Is anybody else having trouble selling a Prius?

No rocket science here, but used Prius market values are seriously depressed as they have been all year.

I paid a lot for mine, purchased during peak gas prices of $4.50 average. I caught the $500 MSRP 2009 increase also, basically $30k OTD for the car pack5 and mats.

Doubt anyone would be willing to go $21k for it. 9 - $10k loss for what .... 7k miles of ownership. No way.

Sure, the hawks want to score a 2008 , low miles, nav, maybe leather for about $20k .... don't feed the hawks unless you really must sell the car.

Conditions for better Prius resale are - $4+ gas, Gen3 long waitlist, strong economy and job market, late Spring, summer, lots of car buying.

 

Morning's paper ...

08 Prius from dealer, previous rental, probably a pack2 - $18,991


pffft .. any Prius under $20k in Summer of 08 was salvage title. Everything else was over $20k asking, even pack2's with over 60k miles.

Sad, but resale prices are down. They will go up with right conditions.

 

My concern about buying a Prius is the resale value. If the rechargeable batteries are designed to last 7 years and I buy a new 2010 model and want to sell it 2017, who would want to buy it knowing that the batteries could give out at any time and replacing them would cost a fortune.
I would buy one in a heartbeat if I knew how the car could hold it's value after 6-8 years. Do most new Prius buyers sell them after three or four years?

 

Where on earth did you get the notion that the HV battery is good for only seven years? The HV battery is designed to last for the life of the vehicle.

Think of it like an automatic transmission in an ordinary car. Most of them last for the life of the car. A few fail early and are covered by the warranty. Some are driven into the ground by long years of service and need to be replaced.

If and when you do need to replace the battery, the cost is lower than the cost of replacing an automatic transmission. Are you reluctant to buy an ordinary car because eventually the transmission will need to be replaced? I think not.

Tom

 

Regarding the batteries, although "your experience may vary":
1. Toyota has done a very good job with their battery management software so there there are many Prii on the road with over 200K on the original battery pack.
2. As time has passed the price of the batteries have dropped so the big battery replacement cost fear is largely hype.
3. There are options available now with companies which rebuild the battery packs. The options to do that will likely increase as more vehicles have batteries as part of their equipment.

I personally have no concerns and I'm of the school of thought that pays cash for cars, cares for them well and drives them for 10 years or more.

A car is in itself a very bad investment. With all the options now coming to market (PHEV & EV's) the value retention that Gen II owners had when gas was $4 plus per gallon may not hold true in the future. My advice is buy what meets you needs now and makes you feel good every time you drive it. For me, this is the first car I've ever driven that makes me smile (every time I roll up to a traffic light with the engine off).

 

I bought a 2006 from dealer (package 8) for $12895 65k Not a blemish on it with new tires .Just the market where you are at and times we're in.

 

Here in the land of $4 per gallon gas, you rarely ever see a used Prius for sale, even though there are LOTS of them on the road. The only way I got my 2008 (for which I paid about $1000 under KBB owner-sale Retail) was to offer the previous owner a worries free sale. She was retiring and leaving island. I told her six months out that as long as she continued taking care of Hal and didn't wreck him, I'd buy him the day she left and drive her to the airport.

Bottom line, and has been said here, ANY commodity is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay. If you're not willing to sell a car for what the market will bear at the moment, forego that New Car Smell and keep driving it.

 

I second qbee42's question. The HV battery is warranted for 10 years/150K miles in CARB states such as California + 8 to 10 others and 8 years/100K miles in all other states. This doesn't imply that it'll fail after 8 or 10 years.

http://john1701a.com/prius/owners/jesse4.htm was a first gen (2002) Prius that got its life cut short by an accident while still on the original pack in 2008 at 349K miles.

Most non-luxury cars have only a 3 year/36K mile basic warranty and 5 year/60K powertrain warranty. Does that mean a car only lasts 3 or 5 years?

While I have no stats, I seriously doubt that most Prius owners sell their cars after 3-4 years. That's nuts. I'm a few months shy of the 5 year mark now and have no intention of selling anytime soon.

 

Someone who buys a new car every seven years is not really worried about value. The cheap way to own a car is to buy used; and whether it was bought new or used, drive it until it falls apart.