I've posted this at PriusChat.com but I thought I'd add it here too.
Spouse's '97 Nissan Altima, with 111K miles, is looking at a new A/C compressor and maybe a few hundred bucks of "other" repairs. It was in a 2005 collision and it drives fine today, but I'd estimate its current value at about $600. We bought it over eight years ago (with 58K miles on it) so it owes us nothing. We're looking for a different (not "new") car and we'll donate this one to Goodwill.
Now that we're both retired and empty nesters, spouse drives "her" car maybe 3000 miles per year. I change the oil every six months more out of habit than necessity. A typical drive is 10-15 miles each way or a round-trip errand run of 15-20 miles. The car rarely sees a rush hour. It sometimes sits in the garage for 2-3 weeks between trips.
Her replacement vehicle doesn't need to have a lot of hauling capacity or a hatchback or folding rear seats, and if I had to take the car surfing then I'd use a roof rack for my longboard. She'd prefer a beater car so that she doesn't have to worry about parking lot dings or other wear & tear. (Yes, I'm very fortunate to have such a low-maintenance spouse!) With those criteria, we look for older used cars with higher mileage.
The Civic caught our eye because the owner seems to be having trouble selling it. It's been listed for nearly a month and it's well below blue-book value. Yet he claims that the hybrid batteries were replaced under warranty in 2009 and that the A/C compressor was replaced this year.
Of course we're buying a car with an ICE approaching a 100K-mile checkup, but IMA ICEs probably have much gentler run hours on them. If the batteries and the A/C compressor turn out to be as advertised, are we looking at any other Civic-specific issues? Anyone know how the five-speed transmission's holding up? (Honda has since shifted to a CVT for later model years.) Any other recommendations?
Spouse's '97 Nissan Altima, with 111K miles, is looking at a new A/C compressor and maybe a few hundred bucks of "other" repairs. It was in a 2005 collision and it drives fine today, but I'd estimate its current value at about $600. We bought it over eight years ago (with 58K miles on it) so it owes us nothing. We're looking for a different (not "new") car and we'll donate this one to Goodwill.
Now that we're both retired and empty nesters, spouse drives "her" car maybe 3000 miles per year. I change the oil every six months more out of habit than necessity. A typical drive is 10-15 miles each way or a round-trip errand run of 15-20 miles. The car rarely sees a rush hour. It sometimes sits in the garage for 2-3 weeks between trips.
Her replacement vehicle doesn't need to have a lot of hauling capacity or a hatchback or folding rear seats, and if I had to take the car surfing then I'd use a roof rack for my longboard. She'd prefer a beater car so that she doesn't have to worry about parking lot dings or other wear & tear. (Yes, I'm very fortunate to have such a low-maintenance spouse!) With those criteria, we look for older used cars with higher mileage.
The Civic caught our eye because the owner seems to be having trouble selling it. It's been listed for nearly a month and it's well below blue-book value. Yet he claims that the hybrid batteries were replaced under warranty in 2009 and that the A/C compressor was replaced this year.
Of course we're buying a car with an ICE approaching a 100K-mile checkup, but IMA ICEs probably have much gentler run hours on them. If the batteries and the A/C compressor turn out to be as advertised, are we looking at any other Civic-specific issues? Anyone know how the five-speed transmission's holding up? (Honda has since shifted to a CVT for later model years.) Any other recommendations?