eBay -vs- cars.com

[priusham]

Obiwan Kenobi said it best when referring to eBay, "You'll find a no greater hive a scum and villainy."

Ok... so he wasn't referring to eBay, but he could have been.

You look at the Prius auctions and just shake your head at the "asking" price, or the hidden "reserve price." God only knows what those clowns are asking for the Prius!

As many of you know, I ordered two Prius in February. One in California and one in Michigan. The CA Prius was delivered in July and my daughters and I had a wonderful cross country vacation driving it home.

Now our 2005 will be here in about three weeks. It was a pretty tough decision, but I've got to sell the 2004. Like you, I have a completely illogical, emotional attachment to my Prius. The difficult decision to replace it is based on the fact that I can deduct both 2004 cars on this year's income tax, and I get to buy the 2005 for the same price as the 2004 thanks to the Toyota pre-3/9/04 order coupon. It pretty much washes the loss of the two sales taxes I'll end up paying. So I end up with a new car and 0 miles on it for no real out of pocket expense.

I decided to list it on cars.com. You can search for yourself. There are plenty of Prius selling for well over the MSRP (mine's not) with a LOT more miles on them.

Don't hate me like we tend to do with the dealers asking $3,000 over, or the eBay sellers with $35,000 opening bid prices, OK?

I tried to be fair without being stupid. I didn't sell my spot in line, it's not on eBay, and I didn't buy the 2005 and immediately sell it on eBay for $35,000.

Everyone of us that bought at MSRP owns a car that (incredibly) seems to have gone UP in value once we drove it off the dealer's lot. I doubt any of us will ever be in this position again.

Well... thanks for letting me ramble... I still have that emotional bond that'll be tough to break. You try to tell yourself, "It's just a car." But you can't. Because it's a Prius, and they are not just a car.

[efusco]

I might be mistaken, but you can't claim that deduction if you don't keep the car for at least 2 years....you can claim it, but you're supposed to pay it back if you sell...I think.

[TonyPSchaefer]

I agree with your claim to the illogical connection to the car. Given the facts as you've laid them out, I can't argue against your choice nor will I condemn your asking price (if it is as fair as you claim).

My gripe is with those who purchase the car with the sole intent of taking advantage of poeple waiting. They might arue that it's a quick turn-around investment opportunity, but I think it's just rude. They are stealing other poeple's places in line and selling the cars that should have gone to someone who was actually interested in the car.

It shows a good heart that you even posted about the transaction. I'm sure you probably could have done it all and we would all have been none the wiser.

[tag]

I had a 2002 copy of the Regs lying around so I took a peek at the relevant section.

It certainly does not appear that a typical sale or other disposition (including a disposition by reason of an accident or casualty) would trigger recapture.

The seller would also have to know or have reason to know the vehicle will become nonqualifying property (i.e. be used predominantly outside the U.S., by tax-exempt orgs, or by governmental units or foreign persons or entities), will be modified so it no longer meets the certification criteria, or will otherwise cease to be a "clean-fuel vehicle" by, somehow, failing to meet emission standards.

I couldn't find any dollar or number of vehicles limitation in the Code or Regs, either. So, I presume they just didn't figure someone would go out and buy half a dozen of these things, claim the deduction for each one, and then sell them within a short period of time.

[IsrAmeriPrius]

I agree with tag on this issue:

Here is the language from IRS Publication 535:

[i]Sales or other dispositions. If you sell or otherwise dispose of the vehicle within 3 years after the date you placed it in service and know or have reason to know

You should be prepared to address the following issue, in case that you are audited, though:

Qualified property. Your property must meet the following requirements to qualify for the deduction.

1. It must be acquired for your own use and not for resale.

Electric and Clean-Fuel Vehicles

[tag]

....It must be acquired for your own use and not for resale.....

Good point.

Also, many states limit the number of vehicles one can sell during a specified time frame before registration as a dealer is required.

[DanH]

I found the car and it does seem like one of the better prices out there for a used Prius.

But I also found there is just as much scum on cars.com. I found a dealer a few miles out from me that had a half a dozen or so 2004's that appear to be the base model going for about $27k. Also, these days I think the only cars selling on eBay are the ones about MSRP. I think the hype factor is dying just a little. I can only hope, for then my wait could be just a bit shorter than the original estimate.

[TimeFor]

Of course your going to have to Break it in again. :| For me, that was the hardest part. I'm still breaking mine in with only 1000 miles on it.

You have to be careful... and watch how you drive... Then as I was told.... it takes until about 2000 miles before the Silent mode really kicks in and works like it should. I hate the break in period of cars.

When I bought my BMW I didn't really worry about it so much. I figured... the car was made to be driven extremely hard and fast... so if I just drove it kinda fast then it would be like breaking it in for the extremely fast speeds later. That strategy wouldn’t work for the Prius.

[daniel]

I think I'm up to 25 or 30 purchases on eBay. I have been 100% satisfied every time, with both the quality of the item I bought, and the service I received (shipping time, packing quality). Of course, I've seen stuff I felt was priced too high. But the feedback information makes eBay a pretty low-risk affair.

Used cars are another matter, and always risky no matter where you go. Witness the reputation of used-car dealers. I don't know what kind of protections any of the on-line car auction sites provide, but I don't think I'd want to buy a car without having a mechanic of my choice check it out. But then, unless my economic situation changes drastically, I'll never buy a used car again.

[TimeFor]

I've completely lost count on my ebay purchases but I have over 300+ ratings and never sold a thing. I've only been ripped off twice. Once I paid 40$ for 2 yards of fabric and never got it. The seller had an extremely good rating and even set up an ebay store. So I have no idea why I lost contract with the person and why I never got my fabric. I didn't care so much about the money as I wanted the fabric that no one else had. The 2nd time was that I paid 80$ for a rare book and I later found the book in a used bookshop for 5 bucks