Cheaper to buy a new or used Prius?

[yarzy]

Next spring I plan on getting a Prius. I would like to be able to get an 06, package 8 (no leather) at that time. I was thinking that with the tax incentive, would it be cheaper to buy an 07 at that time? Since the Prius is such a unique car, I am not sure how this works...

Thanks!

[TonyPSchaefer]

I roomed with a guy at Hybridfest who eventually bought a Package 1 Prius. With the tax-break incentives, he paid approximately USD $18,500. You would be hard-presesd to find a used Prius in general much less a good one that the owner is willing to part with for less than $20,000.

That's just my opinion.

[Soylent]

The Prius in the last couple years only depreciated <10% per year, as opposed to the standard auto industry depreciation of >25% per year. Therefore, you could buy a used Prius for only slightly cheaper and not get a tax credit, or buy a brand new one with the tax credit (remember it's only 50% after Sept 30, 2006). I personally chose the latter.

[adgo82]

I would never buy a used computer

[Rancid13]

Um, the only problem with that is that the 2006 Package 8 comes WITH leather. If you DON'T want leather, the 2006 Package 7 has everything Package 8 has minus the leather (it has cloth seats instead but everything else is otherwise the same as #8). And it depends on the package prices for the new 2007's vs the used 2006's come early 2007 because the Prius tends to hold onto its value pretty well.

[eagle33199]

It's been pointed out on other threads - to date, i believe the 2007 doesn't qualify for the tax credit (hopefully someone can post the link i saw a few days ago to confirm/deny this). Also, the tax credit decreases each quarter starting in the 4th quarter of this year, so by next spring, it's going to be cut in half a couple of times (once for the 4th quarter of this year, again for the 1st quarter of next year, etc) until it disapears... i'm not sure how many quarters there are before it goes away.

[Rancid13]

I just got a mailer last night from my accountant that spelled out the phase-out for the hybrid tax credit for Toyotas. Too bad I threw it away, doh! It stated that the 50% tax credit for Toyotas (b/c they've reached the 60K hybrids sold threshold) would begin Oct 2006. With that in mind, here's what I found online:

Hybrid Car Tax Credit Phase-Out Details

* Beginning January 1, 2006 and up through the quarter that the automaker sells 60,000 hybrid vehicles, 100% of the credit is allowed.
* 100% of the hybrid car tax credit continues for the next consecutive quarter.
* The next two quarters after that, the tax credit is reduced to 50% of the original hybrid car tax credit.
* Then, for the next two quarters after that, the tax credit is reduced to 25% of the original hybrid car tax credit.
* Finally, the hybrid car tax credit for that automakers’ hybrids drops to zero.

[DaveinOlyWA]

i have to dispute stated depreciations of any kind for the Prius is good condition. used Priuses with as much as 30,000 miles on them are selling for more than MSRP around here.

my 2004 Prius package #1 with rear wiper was 19,990 with wiper (189 or so i think) destination $570 i think, was driven for 25 months, had 28,000 miles on it and i have a preliminary estimate of $21,500 for a settlement on it from the other insurance company. so exactly, what is the rate of depreciation on my car??

[Rancid13]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA @ Aug 25 2006, 10:03 AM) [snapback]309350[/snapback]</div>

my 2004 Prius package #1 with rear wiper was 19,990 with wiper (189 or so i think) destination $570 i think, was driven for 25 months, had 28,000 miles on it and i have a preliminary estimate of $21,500 for a settlement on it from the other insurance company. so exactly, what is the rate of depreciation on my car??
[/b]

And if you were to price it as of today's date on Edmunds or KBB, you're still looking at a suggested retail price of ~20K if it's in excellent condition...

I paid MSRP for my 2006 Package 8 (a little over 29K) in Feb and now that KBB finally has the 2006 Prius on their used car pricing selection, I priced it out and they're giving me a suggested retail price of over 29K. How's that for depreciation for a 6+month old car with just over 10K on the odo?

[ekpolk]

It's a more complex question than it appears. The answer depends greatly upon what you want and need, and what you're willing to give up in exchange for other things.

One major factor is the disappearance of the tax credit for used hybrids. This has caused a significant shift in demand toward the new side of the market, and depressed values on the used cars. I found (stumbled on actually would be more accurate) an 04 Prius, Package #9, mint condition, only 15k miles, with the 7/100 Toyota Cert Used wty. Although it was well marked up to start with, I ended up getting it for barely over $20k. This car as an 06 would cost nearly $30k. Since I wanted a lot of the things included in Pack9, I found this to be an outstanding deal, and bought the car. By contrast, the guy mentioned above who bought a Pack1 car new might find that deal preferrable if extras are not his thing.

In the end, so long as you're considering both used and new, you've got to go out (or on line) and seel what's really selling for what in your market before you can answer this question for yourself.