I am a Texas car dealer and have noticed a significant drop in the price of 2007 and 2006 prius prices at the wholesale level. This cars were tough to find at the dealer auctions and when available, the price was run up so high it was almost retail. At todays auction there are 8-10 used prius's for sale. The usual number is 1-2 ... Normally the cars are Toyota Finance repos or Exec demos.. The ones offered today are dealer cars .. We fought for these cars just last month and now dealers are taking them to auction to move them.. Looks like the market is getting softer .. The new market seems to be stable in Texas ..
I'd have to see more data before I'd be convinced this is a wide-spread trend. But hopefully Toyota is working down their backlog, that would be a good thing to get more Prius out to more customers.
The gas price had dropped from a peak of $4.7 in May back down to $3.7/gal today. Demand for high FE cars drops off accordingly. I saw big SUV drivers back to their driving habits, speed limit +10.
As far as widespread,all car prices change based on the market. I know for sure they are down as of this week.. The frenzy buying has all but stopped.. New supplies continue to be tight..Some of the rental companies are moving out there cars and really who knows what the market will do.. There just seems to be a ton of used ones on the market .. Plentifull supply equal better wholesale pricing..
Seems like a good sign that things are returning somewhat to normal. Seems like a good thing, as the recent situation didn't seem to be good for anybody. Makes sense. High gas prices created extra demand right as Toyota's supply went short. Now supply is stabilizing, and gas is down somewhat, reducing demand somewhat. Should cause things to settle out. Might even get back to where we can finally afford a second Prius here eventually Rob
I think the next model year Prius is about to show up at the dealers and they don't want to have older Prius around. You see the same thing for the next 3-4 weeks and then a dry spell until around Thanksgiving. Bob Wilson
A quick search on completed Prius auctions show that the vast majority of folks selling these cars are not getting what they are asking for them. 6 months ago there were, at any one time, about 50 Prius for sales. Now there are nearly 200 Prius for sale on Ebay. I think anyone really wanting to hit the gravy train with these cars has probably missed out on doing really well. Still....you could do much worse. Times are getting tough and people are spending less. Unless gas takes a huge turn for a higher price... you are not likely to see the huge return for a used Prius. My two cents worth!
thats because most dealer charge too much for a used one? my local toyota dealer has like 20 used prii in its lot... for a long time... one day i went there for an oil change and walked out and checked the prices.. and HA! $34000 for a 08 base model with 6000 miles.... it might be one of the hottest car nowadays but people are not stupid....
