<p>We purchased our daughter a nice used car for her 16th birthday because the insurance on the family car was so killer, it was really worth it to us. This car runs well and is in great mechanical shape, but has a window that wont roll down now and because of that, she can’t put the top down (convert) Which of course is an irritation to her. When I took this to get fixed, they wanted $1600 to repair it because it is an all in one unit, window, motor, panel and something else I can’t remember. I called around and the cheapest quote I got was $1325.00. So we started having the “how much blood do you try to squeeze from the rock conversation” and we thinking about just purchasing a new car. I just feel this will be the start of the slippery slope of maintaining an older car. She really wants a Toyota Prius, certainly not a top of the line trim model, but with the trade in (should get 8-10K) for the car she has now, window and all…and Toyota is offering 5 years/0 percent. We usually don’t finance cars, but at 0% it is free money.</p>
<p>So…for a kid going to college is the Prius a good fit? Do they have to charged? I am really clueless about these gas electric hybrids.</p>
<p>I don’t think that a new car for college is a good idea unless you are wealthy enough to ignore the depreciation resulting from potential damage.</p>
<p>That said, they don’t have to be charged. They have gasoline engines that charge the battery dynamically when the car is running. Some have converted the Prius to become plugin-hybrid. I don’t know if Toyota offers this on current models. Note that Toyota is coming out with variants on the Prius - I heard about it on the radio this week - the new variant is bigger than the current model.</p>
<p>Everyone I know who has one, likes it. So if you can easily afford it, and want to, why not?</p>
<p>It’d be a little pricey for me for a college student, ‘free money’ or not–I know the mileage is great but in theory, a college student wouldn’t be putting a ton of miles on a car (unless they have a daily campus commute that is a good distance).</p>
<p>Personally, I’d look into a Yaris or a Corolla or a Honda Fit for $8-10k less, if I was buying a new car for my college kid. Or maybe an Elantra, just got ‘best small car’ from consumer reports and gets 40mpg on highway. Also get insurance rates on all before deciding, it can vary quite a bit from model to model.</p>
<p>I’m on my second Prius - traded my '03 in for an '05. I love it. My D has had it at school all this year. She is loving the gas mileage right now. I have had no issues at all with it and highly recommend them.</p>
<p>If the college student does not have to commute daily, the difference in mpg between a Prius and a Corolla will not make a dent in monthly expenses, but Prius will cost you significantly more than Corolla. If she wants a hatchback, take a look at a (preferably somewhat used) Toyota Corolla Matrix. Lots of room, great mileage, reliable and, aparently, safe (I was told a story of several HS girls walking away without injuries from their totalled Matrix). Our girls each got one, and insurance does not cost an arm or a leg.</p>
<p>I looked at a Toyota Prius but wound up with a Pontiac Vibe. It’s got the same safety ratings as the Prius except it scores higher for rear accidents and it gets 32 miles to the gallon. It’s less to insure and cost about half of the Prius.</p>
<p>Of course, Pontiac is no more but Consumer Reports recommends the 2009 & 2010 Vibes. The Nissan Matrix is it’s twin, so I’m not worried about getting parts, etc.</p>
<p>I’m sure kids think the Prius is way cooler than the Vibe but I could not get past the far higher cost for the Prius.</p>
<p>OP - At least three issues here … what to do with existing car, new or used for D, and Prius or not. I have strong opinions on all three … but I’ll stick to just one, the non-functioning window.</p>
<p>Standard junkyard price for an entire late-model door is $500. On eBay, window regulator assemblies for high-end German cars run $300-370 … for american cars about half as much. And installation of new window regulator and/or motor is an easy job. You can get the window fixed much cheaper than you’ve been quoted.</p>
<p>I’d say if you get a good value on the trade-in, and free financing, do it. It does not need to be charged. The battery runs off the power created from regenerative braking.</p>
<p>Also if it’ll be mainly used for college - I think that’s especially the case where the gas savings will be felt. Any small car - Corolla, Fit, whatever - can get great mileage coasting on highway trips, but for college, chances are most of her drives will be short trips on local streets. Such are usually the most fuel sipping for a regular car, but Prius will keep running on electric power up while driving at low speeds, which is why its city mileage is actually even stronger than its highway mileage.</p>
<p>Make sure you check the glass dealerships for a price on fixing your window. Over the years we have had several window motors go out. The first time we went to the car dealer and were shocked at the price but did it there anyway not knowing there was an option. Next time we asked at the glass dealer and it was much cheaper. Much. Maybe half or less. (I think we had gone there to buy a replacement glass panel for a coffee table and saw they did car windows). The dealer tried to tell us that going to the glass shop was a bad idea but the glass shop fixed it just fine for much less money and we had non of the gloom and doom problems predicted by the garage. (the glass place told us that the dealers usually send the cars to them for window issues).</p>
<p>The cost for the window motor repair seems way too high but maybe it’s a very poor design (i.e. $$$ to fix). The motor went out on my Dodge but I just bought a new motor and fixed it myself. It took no more than an hour to do and didn’t require any special tools.</p>
<p>
Yes and no on this one. Usually there’s a choice between the ‘free’ financing or getting a factory discount off of the price. In other words, going for the ‘free’ financing typically costs you the amount of the discount you’d get otherwise. This may not be the case for this vehicle at this time but it’s worth checking on.</p>
<p>When you trade in your old car be assured the dealer won’t lose money on the deal. When they take into account the window you’re essesntially paying them to have it fixed through the decreased amount they’ll pay due to it. Trading in is also the most expensive way to sell a car but of course it’s the easiest way to get rid of it.</p>
<p>Check on Edmunds.com and kbb.com to see what kinds of incentives might exist for the Prius (assuming you’re buying a new one) and what the typical prices people are paying are. You can usually get a better deal and generally hassle free (not having to deal with sales people pulling their usual tired hijinks) by going through the internet sales/fleet dept of the dealer. Another option is through Costco, AAA, your credit union, or similar buying services.</p>
<p>Make sure she test drives the Prius, including on the freeway, and checking the handling, visibility, comfort, etc. before deciding on it for sure. Some cars look great on paper but aren’t so great when driven (I’m not referencing the Prius here - just a general comment).</p>
<p>On the window…we are really leaning toward fixing it and just having her keep the car she has (which she really likes) This has been frustrating. My husband actually took it apart to see if he could fix it (he is very, very handy…and inventor and machinist, so I trust him to do this) He was shocked at what he found. The way it is all really one part. (someone said “bad design” and he agrees) There is not a after market part for this, this is problem #1. Problem 2 is that even the used part dealers are saying that buying a used part in this situation is not a great idea (not sure why, but all three I called yesterday were on the same page…I suspect the cost of taking the darn thing apart, removing this contraption in one piece is a chore at best)</p>
<p>My husband talked to the guy at the repair shop we typically use and got him to get the price down to the high 900’s so I think we will just bite the bullet. Knowing my luck the car will break down on the way home…lol.</p>
<p>I am just having a hard time justifying a new car right now. This car is a 2003 but has less than 50K miles on it. Certainly we can squeeze a few more years out of it. Plus it looks like a fairly new car (It is a VW Beetle Convertible so the style never changes…except a few modifications here and there). And my daughter finds it adorable.</p>
<p>I like your solution. Love that your DH was able to negotiate the window repair price down.</p>
<p>Your DD sounds level headed. Some kids would lobby for the new shiny car. A 2003 with 50K miles is almost new in our house! Our DS is driving a 2001 with 100K and he loves it. I also think he loves a (still) reliable car with no payments on it!</p>
<p>Of course, Neons haven’t been made for a while, but we had a fine one way back when.
If the daughter is thinking “economy” then there are many many cars better than a new Prius.
Remember economy is not the same as mpg. When one compares the purchase of a new Prius and it’s gas mileage compared to a different recent model used car, though one may find prius has better mpg, the net economy is that a used car +its mpg usually adds up to less than purchase of a new car.</p>
<p>what I mean is, (example) if a person spends 15k to buy a car that gets 10 mpg more than a car they might have gotten for 10k, then they have to drive many miles just to break even for the extra 5k spent.</p>
<p>Yes, we just bought a new 2011 Elantra that is supposed to get 40mpg. We considered a Prius but it would have run us an extra $6000 so we would have had to drive and awful lot of miles to make up the difference. </p>
<p>I think as she loves the car then fixing the window is definitely the way to go.</p>
<p>I’m so encouraged by all the car threads. Two years ago, the threads were all about how to save money and what you could make with dried beans. Apparently, people now have a little money to spend. What a relief!</p>
<p>When we were weighing things out a couple of years ago we went with the Honda Civic Hybrid. We found it to do better on crash tests that the Prius. While in college he doesn’t drive all that much. The hybrid feature definitely helps for the long commutes to and from school.</p>
<p>We love our Prius, but it is absolutely not worth the extra money unless you are quite wealthy and have plenty of money to blow, or are driving alot. Then you will make up for it in 3-5 years in gasoline costs. On a kid who won’t be driving too much? Not worth the extra premium at all.</p>