer (6-8 hour) drives. Do you prefer a luxury vehicle with all the gizmos?: Not at all. What aspects are most important to you? Gas mileage (she loves the current gas mileage of her 2007 civic hybrid) and safety, followed closely by reliability (she tends to buy a new car every 5ish years so she doesn't have to worry too much about non-routine maintenance). She's rather loyal to toyota and honda (and has fears about American cars that go way back, though could probably be talked into one now), and was thinking about getting a Prius 2. I couldn't find much discussion on hybrids in the last few pages, is it the case that other cars have increased their fuel economy such that hybrids aren't worth the premium any more? If that's the case I was thinking maybe a Honda fit or something, but I don't really know what's out there. She drives like an old lady and it's likely that any bonus features would be lost on her.
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Dec 23, 2013 17:09
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 21:43 |
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I have a slightly question not about what car to buy, but the paperwork involved in transferring a title. Basically, my mom and I are going to swap cars. Complicating things somewhat, I'm in Ohio and she is in Illinois. Ideally I would drive to her (or possibly have her come to me depending on timing), do both title transfers (with bill of sale notarized and whatnot) and then swap plates, but I don't know if that will work since the plates will still be officially registered to my old car, but I won't be in the right state to just go to the BMV. Any guidance on how I'm supposed to navigate that would be appreciated (I also am not 100% clear on the tax situation -- since it is a gift do we avoid sales tax?). Thanks thread, sorry if this isn't the correct place to post this.
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Jun 9, 2018 16:34
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Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but my rear drivers tire apparently has a nail in the side wall, which one of the local places said was unrepairable. Are there thread suggestions for good all-season tires (I live in the northeast, if that's relevant)? I think these were Michelin cross climate tires.
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Dec 11, 2022 17:06
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Yes I know, but we don't actually get that much snow here, and both my wife and I either work remotely or can walk to work, so we just don't drive when conditions aren't good (the snow/ice generally clears pretty quickly here). Also not sure if we'll be in the northeast beyond this winter so I want to avoid getting snow tires this season if possible.
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Dec 11, 2022 17:17
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KillHour posted:If you only need them for a few months before you switch to summers and never look back, just replace that tire with a similar used one? Yeah this sounds like a good option -- thanks!
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Dec 11, 2022 17:59
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Great, thanks for the feedback all! I’ll probably try to grab either 2 or 4 new tires. I drive a 2013 Prius (base trim), and I fall into the class of people in this thread that just wants a low maintenance driving appliance (I.e. I don’t need performance tires) — I’ll probably grab whatever all season Michelin tires Costco has in stock (looks like I can get either the defender T+H or the primacy all season for around $600 installed).
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Dec 12, 2022 05:32
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Hey thread, don’t know if this is the right place to ask but over thanksgiving someone stole the catalytic converter for my 2013 Prius (~160k miles on it). Is there anything I should know about getting it replaced, and/or any way to prevent that sort of thing in the future? Was parked in a residential area of LA when it got stolen. I’m guessing the $2-$3k it’ll cost to get fixed is still worth it even given the car’s age right?
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Nov 24, 2023 23:55
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Hey thread, mechanic just let me know that the engine on my 2013 Prius (140k miles) is toast (I think a head gasket blown, but maybe some other things too). He said that repairing these engines doesn’t typically go so well, and was strongly recommending putting in a new engine (an imported used engine from Japan, sounds the options have like 30-50k miles on them). He quoted me at 2800 for the engine and 1600 for the labor (prices include tax). I’m trying to decide whether it’s worth it to put another $4400 into this car or instead use that money for a down payment on a new/used car. I had hoped the prius would last another several years, and then I could go straight to electric, but we don’t have anywhere to plug the car in and probably won’t for a few years. I’m leaning towards just paying to have this one repaired and then in a few years buying a new car, but would love to hear what the thread thinks. $4400 seems pretty close to what the car is worth…
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Apr 5, 2024 17:33
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 21:43 |
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Agree that replacing the engine on a known good car is probably an OK path at this point, but I'm very curious as to how it blew in the first place since that drivetrain is very, very solid. Any idea what happened? I’m not positive (mechanic isn’t a native English speaker, and I’m relatively ignorant on cars), but he thinks something happened to the head gasket that overpressurized the coolant system and basically flushed all of the coolant out (might be getting some of those details wrong), which lead to it overheating and further damage. Part of it was when the temp gauge came on we were on a narrow winding mountain road and couldn’t pull over to check it, which probably exacerbated it. And then when we did stop and put coolant in, it basically all drained (or was forced?) out soon after we started driving. Possibly could have avoided the worst of it if I had just gotten it towed as soon as the temp gauge came on (also since there’s no temperature gauge on the Prius, when the light first came on it was going on and off and I optimistically thought it might just be a sensor issue).
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Apr 5, 2024 18:30
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