If you buy new, and want to trade for a new one in 3-4 yrs... ?

Pola ... most places will give you book for your car. That being said ... you lose a lot on ANY car once you drive it off the lot. The longer you keep the car, the longer you have to spread out the initial depreciation.

I'm not sure about if you still owe when you trade again ... I know it would be easier to work numbers if you didn't though. There are so many ways a dealer can screw you ... not just on price, but then on % interest ... there are a lot of sneaky ways to hide tactics.

One problem people have is they get to set in their mind about what size of payment they want rather than whether they're actually getting a good deal or not.

 

If you owe any money at trade-in time, the dealer is required to pay off the bank in order to obtain the title for the car.

As for trade value for a Prius vs. other cars, I doubt it's much different. There may have been a time early in 2006 when a used Prius was worth a bit more, because new ones were in short supply.

Nowadays, there are plenty of Priuses on the lot, so neither a dealer nor a private party will feel compelled to pay more for the car simply because it's a Prius.

A Prius with California HOV-lane stickers might command a higher price, assuming the buyer can compare it with an identical Prius. That's an unlikely situation, however; it's very rare that a buyer is considering two vehicles whose major difference is the HOV sticker.

 

Yahoo autos, msn autos and edmunds/intellichoice have prius as the least depreciating auto there currently is around.

If the 09 Prius is as well built as this one and has better mpg, dealers will be selling above MSRP until supply meets demand again.

I get the feeling that hybrid will be more mainstream then and Toyota will not *have to* put so many extras on the car to make it appealing. I speculate there will be an $24k high end 09 Prius and a $19k base 09 Prius with less extras than the current model has.

How much $ will you save moving from a 50mpg to an 80mpg Prius? Will it be worth the extra money?

I know one or two things about how the digital camera market worked. It is not worth upgrading for the next new toy and it's best value to skip a generation of high electronics products. I get the feeling that the current Prius is extremely reliable so it should last us a while/

Unless you have the $ and you want the best toy available, in which case you wouldn't be starting this thread...

 

If you trade you will lose thousands. It will take many years to recover that loss in fuel savings, probably longer than you will own the new car...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rick Auricchio @ May 6 2007, 03:44 PM) [snapback]436486[/snapback]</div>

You're right but what price happiness? If one is happy with a new Prius and they were aware going into the deal that they would lose (it would cost) more so what? It's only money and ya can't take it with you. And if gas would reach $5-6.00 per gallon, it'd be worth trading for me! I guess it depends

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pola @ May 6 2007, 03:58 PM) [snapback]436462[/snapback]</div>

Talk about DEPRECIATION................ we purchased a brand new 2003 Acura MDX TOURING w/NAVI and dealer installed (all Acura factory parts) Trailer Towing Package (and Acura extended warranty 100K/7 year) for $45,638 TOTAL in February 2003.
We went to several Toyota Dealers the past month (May 2007) and the BEST "trade-in" was $19,500 which is the high end of the "Black Book", mid to low end of "Kelly Blue Book" !! By the way, we had 57,000 miles on it (average) and it was in EXCELLENT (no damage ever, no dents or dings, always garaged) CONDITION !! BUT.......... it ran ONLY on PREMIUM FUEL ............. bye, bye Acura MDX.............
---------------- <OUCH !!>---------------

 

in addition to the sites ystasino mentioned, Kelly Blue Book and NADA will give you a handle on depreciation of 3-yr-old Prius. You will find it to be quite small compared to other highly reliable sedans.

 

A prius depreciates less than many other cars.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(John6012 @ May 6 2007, 06:24 PM) [snapback]436508[/snapback]</div>

This is the mode of thinking that keeps the vast majority of Americans poor and in debt.

"I want to be happy, I deserve to be happy NOW and I will do whatever it takes and spend whatever it takes to BE happy". The attachment of "things" and "happy" is a very dangerous and personally destrucvtive attachment Americans have.

Now, that said of course you can't take it witrh you and you need to do things you enjoy and have things you enjoy, you just have to be smart about it. Buying a new car and trading it 3-4 years down the line is not smart. You loose a ton of money in the process. The smartest thing to do would be to buy a car that was already a couple years old, or if you must have a new car (like me) it probably makes more sense for you to lease.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SW03ES @ May 20 2007, 03:00 PM) [snapback]446212[/snapback]</div>

This is very true..... I heard from several people, including a few car salespeople, that LEASING a new vehicle then "buying" it works out a lot more "cost effective" than an outright purchase of that new vehicle. I DON'T know why, as I never leased......... but like I said, heard this from many others.........

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FloridaWen @ May 20 2007, 01:47 PM) [snapback]446248[/snapback]</div>

If you switch cars every 2 or 3 years, leasing is probably cheaper than buying.
If you want to pay the least, though... buy and drive it into the ground.

 

short term, or if (as mentioned above) you HAVE to have a new car every couple of years... leasing is cheaper. but in the end you lose out over buying one new and driving it for 10 years. you even lose out over buying a year-old lease return, or buying one new every few years with a substantial down payment. leasing typically is done by people who can't afford the car they want but want it anyway.

the cost of driving a brand new car off the lot is pretty substantial no matter the method of paying for it.

my mother once tried to convince me that leasing an acura continually was cheaper than buying a new, reliable ~$25k car and owning it for 10 years. i laughed so hard i nearly hung up on her.

 

I am not planning to trade in the near future since I purchased the extended warranty. I am, however, concerned about the high cost of battery replacement as my milage increases and I near the end of my warranty. What is the cost of battery replacement and is it worth selling sooner than I would generally prefer? ( I usually keep a car 8-10 years)

 

The traction battery warranty is at least 10 years/100,000 miles so it may still be under warranty when you plan to sell the car. Taxis have logged 3 times that mileage without failure. A high mileage Prius has a better chance of ending its useful life by being totalled in a collision. Relax and enjoy the car.

 

Thanks, Jim. Worthwhile thoughts to consider. Are you a taxi driver? Sure is the vehicle to own if so!

 

What about when you include an HOV sticker that you never use?