My Prius Went up in value Today!!

Though your reasoning is fundamentally sound, I wouldn't take it to the bank.

1. Those who want a new car will probably not buy a used car just because they can save a few minutes in the HOV lane.

2. Since fall 2006, the HOV stickers have been heavily covered by the press, including speculation about the state's limits on the number of stickers. Anyone paying that much attention to HOV privileges has already bought a qualifiying car and stickers.

3. Many who bought a hybrid did so for more important reasons than the HOV sticker. The HOV privilege was just an added plus.

Bottom line, I doubt anyone is going to be approached by people making offers for a car with stickers.

 

Anyone looking to purchase a used car may just choose one with stickers over one without. So it might have some value as a trade in.

When I trade mine in, it will be mentioned as a negotiating point. If I sell it privately, it will be the first thing mentioned.

 

I agree there. All things being equal, the stickers may make the deal more attractive to the buyer. Of course, there are still many points that are more important than the HOV stickers, e.g. age and condition of the car, mileage, remaining warranty, options, color, even seat material.

What are the chances of a buyer having to choose between two virtually-identical used cars, one with stickers and one without?

Theoretically, the car should be worth more. In practice, it just won't be an issue. (If there are that many used Priuses for sale, we've got more important problems...)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rick Auricchio @ Feb 4 2007, 01:24 PM) [snapback]385234[/snapback]</div>

You are underestimating the value of the HOV stickers for drivers for whom the car pool lanes access can make a difference of an hour or more in their daily commute.

 

Marketing 101:

Scarcity.

Tell someone they can't have something because it is no longer available, rare, or in short supply . . . the price of that “something†goes up.

My stickers are sitting in my file cabinet . . . let the bidding begin! You can have my Prius for the right price AND have shiny new stickers too!

P.S. The news story got it kind of wrong . . . the stickers are good through 2010 (January 1, 2011), not “good until 2010.â€

 

Sadly, you may both be right.

Mine are in the glove compartment of the car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rick Auricchio @ Feb 4 2007, 05:05 PM) [snapback]385312[/snapback]</div>

I have to wonder: Why did the two of you (Rick and "Sufferin Prius Envy") order the stickers if
you're not going to use them?
Especially Rick, who argues it may not help the value of the car?

Just curious.

 

Now looking at things from the other side of the coin,,,

Toyota dealers here in California can no longer use the HOV Sticker issue as an incentive to keep the price up of new vehicles. (Or in other words, the effective value of a new Prius has just decreased somewhat.)

Keith

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kimgh @ Feb 4 2007, 05:29 PM) [snapback]385322[/snapback]</div>

Answer: Hedging my bet.

I work from home and my wife commutes two miles on only surface streets.

By 2011 things could change:
1) My wife or I could change jobs and do a commute where the stickers would come in handy.
2) We could move and have 'that' commute.
3) We could sell the Prius before 2011.
4) More HOV lanes are scheduled to be added in the Sacramento area, and traffic is getting heavier . . . at which point I may consider putting the stickers on the car.

At only eight bucks, one might ask, “Why didn't others get the stickers?â€

If I do end up selling the car, I bet my ROI on the purchase of the stickers is returned many fold.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy @ Feb 5 2007, 08:10 PM) [snapback]385886[/snapback]</div>

I know what you mean. I'm amazed at the number of older Priuses that I see without the stickers. Also, looking on Craigslist.com, there seem to be many more without stickers than with. For $8 it seems like a "no brainer" to me.

 

I just went through the process of purchasing a used Prius, specifically with the intent of finding one WITH the HOV stickers. I have a long communte, and, in addition to all of the Prius's other benefits, the stickers were just the extra bit that I needed to incent my purchase. I can provide data which shows that, for the informed seller, comparable CA cars with HOV stickers fetch $2,000 to $3,000 more in the market. Time is money...

 

HOV stickers add value.

At the same time consider:

1. Used cars were probably purchased over MSRP
2. New cars are now available UNDER MSRP quite a bit, sometimes under invoice
3. The depreciation on a Prius purchased 2 years ago is going to be pretty big given the current pricing -- wouldn't someone rather have a new one?

If you _really_ want the HOV sticker, you still have the option of buying a CNG Civic (I think). (I think it gets the white sticker, not the yellow sticker, and it isn't capacity controlled).

So for the HOV enthusiast, the tradeoff becomes used Prius or new CNG Civic.... It comes down to money and how motivated the seller is. A subset of the buyers care about the stickers, and probably care about them to the tune of several thousand dollars.

Regarding people who just got the stickers so that they would improve your resale value -- aren't you clever. And you are also managing to keep one more clean car out of the HOV lane, and possibly prevent the sale of one more clean car. Please sell your car NOW so that someone is able to use the sticker for what it was intended.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(scoot @ Feb 6 2007, 08:28 AM) [snapback]386070[/snapback]</div>

Not really. The additional 10,000 stickers were issued only after a HOV usage study was done and it was determined that the HOV lanes could sustain more cars. If the stickers were issued only to people who used them, they wouldn't have been able to issue as many.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jimm @ Feb 5 2007, 09:47 PM) [snapback]385928[/snapback]</div>

Well, I didn't because:

1. Ugly looking (maybe if only one sticker needed)
2. Useless on my commute

Don't miss them at all. But that's just me. Think of it this way, by not getting the stickers, I made them available to someone else who could really use them.

 

My reasons were similar to Sufferin's, though I live far from HOV lanes and don't expect job changes.

Last year, I thought stickers may help resale (even though today I'm less sure of that). I was persuaded by a friend from the Los Angeles area, where the stickers are far more useful.

And it was only eight bucks.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ Feb 6 2007, 08:50 AM) [snapback]386087[/snapback]</div>

Well, I thought they were pretty ugly when I first put them on but after a coupe of days of saving 20-30 minutes of my commute, they're not looking so ugly anymore .

Anyway, since it looks like I got one of the last set of stickers, I want to thank you and others who decided they didn't really need them and had the class to therefore not apply for them just to have them.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dragonfly @ Feb 6 2007, 08:38 AM) [snapback]386076[/snapback]</div>

Uh, interesting math... Personally I would like to see an increase in the number of stickers and an increase in the number of carpool lanes such that more people would be driving green cars and people with Surburbans could sit in the stopped traffic lanes...

 

Oh boy!

I'm putting my bumper up on Ebay!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(scoot @ Feb 6 2007, 08:28 AM) [snapback]386070[/snapback]</div>

Where are you buying the Prius for quite a bit under MSRP and sometimes under invoice? We bought our Prius last year for about $200 under MSRP and most of our Prius-owning friends considered that to be quite a deal as many of them had paid a premium to get one without having to wait for months, and used Prius were selling for the MSRP of new Prius.

So please, share the location of this amazing dealership so we can tell our friends to go there for their future Prius purchases.