I currently drive a pick-up with a little under 50,000 miles; a short bed with no extended cab. My wife drives an Explorer with 155,000 miles (runs great). It's difficult going shopping with the truck because everything has to sit on the passenger seat or in the bed. So I started out with the intention of trading it in and getting a Prius, but my wife didn't like it. However, she fell in love with the TCH. So we put a deposit on one and should arrive late next week or early the week after. It will be my car. I'm not being greedy. She loves the Explorer and only drives 3 miles each way to and from work. So we wouldn't get much advantage with her driving the TCH.

My drive to work is either suburban or interstate, depending on my route. I'll obviously save some money on gas, replacing 10,000 miles per year on a truck (23 mpg) with 10,000 on a TCH. Additionally, when there's more than 2 people we have to always take the Explorer (17 mpg). Now we'll take the TCH, saving even more money.

So what's my issue? I'm having second thoughts about getting rid of a vehicle with only 50,000 miles that runs fine. Also, we own a retail business (furniture store) and I like keeping the extra cash around just in case.

I realize this is a TCH board so I expect most answers to be "go for it". Just looking for some honest feedback.

 

What about keeping the truck and getting the TCH? If you often take others in your truck then I would definitely consider a new vechicle - however if it was me driving 10k miles a year, I think there are other alternatives that would be less money and offer more amenities. Bottomline, I would sell the truck and consider some great value cars that give you more features and still stay close to 30mpg.

 

Orcrone,

Remove the hybrid factor from the discussion for a moment: would you replace your truck with a car for comfort/safety/etc? I had a Nissan pickup that I loved, but when the kids came along, it never got used. We sold it for a minivan that is used heavily. Getting rid of the truck worked for me, but it wasn't replaced with the TCH.

I bought a TCH. Love the thing dearly, and it fills our needs perfectly because we have our minivan when we need more passenger/cargo space. Our family would not be able to function as it does today if we only had the TCH.

Our TCH also replaces a Dodge Neon with 170,000+ miles. Everything was failing on it, so it needed to be replaced. A hybrid is a perfect choice if there are other factors revolving around replacing a car. Be leary of replacing a car (or truck) simply for better gas milage. If a new TCH gets 40 mpg, your 10,000 miles a year would save you only about 185 gallons of gas a year (not figuring your Explorer savings). That's around $600 a year. Weigh in higher insurance and a new car payment, I bet you'd be better off staying with what you have.

By the way, the Prius gets better milage, holds more stuff (with the back seats down), and costs less. Just a thought.

 

I understand where you are coming from. I have a 98 Cavalier that we are replacing with the TCH. The Cav has just over 50,000 mi and runs great. It's worth peanuts to sell. Buying a new car is probably one of the most idiotic financial choices you can make. I was going back and forth in my head too. For me, what brought me peace of mind:
1) I had a good honest look at the Cav and realized that while it's good shape right now, pretty soon it's going to start falling apart, rust just starting to come thru, etc. (Decide for yourself what you can expect from your truck in the next year or two)
2) For us, buying this car is not a terribly risky financial choice. I'm just an ordinary working guy, but I have enough "reserve" to see me thru if something unexpected happens (you might consider some "what if" scenarios if you buy the car to determine a way out, maybe lease instead of buy, figure out that if things go bad are you screwed or simply have to make adjustments to compensate).
3) Finally, and most importantly for me, this was never about simple transportation or smart money choices. It's about taking advantage of an opportunity to feel good in this short life. Feel good about having a nice new car. Feel good about something that's quite a bit different than anything I've had before. Feel good about a technically cool toy to play with. Feel good about something that will be safer to drive. Feel good about something that should reduce some pollution (what is this worth to you in your life?).

 

Freeze,

Good question. I've always been the type to buy a car and drive it into the ground, as long as it stays reliable. So I've kept cars until I need to replace them. The inconvenience of the truck is what made me want to replace it (although I don't need to). I guess "want vs. need" is what's getting me.

There are logical reasons to replace the truck. The inconvenience is one. The comfort of driving a car vs. a truck is another. I could get myself a small sedan. However, the Explorer has 155,000 miles on it. When it dies I'd have to go out and buy a family size car. So buying a Camry (or any mid-size sedan) makes sense. If it makes sense to buy a sedan, then I think a TCH makes even more sense. After tax credit there is not much a premium. I guess I'm just trying to decide whether the inconvenience of a truck is enough to justify (to me) getting rid of it after 50,000 miles.

BTW, we looked at the Prius but my wife didn't like it at all. I liked it, but overall preferred the Camry. And when I added option package 6 to the Prius it was almost identically priced to the base Camry. I still almost went for the Prius, but I realized my wife would never drive it. So there'll be times when she'll take the 17 mpg Explorer out to go somewhere and leave the 50 mpg Prius in the driveway. This way she'll at least drive the TCH.

 

Of course no one can see into the future but I have no reason to think the Ranger will fall apart. It's been reliable so far.
We have a decent reserve and if we didn't own a business this would be a no-brainer. It's just that when things get slow you can burn through a reserve very quickly. Also, after posting I spoke with a friend. The tax credits are going to start being phased out on Toyota hybrids starting Oct. 1. If I need the cash I can probably turn around and sell my TCH without too large a loss.
I understand what you're saying. I'm an engineer so I'm into high-tech toys. Plus I love reducing our dependence on oil. Once the decision is made to buy a new car, getting a hybrid was an easy one.

 

For reference, our 1992 Toyota Corolla has just shy of 90,000 miles on it. Very low mileage, and until March of this year, garaged most of the time. We were going to sell it (private party), but my husband started commuting in it as the gas prices rose (his vehicle is a Ford F-150 Supercrew 4x4 -- gas guzzler). Our pickup is thus relegated to the garage except on weekends for hauling mountain bikes and such. Unfortunately, if logic had anything to do with it, we'd sell either the F-150 (difficult to do with gas prices as they are, probably) or the Corolla so we can cut our insurance back down to 2 vehicles only. Instead, we're torn and insuring three vehicles.

50,000 miles isn't "new" though I realize to someone who seems to keep cars the way we do, it seems almost new. If you're not using a vehicle, or wish you didn't have to use it, and yet still insuring it, there's another reason to resolve that disparity, perhaps with the purchase of the TCH.

 

Orcrone,

I agree with you about the Prius vs. TCH: I chose the TCH, too. Just make sure you take an objective look at the size of the trunk.

Sounds like maybe the thing to do is replace the Explorer with the TCH and keep the truck?

The TCH is an engineering marvel. I have no regrets.

Thanks.

 

The car wasn't supposed to arrive at the dealership until Thursday. I just got a message from the salesman. It's here!!!!!

I guess I'm going to take the plunge.

 

Fate has a funny way of stepping in and making some decisions clearer/easier/moot.

ENJOY!