Well, I will say that we bought a new (rather than used) Prius in May because the $20,988 price for our package #2 was within a couple thousand dollars of the used 2005's we were looking at that were not quite as well equipped...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Phred @ Aug 5 2007, 12:53 PM) [snapback]490890[/snapback]</div>

That's it, precisely. Why pay 18,0000 or 19,000 for a used Prius when you can get a new one for a few thousand more? I wouldn't :lol: Still, 17,000 is almost 74% and that's a return you can't get from a lot of American cars. Anyway, I don't have a good reason to trade it in but I like to keep up to date on its value.

There is no doubt that any adjustment in the price of a new Prius will affect the value of a used Prius, but the question is how much? With all the other factors that drive market values, incentives on new cars by itself may not be very significant.

The resale value for the Prius seems to be very high anyway. The best way to maintain the resale value of your car is to keep it clean, and when the time comes, try to sell it on your own rather than trading it in at a dealership.

In my opinion, the retail values of all used cars are over inflated, and I have made the determination I should only buy new cars.

If you figure that the first 50,000 miles for a car are the best miles.
The second 50,0000 are OK, and
Over 100,000, some major repairs tend to come due, then:

Say a brand new Prius costs $24,000
Why isn't a Prius with 33,000 miles on it 2/3 the price of a new one, $18000?
Why isn't a Prius with 50,000 mile on it 1/2 the price of a new one, $12,000?

Used car prices run higher than they should, and on top of that, you can get a better interest rate and longer term on a new car so always buy a new car if you can qualify, unless you can get a wholesale price on a used car and pay cash for it.

It is often said that there is this huge drop in price when you drive a new car off the lot, but that is mostly the difference in the retail to wholesale price, and applies the same if you buy a used car at retail price and then come tried to trade it in on another car a week later at wholesale price.

This is evidenced by the fact that a dealer will sell the same car with 5-7K miles for about $1000 less than a brand new one, but if you bring in the same car with 5-7K miles on it looking to trade, they will offer $5000 less than the new one.

I think people are best off to buy a new car and drive it for 100,000 miles, sell it on their own and go buy another new car.

quite honestly 100,000 miles is an easy accomplished feat on 95 % of all cars with just a little routine maintenance.
According to consumer reports the most expensive year of car ownership for maintenance and repairs is the 7th year.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(morpheusx @ Aug 5 2007, 04:04 PM) [snapback]490999[/snapback]</div>

I agree that most cars can go over 100,000 miles. I just think the first 100,000 miles are the best miles.

So long as it is difficult to get a new Prius, the used ones will continue to hold their value.

It doesn't matter that Toyota is offering a $2K incentive if I need a car right now and the earliest they can get me one is 2-3 months down the road!

What I can see happening is the customer walks onto the lot, is told they have no Prii in stock (and won't for 2-3 months), so either they buy something else (not likely if they have their heart/wallets set on a Prius) or take the wait. Not everyone wants to wait, so they may turn to a used vehicle.

Which works out great for the current Prius owner - go to the dealership, order your vehicle, then when it comes in sell the used one.

I think the Prius is a different mind-set than another car. If I go onto the lot and know that I want a Camry and they don't have what I want, they may well have something else that fits my needs. But a person who decides they want a Prius isn't going to decide on a Camry or Corolla if the dealership doesn't have the Prius in stock!

Of course, I could be wrong. But that's how we were with our Prius. We had a 2004 Sienna to trade, it was in great shape and we didn't really NEED to replace it. We knew we wanted a Prius, and if they didn't have one in stock, we certainly weren't going to buy something else.