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Basically I have a choice between two family cars, selling one and keeping the other. One is a 2005 Toyota Rav4 and the other is a 2010 Honda Insight. I'll outline what I know about each of them so far and what I like about each.

05 Rav4

pros:
- has a dope sound system
- better visibility, more fun to drive, has cruise control, elevated off the ground
- more space to carry objects
- has a roof rack
- slight nostalgic value, this has been my personal car since high school

cons:
- 160,000 miles
- 18/~26 MPG so worse mileage
- needs about a $800 repair for the steering sensor, and probably some brake work and new tires within a year's time
- possibly more maintenance needed soon

2010 Insight

pros:
- Hybrid car ~35/45 MPG mileage is about 2x as good
- ~75,000 miles
- newer car, feels a lot more responsive and less "loose" to drive

cons:
- low to the ground (not good for shitty roads in my town)
- worse visibility, less fun to drive, less space to carry things, no cruise control
- worse sound system

that's about all I know, I'm not really into cars. something to note is that I currently have a job delivering pizza so I use my car a lot for that. I hopefully won't be doing that for too much longer tho. it's also possible I could eventually sell both cars to get something even better in time, but for now I'll need at least one car to drive.

You have to keep the one that's better at delivering pizza.

Keep the Insight. You'll save money on gas and have a car that's less likely to die from something major.

Insight for pizza, just get a few roland cubes to fix the sound system.

But thinking in the future, I'd definitely keep the Rav4, even if it's a 05 it's a car you still see in the roads a lot for a reason.

Insight 100000%

Better, smaller, newer, cheaper, fewer miles, &c. This is a mode of transportation--that's all. If you want a rad sound system you can buy one with all the $$ you'll be saving on gas.

Toyotas do run forever, though. I have an '04 Tundra with... I guess like 150K miles?... no signs of slowing down.

160k in that RAV4 is nothing.

If you're selling one you'll make more selling the Insight. Then you can do the work in the RAV4 and probably be totally fine for another 140k if you stay up with regular maintenance.

The other car is a Honda so it'll probably last forever, too, so it's kinda whatever.

RAV$ are dogshit.
Keep the Honda.

Get a landcruiser.
Dominate.

Iommic Pope wrote:RAV$ are dogshit.
Keep the Honda.

Get a landcruiser.
Dominate.

+1 Land Cruiser is love.
Or get a Toyota pickup/Hilux. There's a reason that shitty militias in shitty countries love them. My dad's is still going with 300k, and this is after the timing chain self-destructed and blew a hole in the valve cover...

Didn't realize the Insight is a Honda—thought Hyundai for some reason.

In my experience, Hondas are just as bullet proof as Toyotas. Not sure if that applies to hybrids, though...

They're both cool, but yeah 05 is getting up there a bit for a daily driver, especially if you use it for work. My experience: smaller cars have better power/weight ratios, easier to work on, cheaper to maintain, last longer. Had a '70 Beetle that was like the fucken Terminator, little Hondas/Toyotas/VWs &c. I drive a 2016 Honda Fit now and it's Trumpproof.

Not a lot of 05's in MN, they're all rust buckets after 8 years or so.

I'd say ditch the RAV4 because there will be more issues coming if there is a hint of electronic issues

popvulture wrote:Didn't realize the Insight is a Honda—thought Hyundai for some reason.

In my experience, Hondas are just as bullet proof as Toyotas. Not sure if that applies to hybrids, though...

+1. Seems like no matter what you chose, it will be a 'good choice'. As far as maximizing your money...not sure what to say.

Still rocking my 2001 Civic. I'm not saying it is without problems but still going! I am actually getting a 2004 Toyota Camry to replace it and that car is great too. The only reason I am getting it is because my Grandpa can no longer drive so I am getting it for free.

I hate cars and driving so I try to spend as little money/effort on them as humanly possible.
*Typed on a 2008 MacBook.

Regarding streets, if you live in NJ like Strange Tales and I, the roads here are what I imagine the Eastern Bloc was like. So why spend a lot for something that is going to get beat to shit anyway? From what I understand, even further North (USA), the roads are salted like store brand ramen which fucks with everything.

Would the non-hybrid car be easier to maintain? I always like I could do basic stuff on my civic and that parts were cheap (same applies to my macbook, before they started soldering all the parts together).

thanks for the input everyone, I'm currently leaning toward the Insight, I think its going to save me the most money over the next 2 years or so, which at that point I'll hopefully be well off enough to get a newer car.

ChetMagongalo wrote:thanks for the input everyone, I'm currently leaning toward the Insight, I think its going to save me the most money over the next 2 years or so, which at that point I'll hopefully be well off enough to get a newer car.

why buy a new car?
just pick whichever one you like best and run it into the ground. buying cars is financially stupid.

my strategy:

buy car that lasts a long time when routine maintenance is performed (toyota, honda)
save cash
wait for car to die -- use saved cash to buy new car in full.