Buying an used car can be tricky, but with the new hybrid technology that has come out the difficulties are even greater. The article and subsequent link I have provided below will hopefully ease the burdens of buying a used hybrid and show you some of the common pitfalls people find themselves facing. FYI this is an older article but much of the information still holds true.
Toyota Prius (2001-03): Along with Honda's Insight, the compact Prius sedan was one of the first hybrids in America. Sales were scant, but it got people used to the possibility of hybrids as regular transportation. Initially priced around $20,000, used first-generation Priuses can command as much as half that figure.
In June 2008, Norm Olson, national sales operations manager for Toyota Certified vehicles, saw previously owned Priuses going for $4,000 to $6,000 more than their new-car price. "Now they've gone to a realistic price," he said at the National Remarketing Conference, in October.
Toyota Prius (2004-09): Redesigned for 2004 in larger, midsize four-door liftback form, the second-generation Prius was the least-expensive hybrid. It also had the highest fuel-economy estimate: 60-mpg city and 51-mpg highway (reduced to 48/45 mpg during 2007). A 1.5-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder gasoline engine works with an electric motor and continuously variable transmission (CVT). Though prices eased late in 2008, a year-old Prius can still command figures that approach its original new-car cost–above $20,000. Even a five-year-old has lost only about one-third of its initial value. For that purely economic reason, Priuses aren't the most sensible secondhand choice. A redesigned 2010 Prius will be unveiled at Detroit's auto show in January 2009. read more
Toyota Prius (2001-03): Along with Honda's Insight, the compact Prius sedan was one of the first hybrids in America. Sales were scant, but it got people used to the possibility of hybrids as regular transportation. Initially priced around $20,000, used first-generation Priuses can command as much as half that figure.
In June 2008, Norm Olson, national sales operations manager for Toyota Certified vehicles, saw previously owned Priuses going for $4,000 to $6,000 more than their new-car price. "Now they've gone to a realistic price," he said at the National Remarketing Conference, in October.
Toyota Prius (2004-09): Redesigned for 2004 in larger, midsize four-door liftback form, the second-generation Prius was the least-expensive hybrid. It also had the highest fuel-economy estimate: 60-mpg city and 51-mpg highway (reduced to 48/45 mpg during 2007). A 1.5-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder gasoline engine works with an electric motor and continuously variable transmission (CVT). Though prices eased late in 2008, a year-old Prius can still command figures that approach its original new-car cost–above $20,000. Even a five-year-old has lost only about one-third of its initial value. For that purely economic reason, Priuses aren't the most sensible secondhand choice. A redesigned 2010 Prius will be unveiled at Detroit's auto show in January 2009. read more
