Can you clarify. Do you all ready own 2 cars? Or replacing the second? I have been down this thought process several times. But ultimately I have bought nothing. Reasons.
Newer car is a car payment. Unless your buying out right, you will have increased insurance, (can't speak to AL car insurance. Mi Sucks). So you have to be driving enough to off set the cost of more insurance, interest rate if you finance, the cost of the new car, plus hybrid batteries are not cheap if they need replacing. Also uncertainty of used car hidden problems. So I always add up how many miles I plan to drive it. Factor I will have to purchase some gas either way. So at what point am I saving money? How many miles do I have to drive?
That my scenario i go thru for trying to save money on gas. I can't get there when I still have a functional car.
I'm in the same boat. My daily driver is an old F150 (5.4 V8) and I've got a 650cc motorcycle. For years I've kicked around the idea of getting a rollerskate econobox, but the cost of purchase, insurance, maintenance, etc., aren't even almost offset by the gas savings. If I had a longer commute that might be different.
Which doesn't answer Nutter's question, so here's some food for th. The Prius drivers I know are quite happy with them, but they also aren't the kind to take them off pavement. I used to drive tow trucks for extra income - this was before hybrids were a thing - and some more specialized cars have unique idiosyncrasies that make towing them an expensive PITA. If you're going to take it off the beaten path, you should figure out how much extra work it will be to get it back on the beaten path. If the batteries require it be towed flat - as in, on a flatbed - know that flatbed tow trucks are 2wd and the bosses usually won't let the drivers leave pavement with them, so you'd need someone with a 4x4, flatbed trailer, and winch, just to get you to the tow truck.
Have you (or anybody on here, for that matter) actually leased a car? Every time I've looked into it it seems mad expensive, especially considering that you're on the hook for anything beyond "normal wear and tear" and have to pay extra for mileage. Like I said I do drive a lot and while I'm pretty considerate of my vehicles I also hunt, fish, camp, and haul a dog in one. I consider it "use" not "abuse," but I think a dealer may disagree.
We're actually very close to deciding between leasing new and buying used on a CR-V. If you buy at the end of the lease then the mileage penalties and overall condition don't apply. On a hybrid, a 36-month lease is probably coming due at right around the time you need new batteries.
They also have different 'tiers' of leasing options. The base tier is like 12k miles a year and go up from there. We don't have a dog, but we do have a toddler, so the dealer is likely to look askance at what she's likely to do to the interior.
This is such an odd moment to buy a car. In MN, new cars CR-Vs are going for $8K over MSRP, and a 2019 with 30k on the clock is $3k under MSRP. If you can hold off a year or whatever until this moment passes that math will probably change.