Still can't decide. Two cars enter, 1 car must leave

I need help deciding what's best for my situation.

Background: I'm starting graduate school later this year and trying to do it on my own dime without taking out any loans. I work remote for a company and will be taking online classes at a local state university, so I have no commute and won't be driving to school. I have two cars, I wan't to sell one.

2008 Toyota Prius

-AC is broken, needs evaporator core. Coolant is also leaking.

-Beeps at me and is annoying to drive

-Very hard to wrench on, for example the headlight is out and I've got to drop the bumper to get to it. Haven't had time to do so, time consuming.

-Currently depreciating in value, I will sell it the moment I graduate and have a better income.

-I get about 39mpg, since I don't really drive it much the battery is usually drained and car doesn't get a chance to warm up.

+Comfortable

+Oil changes every 10k miles.

1990 Volvo 245 300k miles

-Running rich right now so will need some tuning. Also needs a good alignment.

-Oil changes every 3k

+I put a TON of work into this during the fall and it's rock solid in some areas as of now.

+Has some character and is useful to have

+Really easy to wrench on

+Will probably last me right through graduate school, then I can get something nice.

Sell the Volvo. Make the Prius a nice place to commute in. Keep Prius till it gets killed in a collision. Save gas money from Prius driving to get BMW for weekends and fun time.

When you replace the Prius headlight, replace both as preventive maintenance.

t25torx wrote: Sell the Volvo. Make the Prius a nice place to commute in. Keep Prius till it gets killed in a collision. Save gas money from Prius driving to get BMW for weekends and fun time.

Yea I could do this. Put a nice android auto system in the prius so when I do have a commute it would be good. But i'm like a good 2-3 years out from having a commute. And who knows, maybe my post MBA job will still be remote..

Sell both and get a Miata.

(first in!)

Sell the Prius. It's soul sucking reliability you don't need. A 245 as your only car is adventure, a Prius as your only car is sadness.

mazdeuce wrote: Sell the Prius. It's soul sucking reliability you don't need. A 245 as your only car is adventure, a Prius as your only car is sadness.

Yea, this is where I'm at. Since I don't have a commute, getting into the Prius to grab some beer or burritos sort of sucks.

+Volvo 245, I recently moved and fit a three seater couch in the back WITH THE HATCH CLOSED.

Pretty much what Mazdeuce said. I'll add that the Prius has to be worth more right now than the Volvo and, as you mention, is still depreciating. That Volvo is likely to be worth the same in 2-3 years as it is now, even if you pile a bunch more miles on it.

I'd keep the Volvo and not think twice, life is too short to have a soul sucking appliance as an only car, especially considering your situation really doesn't require one.

I've replaced headlight bulbs in Prii without removing the bumper. Not that bad.

DaveEstey wrote: I've replaced headlight bulbs in Prii without removing the bumper. Not that bad.

I think you can slightly drop the bumper, don't have to take it all the way off?

Sell the Prius as-is. Some idiot will buy it with the intention of using it as a cheap Uber/Lyft car.

Unload the Prius

Keep the Volvo

Easy

Sell the Prius. I agree with Furious_E. The Prius will lose more value over the next couple years where as the volvo is at the bottom of the curve already. The Volvo is almost a truck and you never know when you'll need to move a couch, chair, drum set etc. You said you put a lot of work into the Volvo, Now its time for it to pay YOU back with reliable transport.

Running out for beer in a car you like is one of the small wins in life you have to take advantage of.

I'm frankly surprised this is a dilemma. Unload that Prius. Life is too short to drive boring cars.

mazdeuce wrote: Sell the Prius. It's soul sucking reliability you don't need. A 245 as your only car is adventure, a Prius as your only car is sadness.

I can personally testify to this. I had a '10 Prius as my one and only car for about 7 or 8 months...and I drove a ton. Commute is 60 miles each way. I'm not going to lie. The Prius is incredibly good at its' intended mission. Reliable as can be, ultra efficient, quiet, comfy. It was a nice place to spend 90+ minutes after a long day at work, I found it to be calming. I developed quite a respect for it based on that. HOWEVER...soul sucking isn't even the proper word for it when it comes to driver engagement. It's the ultimate appliance. I just couldn't stand the lack of driver involvement. The only way I'd get another one is if I had a wild, hairy chested ying to counter balance the Prius' yang.

If both are equally reliable, sell the one that brings more cash, the prius, apparently.

Which, coincidentally will lose value the longer it sits unsold, so you're watching cash walk out the door.

It appears you'd rather keep the Volvo anyway, and if the running gear is anything like my daughter's e30, it'll never die.

Coldsnap wrote:

mazdeuce wrote: Sell the Prius. It's soul sucking reliability you don't need. A 245 as your only car is adventure, a Prius as your only car is sadness.

Yea, this is where I'm at. Since I don't have a commute, getting into the Prius to grab some beer or burritos sort of sucks.

Plus eleven brazilian.

Done then. Ran it by the partner and she said that is sounded good. Just had to be mindful that the volvo might not be the best car for my sometimes 1400 mile trips to Florida (took the volvo last time, ran fine).

Wait, you drive 1400 miles to Florida? Didn't know about that wrinkle. If that's going to be a regular thing, then I'd keep the Prius...or rent a car for the Florida trips. Should the Volvo make it? Yeah, I guess, but I can't say I'd have full confidence in a 27 year old car with 300k+ miles going on a long trip like that (not unless I knew it's long maintenance history).

Furious_E wrote: Pretty much what Mazdeuce said. I'll add that the Prius has to be worth more right now than the Volvo and, as you mention, is still depreciating. That Volvo is likely to be worth the same in 2-3 years as it is now, even if you pile a bunch more miles on it. I'd keep the Volvo and not think twice, life is too short to have a soul sucking appliance as an only car, especially considering your situation really doesn't require one.

What the Prius is best at is what you don't need right now. Ditch it and solve the mixture issue on the Volvo.

Fix the EFI on the Volvo and you can stretch that oil change interval out to more like 4k on conventional oil.

Sell them both, rent a car for occasional trip for FL?

The battery pack in the Prius doesn't like to sit for extended periods. I'd stick with a conventional car such as the Volvo.

Sell both, buy a motorcycle.