luvnlifelady
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Post by luvnlifelady on Mar 30, 2015 18:53:57 GMT
Final update-after waffling back and forth all week, we decided to go for it and replace the battery yesterday. We are not replacing the catalytic converter at this time since it doesn't need it right at this moment (it's going out but is not out yet).
I probably would've preferred to look for a different car but it's DH's car so ultimately I let him make the final call. He said he's attached to it which I understand since I still miss my van from two years ago.
Thanks for all the advice.
Slight update. We talked briefly last night and I thought we had decided to get the battery. I drove it to the shop and there weren't any warning lights on (there had been previously). I called him at work and we talked for a short time and he mentioned looking online last night at used cars including a Prius.
We decided to have it get a "Health Check" to see if we could maybe determine how the battery is holding up and any other issues.
Since our vacation rental can only be extended until tomorrow and I needed a ride home from the dealer, I rented another car to allow us time to look at options (DH needs it for work).
We got burned badly putting a $3,000 tranmission (known Honda issue) into a 10 year old Honda Odyssey (with only 100,000 miles) and it failed repeatedly. Had a warranty on the transmission but just couldn't chance it anymore so we sold it for $3,000 and wound up with the PT Cruiser.
I don't want to make that mistake again even though I miss my Odyssey a lot!
2nd update-yes, the battery needs replaced but the service guy also mentioned the catalytic converter (I think that's what he said anyway) is on it's way out and would need to be replaced at $1800. DH decided to have me pick up the car for now and think about it.
I thought he could use the rental from the dealer (that we are paying for) for work tomorrow but they won't release his car until I return the rental. I wish I had known that today before getting it and I would've just had the shuttle bring me home. I understand they are not like a regular rental place but I didn't know they wouldn't let us keep it (on our dime) while we think about what to do.
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He has a 2007 Toyota Prius with 250,000+ miles on it with the original battery. It seems like it's finally time to replace the battery at a cost of $3100. (Thank goodness we got a rental for our recent road trip).
The service manager said we should be good to go for awhile after this as fuel pumps, etc. don't go out that often.
DH needs a Hybrid since he drives about 50 miles each way to work.
The only nagging factor is that the plan right now is for DD to go to school about 6-7 hours away and we will need to be renting something for those trips unless we have car that we trust to go the distance (loaded with stuff). My 2008 PT Cruiser is not trustworthy for much more than local driving.
We could put the $3,000 towards something we could use for road trips but then we'd have a payment and we already have one with the PT Cruiser.
Would you replace the battery? We only have a family of 4 so space usually isn't a huge problem. However, I did love my Honda Odyssey when I had it for 10 years (had to sell it due to transmission issue).
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luvnlifelady
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Post by luvnlifelady on Mar 30, 2015 19:03:22 GMT
I think that's the way I'm leaning. Dh wants to research it some too
Right now, the PT Cruiser is just a kid car mostly since I have a work car. We bought it used a couple years ago but it sure was quite the change from the Odyssey.
We will probably drive to DD's school at least 2 times/year to drop off and pick up and maybe for a holiday too. However, it's only a 2 year school but then I'm not sure where she will transfer to and we also have DS going off to college in 3 years.
ETA: That's weird, there was another post above this earlier.
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Post by hennybutton on Mar 30, 2015 19:37:01 GMT
Are you talking to yourself?  Personally, I wouldn't want to dump thousands of dollars into a car that already has 250,000 miles on it. With its age and mileage, things are bound to start adding up. |
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 21:22:27 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2015 19:45:54 GMT
We replaced the battery on our 2005 toyota prius and it is still going strong...so glad we did it...
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luckyexwife
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Post by luckyexwife on Mar 30, 2015 19:56:11 GMT
Why is the 2008 PT Cruiser not trustworthy for driving on a trip? Is there a current issue with it?
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luvnlifelady
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,428
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Post by luvnlifelady on Mar 30, 2015 20:01:50 GMT
As for the PT Cruiser, it's just not a comfortable car. The turning radius is horrible on it and the trunk space is lacking also. Even the A/C doesn't work that well. DD got hit in the school parking lot and now when I turn right, it makes some sort of noise, even after being fixed.
It was a rushed purchase and I learned afterwards that it is basically a fleet car....very cheaply made. It was affordable though so we went with it even though 13 yo DS at the time told us not to...ha ha, he knows his cars.
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Post by Yubon Peatlejuice on Mar 30, 2015 20:05:15 GMT
With 250k miles, this is probably just the start of what you will need to put into it to keep it running. I would dump that thing ASAP.
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luckyexwife
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Post by luckyexwife on Mar 30, 2015 20:05:36 GMT
Why not trade in the PT cruiser for something that fits your family better?
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Post by Dori~Mama~Bear on Mar 30, 2015 20:09:58 GMT
If it was me and The car was in good shape other than the battery I would replace the battery.
Why is your Cruiser not trustworthy? I have a 2008 Cruiser and we bought it in May of 2008 and it only has 49,000 miles on it and I use it to travel. My daughter drives it daily to and from work. I drive our 2005 Jeep Cherokee That has 190,000 plus miles on it only when I have to. When daughter and I go together we use the Cruiser.
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Post by nicole2112 on Mar 30, 2015 20:13:21 GMT
I'm a Prius lover (we have two in our family) and I'd replace the battery if the rest of the car is in good shape on the inside but if not you can get a new one for about $28k. That's what I paid for mine last January.
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Post by lisacharlotte on Mar 30, 2015 20:14:51 GMT
I have a diesel VW that gets great gas mileage. $3100 to replace a battery just sounds insane. I'm sure someone could do a cost analysis on the difference between the gas savings and replacement battery cost (as well as upfront increased cost of a Prius).
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gsquaredmom
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Jun 26, 2014 17:43:22 GMT
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Post by gsquaredmom on Mar 30, 2015 20:21:50 GMT
It can run without replacing the battery? That's what I would do for now. Gives you time to think about what you really want. You can rent larger for school trips no matter what you choose both now and later. But no, i would not replace the battery. An extra cost in gas will not be as much as 3100 or a mistake.
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Rainbow
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Where salt is in the air and sand is at my feet...
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Post by Rainbow on Mar 30, 2015 20:24:00 GMT
I'd replace the battery. I have a Prius too.
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 21:22:27 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2015 20:26:14 GMT
I think that's the way I'm leaning. Dh wants to research it some too Right now, the PT Cruiser is just a kid car mostly since I have a work car. We bought it used a couple years ago but it sure was quite the change from the Odyssey. We will probably drive to DD's school at least 2 times/year to drop off and pick up and maybe for a holiday too. However, it's only a 2 year school but then I'm not sure where she will transfer to and we also have DS going off to college in 3 years. ETA: That's weird, there was another post above this earlier. Sorry! I accidentally deleted. Stupid mobile site. You're not crazy LOL |
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Post by mirabelleswalker on Mar 30, 2015 20:38:58 GMT
I had a 2005 Accord hybrid with 50K miles. I knew I was getting to the point where the battery might need to be replaced and decided to trade it in for a new car. I just couldn't stand the thought of spending that much money on a 10 year old car.
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luvnlifelady
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Post by luvnlifelady on Mar 30, 2015 20:55:19 GMT
Why not trade in the PT cruiser for something that fits your family better? We still owe 4 years on it and I doubt we could get much for it on a trade in with the issues it's having. There is some cosmetic body issues and then of course the noise turning right. I honestly don't think it was ever fixed correctly after DD got hit. For day to day, the size of the PT Cruiser is fine and this year, DD uses it for school for her and DS. Road trips are where we need more space and prior to this year, we didn't do those even on average once/year. Now with college and the occasional vacation trip, we'll be doing more of those but can rent something if we decided not to get anything bigger than what we already have. |
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quiltz
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Post by quiltz on Mar 30, 2015 22:37:08 GMT
Why not trade in the PT cruiser for something that fits your family better? We still owe 4 years on it and I doubt we could get much for it on a trade in with the issues it's having. There is some cosmetic body issues and then of course the noise turning right. I honestly don't think it was ever fixed correctly after DD got hit. For day to day, the size of the PT Cruiser is fine and this year, DD uses it for school for her and DS. Road trips are where we need more space and prior to this year, we didn't do those even on average once/year. Now with college and the occasional vacation trip, we'll be doing more of those but can rent something if we decided not to get anything bigger than what we already have. How can you still owe 4 years or approx. 48 months on a 2008 PT Cruiser? The payments on such an older car shouldn't be that much per month. |
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quiltz
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Post by quiltz on Mar 31, 2015 0:20:04 GMT
He has a 2007 Toyota Prius with 250,000+ miles on it with the original battery. It seems like it's finally time to replace the battery at a cost of $3100. (Thank goodness we got a rental for our recent road trip). The service manager said we should be good to go for awhile after this as fuel pumps, etc. don't go out that often. DH needs a Hybrid since he drives about 50 miles each way to work. The only nagging factor is that the plan right now is for DD to go to school about 6-7 hours away and we will need to be renting something for those trips unless we have car that we trust to go the distance (loaded with stuff). My 2008 PT Cruiser is not trustworthy for much more than local driving. We could put the $3,000 towards something we could use for road trips but then we'd have a payment and we already have one with the PT Cruiser. Would you replace the battery? We only have a family of 4 so space usually isn't a huge problem. However, I did love my Honda Odyssey when I had it for 10 years (had to sell it due to transmission issue). So, what have you decided? |
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Post by hop2 on Mar 31, 2015 0:33:00 GMT
Have you asked your dealer how much you'd get for a trade in on the Prius?? I ask because my dealer is always asking us to turn in our Toyotas, apparently we have popular models and they want them back. We aren't ready to yet but they still ask every time. LOL
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luvnlifelady
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Post by luvnlifelady on Mar 31, 2015 2:04:29 GMT
We still owe 4 years on it and I doubt we could get much for it on a trade in with the issues it's having. There is some cosmetic body issues and then of course the noise turning right. I honestly don't think it was ever fixed correctly after DD got hit. For day to day, the size of the PT Cruiser is fine and this year, DD uses it for school for her and DS. Road trips are where we need more space and prior to this year, we didn't do those even on average once/year. Now with college and the occasional vacation trip, we'll be doing more of those but can rent something if we decided not to get anything bigger than what we already have. How can you still owe 4 years or approx. 48 months on a 2008 PT Cruiser? The payments on such an older car shouldn't be that much per month. Sorry I wasn't more clear before. We bought it in January 2013. The payment is about $180/mo. since we financed it for 6 years. |
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luvnlifelady
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Post by luvnlifelady on Mar 31, 2015 2:06:33 GMT
He has a 2007 Toyota Prius with 250,000+ miles on it with the original battery. It seems like it's finally time to replace the battery at a cost of $3100. (Thank goodness we got a rental for our recent road trip). The service manager said we should be good to go for awhile after this as fuel pumps, etc. don't go out that often. DH needs a Hybrid since he drives about 50 miles each way to work. The only nagging factor is that the plan right now is for DD to go to school about 6-7 hours away and we will need to be renting something for those trips unless we have car that we trust to go the distance (loaded with stuff). My 2008 PT Cruiser is not trustworthy for much more than local driving. We could put the $3,000 towards something we could use for road trips but then we'd have a payment and we already have one with the PT Cruiser. Would you replace the battery? We only have a family of 4 so space usually isn't a huge problem. However, I did love my Honda Odyssey when I had it for 10 years (had to sell it due to transmission issue). So, what have you decided? Nothing yet. DH wants to research it some tonight but he's not getting home until 10 (just back from vacation so he has catching up to do). We can have our vacation rental until the 1st without making out a new contract so we will probably decide by tomorrow. |
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Post by bwife on Mar 31, 2015 2:28:39 GMT
If it were me this is what I would do....
I would see what you can get the PT Cruiser. If you can get out from under the hole, I would. Then if it is something you can afford, Dump the cruiser as a trade on a newer used or New car. I would probably spend the $ on the batteries, But I would want to know how soon other stuff is going to be needing changed. Since you already have 250K on the car, I bet it is sooner than you think.
If things need to start being replaced my plan b would be... To see what they would give you for a trade of the Prius and start looking at cars. I have a Prius V. It has A LOT MORE ROOM in it than the reg prius. My 3 kids ( 19, 15 and 12) have no problem all sitting in the back seat together and when I need to move the boy back home from school, the back area is much bigger than the reg. pruis. You might want to take a look at it. It does not get as great of gas mileage as the reg, But MUCH better than I ever got in my 2011 Sienna! I am getting 42.5 with the V right now. that is DOUBLE what I was getting in the van.
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Post by elaine on Mar 31, 2015 2:44:11 GMT
Honestly, the most cost effective thing would be to replace the battery on the Prius and rent a minivan for 2-days twice a year to move daughter to and from college.
That way you aren't going to incur the cost of another car payment. Renting a minivan for 2 days shouldn't cost you more than $150-200 a pop. So, $300-400 per year vs. monthly car payments.
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luckyexwife
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Post by luckyexwife on Mar 31, 2015 2:51:39 GMT
This is kind of off topic, but if you owe more on the PT Cruiser than it is worth, make sure you have gap insurance!
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Post by lisacharlotte on Mar 31, 2015 2:57:59 GMT
She owes almost 9k on a car worth less than 1/2 that.
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quiltz
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Post by quiltz on Mar 31, 2015 17:09:23 GMT
$180./month x 12 months x 6 years = $12,960.00 Which is more $$ than the car was probably worth when you bought it.
I would get out of this deal immediately. You are throwing good money after bad and get something reliable and some dealers still have 0% interest.
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luvnlifelady
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Post by luvnlifelady on Mar 31, 2015 19:32:17 GMT
Slight update. We talked briefly last night and I thought we had decided to get the battery. I drove it to the shop and there weren't any warning lights on (there had been previously). I called him at work and we talked for a short time and he mentioned looking online last night at used cars including a Prius.
Since our vacation rental can only be extended until tomorrow and I needed a ride home from the dealer, I rented another car to allow us time to look at options (DH needs it for work).
We got burned badly putting a $3,000 tranmission (known Honda issue) into a 10 year old Honda Odyssey (with only 100,000 miles) and it failed repeatedly. Had a warranty on the transmission but just couldn't chance it anymore so we sold it for $3,000 and wound up with the PT Cruiser.
I don't want to make that mistake again even though I miss my Odyssey a lot!
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quiltz
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Posts: 7,086
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Post by quiltz on Mar 31, 2015 19:42:31 GMT
Slight update. We talked briefly last night and I thought we had decided to get the battery. I drove it to the shop and there weren't any warning lights on (there had been previously). I called him at work and we talked for a short time and he mentioned looking online last night at used cars including a Prius. Since our vacation rental can only be extended until tomorrow and I needed a ride home from the dealer, I rented another car to allow us time to look at options (DH needs it for work). We got burned badly putting a $3,000 tranmission (known Honda issue) into a 10 year old Honda Odyssey (with only 100,000 miles) and it failed repeatedly. Had a warranty on the transmission but just couldn't chance it anymore so we sold it for $3,000 and wound up with the PT Cruiser. I don't want to make that mistake again even though I miss my Odyssey a lot! The dealership wouldn't give you a ride home? Car rentals get expensive very quickly. Taking a taxi home would be a cheaper option than renting a car.
Sell the PT Cruiser and buy something new. Replace the battery in the Prius.
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luvnlifelady
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Post by luvnlifelady on Mar 31, 2015 20:05:38 GMT
Slight update. We talked briefly last night and I thought we had decided to get the battery. I drove it to the shop and there weren't any warning lights on (there had been previously). I called him at work and we talked for a short time and he mentioned looking online last night at used cars including a Prius. Since our vacation rental can only be extended until tomorrow and I needed a ride home from the dealer, I rented another car to allow us time to look at options (DH needs it for work). We got burned badly putting a $3,000 tranmission (known Honda issue) into a 10 year old Honda Odyssey (with only 100,000 miles) and it failed repeatedly. Had a warranty on the transmission but just couldn't chance it anymore so we sold it for $3,000 and wound up with the PT Cruiser. I don't want to make that mistake again even though I miss my Odyssey a lot! The dealership wouldn't give you a ride home? Car rentals get expensive very quickly. Taking a taxi home would be a cheaper option than renting a car.
Sell the PT Cruiser and buy something new. Replace the battery in the Prius.
The dealership would've given me a ride home but DH needs a rental for work tomorrow until we decide what to do with his car. We may address the PT Cruiser later but right now, it works for the kids to drive. (DD uses it mainly now and DS will be getting his license next year). I have a work car I can use for some errands so that helps with transportation for me right now. Once we get the health check and find out how everything else is holding up, it will be an easier decision. Thanks for your input. |
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Post by GamGam on Mar 31, 2015 20:54:27 GMT
I have a diesel VW that gets great gas mileage. $3100 to replace a battery just sounds insane. I'm sure someone could do a cost analysis on the difference between the gas savings and replacement battery cost (as well as upfront increased cost of a Prius). Me too. I have a VW Jetta diesel that gets. 50mph on the interstate, and 35 mph around town. |
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