I'm looking at buying a 2008 or 2009 Prius as a second car and one that my son can drive once he has his license in a few years. There's an independent dealer in Tampa who has several Gen II Priuses available. One that I have my eye on is a 2008 with 148,000 miles, full maintenance records, "Clean CarFax", and option package 6 for $7,500. The price seems a little high compared to what Edmunds says would be the TMV for that car, but Edmunds doesn't add the package in. Assuming that the car has been properly maintained and is accident-free, is $7,500 a fair price, or is that high?
try kbb and see what comes up. packages/options should depreciate about the same as the rest of the car.
I have seen a new 2012 PIP base vs new 2012 PIP advanced price difference of $10k. Same cars used: difference was $1.5k to $2k. That said, I would assume a base vs a fully optioned car would be $1.5k'ish. The lesser the options, the narrower the price difference when comparing to a base model. I think someone mentioned that when technology ages, it is worthless. iPhone ?
$7500 is extraordinarily high for a car that's 2/3 or more through it's service life. Generally speaking up-optioned cars are *not* proportionality more valuable on the street....especially if you're going to use it as a driver's ed car. If it's an independent dealer then that means that they bought it at an auction probably for 75% (or less) than the trade-in value. Offer them 5. If they balk, you walk. Here's why.... "Full maintenance" records may mean that this car had oil changed meticulously every 10,000 miles, but never topped off or even checked between oil changes. In other words.....the car may be a smoker and a drinker even after being "dealer maintained." With an up-optioned used car, you're being asked to buy yesterday's technology at tomorrow's prices. Offer them trad-in. That gives them a profit, and you a deal. Good Luck! Let us know how it shakes out.....
Value of the depreciation of the packages varies to the desirability of the said item. The most popular packages depreciate LESS than ones which are not so in demand. As bisco said KBB has them in the valuation of the car in question. I suppose someone could conjure up a formula on each one but the percentage loss varies for each one and they are not calculated in a linear slope. sillylilwabit has a good point about technology. As an example Navigation is nice but costly when new but when and if it takes a dive it costs more than whats its worth to repair! Just before I forget.....because of the price of gas going lower and lower the econo cars are not selling as fast as before. THAT makes it a good bargaining chip on your behalf. Offer at least $1000 below or more and see what they say. Remember those cars are not selling well.
Hmm, lots to think about here. Thanks for all the replies. Do you think that 200 or 250K is the life expectancy of a Prius? I'm a little surprised to hear that, but in reading other threads, I have gotten that impression. I was thinking that, aside from the battery, which might need to be rebuilt or replaced, the gas engine is basically bulletproof and the rest of the car is easy to maintain and very reliable. I was picturing getting 350 or 400K out of it.
How many other candidates have you looked at that were of interest? You might need to print out those of interest and then spread them on a table and get some overview of what is and what is not...
350-400k is a possibility, and probably better odds than most cars. but there's still an inherent risk. it depends on how you define life expectancy.
Service life for a vehicle is a lot like life expectancy for humans. I think that 200-250K is about the norm for cars taking economics into account. Yes...you can expect 300-400K out of a very well taken care of unit with exceptional care and a big repair budget, just as you can expect octogenarians to see their 100th birthday with a little luck and exceptional medical care IF they led a lifetime of good healthy eating, lots of excercise, etc... The trouble is, you're looking at the equivalent of a 65 year old human whose pedigree you can only make guesses at. If you have an unlimited budget for heart transplants, new kidneys, etc....you may see 400K, but you asked for my humble opinion which currently has a street value of less than $0.02. Too many miles. Too expensive by 1/3. Too many unknowns. NO WAY I'd buy it. YMMV. Good Luck!
