My little car

[fbhjr]

It was 13 years ago yesterday I got my little Prius C.
The last time I bought gas (last week) it had gone 199,337 miles using a total of 4,088 gallons of gas for a total milage of 48.7378 miles per gallon average.

The Saturn SC2 I had been driving before that, formally my wife’s, was getting about 26 miles per gallon at the end. It was more than 17, had a headlight held on by straps, a windshield wiper that didn’t work, had been in several accidents and seen better days. So, 26 is still not bad considering what it had lived through.

If that SC2 had continued to get the same fuel efficiency for another 13 years, it would have used 7663 gallons of gas to go the same 119,232 miles.

So, I’ve saved 3,575 gallons of gas driving my little Prius for 13 years.
Using the price I paid for gas each time, it has saved me $10,158.
That’s about half the price I paid for the car and not at all bad.
(If the gas had been at the highest of those 13 years, it would have saved me $18,905, at the lowest $6,070. So, quite a range…)

13 years later, I still like my little blue car quite a bit.
My biggest regret is Toyota stopped selling them in the US, so when this one does wear out, I won’t be able to get another.
And, eventually that will make the price of parts go up and I won’t be willing to pay it anymore.

That’s what happened with the SC2. Saturn went out of business and it became harder to get parts. When one of the windshield motors failed and the garage told me “go see if you can find one on Ebay and we’ll put it in for you,” I was not happy.
When I found the cheapest one on Ebay was $150, I decided it was time for a new car.
None of my cars are worth premium repairs. If it cost too much to maintain, I’ll find a new one.

I hope it doesn’t come to that for a while for my Prius. I know the battery is not as good as it was. I hope it holds on a while longer.

Comments

[palusbuteo]

Hooray Little Prius C!

I remember the days when you had the SC2.

My brother had the sedan version for a little while, it managed 2 cross-country trips, I partly drove the second leg.

I was sort of contemplating the Vue as a reenacting/art show materials vehicle off and on before I got the 07 Outback.

It was indeed unfortunate to see the company fall apart and spare parts becoming difficult to come by, etc.