Toyota delaers don't want my 04 for a trade????

Gee, I traded my '04 Honda Civic Hybrid in on my '05 Prius...


'Course, you would do better selling it outright to a private party.

 

Why would you want to trade in your 04 for an 05, which is 99.9% the same car?

 

I traded in my 04 Prius for an 05 in Dec. 2004. (Went from pkg 0 TRAC car (tan interior, didn't like that) to a pkg 6 (gray int.), for those who are wondering why.) I paid $500 under MSRP for the 05. The dealer gave me $20,000 even for the 04...exactly what I paid for it new in Nov. 2003. Also got two tax deductions! I think the 04 had 14k miles at trade-in.

The dealer was very happy to have my trade...they sold it for close to $23k within weeks. I have a feeling the market's softened a bit since then, however.

rpm

 

I'm in the Twin Cities of MN, and the dealer (Walser Bloomington Toyota) had a long (1 year or so) waiting list. You might want to hit a big city dealer and see if they'll buy your car outright for cash. The Walser dealers do that here, giving you a written offer good for 30 days either as a trade-in or a cash sale. (But doing it as a trade-in means you save the state sales tax on that amount, because it's knocked off the price of the new car.) Or you might just be better off selling your 2004 privately.

You might also want to wait and get a 2006 Prius just after 1/1/06, as I hear that the 06's will have some minor improvements, new colors, and also the new energy bill will allow for about a $2500 tax credit (as opposed to the $2000 deduction in 2005).

rob

 

Just a thought, but you might be better off trying to do a private sale. Your vehicle could fetch 18,000 or 20,000 in a private sale, especially if it is in good condition. Trade ins are not necessarily the best way to liquidate your vehicle. However, I'm inclined to believe the dealer doesn't want your car back because it wouldn't meet the profit margin they want considering that is is actually rather high mileage for a very late model vehicle. You've drive about 20,000 miles/year, which is a little bit higher than average driving numbers.

 

Despite the mileage, I'm still surprised a dealer wouldn't want it. I just did a search on KBB for my zipcode near Boston and came up with about 15 used 04's...none below $20,000 and two well over $20k with about 37,000 on them.

Did you search Kelly Blue book used car values for your zip code?

 

I sold my '02 with 58,800 miles for a little over Blue Book retail.

It took me a couple of weeks, but the first week I tried the newspaper and didn't get a call. The second weekend I put it out on the side of the highway with a couple of other cars. I got about a dozen calls and sold it to the second person that drove it.

Mean while, I was enjoying the '05.

jn

 

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I checked into my 04 and found about the same thing - low 20ks (cdn) and it's in nearly pristine condition. It's interesting how the value can fall by over $10,000 in a year...

Gotta love cars...

Dave

 

part of the problem is that there is a very small market for hybrids and when you do get a offer it's from someone who knows what they want. There is also the hesitation on part of the buyer to purchase a high tech vehicle without a support network behind it. IE: dealer. So if the dealer isn't supportive of used hybrids, the customer isn't going to purchase used. Hence the lower BB price.

 

I can't believe CarMax is listing '03 Prius Classic with 13K for $22K! Another with 33K is selling for near $20K.

They want $15.5K for an '02 with 80K.

No 2Gs.

 

Congratulations on getting what you wanted!!!;-)

I trust is was financially 'comfortable' for you?