Why has my 2010 Prius IV suddenly plummeted in re-sale value?

Are you kin to PriusChat member somerandomidiot?

 

A similar username signed up earlier this week: SomeRandomIdiot

 

I can't speak to the reason but have some hypotheses: Prius supply is more plentiful, gas prices in some areas are now cheaper, 2012 Priuses are shipping soon, 2011 Priues are being discounted more due to the 2012s.

If you want more $, you'll usually do better selling it on your own.

As for your complaints about "terrible winter/snow performance", do you have proper snow tires? As for "loud A/C compressor", can you hear it when the windows are closed? I have no Gen 3 and will agree that the Gen 2's AC compressor can get loud but who cares?

If you're set on trying to trade in/sell to a dealer, try a few others. When I sold my 04 350Z instead of shipping it, I got an offer from a used car dealer for $12K (I think I was advertising it in Craig's list for $12.5K), one Nissan dealer offered $10K while another offered me $14K (!). I should said yes that day instead of hesitating. The $14K was way more than I was expecting from a dealer and much higher than the Edmunds private party value.

I was hardly getting any responses on CL at $12.5K and even some stupid ones like "would you trade an Isuzu Rodeo for your Z and some cash?" Me: "No. I'm trying to sell a car that I liked so I don't need to ship it. Why would I want a SUV instead?" (I wouldn't ever buy an Isuzu SUV anyway.)

To make a long story short, some things fell through and I got $13.4K from that last Nissan dealer and was reasonably satisfied.

 

Nothing to be sorry about. See below.

My bad I just figured what are the chances of two somerandom something's joining and posting in one week.

Sorry your car has depreciated, that just means so as all of ours. I bought mine with the Advanced Technology Package I will probably never get my money back for that if I were to sell or trade mine in.

Now to address your gripes.

I believe that there are aftermarket seat track extenders to give you more rearward travel.

You can hear the A/C compressor? I can hear mine if I stand outside the car, it is hardly audible inside the car.

According to others here on PC a good set of snow tires is all the Prius needs to be a compitant and capabile winter driver suiting most people's needs, within the vehicles limitations of course. They claim it will perfom on par with any other similar front wheel drive car.

 

Sorry, I don't know. Just some thoughts based on my car industry observations.

As for buying a new car every 2-3 years, ouch! That becomes very spendy. You're taking the depreciation hit when it's the largest. If you're going to continue doing that, you might be better off leasing.

I see, regarding the tax savings, you're lucky you live in a state where that helps. California isn't one of those (What Fees Should You Pay? - Edmunds.com). I agree that it's a headache to sell cars privately. Have done it twice.

Hmm, that's interesting regarding the ground clearance. I hadn't heard that complaint before. I wonder if getting larger wheels (to go w/snow tires) would be enough mitigation.

 

I don't think the kelly blue book is accurate. It doesn't ask what trim it is. The options are too general. According to kbb, my 5 with ATP is only worth just over $21,000 They're smoking crack if they think my Prius Five/ATP is worth only $21K. What's worse is the trad in value is less than $19K. A Prius II with no options trade in is just under $17K and private sale is just under $19K. According to KBB, there's no price difference between a IV with nav and a V with ATP.

 

Here's one reason - reports are that the market for hybrids is in the tank.

Hybrid Demand Declines | wltx.com

 

I don't understand your outrage. A year and a half ago, your car was worth $21,000 and now it is worth $18,000. This sounds about right to me (though I must admit that I don't trade my cars into until they fail, so I am not familiar with how much money people typically lose when trading in a perfectly good car).

The $26,000 value was, as you know, a temporary aberration due to natural disasters, low supply, and high fuel prices. Did you really think that a car somehow gained value which it would keep forever? Why didn't you sell when the value of your car jumped up $5,000?! I know I was tempted.

So, despite being accustomed to throwing away a few thousand every few years on new car cachet, and thus knowing that cars never appreciate in value, you watched as a car, that you don't like, did the impossible and increased in value by $5,000 and did nothing. You missed a golden opportunity, and now somehow you are looking for someone to be angry at. I suggest investing in a mirror.

 

Also your talking about trade in. Dealers wont buy a used car unless they can make thousands and thousands off of you. Back when my car was 6 months old carmax said trade in was 6 grand less than they would have sold my car for. Thats how it works. You can get a grand or two more than trade in if you sell it your self.

I also watch my trade in value and PPV i noticed over the last three months my car lost 4 grand in value.

 

I'm the same size as you and had some initial comfort issues. I found that given the generous headroom, raising the seat up and moving the seatback upright made a big difference in my comfort. I've noticed that I have to move the seatback one notch back from the most vertical setting to eliminate back pain. (A lumbar support would help, I suppose.) The center placement of the instruments is handy because I can adjust my steering wheel without worrying about blocking the view of them.

If you drive a lot of miles, there simply aren't any other cars with a mid-sized interior and the cargo flexibility of the Prius that are also going to get ~50 MPG. While the general public may be losing interest in hybrids (and small cars in general right now - the Chevy Lordstown Cruze and Chrysler Dundee 4-cylinder engine plants are both scaling back production, we all know that sub-$4 gas is a temporary thing. One major oil production / transportation hiccup anywhere in the world will end that and the current administration in Washington is committed to a policy of increasing the efficiency of cars, including restraining oil production to encourage folks to buy higher MPG cars.

 

Unfortunately, what the OP is describing just seems normal to me.

In North America, the 2010 Prius was actually released in May of 2009, so we are dealing with a model coming up on at least 2 model years old. All cars depreciate rapidly in the 2nd and 3rd years.

Time flys when you are having fun.

Also right now we are on the verge of the 2012's being released along with the upcoming Plug In Prius. I could foresee a slight bump in the used Prius market, as some "regular" Prius owners make the switch to the Plug In Prius. Further infiltrating the used Prius market with an influx of "newer" used Prius.

In anycase, it's the dawn of 2012...with new models available now..Prius v, and "refreshed" models on the horizon...along with the Plug in...just a sad fact of ownership but your resale value is going to be lower.

I've read different takes. But it's some astronomical amount that is lost in depreciation the microsecond you sign the buyers contract and drive off the lot.

Buying a new car? Is simply not usually a good investment from a total value of the product vs. what you will probably pay for it new...perspective.

That's why when anyone comes to Prius Chat seeking advice about what vehicle they should buy? One of the cornerstones of my advice regardless of specifics is..."Make Sure You Are Happy With What You Are Buying".

Mistakes happen, but turning a new car over in a year or two...or 3 is going to almost always be a relatively severe penalty financially.

 

No, tires alone wouldn't do it. There is a noticeable difference between a Gen II and Gen III on ground clearance.

HEVamerica testing shows

2004 4.3 inches
2010 5.5 inches

both with 15" tires. In addition as the springs sag over the life of the car the ground clearance will lower (testing above was on new cars). I suppose you could try and get aftermarket suspension upgrades to increase ground clearance.

As to tires alone you don't gain any height at all, not one tenth of an inch, not one hundredth of an inch by going to larger rim sizes (in theoretical terms, assuming the tire manufacturers make all the possible tire sizes).

Any change in tire size can be done at 15" just as easily as it is done at 16" or 17" and all three come down to tire diameter and how the revs per mile will affect the speedometer / odometer.

Picking a tire that is 3% larger (which is about the max you should consider without suspension modifications) only gains you .4" to .7" in ground clearance in rough amounts. Actual gains vary by brand/model/tire size and by the PSI you inflate to. Oh, and that's assuming that all of the tire diameter change directly translates into more ground clearance.

As to the diameters real world examples are

185/65/15 (2004-2009 Standard U.S. OEM tire size for Goodyear Integrity at 25")

195/65/15 (2010+ OEM tire size 1 Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max at 25")
195/65/15 (2010+ OEM tire size 2 Bridgestone Ecopia EP20 at 25")
195/65/15 (2010+ OEM tire size 3 Yokohama AVID S33D at 25")

So you could do

205/65/15 Goodyear Integrity at 25.4"
205/65/15 Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max at 25.5"
205/65/15 Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 at 25.5"

205/60/16 Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max at 25.7"
205/60/16 Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 at 25.7"

You could go bigger tires but will they rub? Will they cause other issues (speedometer, odometer, brakes?)

Better off changing out springs to increase ground clearance and not change the tire size too much.

Oh, and I just pulled the tire info for a few tires, there may be much better tire options out there, I'm not recommending any specific tires in this post.

 

KBB tended to be generous in values compared to the market. The recently re-did their website and value algorithms to try to provide more accurate, localized pricing. From what I see with my cars, they are probably still a bit generous. (Just try hitting the "instant trade in" button on KBB and see what low-ball offers you get from dealers.) Most dealers around here tend to cluster around the lower numbers from the Edmunds used car calculator.

 

When a dealer has a dozen or two 2011's sitting on the lot there isn't much incentive for him to buy a 2010. Right now there is high inventory & soft demand. The time to sell was when there was nothing (or next to nothing ) sitting on the lot.