Quick - should I get this car? Manufacturer buy back...

Wanted to just respond to a few of the responses.
First off, thank you everyone that gave me feedback. I ended up not buying either of the two cars. I picked up a 2013 Prius with 8k miles, single owner, on Friday night, for ~$20k out the door (TTL included). Brand new floor mats, and some other perks. Not a scratch, ding, or dent outside, and a flawless interior. For all intents and purposes: brand new.

I've heard good and bad things about rental vehicles. It's true renters often abuse them, BUT for a company that makes its money on their car fleet, you'd better believe they take good care of them. Oil changed regularly, and so forth. I'm still leery of them though.

Also, I disagree with the "pay a few thousand (!!!) dollars more for a new car. Penny wise pound foolish". Let me tell you what's foolish: driving a new car off the dealer's lot and IMMEDIATELY losing 10%+ of the car's value. This is only the second Toyota I've ever owned (I still have a Camry), but I don't believe there is any exception to that rule, regardless of car manufacturer (obviously sans some special edition cars, etc). In my case I got a car that had an original sticker price of $28,500 (I have the original sticker), and paid $10,000 less for it, albeit with 8k miles. 8,000 miles for $10,000? Still in completely brand new condition inside and out, and with the remainder of the factory warranty? Yes please. I'll spend another $2000 and get a 5 year 100k mile 'platinum' warranty, and be better off than a new buyer.

Although to be fair, I hear Toyota (and Honda) don't depreciate as fast as domestic models, which I have more experience with. I've purchased several Cadillac CTSVs over the years, and it always blows my mind how a $69,500 car can be purchased for $50,000 a year and a half later, with under 10k miles, and still in mint condition. I recently sold a 2007 model with 100k miles, excellent condition inside and out, and I couldn't get a bite for $14,000. No joke. This a car that had a sticker of $50,000 just 5 years ago.

Anyway - I've now been a Toyota Prius owner for going on 48 hours this evening, and I'm very impressed with the car. According to the computer (which I don't trust completely) we're getting 50-57MPG on each of our short trips. Seriously contemplating getting one of these things for myself too.

 

Why are we talking about depreciation of a Prius PLUG IN? I don't own one and neither do you... why are you using the depreciation of a completely different model and comparing the car I got???
I think you're confused buddy. You used the depreciation value of a different model car, and applied it to the MSRP of the car I bought (hint: not prius plug in)

I can tell you one thing, the 'market price' for a 2013 Prius, with any number of miles, is nowhere below $18,000. I know - I spent weeks looking. You're hard pressed to find a 2011 model for less than $18k. I paid mid ~$19k including $1500 taxes (which are unavoidable). A plug in model? Maybe, but I never mentioned being in the market for an electric car.

Platinum warranty I will consider getting when I get close to running out my 3yr/36k mile bumper to bumper, not before. Hybrid warranty, to my understanding, covers hybrid components and hybrid components only. You break your gas engine? You're on your own. So 150k mile means nothing unless the only thing you're worried about is your batteries and hybrid drivetrain. There are, I'm certain, other (expensive) parts of the car that could break.

EDIT: Be wary of 'market price' figures off a website, especially one like AOL. Market price is driven by... the market. Not a website. AOL could say the market price is $10,000 for all anyone cares, but that doesn't mean you're going to be able to find a 2013 Prius for less than $18k.

 

That is a good point, and it's very possible. Perhaps that's something I'll have to learn about Toyota, as from what I hear they are far more reliable cars than any I'm probably used to. I'm too familiar with taking domestic automobile makers to court over headlights that catch the car on fire, and leaking sunroofs that soak the interior of the car. Guess that's not the case with Toyota I've never owned a car, to date (and I've owned over a dozen) that I've driven for more than ~50k miles without having at the very least 3-5 trips to the dealer.

 

I'm sorry that bragging and being proud about getting an excellent deal on a car is trolling these days. Sounds like this is one of the stereotypical car forums that others joke about. I bought a 2013 Prius II, with almost exactly 8,000 miles, (no other options that I can tell), and paid $18,000 even for it. Regardless what AOL autos says, that is an excellent deal. Is it an exceptional deal? No. Is it 'too good to be true'? No. But it is at least $1500 cheaper than any other 2013 Prius I've seen. I had trouble finding 2012s with 25,000 miles for as cheap as I got this car. Of course I'm proud I found a good deal on it. I've bought many cars in my life, but this is about as good an example of a car in 'mint' condition as I've ever seen. Original owner, with the title clean and clear. Pulled up autocheck, carfax, and called original selling dealership - everything matches with the name of the buyer. Wrote a check and left with the title. I think I got legitimately lucky on this one, finding a guy that needed to sell his car quick, and I happened to stumble upon it. If you think that's not an excellent deal, then please, make MY day - go ahead and find a 2013 Prius with under 10k miles, excellent condition, for less than $18,000 anywhere in Texas. Hell, anywhere in the country. Needs to be a clean title, etc. of course.

On the Prius Plug In misunderstanding - I see how you thought I had the plug in. That's my bad - I'm not sure how that got in my profile, as I don't remember picking it when I signed up (I hadn't purchased a car when I joined the forum).

Extended warranty - jury is out on it still. I've only ever purchased extended warranties in the past for cars that I intended to drive well past the warranty period (150k miles+ usually). When this warranty gets close to expiring, I'll evaluate it at that point. I wouldn't say someone "came to their senses" by deciding not to purchase an extended warranty. Things do happen to cars, and sometimes they cost thousands of dollars to fix. Like saying you don't want to buy health insurance because nothing ever happens to you. Or car insurance. or life insurance. Same principle.

As for the comment about my 'original post flaming everyone for bragging about my buying prowess', that's something I'm still laughing about. Reading through my posts, in particular the first one, I've been nothing but appreciative for the help and community response. Many times I get involved in the forums of cars I own because often the owners know the cars better inside and out than the manufacturer does. If anything, it sounds like you're bitter because you paid $28,000 for a car that I bought 5 months later for $18,000. Go ahead and read through your responses in this thread. Every one of them is negative. Every. single. one. Believe it or not sometimes good deals come along. Believe it or not, I did get a good deal. Period. I spent weeks looking for used Priuses on everything from Autotrader to Craigslist. Hundreds of miles away. Went and looked at a half dozen of them in person. I'm sorry that I refuse on principle to buy a car brand new, but like I said (and like you admitted by posting that AOL screenshot), I can't justify losing 10% of a car's value in the 15 seconds it takes me to drive off the dealer's lot.