Test drove a Prius - finally!

Just do it!

You know you really want to. Here, I'll give you a little push >>>>>>

 

Wow, you sound exactly like me one year ago. I too was tossed up between the Fit and Prius, but the Prius obviously won. A new Prius was too expensive, and dealers were charging $2000 mark-ups on the Fit. So I grabbed the cheapest plane ticket ($70 on JetBlue) to Pittsburgh and got a used Prius for less than a new Honda Fit.

The Fit is a really great car, but the Prius is better. Now if there was a hybrid Fit....

 

I kinda like the Fit also, but the Prius is a Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle, think about not only the gas mileage, but the savings on pollution as well. In addition, there's the advanced technology.... I haven't seen a Fit yet with a backup camera or blue tooth.........

I get to test drive my Prius every day!! Actually, it still excites me to drive it!

 

Used Priuscing

So, does anyone know how to really figure out what a Prius is worth?
There's a 2004 on Ebay asking $17,000....and it's about an hour from
my office. My "car shopper" who got me my last car is convinced
the extra cost of the Prius isn't worth the $, but he doesn't know
about my modification plans....oh, and I need *something* ASAP.

The car looks fine, has a transferrable Factory warrantee
#290180899449
Thanks [email protected]

 

I wouldn't base much on any of the book values.

What I do, instead, is conduct a national search on autotrader.com and/or cars.com. Look for the lowest price at which prices start to clump. That's a good target.

I've written about this method a bit more here:

Used car pricing method

 

I own both a Honda Civic Hybrid ('03) and a Prius ('04). My daughter now drives the Honda and I drive the Prius. But for the first 20k miles on the HCH, I was the only driver. I much prefer the Prius; more space for junk, better economy and more power.

I hope the Prius will be running as strong when I catch up to the HCH's 118k miles. The Honda hasn't needed a single repair outside oil changes and routine maintenance items.

I'm very happy with both these cars.

 

Battery? Well if it does die after the very long warranty is up and you end up footing the bill for a new one, think of all the transmission parts, belts, starter motors and such you haven't had to replace on the Prius and you'll feel okay about it. As it is, there seem to be few stories of dead HV batteries, and the ones I've seen have been manufacturer defects and/or warranty replaceable.

 

Hi Clintd555,

If I was dead set on Prius, but could not put down the $22K, I would look for a used one. Considering the used 04's and 05's, there have been some costs. The MFD is something that needs to be replaced in those, sooner or later. Toyota has been less than forthcoming in offering repair and replacements of those. Unless your an surface mount electronics wizz, (see Hobbit's writeup), you would be on the hook for the MFD. The $400 refurbs are a thing of the past now.

Consequently, I would wait till the last quarter of '08 and look for a used '06.

If you have to have a car now, welp, I think that depends on your driving. Doing more 150 miles a week, in a moderate climate, and the Prius will break even eventually with the Fit. Its not a matter of how long it takes, just as long as it does not take longer than the car lasts (say 150 K miles, or 10 years in a heavy winter state). Because resale will be better on the car that demonstrates a longer life, with less required repairs, it does not require you to own the car to the break even mileage.

You are going to spend the money, sooner or later with either car.

 

I got my used 2004 package 7 Prius for around $16,500. It had about 51,000 miles on it when I purchased it back in Oct. '06.

The Fit I wanted back then cost about $18k (the sport trim level), before the $2000 markup charged by the dealer. The Fit was new back then and it was "rare", as in 5 sitting on the lot. (Orlando isn't known for low prices.)

Your best bet for getting a used Prius is at a non-Toyota dealer. Mine just happened to be located at Three Rivers Volkswagen outside of Pittsburgh, PA. The non-Toyota dealers usually don't know that much about the car and you can work out a better deal.

And no, I am not at all concerned about the battery. There are enough high mileage Prii rolling around now to show that the batteries are reliable. Just fill the tank with Shell and put Mobil 1 in the engine.

 

I'm looking at a certified 2004 Prius which has the premium audio and navigation, not sure what package that makes it but I'm pretty sure its near the top. It has 41, 000 miles, which is pretty low for the year. The current list price is $19,880. I'm wondering what anybody thinks of this price, and whether buying a 2004 is a mistake. I know there have been some issues with the MFD in that model year. A new one is a bit over my budget. Thanks for any info.

 

You really need to find out what package it is to be able to figure out the value.

Does it have Navigation (this can add a decent amount of money to the cost)? What other options are installed? Bluetooth? Smart Key?

 

The one I'm looking at has Nav, blue tooth, jbl sound, security system. I can't tell exactly what package but I think it has to be toward the top. The blue book price appears to be about $1500 higher than the asking price of $19880, so it doesn't seem like they're going to come down from this price very much. Yes, its 2004, but the low mileage and the options keep the price up there.