$20K depreciation over 5 years. Source - Edmunds. Yet still they're best in Hybrid class. Can I wait 5 years to realize this depreciation?
Considering that will be 2022, how can they possibly know what depreciation will be on it yet? It has to be just an estimate. I think a lot will depend on what the other options for EVs/PHEVs will be by then. If the tech improves fast and the alternatives are reasonably priced, people won't want to pay as much for used Primes and the depreciation will be worse. I imagine the decpreciation is worse while the tax credit on new vehicles is active as well (i.e., as soon as your drive it off the lot it's worth the new price minus the tax credit because used doesn't get it). Depreciation is not some magic formula, it's simply what other people will pay for the vehicle used.
That seems like a LOT of depreciation on this vehicle. Is that normal? I'm interested to know as I have on on order and this kinda makes me want to rethink the purchase.
But with the $4500 government discount (and various dealer and especially state "green" incentives), the Prime is actually cheaper than the Prius 4th gen!
Only for new cars. As soon as you take it home, it is cheaper by the amount of those rebates. So depreciation happens immediately.
I just purchased a brand new Prime Premium. The number on the Prime depreciation made me feel like it was really bad purchasing decision. Then I just realized the problem in those numbers. It says, depreciation is "difference between what you paid and what the vehicle is worth". I know they are guessing a lot, and their figure is "on average", but I suspect they are basing MSRP for what was PAID for the vehicle. Yes,the sticker price on my brand new Prime was $30133, but in the end after all the rebate and tax credit, what I PAID is $8,999 less than this sticker price. Even if it lose $20K in depreciation from the MSRP, the actual loss in value is only $11K. By the way, I traded in my 2015 Prius Two for this purchase. The MSRP of 2015 Prius Two was $24200 (though I actually paid several grand less than this figure on the car including tax and various fees). The trade-in was $10K, so by MSRP the depreciation was $14200 for only two years of owning the car. Though the actual loss in value based on what was actually PAID would be less and about $11K. Based on those numbers, 2017 Prime Premium loosing $11K in value in 5 years is better holding its value than 2015 Prius Two losing the same amount of $11K in value only in 2 years.
After all the discounts and the future tax rebate, I'll have only paid $23,750 for my premium trim Prius. That's not much for a new car in my opinion. Since it's a Toyota, I don't expect to try to sell this car for at least 10-15 years. If I do though, I can always expect to get a lot more than what they say they're worth by selling it myself on the private market. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
