Trade in my 2010?

If it's just NAV you're dreaming of, it's not worth it considering it's a downgrade from the previous generation (5th gen) Lexus NAV system. Get an aftermarket unit.

Package V only makes a difference if you want the AT (unless it's something else like 17" wheels and LEDs).

 

What he said. Cool your jets. Tint your windows, change your wheels, upgrade the sound and trick it out cosmetically. A lot of folks here don't think the Nav is worth the $$ and while the features of the V with Tech are cool....come now - I bet you can parallel park without the help of a computer. Keep and enjoy it!

 

Trade it in.....do it.....DO IT! DO IT!

Hey, Dennis Miller once said he voted for Ross Perot just because he wanted to see what the crazy bastard would do in the White House.

Keeping politics out of it, my attitude is much the same. Trading in a perfectly good Prius III makes little or no sense, you will lose huge money but I just kind of want to see someone do it.

So flush several thousand down the drain, take a good Clunkers deal and parlay it into a huge loss.....DO IT! You'll get leather seats and a few neato gadgets....do IT!

 

Are you really dying to have those options THAT much? I think a lot of the optional equipment is nice, but I can certainly live comfortably without it (especially if I were in your shoes).

 

Can you even sell your new car under the C4C program?

I guess I just assumed that anyone who got $4500 off the retail price would somehow be prohibited from turning around and selling it for, say $2000 less than the retail price but still at a profit to them of $2500.

Is there nothing in C4C that requires the owner to insure the vehicle (VIN#, actually) for a certain period?

 

Exactly what I was going to say...except you said it much better!

I can't imagine there not being a clause in the C4C paperwork to prohibit selling/trading for x amount of time.

 

ASFAIK, there is no clause. I asked a salesman that specific question and they told me that if there was such a clause they would have to disclose it to the buyer at the time of purchase.

 

I wonder if you took it back to the dealer and told him you wanted to trade up, he'd take it back

 

I did C4C and I'm pretty sure there's nothing to stop me from selling. I think it would be fairly hard to turn that into much of a profit for the effort involved. And I guess either way, the objectives of the program would be met even if you did this "scam" and made it work: a new car was sold and an old, less fuel efficient car was taken off the road.

To the original topic, I guess you need to price out what those features are worth, but most people on here that I've seen don't seem totally convinced those features are worth the price, much less the price + the loss you'll take selling your car.

But I'm not one to ask really, I got a II because it was what I could afford but also because it really had everything I wanted. Honestly most of the upgrades are things I don't want or things that seem sort of gimmicky to me. No offense to anyone, just my personal opinion on what is right for me.

 

Interesting. I don't know the legal details but I kind of think the opposite. How could a clause requiring you to keep it exist? For example one poster here bought a 2010 Prius and loved it....except the seats it turned out killed his injured back. He had to sell it. How could you keep someone from the freedom of doing with their property, what they wish to do with their property?

I'm guessing you could sell it, trade it in whatever, how you purchased becomes inmaterial once you own it, it's your property, you'd have the same responsibilities and options as anyone buying an automobile. Limited of course by the realities of payments and value.

 

Heck, let's say that he is able to sell it to a private party at a price close to MSRP, as he stated, there are really none available in his area. While he may take a $1,000 hit off MSRP as the car is still new, a buyer would get a good deal, paying under MSRP, and most likely saving money on taxes. Then with that 'profit' of $3,500, he can apply that towards the costs of the car that he really wants.

Otherwise, let's say a dealer is willing to take it in trade, at a price of $2,000 under MSRP. Since this would be a trade-in for a Prius V AT (I can't imagine it would be worthy of doing to only move up one trim level), you would be saving that amount off the tax bill, so the first $20,000 something of the new car is likely tax free (unless you r state does this differently than mine). In effect, this could turn out to be ideal for him, and actually allow him to buy his 'V' for hardly more that he would have bought the initial car.

 

I don't think the government cares at all because the car industry gets the business either way; however, there was also the restriction that the clunker had to be insured for one year so people can't just buy any clunker right before the program.

 

Correct. I had the (mis)fortune of reading the ENTIRE C4C law when I had to educate my local dealership on how the program worked. There is nothing in the law that says anything about what the owner can or can't do with the new vehicle after ownership is assumed. Once it's yours, you can do whatever you want with it.

That said, I can't imagine wanting to trade in my III. I love it and plan to keep it for a long time!!

 

You still could do aftermarket leather and wheels.

 

I have a III, got it because that was what was available during C4C. Not the color I wanted, no leather etc., But it's growing on me, I think I'll keep it.

 

OP,

How much time per week do you spend in your car?

 

You won't know until you price it out. If you lose a little on the trade, it will cost you money but considering you already got $4500 off you could still end up with a Prius V at less than invoice which is better than anyone else (other than other C4C people) and have what you want.