Starting to see used ones show up on Auto trader. Not sure why people are selling or trading in these cards with anywhere from a few hundred to just a few thousand miles on em. Thoughts?
All are listed by car dealers too, none from a private seller. Range of prices: Highest Price: $35,995 Lowest Price: $26,000 Average Price:$29,831
I wouldn't sweat it. There's always a percentage of buyers of a new model that run out purchase, and then almost immediately have buyers remorse. So you end up with low mileage used one's popping up. Overall The success of Prius V has reportedly been very good. And think about...the miles on these "used" vehicles have to be low. The whole model line hasn't been available but a few months. But I'd say this is pretty normal. It just happens. The reasons are going to vary from individual to individual, but overall? There's always a percentage of buyers that will buy and then discover or believe the vehicle isn't for them. I typically keep my vehicles for a long time. But I've had friends who have purchased a new or "new" used vehicle and turned it around pretty quickly, for a variety of reasons, real or imagined.
Well, be careful there. Autotrader only points close to your zip code. Not the same as the original poster. As for the OP - I would say that some are probably impulse buys in comparison to people who might be commited to buy/keep. You will get those types of people from time to time for some cars. You will note some of the reviewers had different opinions, such as I looked at one article, the reviewer was disappointed at the lack of rear air vents, which the reviewer found it disappointing, especially when said reviewer's kids were 'sweating' in the back. To be honest, I had my skepticisms about the Prius v myself given the rear seats didn't look 'nice', they look 'cheap' compared to how seats look for other cars, even for van/wagons. However, I am fairly commited to the vehicle as a whole, despite not getting the exact color I wanted (No Blue Ribbon Metallic in my area and couldn't wait for one to be delivered).
Most likely it's dealers working Toyota's "turn and earn" allocation system that rewards sales while punishing for unsold inventory. The night before every allocation timed to coincide with month-end close, dealer sales to availability is calculated and vehicles spread accordingly. More sales = more replaced, so the incentive is to sell out to the walls. If a dealer has any short supply vehicles left in stock, it becomes very difficult to regain inventory when every other dealer sells out. Dealers know all about it and are pressured by factory reps whose motivation is to report as many sales as possible for industry bragging rights. So some dealers will report a vehicle sold to someone out of the phone book in order to earn another on the next allocation, then are left with a technically "used" vehicle to sell. An honest dealer will sell it as a used unit since the warranty clock starts with the first reported sale. Other dealers will still sell the unit as "new" and hope it stays glued together for the term of the warranty the customer thinks they're buying. To verify this, ask if the vehicle was ever reported sold by Retail Delivery Record and if so, what is the Date of First Use. It won't change anytime soon. Dealers want the hottest sellers and Toyota wants the sales numbers for industry reports.
