What would you do?

But do you save any money over a pre-owned car that wasn't a rental or loaner vehicle?

A demo with 5k miles on it is a little different...

 

Do you want this car, even if the oil was changed every 5k miles? Or do you want a Lincoln Town Car thats been driven lovingly by a retired business executive?

But hey...you might have saved a thousand bucks buying that one!

 

Stve, Mark, I respect your opinions.

I think it obviously varies on a car to car, dealer to dealer basis. I have pretty good confidence in a Toyota dealership. It's highly unlikely that a Prius owner renting a Prius is going to try doing doughnuts. Lexus rentals are different: many Lexus owners may consider themselves car afficianados and may push the rental car a bit more. Toyota less likely, a Prius even less likely.

You just gotta test drive the car and make the best informed decision. Again, privatelu owned cars aren't necessarily guaranteed to be a-ok -- I would not want to buy my mothers Prius and she's been the only owner.

 

You really have no reason to...

Look at the videos on that YouTube link, all kinds of makes and models of vehicles. Hyundais...Dodge Neons...Kias...why would the vehicle being a Toyota or a Prius make people more likely to be gentle with it? If anything the Prius is so highly controversial amongst some people I would be afraid it being rented by a non-Prius owner would invite mayhem...

Thats precisely the point...you don't know...so why take a chance on buying a rental when there are plenty of one owner pre-owned cars out there? I know what you are going to say, you don't know when its a one owner either...but I think its entirely logical to say that its more likely that a car driven at all times by someone who owns it as their property is going to be better cared for than a vehicle loaned to a bunch of different people who drive it without caring about its condition or longevity in the slightest.

I'm not one of these clowns but I'm careful where I park my car and avoid potholes, etc. Only use high quality fuels. But when I have a loaner...I park wherever and use whatever fuel is the cheapest.

 

^Sure. Completely logical. I just don't think there's any shame in buying a CPO loaner if what you want is a relatively new car w/ very low miles. Thousands of people do it and never see any issues, inside or out.

 

I would make the decision for myself, after considering what is best for me. Everyone has different circumstances, needs and wants, so, what others would do may have little value in determining the choice that is best for you.

 

As Prius-owner friend of mine told me before I bought mine, once you drive a Prius you can't drive anything else.

So since you asked 'what would I do?, the first thing I'd do is dicker on the Prius II. I paid about 23K for my Prius III with Nav and JBL.

 

A couple of thoughts - first off 27,000 is a hell of a lot of miles on a car that is under a year old - that is around 2 years of normal driving squeezed into a short period. What is the sticker for that specific trim level Camry with the same options?

As for buying a loaner - I guess that I'd consider it if it was what I wanted, but my wife and I have never "stretched" when buying cars and we also keep them for a long time so we try and consider the total cost of ownership - certified pre-owned do not offer a terribly big benefit in our situation. You save a bit on the front end, but it is a wash long term.

As for a better car for you - only you know what your driving habits are and how long you keep cars and how many miles you will drive annually.

As for my answer to your specific question - look inside and get the car that you want, balanced with your own economic goals. All of here have paid more for our Prius' than we would have for a similar non-hybrid. We all have given the Prius some intangible value in our own purchasing decisions - on a straight $ decision we would all be better buying a Fit, Corolla or similar and bank the savings. So - get the car that you will be happy driving for the next number of years & good luck.

 

Certainly no shame in it...thats not at all what I am saying. All I'm saying is you have a lot of options, there are tons of these cars out there pre-owned...why choose a car thats more likely than another car to have been treated badly before you owned it? I think its hard to argue that a previous loaner or rental car has a greater chance of having been abused before your ownership than a 1 owner car that you can verify the service history, etc.

Before I bought my 2010 ES I looked at a LOT of CPO LS430s and LS460s, I'm also not sold on the whole "certified" pre-owned thing. I saw a lot of cars that were *really* rough, with multiple panels that had obviously been repainted. I also saw a few LS460s on lease return before they were detailed to be put on the market because salesmen showed me cars that met my needs before they had put them in inventory. Cars that looked like they had never seen a carwash...let alone an oil change. Honestly, after that experience I wouldn't hold a car being "certified" to be worth a whole lot...

IMHO when buying a used car one should take their time and find the right car with the right history...thats all I'm saying.

 

A Prius !! for 24k??? Sounds like you need to shop around. I got mine for 20k from a local CarMax dealer that sells brand new Toyotas

 

2011 Prius Two with floor mats is $24,010 sticker. Who the heck would pay that these days?

T Sunnyvale ad'ing them for $21,988 and 30 units at that price.

What Camry are we talking about anyway? hybrid? If regular, that's 26 MPG average. and you can go lower than that in lots of city driving.

Prius is practically impervious to all city driving - it will still get 50.

 

That would mean game over for the economy (good luck finding food). Tent cities and FEMA camps in every major city, yippee. If the dollah lost the world reserve status, $20 (for starters) might not even be uncommon. Oh well, at least we could nuke the IMF and everyone else who sacrificed the dollar (but we would also have to nuke ourselves). Yes, I'm a doom and gloomer. I hope I meet an untimely death before all this hits because it's beyond my ability to prepare.

Oh, my average MPG after 120 miles on the current tank, according to the display (so subtract 2 from this figure), is about 49 right now...color me unimpressed (I haven't been using the heater and I don't have a lead foot...maybe I need to make sure my tires are inflated to 42/40 and improve my pulse/glide technique).

 

What is your average speed? Also, could you have bought something else and got 49MPG?

 

I also tend to purchase new for the very reasons stated above, that essentially boil down to fear of the unknown!

Having said that, and given the choice of a new Camry or a new Prius, I would still choose the Prius. Like one other previous poster, I got my Prius III w/Nav for $23K, use a service like USAA or TruCar to see what a reasonable purchase price is in your area. We've owned two Camry's before our current Prius, and yes, on one trip from IN to TX, we actually got 40 mpg, but the average was much closer to 25/26 mpg combined, a tad lower in straight city driving. I'm at 1/2 tank in my Prius right now, with 273 miles on the odometer this fill-up and the Average MPG is showing as 58 mpg (granted this is generous, probably more like 55 mpg). I will easily get 480-500+ miles out of this tank of gas, and this is straight city driving! My average over the 14 fill-ups I've made since purchasing the car in Jul 2010 is 50 mpg, and I hope to see that increase now that the car is breaking in and the weather is warming up...

Look at your average round trip commute, figure how many days you can go on a tank of gas at 50+ mpg and at 25 mpg. Then figure out what it costs to fill the tank of the Prius (I paid $26.33 for 8.1 gallons @ $3.25 a gal), what it costs to fill the tank of a Camry (est: 14 gallons @ $3.25=$45.50), the frequency of fill-ups (I can normally go two weeks between fill-ups, Camry will probably go a week to a week and a half), and multiply that by the number of fill-ups a year. That will give you your difference in fuel costs and may help you figure out how far that extra $6700 will take you... Prius: 26 fill-up @ $26.00=$676.00 Camry: 40 fill-ups @ $45.00=$1800 6700/1800=3.72, so almost 4 years and you will break even. If you plan on keeping the Prius longer than 4 years, every year after that will definately equate to a cost savings...

Disclaimer: I'm no mathamatician, so if these figures are totally off, please forgive me!

 

Having some experience at the new car dealer level, never, never make an assumption that a brand new car was treated with kid gloves. I can tell you that I've seen some pretty nasty demo drives by salespersons trying to prove a point. How about some ugly unloading procedures from the new car delivery truck driver. A prospective buyer nevers knows.

 

I traded my 2010 camry hybrid for a 2010 prius 3 after a lot of thinking on my part.I had no need for the interior size of the camry and have no regrets.my thinking was more room in the back for hauling large things and the better mpg..after driving the prius o 15,000 miles i know i made the right choice.

 

But, if you buy a car with 7 miles on it, its pretty unlikely that any lasting damage is going to be done in those 7 miles. If you buy a rental car thats been driven 21k miles in 6 months...thats another story.

 

Math is easy on this based on a couple of gas numbers, run them at $3.50 and at $5 (a ridiculous worse case).

Anyway, that is too high for a 2011 Camry, you can do better, you can do that price with ZERO miles, brand new.

I've only ever bought one vehicle new. I still think used is better overall value, but it has to make sense. Demand a big price reduction or don't do it. I'd always prefer a new car without options than a used one with for the same price, but that's how I roll. I have one gear. GO!

 

Steve, the safest bet may be to order a new car rather than buy from dealer inventory. Years ago, I was guilty of taking that 7 mile new car and showing someone how awesome the suspension works. One time I took a brand new civic (very early 70's) and showed a buyer how the car accelerates from a dead stop in 4th gear; ouch, that's ugly. Ahhh, those were the days of memories and crazy dealer sh...t! I'm still willing to buy the potential new possibly abused car; evidently, I deserve it from what I used to do.

 

I'll have to check again. It's probably around 50 at this point (after the highway driving yesterday). And of course not (aside from an electric vehicle ).