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Dear Motor Medics, I have two older cars. The first car is a 2012 Toyota Prius and the second one is a 1999 Volkswagen New Beetle.
Here is my dilemma. I need to send one of these two cars down to me daughter who lives in Florida but I can’t seem to make a decision. I want her to have the most reliable and safest car while she is there.
How do I choose? The Beetle has only 70k miles and the Prius is almost 200k. Both cars are well kept and driven daily.
Thank you, Chris, in Luvern, Minnesota
Dear Chris, We won’t tell you outright which car to choose, as we would probably end up being wrong, so that is up to you. We will say this though, if it were our car and our daughter, we would look at the overall condition of both cars first.
You say that both are well kept. Has the Beetle had a new timing belt yet? So many people say they are well kept and never change their belt and that is a disaster waiting to happen.
Whichever one you choose make sure you have a trusted mechanic look it over before you send it down there.
Here is something else to consider in a car that far away. A ’99 Beetle is fairly easy to get repaired at many shops. Need an alternator, many shops will fix it right up. Need a Prius fix, not as easy. Take care, The Motor Medics
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