10 Best and Worst Cars for Depreciation Toyota Prius - Ongoing demand for this thrifty gas/electric hybrid and excellent reliability give the Prius the best depreciation rating among all currently sold models. In addition, many owners are hanging onto them, so good luck trying to find a used Prius. $22,000. http://autos.msn.com/advice/CRArt.aspx?contentid=4024366
Is it just me or did anyone else notice that U.S. automakers own the top ten list for worst depreciation?
Here in Canada the Prius is no better or no worse than any other car. I asked a couple of months ago at various Toyota, Lexus, Ford, Land Rover dealerships, and could expect around $18,000-$19,500 for my '04 with 69,000km on it.
Nov 11th, I traded my 2004 Prius for a 2007 TE Prius. Originally paid $24,500 for the 2004 and got just over $21,000 in trade - not bad! If I had chosen to sell it myself, it would have brought nearly $23,000 [low mileage, fully equipped, no damage, pristine condition]. That, in my opinion, is superior retention of value.
I find it interesting the Corvette was not on the list... I found these numbers on askmen.com (Prius was better by 13 percentage points): 2002 MSRP: $41,680 - $50,430 2005 average retail: $30,300 - $35,400 Resale value percentage: 70% - 73%
Good thing (I hope) that my county hasn't heard of this since they value my '05 at around $8,000 (just a bit over my '02 minivan). Good for personal property taxes, bad for resale.
