1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Depreciation

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by clifford, Mar 20, 2006.

  1. clifford

    clifford Member

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2006
    156
    0
    0
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    I am sure this has been covered before but what about depreciation for the Prius. I expect most cars will be worth half of what I pay for them in three years. As I am considering buying a Camry vs a Prius. What has experience shown for the Prius? So I get a tax break, maybe, then how much is my car worth in three years. Am I better to do without the nav as far as trade in goes in about three years?
    thanks
     
  2. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2004
    8,972
    3,501
    0
    Location:
    Kunming Yunnan China
    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
    Welcome to PriusChat Clifford. Well, you could read the Consumer Reports article, but be sure to re-wash your brain afterwards. They propose that it will lose some 56% of its value after 5 years, ending up at $9801. That doesn't sound very good.

    Or you could look at how the new model Prius has done so far, loosing about 8% of its value after 2 years. This result is far better than typical cars (including Camry), and even I don't suppose that it will continue quite that well in later years.

    Or you could look at the previous model Prius that lost about 40% of its original value after 5 years. I expect the new model to do a bit better than that.

    Most folks at this internet group and a few others expect very high resale values for Prius. Ask the same question in the Edmunds.com forum, and you may hear a different story!

    I don't have NAV on my rickety old 2001 Prius, but if I bought it, would be to use it. I don't suppose that it would hold its value as an option.
     
  3. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2004
    15,140
    611
    0
    Location:
    South Puget Sound, WA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Nissan LEAF
    Model:
    Persona
    there are 2003's selling for 16-17000. that is 15-20% drop in value. not too bad since some of these cars have over 40000 miles on them.
     
  4. bee13

    bee13 Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2005
    290
    0
    0
    Location:
    Utah
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    I have an '05 package 4 that was purchased one week before Katrina for $22.3k ($1100 under MSRP). I have just over 16k miles on the Odo and Kelly Blue Book says I could expect to sell it on my own to a non-dealer buyer for $24,645.

    Hmm, am I to believe that this vehicle increased in value during my seven months of ownership and all that driving?

    That's an interesting notion, to say the least. Of course, something is only worth what you can get for it at the time of sale, and should I decide to sell tomorrow, I might not realize what Kelly says I should. Still, I have personally never seen an auto value behave like real estate - excepting vintage and rare cars.

    Has anyone had a similar experience?
     
  5. Walker1

    Walker1 Empire

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2006
    911
    6
    0
    Location:
    FL
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    If you want a sorry resale vehicle buy a Hyundai and start crying 3 or 4 years later when it's worth less then 1/2 of what it cost new.

    Toyotas are light years ahead of Hyundais.
     
  6. asaca

    asaca New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2006
    10
    0
    0
    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Generally speaking, Prius has a relatively low depreciation. However, because of the Federal tax credit, peoples tend to buy new rather than buy a 1-2 years old used. Check out the Private Sales section in Priuschat Market Place and decide for yourself.

    Other auto makers have such a low resale, a big factor is the huge discount offered when the car is initially purchased-at invoice or even below invoice.
     
  7. mouztrpd

    mouztrpd Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2005
    80
    0
    0
    Location:
    Ogden, Utah
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    I believe the predicted high depreciation is predicated on battery failure/replacement that will be needed when hybrids are out of warranty. They (edmunds, CR) seem to think this will make potential second hand buyers think twice. IMHO it will indeed. It will because of newer battery technologies it may rival a new model. The Prius being battery first is primed to take advantage of this where the Honda IMA is not, but dont take my word for it, check into this. The question to ask is how well can a current configuration of the HSD take advantage of a higher capacity, faster charging battery? With the more robust electric motors doing the grunt work the ICE is babied and I think these cars with a battery upgrade will go a long time.
     
  8. DaveSheremata

    DaveSheremata New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2004
    249
    15
    0
    Location:
    Arlington, Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    I think my Prius will last a long time, and I think that if gas shoots through the roof like most people on this board believe it will, then the Prius will really fare well against other vehicles. However, I think that we're at an apex in vehicle technologies and that newer models over the next 3 or 4 years will take off where the Prius started. Not many cars have ever been designed from the ground up to be a hybrid, and I'm sure that we'll see all of the big manufacturers releasing "gound-up" hybrids. This is the only reason I haven't bought 2 Prius's or a Ford Escape... I think our cars will not seem quite as magical in the years to come... I wonder how this will affect their resale value though...
     
  9. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2004
    15,140
    611
    0
    Location:
    South Puget Sound, WA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Nissan LEAF
    Model:
    Persona

    if that is the case, then yours depreciated much faster than mine. i had 18,000 miles on it after 14 months before the resale value dropped to what i paid for mine. i paid sticker for a pak 1.
     
  10. V8Cobrakid

    V8Cobrakid Green Handyman

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2004
    3,790
    152
    0
    Location:
    Park View, Los Angeles, CA. U.S.A
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    mine just priced at about 20k ( 04 with 53k miles) seeing i paid about 27k.. and more with financing... yeah... decent drop for the kbb. Could i ask more and get it? I'm pretty sure i can.
     
  11. bruceha_2000

    bruceha_2000 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2004
    3,054
    301
    19
    Location:
    Northwest VT
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    I suspect the unkown will play a factor for people until there are a bunch of 8 to 10 year old Prii out on the road still on their original batteries. Then the average person will trust that a 4 year old Prius WILL last another 4-6 years without major repair expense.
    The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. The early adopters are trusting Toyota's integrity as a company, the 8year /100K warranty on the hybrid systems and antecdotal evidence (such as the Vancouver taxi). I notice that the 2006s don't have 3 year free roadside assistance. The 2004s didn't get free oil changes like the 2001-2003s. Toyota is slowly pulling off the consumers' "security blankets" that make the risk of a new thing more palatable. Very few people had to make use of the roadside service, the battery recycling plant is unused, everything points to a quality product with a long life.
     
  12. hycamguy07

    hycamguy07 New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2006
    2,707
    2
    0
    Location:
    Central Florida
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    I know prius's are holding thier value, But what about the honda hybrids?
     
  13. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2004
    8,972
    3,501
    0
    Location:
    Kunming Yunnan China
    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
    I am still working on a larger statement on depreciation, but here are the parts related to your question. Edmunds and Kelly Blue book provide "true market value" and "private party value", respectively. NADA does not, so I averaged their trade-in and retail (Honda lot) values. Then I averaged all three sources. Where necessary, I specified automatic transmissions and alloy wheels. In all cases assumed 15k miles/yr. Here comes the data:

    2001...Insight...$10432
    2002...Insight...$11809
    2003...Insight...$14221
    2004...Insight...$16233

    2003...Civic-H...$16391
    2004...Civic-H...$18311

    I don't have their MSRPs yet, so please add 'em if you got 'em. I think you'll find the Honda hybrid depreciations are generally in line with the Prius models, and slower than (reliable) non-hybrid sedans.
     
  14. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2004
    44,768
    16,017
    41
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Well the original 01 Priuses in NA are getting there. I'm beginning to see a number of Classic owners posting problems/issues with their car, not only on PC but also on TN and POL.