Should I buy 09 prius or save $$ to buy new?

I sold my 2009 Prius package 5 with 14,800 miles for $18,500 (my asking price) to private party 2 months ago. If the 2009 seats are cloth and it has factory navigation, it's a package 5. Mine was A+ condition though.
Buyers took it in for its regular service near their dealer, mechanic came out and shook their hand saying 'I've never seen a used Prius this clean before, congratulations' (that's what you get when wiping under the hood and door jams as part of regular washing)

Maybe a 2009 Touring Prius package 6 would be worth $21k. that's leather, nav and the 16", 7 spoke wheels. At that price it would have to be perfect.

Careful that used car isn't just a professional detail job, but underneath it all, it was hammered by previous owner.

It's possible the car was a previous rental. Do a search on Autotrader, you'll find many 'certified used' Prius' were purchased 100 of miles away and transferred in. Look at the carfax history reports to see.

I'll bet you on that certified car, they don't even have each maintenance receipt printed out for you. I did, every one of them.

Certified, Schmertified.

 

If you are looking at any used car, even with only 15k miles on it, and any seller (dealer, private party) does not even have the maintenance and all repair, warranty work receipts printed and assembled for you, forget them. That information belongs with the car. If the car is less than 6 months old, that's a different story.

Every 6 months, Prius' are to come in for service. Like said, if they don't have it, walk on by.

 

One more thing .......

the 2nd gen Prius (04 - 09) had notoriously bad driver's seating for some. Try it on for size. If your legs are flailing above the seat with no support, forget about it. I can case any car now, but not before buying my 2009 which was a disaster. (what other car has an eHow page warning of how crappy the driver's seat is?) Control placement - brake pedal and steering wheel are not very good either.

3rd gen Prius driver's seat is much improved and actually quite good - larger, has height adjustment, nice contour. Some have trouble with lack of lumbar support, but slouching doesn't help with that either.

.......

Just buy the 3rd gen. It's a better car to drive than the 2nd gen (not speaking of Touring).

 

Really it's not that hard! if it's a dealer give them
an "out the door price offer" let them figure it out!
good luck, let me know what you do!

 

Better at bargaining and buying comes from knowing what a particular car should sell for.

Check all new / used car pricing guides - Nadaguides, edmunds, kelly blue book, etc...

condition, miles, trim, options, need to know that. Don't be afraid to buy from a private party. You might just find someone like me selling

 

pay a few extra grand, get a new one. i have an 06 and 2010. there is a HUGE difference between them. but then again, if you want to save money, buy mine.... 2006 with 60,613 miles (just went out and checked) $13,000

 

Yes it was new with less than 100 miles. The story I was told by the dealer was that it was a special order by somebody who made a down payment on it but never came back to get it. It had $31k on the sticker and they originally offered it to me for $28k. After some research, I told them I would pay $21.5k for it since the '11s were coming out soon. They griped quite a bit about it until I said I was going to another dealer, then they were ready to talk. In addition, I got it for 60 months interest free.

 

I paid about 18 for a 09 that had 18,xxx on it and was certified in December. It was a wonderful car for the 8 weeks we drove it until it got Totaled out from a Car crash.

We only made one payment on it.

 

Txbookpusher.

If you are considering a new Prius, you may want to buy one soon. I can see the dealers jacking up the prices because of demand (real or made-up), and the recent Tsunami in Japan, which has put auto prodution out of whack.

 

I'd imagine you're looking at What Fees Should You Pay? — Edmunds.com about trade ins saving on sales tax. I only wish CA did that (when I lived there). Sales tax is high there too and then there's state income tax (WA has none).

Yes, renting one would give you a better sense of the vehicle.

 

Try to get a rental w/ unlimited mileage. Go on a very long drive so you can see how comfortable/uncomfortable the drivers seat in a Gen II Prius is/isn't.

I have a '07 Prius, am 5'9", and twisted my right knee years ago. I personally find the Gen II Prius drivers seat uncomfortable. On a long drive (ie, LA to San Fran), my lower back will hurt; aftermarket lumbar pillow helps with the back. Inability to adjust the seat cushion (front height, up or down) kills my right knee. You may find the driver's seat is too high. Despite this, I still like the Prius. Gen III seats would sure help. Wonder if its possible to put a Gen III seat into a Gen II?

 

i c two real options for you

1) find a much much MUCH better deal on a used car

2) buy new.

no need to advise of the pitfalls of used cars, especially older ones with higher mileage. they are usually hit or miss and many times is mostly luck.

now that hit or miss applies to new cars, but at least you have a warranty to fall back on. i have not been unlucky enough to have a lemon happen to me, but have known several people who have and there is one thing that is common amongst them all

even if the fix is free, it still fricking sucked to have an unreliable car

 

After all that, you bought a Corolla??? Anyways, the Corolla is a great car and you're going to get hundreds of thousands of miles on it.

Welcome to the Toyota family.

 

Congratulations! Buying only as much car as you can buy for cash saves many thousands.

 

I believe you may be able to buy a factory extended warranty for your NEW Corolla, as long as you do so before the bumper-to-bumper warranty expires.

You can probably even price shop it around the internet and maybe even here on PC.

Enjoy your car.