Mother's Day present

[darkswordsman17]

So last week my mom's '99 Grand Prix (which most of the time was just an ok commuter car, with 2-3 instances of being a major headache) and '98 Saturn (beater, but still would get 30mpg when it'd run) both went kaput (they both had right ~250,000 miles on them), and after looking around and not finding a lot of worthwhile options in the price range I wanted (~$5-6k, I wanted to buy it outright for her so she wouldn't have to worry about financing, and have other things we're saving for and didn't want to fubar that up or stretch ourselves too thin), we managed to find a 2006 Prius with 119,000 miles in good shape (some small dings and things, but very clean carfax and good shape mechanically; silver with leather and nav and backup camera which is a big plus for her as she's blind in one eye so lacks depth perception). It'll save her on gas mileage (the Grand Prix was getting at best 25mpg highway, she has a 30 mile each way commute for work; averaged 50mpg going 70mph on the way home). It was in as good or better condition than almost all the other cars in that range, gets better fuel economy, has more features, and more utility than most of them as well.

She's still getting used to it though, but she's already been pretty won over by it (had to do some convincing due to the hybrid system). She called me after work today and somehow got the power on sequence off kilter so she was turning it off (but still the dash and info system and radio on) when she thought she was turning it on. She was worried because it wouldn't let her put it in drive or reverse but she also knew it was just some simple thing she wasn't doing.

I'm hopeful that it'll be more reliable than her other cars (which have been passed around the family, so even though they were kinda crap cars, still some sentimentality as they got everyone around at various times). Plus with the fuel economy and space, I'm hoping it'll provide some good road trips in the future (she'll be moving to Phoenix to be near grandkids and needs to get over to see my brother in Kentucky, and her sister and niece in Oklahoma and New Mexico), and eventually one of the nephews will inherit it as their first car or something (and get some learning in as they can learn about maintenance and repair and help replace the battery when that comes due, which hopefully will still be years and tens of thousands of miles away).

Oh, and funny story about small midwest towns. One small dealer that we stopped by that had a 2008 Prius that we checked out told us that his dad had bought it and he used to make fun of his dad ("I used to joke and tell him he was gay" his words) and then he drove it on a trip and ended up liking it. Apparently his sister took it up to Sturgis with some biker friends and they liked it too.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Those cars are fairly bulletproof. You made an excellent choice.

 

[Sheep221]

OT: I didn't know people with one working eye are allowed to drive. At least I thought that peripheral binocular vision is required for driving.

 

[Torn Mind]

The brakes might never need to be touched due to regenerative braking.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Those cars are fairly bulletproof. You made an excellent choice.

I'm hoping this one is. Considering the alternative choices, I think so, and definitely a good fit for her. If this one is even half as reliable as it could be, I have a hunch she'll want to replace it with a newer one whenever that time comes.

OT: I didn't know people with one working eye are allowed to drive. At least I thought that peripheral binocular vision is required for driving.

Yep. I think some states might have special regulations, but Kansas doesn't seem to have anything too much, she just had to pass an eye exam for the one eye).

It was due to a flesh eating bacteria that got in her eye. They were able to stop it before it really tore things up (she can actually detect light level but can't actually see anything), but she'd need something drastic to regain vision (and sadly has not had insurance that would be willing to pony up to do so). Maybe if prices come down she'll be able to. She talked to the specialist she went to and he said it'd take an intensive transplant (not the whole eye, but still significant). I don't remember how much it was supposed to cost at that time (happened about 10 years ago). We need to look into what options there are now and see if things might be better (and her insurance might be more open to paying for it, or how much insurance that would cover it would be).

I actually saw an article recently about some other people who have blindness in one eye and they talked a bit about driving (saying it wasn't nearly as big of a problem as people expect it would be). I was impressed that it really didn't affect her life too much (some depth perception issues, like she'll occasionally trip on a step or something but she generally just laughs when that happens). I think she actually drives more cautiously now and hasn't been in any accidents since it happened (although she had 2 or maybe even 3 different people back into the Grand Prix while it was parked, denting doors).

The brakes might never need to be touched due to regenerative braking.

Yeah overall maintenance should be a lot better. Most things will be inline with the Saturn, and hopefully won't have all the sensor issues that those two cars had. I was telling her how there will actually be generally less wear on a lot of things (like the brakes), which will save money too.

As it is, gas money alone will save her ~$750+ a year. And both of those cars were generally good for at least a couple hundred more in costs for something or other each year.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

My parents have an '06 Prius with around 300k on the clock. Original battery pack, too.

 

[darkswordsman17]

My parents have an '06 Prius with around 300k on the clock. Original battery pack, too.

Yeah when looking around saw a lot of them in the '04-'10 range with ~200k, still in good condition, still getting 50MPG, and most of them still with the original battery packs.

I might even check out individual cells early and replace any degraded ones just so can maximize the battery help.

My Mom had trouble starting it again, I think she was leaving the battery mode on and then when she'd go home was pushing the power button twice effectively turning it on to go then shutting it off (but leaving the battery on). I drove it to work the day after and it started and turned off fine for me, but was getting only ~44mpg (according to the computer, which realize that might not be super reliable, but it was doing ~50 everywhere before) and think it was due to the battery being low. She hasn't had any issues since though.

Er, actually we did have one problem, apparently one of the headlight bulbs went out.