Goodbye, LS-430; hello, Prius.




After three years of problem-free ownership, I traded in my 2006 Lexus LS-430 UL with 90,098 miles for a 2010 Toyota Prius V with Advanced Technology Package (72,4xx miles) on Friday, 11 March 2016. The dealer had put a date of 8 March or so on the papers, but I really signed on 11 March.

I decided on a Prius back when gas prices were higher. Today, 0.87 octane is about $1.75/gallon and Premium is about $2.15. These are pretty good prices, but I expect them to go back up. Not only will I get better MPG (as much as 51 vs 17.3 per the dash on my LS), I’ll also be buying regular instead of premium. My hope is for my monthly gas bill to go down to about $25 for my car, but we’ll see.

It was time for me to try a new car. Where my Lexus was extremely reliable, extremely luxurious and extremely powerful, I bought this Prius in hopes of it being extreme in its own ways: extremely reliable and extremely economical. And extremely convenient, thanks to bluetooth music support.

I paid $13,500 and saved $720 in sales tax by trading my LS-430 in to the same dealer who sold me my Prius. I found him on Craigslist.