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Time to Sell?

Discussion in 'Generation 1 Prius Discussion' started by Michael S., Jun 25, 2022.

  1. Michael S.

    Michael S. New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2022
    2
    0
    0
    Location:
    Temple City, CA
    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
    Model:
    One
    Hello,

    I have a 2001 prius with 253k miles on it. I got it at 198k miles.

    The person who had the car before me took really, really good care of it. Garage kept, gave me all the paperwork for the oil changes on sale. And I only paid 1600 dollars.

    I am not the best with my cars. I had the tiniest, tiniest fender bender when I was backing out of a spot. As a result some paint is missing on the back. Inside, the left doors upholstry is starting to come off. There are some pen marks on the car seat because I am smart and accidentally sat with a pen in my pocket. I am a creative artist type doing a sales dayjob from my car to get the bills whil I pursue learning chnese and building chinese social media in all my free time - what I can say?

    Also, the A/C has started to go. I found the leak in the radiator, A/C pipe, which I posted about in a different thread. The Japanese mechanic I took her too said i would take 1200 dollars to replace (he also charged me over 1,000 dollars for brakes, insisting that he used his parts, that now already look incredibly old and rusted, sooo......). When I turn on the headlights, her dash lights turn off.

    The good things are that she drives really, really well, and still gets incredible gas mileage. I am really grateful that she takes care of me while I am rushing around every day trying to get things done. When we travel far, though, we use my girlfriends 2020 honda accord - got to play it safe!

    I am considering leaving the country in a year to teach English abroad, but I am terrible at making decisions, so that is a hard one. While I still have this car job, I am think of selling this car to get a newer generation prius to keep the gas mileage - I am seeing third generation ones in my area with around 77-90k miles for around 13-15 thousand dollars.

    If I do sell this car, what price do you think I should put on it? How much should I tell the other person about this car? Should I fix up all the little kinks, or just sell as is? Or, should I just trade it in and let it be someone else's problem? What price do you think I should ask, and what can I expect to actually get in this crazy market?

    Let me know, and thank you! If you think she still has 20 or 30k miles to go in her safely, I'll probably just hold on to her. It could inspire me to follow my dreams and get out of dodge.

    Sincerely,
    Michael
     
  2. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2012
    7,854
    3,966
    0
    Location:
    Wellington, New Zealand
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    That video is private.
     
  3. ammdb

    ammdb Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2019
    273
    110
    1
    Location:
    Indianapolis
    Vehicle:
    Other Electric Vehicle
    Model:
    N/A
    I'd say if you can tolerate driving w/o AC, the car right now is best used as cheap transportation. Considering its age and milage, digs and scratches only add character, so fixing them won't improve the resale value.

    Do sell or give it to someone else to drive if you decide to go overseas. The old gen1s do best when driven daily, but battery issue crop up if stored for an extended amounts of time.

    The Kelly Bluebook website is a good resource to find trade and resale car values.
     
  4. beef jiggles

    beef jiggles Member

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2022
    136
    34
    0
    Location:
    Colorado
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    $2-3k tops. Paid $800 for mine with 156k beat up and missing cats. Old ones seem to be the least desirable and hardest to work on. 3rd gens seem to be the best bang for buck. You’re not sitting on anything special.