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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Oct 22 2006, 11:25 PM) [snapback]336616[/snapback]</div>

Sorry to say this, but these puppies are depreciating fast.

Today a 2002 RAV4 EV with about 35K miles sold for a mere $45,865.76 on Ebay. Waaay down from the last sale, which was about $55K or so? Project that out, and hey, a year from now you'll have to pay sombody to haul them away for scrap. Better dump 'em whileyou can by, say, selling them to some naive East-coaster like me.

Today's Ebay RAV4 EV was located, oddly enough, in Vienna VA. And only claimed a 90 mile range, also oddly. I have no idea what the story is, except that I never saw this driven around the Town of Vienna, VA. Any idea how a RAV4 EV ended up in Vienna, VA? Was this a stray from the herd that was just saved?

I found tha sale because my other (non-Prius) car died Tuesday. Before that, looking for another car was an academic problem, but now I'm actively looking for a replacement. What I find is that once you've bought a Prius, pretty much everything else on looks Priustoric, to borrow a word coined by another Priuschat member. I don't want another Prius. So I'm sitting here tonight going through the Consumer Reports buying guide, and I have only come to two firm conclusions. First, straight gas cars just don't rate vis-a-vis the Prius. And an EV SUV is just about right in the sweet spot for what I'm looking for.

So, I too am interested in a used RAV4 EV. But not at a premium over a new-car price. Tell me I can have one, used, for twice the price of a Prius, and I'm not in the game. But tell me I could have, say, a new Ford Focus or a used RAV4 EV, and I'm definitely interested. If there are enough folks to snap them up at $45K a pop, so be it. If not I'd love to hear the details of how these might be sold.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(chogan @ Oct 25 2006, 06:46 PM) [snapback]338365[/snapback]</div>

Ha. Yeah... that's a good one. A 4-year-old vehicle with 35k on the clock, located WAY out of the typical service area (with somewhat of a sordid tail behind the seller) sells for $15k more than what was paid for it new does NOT equate to "fast depreciation" by any definition! And I do agree that it is the cheapest one that's sold for a while (see above mention of odd seller situation). All that said, I can tell you that it would take me less than half an hour to sell mine for $55k. But it ain't gonna happen!

All we know for sure is that we have no idea of the story on this particular car. We're a pretty tight little community, so the fact that the origin of this vehicle is a mystery, and the seller was very vague in answering any questions in that regard left many of us suspicious. If that same car were up for sale by original owner in CA, it would have gone beyond the sale price I'm pretty confident!

Just imagine what'll happen once you get an EV in your stable. Suddenly the Prius seems like a big ol' step backwards. And you get all smug. So careful there!

to borrow a word coined by another Priuschat member. I don't want another Prius. So I'm sitting here tonight going through the Consumer Reports buying guide, and I have only come to two firm conclusions. First, straight gas cars just don't rate vis-a-vis the Prius. And an EV SUV is just about right in the sweet spot for what I'm looking for.

These particular "Nate Ravs" are not going to be for sale to the public. At least that's how it appears now. Always remember - Toyota's official reason for stopping EV production was "lack of demand." We wouldn't want to force any of these things on the unsuspecting public! We had one of these undesirable cars sell for over $67,000 not too long ago. That was for a 3-year-old vehicle with about 40k on the clock. So I can see Toyota's point. :not:

 

Everyone involved must know that I am attempting to sell these cars for a profit (how else could I borrow $1.85 million?). You won't get anything in return other than satisfaction of saving these amazing cars. However, these cars will be made available for sale soon. These cars recently have sold for $55,000 and even higher on ebay. I intend to sell them for substantially less; I will advertise on PriusChat once I clear it with Danny.



Nate
[/quote]

I hope you are able to sell them. My wife and I are considering an EV when we need to replace her car. A well priced RAV IV would be very interesting!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SomervillePrius @ Oct 26 2006, 08:23 AM) [snapback]338529[/snapback]</div>

I guess all the insiders know what happened, but I've been checking back here for the end of the story. Gave up and Googled it. There won't be any for sale, as the LA Power and Water dep't decided to keep them, per the story below.

http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=ar...mp;storyid=1117

 

Too bad but still great. At least they will be in continued use.

It's sad to see that citys are not doing more to stay green. There must be many places where the city need a car but will do a lot less then 200 miles/day.

It would also have been a great deal for Nate (and his investor) I'm sure.

/Robert

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(chogan @ Oct 30 2006, 11:07 AM) [snapback]340706[/snapback]</div>

Sorry. Thought I covered that in post 13 and 17. I wanted to let Nate fill in his personal details, so I was purposefully vague. The comment about Nate keeping his money meant that he was not buying any of these cars (and so is not able to resell them of course), and the link in post 17 tells the story, shows the pictures, and includes the links you'll find on Google.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Oct 30 2006, 02:01 PM) [snapback]340738[/snapback]</div>

Darelldd, my mistake, I kept looking for naterprius to finish off the thread.