Consumed No More

I bought a car!

I am so glad to have the decision made, and I am thrilled with it! No afterthoughts or regrets yet, and I don't think I will.

It hit me the other night: What I initially wanted most of all was a hybrid, like the Toyota Prius Papa Rooster drives and loves. I love driving the Prius, and it averages 45 mpg! Why not look again for a used Prius?

I knew why not. I had checked before, and they were considerably more than I wanted to spend. For the same money, I could get a 2009 fully loaded Yaris, which I test-drove and loved. But I was balking a little at the insurance on the Yaris, even on a 2007. It was considerably more than we pay on our '07 Prius.

So I checked, one more time, hoping for an affordable older Prius with low mileage, and there--advertised at far less than the low end of the blue book range--was my car! The online Carfax report showed that the former owner had maintained it religiously at the same Toyota dealer he bought it from, and the only non-maintenance item on its history was new brakes awhile back. It has 66,000 miles on it--a little higher than I'd like, but then I realized that's about what PR's Prius will have when it's only 3 years old. If I have a typical Toyota experience, I'll still get as many miles out of it as we got out of our old minivan.

I checked out the 2002's reliability ratings from Consumer Reports and Edmond's (excellent) and googled for 2002 Prius issues (few significant ones found). It looked like the 2002, in fact, was even more reliable than the year before or after. I checked with our Allstate agent, and found that this car would be cheaper to insure than any others I was considering.

When I went to see it, the color grabbed me right away. It's an icy shade of light gray-blue, with a hint of purple ("Aqua Ice Opalescent"). Its finish and interior look newer than our other Prius! And it is a roomier interior than the Yaris. I took it for a spin, and it seemed oh-so-familiar in its handling--so similar to the '07 we have. It had all the options I want (mainly power locks and windows)--with the exception of an auxiliary jack for an iPod. Quaintly, it had a tape deck instead of a CD player (which delighted me, considering how many books on tape I own that I will still be able to listen to in the car!).

So it's sitting in the driveway now, in Minnie the Maxi-Van's shadow, making friends with the '07. They look so his'n'hers. The '07 is a hatchback, with an aggressively masculine sporty rear end, but my '02 has a demure sedan-shaped derriere, with a teensy little spoiler that's mostly decorative--undoubtedly feminine by comparison. I'll have to post a picture. (Meanwhile, here's a link to some generic photos.)

By the way, THANK YOU, everyone who commented on my last post--you all really helped me think of different options and perspectives!

Now tomorrow, just have to get my new baby registered in Wisconsin, put Vinnie's old plates on it, and add it to our car insurance. Then maybe I can finally settle back into normal life. I have a list of errands awaiting me!

Click here for the family Prius joke.