If you buy new, and want to trade for a new one in 3-4 yrs... ?

[pola]

For those of you who bought new 3-4 yrs. ago, and traded it in recently for new one .

Were you happy with what the dealer offerred you, or did you sell it yourself ?

If you traded it in at the dealer, what did they give you on the trade, and what if your car is not paid off when you trade ?
How does that work ?

Sorry for all the questions.
thanks.
pola

[Husker4theSpurs]

Pola ... most places will give you book for your car. That being said ... you lose a lot on ANY car once you drive it off the lot. The longer you keep the car, the longer you have to spread out the initial depreciation.

I'm not sure about if you still owe when you trade again ... I know it would be easier to work numbers if you didn't though. There are so many ways a dealer can screw you ... not just on price, but then on % interest ... there are a lot of sneaky ways to hide tactics.

One problem people have is they get to set in their mind about what size of payment they want rather than whether they're actually getting a good deal or not.

[auricchio]

If you owe any money at trade-in time, the dealer is required to pay off the bank in order to obtain the title for the car.

As for trade value for a Prius vs. other cars, I doubt it's much different. There may have been a time early in 2006 when a used Prius was worth a bit more, because new ones were in short supply.

Nowadays, there are plenty of Priuses on the lot, so neither a dealer nor a private party will feel compelled to pay more for the car simply because it's a Prius.

A Prius with California HOV-lane stickers might command a higher price, assuming the buyer can compare it with an identical Prius. That's an unlikely situation, however; it's very rare that a buyer is considering two vehicles whose major difference is the HOV sticker.

[ystasino]

Yahoo autos, msn autos and edmunds/intellichoice have prius as the least depreciating auto there currently is around.

If the 09 Prius is as well built as this one and has better mpg, dealers will be selling above MSRP until supply meets demand again.

I get the feeling that hybrid will be more mainstream then and Toyota will not *have to* put so many extras on the car to make it appealing. I speculate there will be an $24k high end 09 Prius and a $19k base 09 Prius with less extras than the current model has.

How much $ will you save moving from a 50mpg to an 80mpg Prius? Will it be worth the extra money?

I know one or two things about how the digital camera market worked. It is not worth upgrading for the next new toy and it's best value to skip a generation of high electronics products. I get the feeling that the current Prius is extremely reliable so it should last us a while/

Unless you have the $ and you want the best toy available, in which case you wouldn't be starting this thread...

[auricchio]

If you trade you will lose thousands. It will take many years to recover that loss in fuel savings, probably longer than you will own the new car...

[John6012]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rick Auricchio @ May 6 2007, 03:44 PM) [snapback]436486[/snapback]</div>

If you trade you will lose thousands. It will take many years to recover that loss in fuel savings, probably longer than you will own the new car...
[/b]

You're right but what price happiness? If one is happy with a new Prius and they were aware going into the deal that they would lose (it would cost) more so what? It's only money and ya can't take it with you. And if gas would reach $5-6.00 per gallon, it'd be worth trading for me! I guess it depends

[pola]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Husker4theSpurs @ May 6 2007, 02:01 PM) [snapback]436463[/snapback]</div>

Pola ... most places will give you book for your car. That being said ... you lose a lot on ANY car once you drive it off the lot. The longer you keep the car, the longer you have to spread out the initial depreciation.

I'm not sure about if you still owe when you trade again ... I know it would be easier to work numbers if you didn't though. There are so many ways a dealer can screw you ... not just on price, but then on % interest ... there are a lot of sneaky ways to hide tactics.

One problem people have is they get to set in their mind about what size of payment they want rather than whether they're actually getting a good deal or not.
[/b]

Thanks for the advice, very helpful !!!!!!
I'll save it.



<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Husker4theSpurs @ May 6 2007, 02:01 PM) [snapback]436463[/snapback]</div>

Pola ... most places will give you book for your car. That being said ... you lose a lot on ANY car once you drive it off the lot. The longer you keep the car, the longer you have to spread out the initial depreciation.

I'm not sure about if you still owe when you trade again ... I know it would be easier to work numbers if you didn't though. There are so many ways a dealer can screw you ... not just on price, but then on % interest ... there are a lot of sneaky ways to hide tactics.

One problem people have is they get to set in their mind about what size of payment they want rather than whether they're actually getting a good deal or not.
[/b]

THANKS, I guess people here usually keep their cars for as long as possible.
Take care,


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rick Auricchio @ May 6 2007, 02:26 PM) [snapback]436476[/snapback]</div>

If you owe any money at trade-in time, the dealer is required to pay off the bank in order to obtain the title for the car.

As for trade value for a Prius vs. other cars, I doubt it's much different. There may have been a time early in 2006 when a used Prius was worth a bit more, because new ones were in short supply.

Nowadays, there are plenty of Priuses on the lot, so neither a dealer nor a private party will feel compelled to pay more for the car simply because it's a Prius.

A Prius with California HOV-lane stickers might command a higher price, assuming the buyer can compare it with an identical Prius. That's an unlikely situation, however; it's very rare that a buyer is considering two vehicles whose major difference is the HOV sticker.
[/b]

THANKS again,
Good info. and I will remember it, very helpful - take care, pola

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ystasino @ May 6 2007, 02:26 PM) [snapback]436477[/snapback]</div>

Yahoo autos, msn autos and edmunds/intellichoice have prius as the least depreciating auto there currently is around.

If the 09 Prius is as well built as this one and has better mpg, dealers will be selling above MSRP until supply meets demand again.

I get the feeling that hybrid will be more mainstream then and Toyota will not *have to* put so many extras on the car to make it appealing. I speculate there will be an $24k high end 09 Prius and a $19k base 09 Prius with less extras than the current model has.

How much $ will you save moving from a 50mpg to an 80mpg Prius? Will it be worth the extra money?

I know one or two things about how the digital camera market worked. It is not worth upgrading for the next new toy and it's best value to skip a generation of high electronics products. I get the feeling that the current Prius is extremely reliable so it should last us a while/

Unless you have the $ and you want the best toy available, in which case you wouldn't be starting this thread...
[/b]

RIGHT ! IS THE '00 Prius going to get 80 MPG ??????????????????????
Thanks very much for all this good info.
pola


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rick Auricchio @ May 6 2007, 02:44 PM) [snapback]436486[/snapback]</div>

If you trade you will lose thousands. It will take many years to recover that loss in fuel savings, probably longer than you will own the new car...
[/b]

Interesting, thanks.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(John6012 @ May 6 2007, 04:24 PM) [snapback]436508[/snapback]</div>

You're right but what price happiness? If one is happy with a new Prius and they were aware going into the deal that they would lose (it would cost) more so what? It's only money and ya can't take it with you. And if gas would reach $5-6.00 per gallon, it'd be worth trading for me! I guess it depends
[/b]

good point, if you can afford it !
thanks, take care,
pola

[FloridaWen]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pola @ May 6 2007, 03:58 PM) [snapback]436462[/snapback]</div>

For those of you who bought new 3-4 yrs. ago, and traded it in recently for new one .

Were you happy with what the dealer offerred you, or did you sell it yourself ?

If you traded it in at the dealer, what did they give you on the trade, and what if your car is not paid off when you trade ?
How does that work ?

Sorry for all the questions.
thanks.
pola
[/b]

Talk about DEPRECIATION................ we purchased a brand new 2003 Acura MDX TOURING w/NAVI and dealer installed (all Acura factory parts) Trailer Towing Package (and Acura extended warranty 100K/7 year) for $45,638 TOTAL in February 2003.
We went to several Toyota Dealers the past month (May 2007) and the BEST "trade-in" was $19,500 which is the high end of the "Black Book", mid to low end of "Kelly Blue Book" !! By the way, we had 57,000 miles on it (average) and it was in EXCELLENT (no damage ever, no dents or dings, always garaged) CONDITION !! BUT.......... it ran ONLY on PREMIUM FUEL ............. bye, bye Acura MDX.............
---------------- <OUCH !!>---------------

[tochatihu]

in addition to the sites ystasino mentioned, Kelly Blue Book and NADA will give you a handle on depreciation of 3-yr-old Prius. You will find it to be quite small compared to other highly reliable sedans.

[Godiva]

A prius depreciates less than many other cars.