Continuing to sort through my "fleet" - give me food for thought

So yeah...I know...I go through cars quick.  I enjoy the buffet approach.  Things were stable and I was quite content, but E36 M3 happened and here we go again.  My son had an accident and totaled "his" (i.e. my) HHR.  Thankfully insurance money will allow replacement.   My Prius C appears to have a head gasket starting to fail.  My twins turn 16 in about 10 months, they'll need cars.  Unfortunately, with the Prius problem, I have to make at least a move or two now and could use outside input.  Fix or sell?

It has 322k miles, but you'd never know by looking at it.  Current role is workhorse, we put 31K on it in one year.  We currently need a car that can hold various combinations of people, dog, and luggage/sports gear.  At times, it's cramped, but it's always done fine.  This car was/is earmarked for my daughter.  I can get an entire low mileage powertrain for about $500.  Labor is around $2000, plus misc parts, so I'd be $2700-ish in if I fix it.  I'd then turn it over to my daughter next year.  Option B is sell as is and get something else.  My wife and I drive a ton right now, but once the twins turn 16, we anticipate the need will drop substantially.   We then won't put 30K+ miles/year on our daily workhorse so won't need something like a Prius.  However, we will still do a decent amount of driving, so we want reliable-ish and efficient-ish.

What to do?  Prius C values are stupid high right now.  Mine has a E36 M3 ton of miles, but is super clean.  Spend close to $3k to fix, give to daughter in 10 months and go buy something else that's not a Prius?  Sell it now and get something else?    Then get a car for daughter next summer?  Honda Fit, etc...?  Smart money is to fix it, I know.  Just kicking around ideas.

I did buy SvRex mothers' Grand Marquis and I'm so glad I did.  It's at my ex's house and was being used as a "learning car" for my twins when they are with her.  My oldest son is using it now temporarily and my younger son likes it, so he's set when he turns 16.

WWGRMD?

I will be selling a supremely crappy 2010 Fit 5 speed after it gets me through this winter, if that interests you.

If your daughter likes the Prius C then it would be best to repair it now and you can continue to use it until she turns 16. This will give you those extra months to look for a good deal on the next vehicle for you. 

Spending $3000 on a vehicle you "know" and like is better than spending $5000+ on a basically unknown vehicle. Unless the Prius C also needs all the suspension replaced, brakes redone and looks pretty rough. 

In my case, I would buy the $500 low mile power train and I would swap it out myself but I know not everyone has the space, time, ability or desire to tackle that themselves.

Fix the Prius.  Drive it into the ground. You won't get anything that works better for the $ delta between what you could sell it for and what it will cost to fix.  

Yes, this will have to be done by a mechanic, I can't do it.  I don't have to replace the CVT, the one in the car is fine.  However, it just seems logical to do it, since it's got 322k on it.  My daughter does like the Prius, but isn't a car person, so she doesn't really care.  She just wants something no bigger than an Accord and decent on gas.  I don't know if the suspension is original, but the cooling system is all new in the past 6 months.

I've been super pleased with the Prius and how well it has served us as an appliance.  As I said, 31k+ miles in one year.  For my wife and I, it's just a touch on the small side and we won't "need" something like it next year once we don't drive as much.

I'm leaning toward fixing the Prius, but just like to get outside input to check my logic.  Then there's always the excitement of spending that cash on the Prius, handing the car to my daughter a short time later and dealing with the ex on $$$ for the car. 

Fix the Prius.  Better the devil you know.

It is such a tough time to buy cars right now. I might be tempted to fix rather than replace.

Fix and be done.

Fix the prius. 

$2000 seems extremely high to swap an engine. Can you get another quote from a different shop?

Thanks guys. I agree fixing is the smarter thing to do. Apparently, the book hours to swap a motor on the Prius C is 18 hours. Swapping motor and trans would probably be a little bit longer.

I know nothing of Prii, but if the engine/trans is mounted on a subframe, would it be easier (cheaper) to just buy the whole assembly out to the hubs and bolt it up?

SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:

Thanks guys. I agree fixing is the smarter thing to do. Apparently, the book hours to swap a motor on the Prius C is 18 hours. Swapping motor and trans would probably be a little bit longer.

Not necessarily. Not having to split the drivetrain may make notably less work.

I'd definitely repair the current car. A used car might need a bunch of repairs anyway. 

These guys imply that the 200 lb Prius engine requires about 6 hours to instal. I know YT is not always fact and sure, 2 guys (12 hrs) but... 

https://youtu.be/wnmZH9A0_nc

But, yes, add me to the camp of keep this car going. The devil you know... 

Sonic said:

Fix the Prius.  Drive it into the ground. You won't get anything that works better for the $ delta between what you could sell it for and what it will cost to fix.  

My question is... what is that delta?  What is it worth if he sold it?  I'm personally not a big fan of pouring $3k into a vehicle if it's worth $4k.  And if you fix a $3k problem on a 300k-mile car, how long until another $3k failure happens?

Using random numbers:

He has a car worth $3k as-is, or $4k fixed after spending $3k to fix it
Or, he could sell it for $3k, add the $3k he was going to spend on the repair and buy a $6k car that is actually worth $6k

I'm reminded of the time I tried to fix my neighbor's aging above-ground pool.  It had two small tears in the liner about 6" down from the top, so I pulled the trigger on $40 worth of that flex seal tape.  It worked great, but as we refilled it, the whole liner split down the other side taking out the framework, soaking the carpet inside the sliding door to his living room, and depositing 2" of water in his basement.  Turns out that instead of a $40 fix, it would have been far cheaper to chuck the old liner and buy a new one for $500

I do tend to agree though right now.  Priiiii are pretty robust beasts, and the market is nuts.  I'm just voicing a wee bit of dissent so I'm not the one who blanketly recommended to keep it only to have the wheels fall off next month.

It sounds like the rest of the car is well-maintained (new cooling system, etc.), so I'm in the "devil you know" camp. Especially knowing that your daughter likes the car.