Reply #10: Then *DO* it!

[salin]

You will make that up in a year or two. Meanwhile you will enjoy those drives more than ever. Seriously.

Btw, if you drive by the ocean - give a wave for me. I lived in the Bay Area for much of the nineties - and I miss being able to take a short drive to the Ocean and then along the coast as a way to wind down.

If you are tempted - and if you can afford it (and given the price difference between your options - guessing the payments are cool), then I would strongly recommend it. My mother has had two Priuses (she was in an accident and had to replace the first one) and I have one. Her first one was a 2002, replaced with a 2003. Niether of us - nor anyone we know who are Prius drivers have had any "expensive maintenance" problems.