Trade in

A lot depends on battery technology in the near future and if gas goes back up to near $4 a gallon. If it does, you could probably get what you paid for your current Prius. If a decent plug-in becomes available for an affordable price, some may trade for that.
If you had another vehicle you could use for long trips, having a plug-in for daily commutes, groceries, shopping, etc. would make sense.

 

I traded in a '01 Prius for the 2010. The GenI was down to about a 30 average mpg with now having 115,000 miles rolled by. The lower mileage was attributed to an aging battery that required a longer ICE run duration--hence, lower fuel economy. The rest of the car still looked and ran like it would last forever. These factors aided me in deciding to trade it in; while a dealer might be convinced of it's residual value.

 

My car was purchased during the boom, Gen2 Pack5, $27,574 + ttl or $30.4k otd for the car.

I guarantee you, No car dealer would offer more than $18k for the car today or much more if gas prices peak this summer. That's over $12k loss, or what other kindly refer to as 'financial folly'.

A trade in is simply a way for a dealer to make money twice on the 'trade-in'er' (I sound like Dub)...

1) They make money by taking your old car for less than they will sell it for

2) they make money by selling you a new car for less than they paid for it.

Better to sell direct to a private party if one must sell.

And what's the big deal about getting a 'certified used' car? You don't even get to see or talk to the previous owner. Last I saw is it gives a 7yr/100k powertrain warranty. Big deal.

In buying from a private party, both could go to Toyota and have the car pre-sale inspected for a nomimal amount.

Only thing is private party sellers don't finance, and I guess higher interest on used car loans.

 

While I agree with your #1 point, the #2 one is written incorrectly.

2) they make money by selling you a new car for MORE than they paid for it.