What's a resonable price for a used 2001 Prius?

It is a seller's market right now, and there is no "reasonable" price anymore. $4-$5 gas, 0 supply from Japan, and a freaked out market means they are going for $5k more than they were in January. If you are buying now, you cannot consider prices from last month, or any month before. The best comparison is 2008-ish prices.

If you get it under $10k, you will have made out well in today's market.

 

for example, there is a car on ebay right now, 2002 with 38,000 miles, high bid is $6400, buy it now price $9400. There are others, 01-03, with bids in the several thousand range, but none over $10,000. In certain areas of the country, inventory on used Prii is extremely tight, and prices are quite a bit higher than they were a year ago.

EDIT: I found a 2001 with 109,000 miles that sold for $5495 on ebay two days ago. That's the ballpark.

 

I had the same thought when I saw the thread title - some of the prices that folks have posted here are just crazy to me. I understand the convergence of events driving prices but it just seems beyond crazy. There is no way I'd buy a used Prius these days. I do not know if things will go much higher as there are rumblings of gas prices beginning to ease, but I think it is safe to say that we are well into the boom phase. That means that the bust phase will follow at some time.

 

The market demands smaller and more fuel efficient cars today. A used hybrid is a deal indeed IMO, if I were hybrid shopping...but the point for most folks is to SAVE MONEY. If I am paying more for a used hybrid than what it's "worth" than I am paying for my gas savings upfront and may take years before I break even (considering I don't get bored with the car and sell it before hand). This is still better than spending $20K on a newish hybrid though. But that's the catch-22 with these "crazy prices" on used hybrids now. The goal is to save money....yet the prices are being jacked up! and in the end...it is a used car.

I'm lucky I got mine when I did. I am currently in the market for a 1st gen honda insight 5 speed manual. I found a 2000 w/ 88,000 miles on the ODO but the guy is selling it for $9K. Granted, it's a lot cheaper than buying a $20K prius.... but if you look at it... I was going to pay $9K for an 11 year old car with 88,000 miles on it! For just another $9K, I am very shy from getting a brand-spanking new Honda CRZ or Prius with 0 miles on it that will be covered by warranty and most likely not give me any issues.

So does the market demand smaller,fuel efficient, hybrids? OFCOURSE! and it CAN JUSTIFY the prices.... However... like I mentioned before... the catch is ppl are looking for these cars not to "collect them" or to "store them" or because they will become "classics" ...ppl are looking to purchase them to SAVE MONEY...and paying all that extra is not worth it. I might as well keep my 45mpg 2002 Toyota Prius and by the time I spend $9K worth of gas on it, I'll be on to a new car.

IMO, to the OP, for 110,000 miles on the odo from 2001 (a 10 year old car) ... I would pay no more than $5K-$6K for it....but good luck with that!

 

There are some that buy because of finances, some that buy because it is better environmentally. Some because they like the colour. If you are buying 100% because you want to pay less money a month, and not because you want to pay less money to the middle east in gas (meaning you would be happy to pay an extra $100/mo but you would be spending say $100/mo less on gas), or any other reason then it does not make sense to buy a hybrid. In that case, go buy a hooptie for $200.

 

"Reasonable" used hybrid prices went out the window with 4.00 a gallon gas.

My brother bought a Honda Insight, drove it for 2 months, and traded it in for a hyundai sonata hybrid. They gave him exactly what he paid for the Honda in trade-in value.

I paid $4000 for my 02 with 63,000 miles on it, but that was back when gas was only 2 something a gallon.

The same dealership that said my car was worthless, keeps email stalking harrasing me to trade it in for a new car. They keep raising the price, and I keep telling them NO.

The only counter for unreasonable hybrid prices would be unreasonable golf cart, I mean EV prices.

I will admit to minor maintenance costs here and there, but no car payment is good. Toyota even told me that the battery had been replaced in 05. If you can get the VIN from the one you are looking at, Toyota may be able to tell you when/if the hv battery has ever been replaced.

Kyle
02 Prius

 

When looking at a car this old, consider the battery life. Although a lot of Prius enthusiasts will swear that the batteries will last forever, a lot of classic owners have had to replace theirs. The car is a total loss if the battery goes out -- it will not drive until you replace it -- and the cost of replacing the Classic Prius battery is far higher than it is on the later models.

When my battery went out, Toyota wanted to push me into replacing the ECU as well, which would have meant a $6000 repair. I declined that and just got a new battery, but it was still $3000.

So the question is, do you want to spend $6000 on a used car, knowing that somewhere down the line another $6000 repair is guaranteed to come your way? Suddenly the car doesn't seem so affordable.

I don't want to steer anyone away from getting a Classic Prius. They are phenomenal cars, and are probably the perfect car to buy for a teenager. Just don't spend all your money on one.

 

Per Toyota USA Newsroom | Our Point of View: Prius Battery Change is No Big Deal, the cost to replace a battery is LOWER on the 1st gen than on the 2nd.

Another option is to go w/a refurbished battery such as FAQ or go w/one from a wrecked Prius (supposedly ~$500).

That said, I would still go for a 2nd gen due to numerous improvements and them being newer. There are still a # of potentially expensive parts that could fail and in theory, they'd be less likely to fail on the 2nd gen.

OP: What state are you in? If you're in a CARB emissions state, if a 2nd gen were bought, registered and operated in a CARB state, then the HV battery would be warranted for 10 years/150K miles and you get a 15 year/150K mile warranty on some hybrid components and emissions.

 

Agreed.

Buying a 1st gen now is more for enthusiasts and collectors. Their batteries do fail more often, but it is not $6k to replace. The $6k repair poster was had. I guess the price it is worth is the price you are willing to pay. No research means higher price. True in all cases.

 

I too was quoted 6k. Dealers try to lump a battery replacement with the ECU. If you refuse to replace both, the dealer will give you the "We can't warranty the repair then..." line.

I declined and just replaced the battery, which was still a significant chunk of cash.

A lot of posters here have been quoted the exact same amount, no one was "had", it is clearly Toyota policy.

 

- The 'Toyota USA Newsroom' is misinformed. A Gen 2 battery is about half as much as a Gen 1 battery.

- The FAQ you quoted isn't much of a savings difference considering it is a used battery, and you're still looking at the cost of putting it in, taking the old one out, and the shipping back and forth. Unless you live locally to this shop, you are going to spend just as much.

- Getting a salvage battery is a crap shoot. You may get a perfectly functioning battery, you may get one that doesn't work, or perhaps even worse you may get one that will work for only a few months before running into the same problem.

 

Your assertions seem false. From Part Detail, I see
G9510 BATTERY ASSY, HV SUPPLY **510-47020 2000.05- NHW11 1 $2299.00 (retail price) $2101.26 (your price)

The $2299 matches up exactly w/their blog entry.

For the 2nd gen, I see at Part Detail.

G9510 BATTERY ASSY, HV SUPPLY
Replaced by: **510-47031 **510-47030 2003.08-2005.11 NHW20 1 $2588.67 (retail price) $2366.02 (your price)
The $2588 is within $1 of the blog entry.

I couldn't seem to get a price on 510-47031, but Page 4 - 2007 Toyota PRIUS 82-01 Battery & Battery Cable Parts has it at $2588.67 (retail) $2245.15 (your price).

 

Getting back on topic, that might be a car to keep as a future classic.
There were apparently 5562 Prii sold in the U.S. in 2000, and 15,556 sold in 2001. (worldwide less than 50K for those two years).

By contrast sales in the U.S. are running about 140K/year now, worldwide approaching a half-million/yr.

Even so, it won't be a money maker, it will be a long time before the classic car market starts to show interest in them, and who knows if their value will ever go above today's value.

 

RAV4 EV and 5 spd. Honda Insights are more likely to have value as classics than Gen I. But I'm biased.

 

I think the NHW10 will be more of a collectors than the NHW11. But collectors all have their 'list' of cars and maybe the NHW11 will be on a few of them.

 

Back to topic in my opinion there is not a reasonable price you will pay for any used Prius right now.

 

I agree with OP's that "reasonable price" is the result of market supply/demand, vehicle condition/miles, and market influences such as gas price, perception, etc. Right now "irrational reasonable" is very high; good for the seller; not so good for the buyer.

On the other side, if Toyota gets their earthquake-related production problems fixed, buids up their dealer inventories and gas prices come down, then Prius prices should fall.

So you just got to ask yourself one question, "Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?"