Honest Answers for Low Income Hopeful EV Buyer

[GRA]

You don't want a Prius C. It combines the slow acceleration of a Versa with the complete lack of EV Mode of the, er, Versa. A used gen III Prius is a better buy.

If $12k is all the OP can afford, they might have to go for a Gen II Prius.

 

[LeftieBiker]

You don't want a Prius C. It combines the slow acceleration of a Versa with the complete lack of EV Mode of the, er, Versa. A used gen III Prius is a better buy.

If $12k is all the OP can afford, they might have to go for a Gen II Prius.

You can find higher mileage Gen III Priuses for sale here in that price range.

 

[GRA]

You don't want a Prius C. It combines the slow acceleration of a Versa with the complete lack of EV Mode of the, er, Versa. A used gen III Prius is a better buy.

If $12k is all the OP can afford, they might have to go for a Gen II Prius.

You can find higher mileage Gen III Priuses for sale here in that price range.

True, but I assume the OP isn't looking to buy a car that's more likely to see major wear expenses sooner rather than later. Mileage/use are probably going to be more critical than MY/generation. If they can find a Gen III that meets their other criteria, great.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I checked my local Craigslist, and you can get a *nice* 2010 Prius with less than 65k miles for $10-12k. There is also a nice-looking white 2010 with 128k miles for $4000. This varies by region, but it's easy to check to see if a car is in your price range, in your area.

 

[VforEVs]

Whew! What a whirlwind the last couple of days have been! I ended up getting the 2012 Prius C with 25000 miles on it in premium condition. I spent a little more than I wanted but still got a great deal thanks to the credit union auto buyer. I'm really happy about it on every level except that it's not an EV. I went for practical here but will keep up on what's going on with the EVs for when I get in a better position to buy one.

After the first good night of sleep in a while since agonizing over the car situation, I woke up this morning to run a couple of errands with my mom before going to take my niece and nephews out for a nice beach drive in the Prius. My car was rear-ended/scraped while stopped at a traffic light by some perhaps illegal immigrants who drove off. We tried to follow them, but they disappeared before I could get to them. My perfect car now has huge scrape marks on the right rear bumper but no dents. I'm so upset! We only got a partial license plate #, so the police said the other driver will probably never be caught. I really felt like my luck was changing, but now this. The insurance people will take a look, and the damage is probably not above my deductible--which is good in a way because I don't want to file a claim for a hit and run and risk my insurance going up. It's not supposed to go up, but I don't trust insurance companies when it comes to these things.

It's like the wild west out here in L.A. with uninsured drivers and hit and runs. I still can't believe this happened to me less than 18 hours after getting my car. Thanks for putting up with my ranting just now...and thanks again for all the Nissan/EV advice. BTW, I just received my bluetooth OBD2 adapter in the mail today. I spent $23.00 on it thinking I was sure to get a 2013 Leaf. Perhaps I should keep it just in case...

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Bummer. Sorry that happened to you right at the start. Glad no one was hurt.

 

[TimLee]

...What a whirlwind the last couple of days have been! I ended up getting the 2012 Prius C with 25000 miles on it in premium condition.
...
It's like the wild west out here in L.A. with uninsured drivers and hit and runs. I still can't believe this happened to me less than 18 hours after getting my car.

Reasonable choice for your vehicle needs and low emissions motivations.

Sorry about the hit and run