Is this plug in a fair deal? 8k-ish...with pics

I really want this 2012 plug-in with 155k miles. Price is a tad over 8k. It is cloth with navigation. Appears to be in excellent condition.

Around me these are very rare and I want to have an idea on resale value maybe a year out. I typically would not spend so much on a car but my gen 3 is sold so I need a replacement.

 

I am 90% sure I am going to hold off ---- and temporarily buy a cheap $1500 piece of crap --- and save up --- and patiently wait for the next one....It is just barely out of reach of budget....Really want the car so bad too.

 

It's at dealer auction...The seller runs 1 of the lanes with hundreds of cars. He is enormous...You should see some of these dealers...it's insane...He is non-negotiable on his prices if his floor is not met he won't take a penny less....They are all extremely clean (rated by an independent company 1 to 5...a 5.0 is basically a mint perfect car....and lowest would be a 1.9 --- most of his are high 4s)....

When they don't sell in the live auction he puts them on the dealer-to-dealer website for buy-it now....He has 91 vehicles up right now. I ordered them from lowest to highest price and the plug-in is his 2nd cheapest car on the list (LOL). It's actually $7500 but I am adding fees ($175), shipping ($250), and taxes to transfer into my personal name ($450)...

Here are his top 5 most expensive out of 91 with his most expensive being $268,000!







Most of his cars are 2016 and up Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus with about 30,000 miles on them in the 30 to 50K range.

So long story short, with the high "CR" (condition report) rating of 4.2 and the rep of the seller I think it'd be running just fine...The #1 key is to avoid at all costs "B Class Dealers"...the Joe Shmoes you've never heard of running 1 car.

I just dumped my gen 3 prius tonight...for $5200...I want this thing but it is really just out of reach to where if I do buy it --- I am going to put myself in a tight spot financially over the next few months...So that's why I said I'm going to probably buy a real cheapie and save up...

And at my local dealer auction they might have 3 priuses run through a month so they are rare for me to buy in person --- and the buyers bid them up (or they are newer with low miles and way out of my budget)...

 

That is just reflection...The imperfections are all in the condition report which includes scratches, tire size, any warning lights...anything cosmetic --- etc...they are very thorough --- if there is a ding in the door jamb it will be noted in the CR.

Also, they have a light system (red light = as is and green light = guarantee)...All of this sellers vehicles are green light...You pay a $95 PSI (post sale inspection) and if they find anything serious wrong with it you get full refund.



There are only 2 damages on the right quarter...probably almost-invisible dings that most people would not catch:



Regarding the previous repair listed as bumper, hood, left front fender, door, quarter, rear bumper, etc...I am pretty sure that is obviously all original but whoever does these inspections lists those as acceptable...maybe something on a paint meter I'm not sure but you should see the cars I buy (cheap ones under 3k with 1.9 CRs....they have a gazillion things listed and to be honest most are in normal condition nothing noticeable).

 

? It's in immaculate shape for the miles in my opinion...I have seen hybrid specialty shops out west advertise conversions from a regular prius to a plug-in for about the same price as this one.

For right now at least --- I am determined to get one --- but might take me a few months to find the right deal.

 

Well, I am a high mile guy! The prius I just sold, which was a 2011, I bought with 185K and sold with 189K. Our current car is a gen 2 Prius that we bought with 201K has 205K now...plan on keeping for a while. So for me the miles are ok...Once you cross into the 170K and especially 190s and 200K+ they become really hard to sell that's why I got rid of the 2011 (and it was only getting 40mpg which really annoyed me).

Here is a list of my last 8 purchases (note the miles):




Interestingly, we focus on 4x4 trucks...And the 2 types of cars that easily go way beyond 200k and still drive like new are trucks and priuses...The prius is basically a diesel truck....You can go 300,000 miles on it....Difference is a diesel owner is working their truck a lot harder, often times pulling thousands of pounds in weight, and also when something goes wrong for them (which is way more frequent with turbos/transmissions/injectors/EGRs/sensors/head gaskets/etc.) they are dumping thousands upon thousands along the way to get to 300k....While a prius owner seem to get more irritated and might throw in the towel (scrap it / sell it) if they have to spend $1000 one time for their first big-ticket repair in the mid 200K range rebuilding the battery cells! (This may not be true / just an exaggeration and vibe I get.)

 

Yes, you should see the prices of some of these cars....I watch in person as dealers bid these cars so high and say to myself, "I could not resell for $1000 less than you paid --- how are you going to turn a profit?"

This week live @ local auction they bid a 2008 Prius with 110k on it to about $3800....It was not in excellent condition had decent amount of wear and tear....You would think I have a multi-thousand dollar advantage because I am shopping for a personal vehicle --- but they bid them higher than I am willing to pay for a personal vehicle --- meaning they think it is worth thousands more than I think it's worth...

I believe it's because they have a lot of money....they finance.....and they don't mind letting it sit on their lot for 8 months until a sucker comes along and overpays...

 

This is a dealers auction. Every bidder either owns a dealership or is working with a dealer. I have gotten some absurdly ridiculous deals...I've also gotten lemons over the years (particularly when I was starting out and didn't know what to look for).

The company that owns the auction (which has auctions in each state) is in the top 20 list of largest privately held companies in the US with annual revenues of around $20,000,000,000. They own Kelly Blue Book and Auto Trader, and a ton of other companies. If they wanted to --- they could easily buy a 10% stake in Toyota tomorrow (as of today Toyota is worth $184 billion).
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Point is this isn't a place where a bunch of people show up and have no idea what they are doing.

That being said, if the seller wasn't so reputable with such mint vehicles it would go for a better deal (maybe 5500 to 6500)...But, because of who the seller is it is going to fetch premium price.