Now a good time to trade?

Dealers would be more than happy to pay you 3-8 thousand less than will sell it for.

 

Yeah, forget the dealers, go Craig's List or even PC here.

What other kind are you thinking of? Hummer?

 

great time to trade up to a guzzlier!

 

No matter what, you will take a loss on any trade-in....

 

but less than the last few months...

 

Prices haven't budged much yet, so I'd wait a while longer. Your Prius will increase in value, and people will be giving away SUVs soon. You can probably buy 3 or 4 SUVs with the proceeds from a Prius sale in 2012 and get a combined mileage of maybe 5 mpg!

 

With the Japan situation it is probably best to wait a week or two and see what happens. You certainly won't get much less but the upside is potentially much higher if Toyota delays production a long time. Hopefully (for the majority of people) Toyota and Japan will recover quickly.

 

Craig,

You are too funny! Didn't have a bunch of different boats you bought over on the SeaDoo forum? You gotta tell us, what are you looking at?

Bret

 

IMHO (current value: <$0.02)

There will probably be a gradual upswing in the retail value for used Priuses, especially the G3s. Gas is going up, and the supply of fact-o-ree fresh G3s will probably decline somewhat.
As others have stated, it's usually better to sell your car than it is to trade it in.

I don't expect that it will affect many people in this forum, but there will probably be some G3 owners that are currently experiencing "buyer's remorse" that might benefit from any slight appreciation in the value of their car.

However (comma!) you just never know....
I've heard some pointy-headed "experts" (derived from the English words "ex", meaning "has-been" and "spurt", meaning "a drip under pressure") specuguess that the spot price for crude will actually drop in the short term as a result of the Japanese disaster, since there are a will be a very large short term drop in their gasoline use. TIFWIW...

 

Depending on how your prius is equipped and the miles, you might come close to what you paid for it if you sold it yourself. This could happen if gas prices spiral higher and new inventories dry up. Not there yet. If they had the 2011 Ford Focus in a hatchback, I'd have bought an SEL with leather for about 8k less than my Prius IV. Would never have broke even with the better mpg. Having said that, I love the room and ride in my Prius -- seats are great and my ocd is tempered when I watch my mpg numbers bounce around 53. The fact is that is fun to get that kind of gas mileage even if you can afford a semi-guzzler. Plus, $60 every 10k miles for an oil change is about all these vehicles need. I bought in August when gas was low and the lots were full. Nice discount and a great trade-in for my Murano.

 

Trading in is a joke. You can even sell the car private if the title is held by someone else.

Suck it up, clean it up, get yer paperwork, maintenance receipts together, sell the car. then go buy. So what if you have to rent a Corolla for some days. Better than trading in for $3k less than you could sell it for.

The nice couple that bought my 2009 was very happy to stay away from dealers.

 

You will always get ripped off if you trade a car in. If you don't mind and consider it a convenience that you can afford, OK. If you have the time and don't mind bothering with it you will come out ahead financially selling the car yourself.

I don't think prices for used Prius are ever going to go up, but they may drop more slowly when gas prices are high.

 

That's simply not true. It is, however, sometimes true.

I have, many times, come out as good or better trading. I always shop my cars to several lots in advance and know what I can get. Otherwise, you simply don't know what your ACV (actual cash value) on trade is. That gives you one more thing to negotiate. And you can often find one lot that will step out - at least on nice well maintained ready to resell vehicles.

If you find another lot willing to pay more, you request an in-and-out to save the taxes a trade-in will save.

Using that method also allows you to buy out of town with no risk. The dealer taking your trade-in never has to see the car.

 

I think you must be a better negotiator than I am. I truly feel that I could have done better selling my own car every time I have used a trade in. In the past I have used the Edmunds or KBR prices as a guide. Perhaps I'll try your suggestion next time and use as many dealers as I can reasonably get to. I don't really like to sell things but I like to get a decent price because my cars are alway in very good condition and have complete maintenance records.

 

I always go to CarMax Laurel Toyota (new cars) for new cars, and have always gotten great prices for my trade-ins. I always check the blue book, and they usually exceed the dealer price. I got $4K more than my note balance when I sold my 3 year old Camry Hybrid with 65K miles on it. I used to sell cars (no boos please) so I know how dealers can stroke a deal. CarMax just relies on volume.

The first thing I do when I get a new Toyota from them (5 in the family in the last 6 years or so) is to remove the CarMax logo, though. =)

 

Trade-ins can work in your favor, but you have to look at all the angles to see if you can come out ahead or close to it. I have had pretty good luck with trade-ins over the last few cars. In GA, the tax savings has been a big reason why I trade vs. sell on my own. I do keep my cars in VERY good shape and the dealers I have worked with know that my vehicles are in good condition and worth top dollar.

Stand your ground, know what your car is worth and don't settle for less. Always make sure to negotiate the new car value first and don't ever mention "trade" when working on the new car. Dealers will get their money somewhere or try darn hard to sneak it in.

With that said, I don't think the Prius values are going to jump very quickly unless gas takes a climb to $4.50 a gallon across the nation. Then you may see some of the stuff we had back in 2008 with prices plummeting on used trucks/SUVs and prices skyrocketing on hybrids.

 

Shortly after i bought my car i got laid off, i went to carmax to just see what they would give me.

They said 6 month old 2010 prius gets 16,000. I look on their web site and they sell them for 21k, they said the 6 grand was to do engine and body work, and get it ready for sale. What a joke

 

Got an interesting letter in mail from Hayward Toyota today ...

'We are interested in your 2009 Toyota Prius. Very interested!

.... we need you Prius for resale ... short supply ... will pay top dollar ... '


Well, I sold it private party in January. Likely more than they would have offered. Interesting letter though.