Hello, I was a proud owner of 2010 Prius III until last month. I had to sell it to buy a 2011 Toyota highlander(growing family). But my love for a Prius is not dying. I am looking at a 2004 Prius with 135K miles on it, dealer is asking $9500. I would like to get advice from all the veteran Prius owners here. I will keep the car until it dies, so I need a reliable car with a lot of life left in it. I cannot spend any money on any major repairs like battery or anything in the near future. Please let me know what you all think. Should I go for it? Thanks!
No. 1. The $9,500 price is high for a 7-year-old Prius with 135K miles. 2. You don't have a budget for repairs, and it is not reasonable to expect the car will be troublefree indefinitely. 3. I'm not sure how much more life you expect from a car with 135K miles. Its remaining life depends upon how well it was maintained to this point, as well as the extent to which you can fund repairs as problems happen.
Here is some info that could be helpful. As of 05-09-2011 at 10:02PM, here are the values from one of the largest auto auctions in the area -Manheim Auto Auction. For todays prices, it shows that the average wholesale price (what the dealer is paying for it) is $7,350 with an average retail of $10,800. LOW wholesale is $4,900, and LOW retail is $7,550 You can't argue with these numbers, BUT- you still have to take into account the true condition of the vehicle.
It is just not possible right now to get a good deal on a Prius. By comparison, a 2001 with 109,000 miles sold on ebay out of Akron for $5495. About your only chance for a sensible deal here would have been to trade your 2010 for this one and a lightly used Highlander. On the other hand, there is no escape from car payment hell if you keep buying new cars. I don't think you should buy this car right now, but it is really hard to go wrong with a used Toyota.
That is a heck of a lot for a car that age with that many miles. Given the area that you are in I would imagine that the roads get a lot of salt in the winter so rust could be an issue in upcoming years.
I wouldn't do it. Wait till you can a newer/lower mile car. Your taking to big of a chance it could breakdown and needs thousands in repair, so you could still owe 10k on a car that needs 6k in repairs(I know this is the worst case but could happen).
Yow, I bought my 04 with only 56k for about that price 2 years ago. I know with gas prices higher now, the demand is up, but that seems too high. Good luck.
