Thinking about selling a car - help me decide which one...

[GLC1968]

Ok, DH and I are looking to cut back. We have two cars and while both are good cars and fuel efficient, we don't feel like we need 2 anymore.

Here's the story:
We are about to close on a home that is about 15 miles from where we work. We work for different companies, but our offices are about 2 miles apart from each other. We have two cars, neither of which are paid off. One is a 2005 Toyota Prius that I bought last fall (obviously used). It gets about 48 mpg in warm weather (about 40-42 when it's cold). I can sell it for about 4K more than I owe on it. It's got 60K miles on it and the interior is light tan (shows dirt quickly). The other car is a 2005 Toyota Matrix that we bought new in late 2005. It also has 60K miles on it and it gets about 30-33 mpg. We will be lucky to break even on this car if we were to sell it. We owe almost exactly what it's worth if we got top dollar for it. It's been well maintained and 90% of the miles are highway miles. The Matrix has a dark grey interior and a removeable cargo carpet. It's also got more interior room in the back (the rear window is not as sloped as the Prius), so we can fit both 70lb dogs in back without having to put down the seat. Both cars also have a trailer hitch, but the Matrix will tow better than the Prius (more powerful engine). Also, putting a bike rack and two bikes on the back of the Prius removes all MPG benefits as it drops to about 30 mpg (the bikes act like a sail on a car that depends on its aerodynamics). Both cars handle the same in bad weather. Payment on the Prius is about $100/mo less than on the Matrix, but insurance is the same for both cars.

Which car should we sell? I know that financially, it makes the most sense to sell the Prius...but with gas prices the way they are, are we fools for considering selling the hybrid? I also prefer to drive the Prius, but I'll suck it up if we think it's smarter to keep the Matrix.

Our plan is to bike to work when we can, and when we can't, we'll carpool. If DH has to travel for work, he'll rent a car (at least, that's the plan).

Help me make the right decision!!

[LBTC]

IMO, which is what you asked for, you want to keep the Matrix. If you have only one car, it's important that it can do what you need a car for - transporting your two furry kids is important! Use the car less and you'll make up for any savings you'd have had with the hybrid. It makes perfect sense to me.

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[Mr. SR500]

I lean toward selling the Matrix, but not strongly. Since we just traded my VW on a Civic for the mileage, I'm all for fuel efficient and don't see gas going below $3 a gallon ever again. Sounds like you are driving ~ 30,000 miles a year between both cars, run a spreadsheet and figure all the cost. In the end keep what works best for the two of you.

[tulip]

I'd say keep the Matrix. If you are the type to drive a car until it dies, it will last alot longer than the Prius (no unknown battery issues). Plus, it seems like it'll do everything you want it to (cars, bikes), and you'll have $4k in your pocket, which you can use towards paying off the Matrix, or put in a special gasoline account--even at these prices, it'll take a while to use up $4k in gas. Plus, I bet you could sell the Prius in a heartbeat.

If your town has car sharing, like Zipcar or Flexcar (I think they bought each other), having one car among two people gets easier.

All that being said, however, I found that sharing a car to be quite cumbersome, even though I did it for five or six years. My ex (who was then not my ex) monopolized the car even though he worked from home and I had a 14 mile commute each way, which I did by bike several times a week and by public transit the other days. I could use the car as long as he didn't need it, but he always "needed" it. I often could not go on club rides on weekends because he needed the car. Not the reason we are exes, but it was perhaps a symptom of much larger issues.

I think if you have a plan and are both willing to take other forms of transit, then it can work. But if one is not willing to do that, it can mean alot of inconvenience for the person who is willing. I spent way too much of my time waiting to be picked up, waiting for a bus, etc.

[spotlightmama]

I say keep the Matrix. Sharing one car can be a big sacrifice - at least share one that suits you best. Gas mileage isn't everything...you will want to be happy on a daily basis, too!

[Zen]

Add another vote to the popular consensus.
Your insurance bill will go down too!

[Melalvai]

Any chance you can sell them both?
Your bikes get way better mileage than either car.

Do what makes the most sense financially. It might take some math but it's possible the money saved on better gas mileage doesn't compensate for getting rid of some debt. I'd probably keep whichever one I was closest to owning, even if it meant a $4000 loan to pay off on a car I no longer own.

[GLC1968]

Any chance you can sell them both?
Your bikes get way better mileage than either car.

Do what makes the most sense financially. It might take some math but it's possible the money saved on better gas mileage doesn't compensate for getting rid of some debt. I'd probably keep whichever one I was closest to owning, even if it meant a $4000 loan to pay off on a car I no longer own.

Unfortunately, no car is not an option for us. We'll be in the country - so we'll need some form of non-bike transportation. We'll try to use it as little as possible, though! We are shopping for a bike trailer, too.

Fuel savings is $450 to $625 per year between the Prius and the Matrix (depending on gas prices). We owe less on the Prius, but it's also worth more to sell it. Plus, anything we make on the sale will go towards paying off the Matix. As much as I'd rather keep the Prius, I think keeping the Matrix makes the most sense.

[OakLeaf]

No answers (don't want to let my Prius snobbery show y'know ), but some more questions that you didn't mention -

:: you don't want to put the seat down to transport the PDs if you don't have to. Why not? Do you usually have more than two people in the car? The back seat on my Prius (and on the two Subarus I owned before it) basically stays down permanently. Can your dogs stand comfortably in the Prius? If they're crated in the car, do their crates fit equally well in both cars?

:: you say the MPG advantage of the Prius "disappears" when you put bikes on top, but if you get 30 mpg out of the Prius with bikes on top, that's still got to be better than you get in the Matrix with bikes on top. Last I put bikes on top of a small car was quite a while ago, but it would normally take 25-30% out of the gas mileage on my '87 Duster.

:: gas prices aren't going anywhere but up. They're not making any more of it.

:: If the Matrix is a 49 state car, then there's emissions to consider as well, since the Prius is a 50 stater.

:: what do you tow, and how often? Is it worth keeping a car just for its towing capacity, or might you rent a truck when you need one?

I wouldn't be concerned about "unknown battery issues." It's just a NiMH battery, that's old tech, and it's got a 10 year warranty on it. Worst case, if the hybrid battery should die, you're not stranded, because you've still got the gas engine.

[Triskeliongirl]

I think you guys have to decide which car makes most sense for you. But, I can tell you that we went from 2 to 1car this year, and its just not a problem, especially since one of us can always bike if necessary.

I do love having a car with good gas mileage (our new honda fit), but I also think you will be able to sell the prius for a premium right now to someone trying to get out of a very fuel ineffeceint vehicle.

[GLC1968]

No answers (don't want to let my Prius snobbery show y'know ), but some more questions that you didn't mention -

:: you don't want to put the seat down to transport the PDs if you don't have to. Why not? Do you usually have more than two people in the car? The back seat on my Prius (and on the two Subarus I owned before it) basically stays down permanently. Can your dogs stand comfortably in the Prius? If they're crated in the car, do their crates fit equally well in both cars?

:: you say the MPG advantage of the Prius "disappears" when you put bikes on top, but if you get 30 mpg out of the Prius with bikes on top, that's still got to be better than you get in the Matrix with bikes on top. Last I put bikes on top of a small car was quite a while ago, but it would normally take 25-30% out of the gas mileage on my '87 Duster.

:: gas prices aren't going anywhere but up. They're not making any more of it.

:: If the Matrix is a 49 state car, then there's emissions to consider as well, since the Prius is a 50 stater.

:: what do you tow, and how often? Is it worth keeping a car just for its towing capacity, or might you rent a truck when you need one?

I wouldn't be concerned about "unknown battery issues." It's just a NiMH battery, that's old tech, and it's got a 10 year warranty on it. Worst case, if the hybrid battery should die, you're not stranded, because you've still got the gas engine.

To answer your questions -

Both crates will not fit in the Prius. When we travel, the dogs are not crated, but it's much easier to keep them in the far back allowing for luggage on the seats and us in the front. This is not possible in the Prius (I wish it were!)

Actually, the bikes go on the back of the car (hitch rack) not on top. When we put them there on the Prius, milage dropped 18 mpg highway. When we put them there on the Matrix, which has less of a sloping back, it only drops about 3 mpg highway. That's a huge discrepancy.

I agree about the gas prices! Of course, the plan is to drive either car we keep very little...

I'm not sure what a 49 state car means, but we have no more plans to move. We've done enough of that in our lifetimes already!

The only towing we'll do is when we have to pick up or move large loads for the house (we do a lot of work ourselves). So far, we've been able to fit everything we've ever needed into the Matrix - so it may not be an issue anyway. Oh, that's another benefit to the Matrix - the rear window opens so if we do have to pick up something (like a 15 ft ladder) we can stick it out the window for a short trip. This is also not possible on the Prius.

Yeah, the battery is no big deal. My only concern is that we know the history of the Matrix and every single mile on it, we put there. The Prius we've only had for the last 10K of the total 60K, so that's a lot of unknown history. No big deal when it's the second car but it makes me a little bit wary being our only car. Plus, heaven forbid we have to work on the car ourselves - we can do that on a Matrix...not so much on a Prius.


I totally hear you and I'd rather keep the Prius. My stomach turns when I think about not having my own car for 'emergencies'....but more and more, I feel like it's just not the logical choice. If we were choosing between a Jeep that gets 20 mpg and the Prius, it would make sense. The difference between the two in mpg is just not enough to justify keeping it when the Matrix fits our uses better. Ugh...I hate admitting that.

[Trekhawk]

My stomach turns when I think about not having my own car for 'emergencies'....but more and more, I feel like it's just not the logical choice.

On our return to Aust we went the one car option. It makes sense for us as my husband works two weeks away then has two weeks off at home. When he is home we just need to make sure we communicate about where we all need to be including the kids so we don't get stuck anywhere.
I know little about either car so can not help with which car to sell but it sounds like you already have a pretty good idea which car will work better for you both.

[Tuckervill]

I say keep the Matrix. It's the only logical choice.

I lived without a vehicle to haul stuff (a pickup) for a long time, and now that we have one, I can't imagine being without it!

Karen

[dachshund]

...the Matrix fits our uses better.

I'm convinced. Keep the Matrix!

[OakLeaf]

Okay, you've nearly convinced me

Except for the safety features, which you didn't mention - mostly standard on the Prius, mostly optional on the Matrix.

Does your Matrix have ABS, traction control, stability control, and side curtain airbags? If it does, then by all means that's the car you want to keep. Between the two of them, the difference in MPG alone isn't enough for everything you're talking about giving up for it. Honestly, if the Prius didn't have the advanced safety features, I'd probably still be driving a 25 mpg Subaru.


Just for the record, what I referred to a "49-state" vehicle is actually fewer than that now, since several other states have adopted the California emissions standard, or "Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle" (a goofy piece of doublespeak if I've ever heard one - part of zero is still zero, no? Um, no.) Oregon is on track to implement the California standard, but hadn't as of 2005, so if you bought your Matrix new in Oregon, it's almost certainly a 49-stater that releases evaporative emissions.