What do used Prii really sell for?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Enqueue @ Jul 24 2006, 10:03 PM) [snapback]291746[/snapback]</div>

i understand the concept of dealers making money, and i didnt say the dealer was going to sell it for 24k? where did that come from ... edmunds... which supposedly favors the stealership puts the car at dealer retail at 27k.... its not my math, or my skewed version of the world and how it is supposed to work, as there is a method to my madness and its driven by my ability to research the internet... so still i dont see why i am getting lowballed...

 

I wonder if there will be a higher value in California for Prii that have the HOV stickers. Soon they'll stop issuing them and, from my understanding, the only way to get one would be with a used Prius at that point.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jul 11 2006, 11:58 PM) [snapback]284818[/snapback]</div>

No tax credit is a small price to pay for the car/color I want. I would have paid 3,100 more just to get it.
Im happy with the purchase.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Prince of Jupiter @ Jul 24 2006, 08:58 PM) [snapback]291743[/snapback]</div>

In their section of one paragraph synopses of all cars, this is true. But in their now-infamous April '06 issue, in a cover article on hybrids and hype, they really downplayed all hybrids. Originally they said that all hybrids cost more money than you would recover in tax credits, resale value and gas savings over a 5-year period. Then at least one person noted that they double-charged the hybrid price-premium, including it as an upfront cost and then in the depreciation hit also (at least I think that's how it worked). Once they fixed that (which they quietly did in the online issue) then there's a slight return on your money for the Prius and HCH, but still not other hybrids.

However, this still didn't address the issue that in the article they give a higher-than-expected depreciation rate compared to other cars, plus they assume gas prices of $2/gal for the first 3 years, then $3/gal in 2009 and $4/gal in 2010 (altho in the text they only mention the $3/gal and $4/gal, you have to rework their numbers to figure out the whole truth). Gas prices were about $2.40/gal and rising when the article came out.

It wasn't stated exactly, but apparently they assume the depreciation rate would increase as cars got older and needed battery exchanges (according to the naysayers) and also as production increased and there wasn't a wait-list for new cars anymore. I don't know if that's going to happen (as gas prices increase, resale values should hold quite steady), but when the next model Prius comes out (fall of 2008?) this generation of vehicles might lose some value, much like the 2000-2003 vehicles are a step down in price from the current generation.

FWIW, I checked 3 dealerships in the Chicago area, and they all had waiting lists. However, St. Charles also had unallocated Prii come in from time to time, and I wasn't really in a hurry, still kinda debating if I needed a new car. So eventually the dealer called me when a new shipment of unallocated cars was coming and asked if I was interested in one. So I ended up waiting only a week, altho it took a month and a half from the first contact before I put my name down with a deposit. I had looked at used '04s, but it didn't seem like any savings to me at the time, and I wasn't in a hurry. Plus, there weren't very many of them available, in any option package or color. Your region may vary.