all. Newbie here. I saw a 2013 Prius (Trim Two) at a used dealership today for $13995. It has 59,000 miles on it and it looked to be in great condition. It seemed to run well during a test drive. The vehicle was used as a rental car prior to being obtain by this dealership. Does this seem like a fair price? I appreciate any thoughts.
I agree, it is the fact that it was a rental that I would shy away from. Long time ago I made the mistake of trying to save some money by purchasing a rental car. Worst mistake I ever made. The car was nothing but problems. Could have been due to the fact it was a rental car, or just the fact that it was a Plymouth Vouyager (1990s) which was a piece of a junk. But for that reason, I would personally stay away from rental or fleet cars. You never know how all the various (many) people drove the vehicle. The price you were given doesn't sound bad. I suppose it is fair. You could probably get a 2015 base 2 for around $20,000 before tt&l and dealer fees....
Check out the prices on truecar.com to see what is reasonable in your area. Many posters claim renters drive a Prius like they stole it. How many of them have rented a Prius then drove it like they stole it? When I rented one it got better treatment than my own since I do occasionally autocross. My first concern is whether or not the car is a Two as fleet cars are usually stripped down from the lowest retail model. Does the car have the tonneau cover for the deck & cruise control? My second concern is the high mileage and I would expect it to be sold at a discount. Would I buy the car? No, because I wouldn't buy a Two and I wouldn't buy a car with almost 60000 miles on it.
Don't go for it. $13995 for a car with 60k with a history of being used as rental is asking for lot more. Also I agree with the JimN:
my fathers advise holds true in this case don't marry a hooker and don't buy a used rental car both have been driven hard and abused by ever guy that used it
almost as bad as NY taxis I see people buying on e bay for 6 grand...I always laugh, beat to hell 5 yr old Prii with over 300,000 miles for 6 grand..WOW
Thats a lot lower than the prices I was seeing for used cars where I'm from. It was about 15,500 for a rental 2013 Prius 2 with 55K miles, and that was as good of a deal as I found. Dealerships were asking about 17-18 for similar cars. I ended up getting a new one for 20K as it was only a few thousand more than the used ones. I would have gotten used if I could have found one for around 14 K.
Yeah. I did alternate financing, so got 2K manufacture rebate instead of 0%. I got a 6y/2.25% loan, so payments are low, and will pay it off in 2-3 years when I finish paying off student loans.
If you're one of those people who buy cars every 4-5 years then I'd say that this is a good price for a G3 with 60,000 miles on the clock....EXCEPT FOR the fact that it's been a rental car. NEVER buy a rental car......EVER. Trivia question: What's the factory warranty for a Toyota? Hint: Look at the odometer on the previously (a)bused car. There's usually a reason that these two are so close. Like I said.....if you're just one of the vast majority of people who go from car to car then this Prius is probably a good car to buy, because odds are that if you immediately change fluids and filters, you're probably looking at a car that will still last for most of 250,000 miles, albeit with an increased probability of having some underlying problems requiring additional repairs. You're just paying $14,000 for a car that was probably auctioned off to the dealer for 10-ish....because.......(wait for it!)........NOBODY want's to buy a car that was abused and barely maintained by a thousand people before you got stuck with it. Good Luck! Oh yes....one more thing. Don't be fooled by fake warranties, OEM extended warranties are not a good bargain except in very rare cases, and there's NO WAY that you can get an OEM extended warranty on a car that was used commercially in a rental fleet. That's why it was auctioned off to the dealer that's trying to sell it to you. They're playing off of Priuses higher than average resale value and hoping that you'll buy into the myth that there's no difference between a used car and a former rental. Sometimes the more unscrupulous used car shops will "offer" you an extended warranty in the hopes that you'll mistakenly think that it's the same as the factory extended warranty. It's the automotive equivalent to the Snuggie. Don't do it. Even if it's free......it's a rip-off.
