Depreciation

[dee s]

Its my first time of raising a new topic taken me long enough though.

But just wanted to know, Does the Prius really hold its value. I have read that it does not, but sometimes I read that it does. With the Petrol prices continually increasing I would have though it would

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I guess it depends on which Prius you refer to.

The latest gen 3 gets below that magic 100g/km limit and is eligible for zero road tax but more importantly will be eligible for free entry to the London congestion zone area for many years to come. That in its own right will ensure high demand for second hand gen 3's.

My understanding is that the gen1 and gen2 will no longer be eligible for new applicants to the congestion area and only for a couple more years for exisiting applicants. I'm sure someone nearer London who knows about such things more than I will confirm the exact details though.

But will the cars hold their values? For sure!

£1.35 a litre for petrol and predicted to hit £1.50 by Autumn is another jolly good reason why.

[Jan&tone]

Good question!

I think the best thing to do is to look around at the prices posted by dealers and private sellers and see how they stack up against new list prices...

Second hand values will reflect many things, like how many are available, the condition, the reliability of UK editions, even colour and trim will come into the equation.

[sjrainsford]

One things for sure, they're going to become more desirable!

[Chris Dance]

I think they should hold their value but trying to sell our Gen 2 Prius privately was fraught. We had lots of inquiries but folk did not have the money or let us down by not turning up. It went to the dealer in the end and he has £2000 more on it on the forecourt than I got in PX. Folk seem more willing to buy from a dealer I think. I speak to so many people who have no idea what a hybrid is.

[Seamaster73]

Supply issues with the current Prius, given the events in Japan, will no doubt help to keep residuals on nearly new ones firm.

[dwilson]

One things for sure, they're going to become more desirable!

At the moment they look to be holding their value very well to me

I bought my May 2009 Gen 2 Prius in August 2010 - I think it was up for £13,699 at a main dealer. The part exchange price in excellent condition according to Glass' guide was £12000. I guess it had lost 33% of its value but I think some of this was down to the Gen 3 coming out. In February 2011 the part exchange price in excellent condition according to Glass' guide was £11650. But now the part exchange price in excellent condition according to Glass' guide was £12050. So it looks to me that in spite of adding more miles and age to the car it is worth about the same - that is a result!

My wife's Auris has continued to fall in value over the same period from £6970 to £5560

But at only £5500 it can't drop much further!

David

[cootuk]

I think once you get near the magic 100k mark where the hybrid side drops out of warranty, then prices may dip as people get a bit cagey.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Well you say that but try and find a gen2 for anything less than £4,500 - £5,000! That's a 2004 car with 120+k miles (yes there's one at £3,500 with 190k miles!) and still going for over £4,000. You can get a Mondeo of same age and mileage for £1,500.

Check out Autotrader for proof.

[Mkuk0]

Gen 2 no longer eligble for congestion charge exemption, I renewed mine 2 months early and just crept in before the deadline, so I am ok until the car is up for renewal (company car)

[Doesn'tExist]

I know it is an old topic but whilst awaiting delivery of a new car I've been looking around to see what we can expect for our 1 year old 60 reg T-Spirit. Wow only about £15k that is 40% of the value in year one. Worse than any car we have ever owned. I'm disliking the Toyota and the Prius even more now :(

[Jan&tone]

I know it is an old topic but whilst awaiting delivery of a new car I've been looking around to see what we can expect for our 1 year old 60 reg T-Spirit. Wow only about £15k that is 40% of the value in year one. Worse than any car we have ever owned. I'm disliking the Toyota and the Prius even more now :(

twentyfive percent the instant your number plates go on the vehicle... the other 15pct ain't bad for the rest of the year.... I believe that is why some people only ever buy ex demo models....

[MLW2233]

My Gen 2 T3 was £9,300 from Toyotas main dealer. At 3.3 years old and 32,000 miles that's roughly 50%. I was amazed how little prices had fallen. I was thinking of a Focus which would have been a great deal less.

Old congestion charge holders have two years grace until the end of 2012. If you buy a Gen 2 car you do NOT now get free congestion charge.

Gen 3 are OK.

[Doesn'tExist]

My Gen 2 T3 was £9,300 from Toyotas main dealer. At 3.3 years old and 32,000 miles that's roughly 50%. I was amazed how little prices had fallen. I was thinking of a Focus which would have been a great deal less.

Old congestion charge holders have two years grace until the end of 2012. If you buy a Gen 2 car you do NOT now get free congestion charge.

Gen 3 are OK.

Hey if it only depreciates another 10% in the next 2 years and 24,000 miles than it is ok'ish, guess I get extra punishment for wanting rid after just one year...I've always bought brand new and this is the worst for what was the most economical and low value car we have ever bought. Guess I was expecting the good fuel economy to help keep its residual value up a bit, but looks like the market doesn't appreciate it at all.

[Opifex]

Last November I bought a six month old ex-demo Gen3 from my local main dealer. A slightly older car, same colour, is currently advertised on their website at £250 more than I paid. That sounds a pretty good depreciation rate to me. The snag, of course, is that if I wanted another six-month old car the price of that would have gone up as well. You can't win.

[blue verso 56]

I think the key to the deprecation issue is to make sure you get a really good deal on your purchase as it helps with the amount of depreciation you suffer at a later date .

I have been really pleased with the deals that I have been offered by Toyota over the years when changing my cars .

[Doesn'tExist]

Well yes and no. I was only able to negotiate a bit below 10% just if I was to add that to the depreciation it would actually be even worse.

[blue verso 56]

!0% discount is about the maximum amount of discount on a prius you can get but it is the cost the change price that matters and trade in price can vary a lot between dealers

Please do not think I am trying to tell you how to suck eggs but looking at the spec of your car I think that is were some of your problem lies

LED/Style Packs, DAB, iPod, JBL Upgrades, Tinted Windows all these add to the price of your new car but how much do you recover of that cost on trade in ? did the dealer work out the trade in price with some allowance for the extras you have added and if so how much if any

[Jan&tone]

LED/Style Packs, DAB, iPod, JBL Upgrades, Tinted Windows all these add to the price of your new car but how much do you recover of that cost on trade in ? did the dealer work out the trade in price with some allowance for the extras you have added and if so how much if any

A good point there! Is there a salesman on here that can give us an answer I wonder?

I do know that with houses, some 'improvements' add value, some detract and some make no difference, maybe its the same with cars?

[Doesn'tExist]

!0% discount is about the maximum amount of discount on a prius you can get but it is the cost the change price that matters and trade in price can vary a lot between dealers

Please do not think I am trying to tell you how to suck eggs but looking at the spec of your car I think that is were some of your problem lies

LED/Style Packs, DAB, iPod, JBL Upgrades, Tinted Windows all these add to the price of your new car but how much do you recover of that cost on trade in ? did the dealer work out the trade in price with some allowance for the extras you have added and if so how much if any

Nah you never you get that back, I'm used to that so no worries there. Unfortunately our replacement vehicle (Range Rover Evoque) doesn't allow for getting discounts at all. It is not the money that I am surprised by, it is the actual depreciation of the Prius even when taking normal standard version prices into account. It is a bad as some of the French cars, I would have bet (but clearly lost that now) that the 'green credentials' and fuel economy were counting for something. But the diesel brigade is clearly winning, lots of people even those that dont do the mileage seem to be convinced they need a diesel. How times have changed.

PS. I am not bitter or anything, we like buying new for other reasons that are more important than loosing a bit of money, I am just genuinely surprised.

[blue verso 56]

A Range Rover Evoque is a pretty hot car at the moment so discounts are non existent but you should benefit in the long run as long as Range rover do not start discounting in the future .

I am sure I am not the only one who has noticed if you trade in a Toyota for another Toyota or Honda for another Honda the p/x price will be higher than if you trade a Toyota for a Range Rover .

Enough orders for the Range Rover Evoque have been made for to keep the Halwood plant in full production well into next year so dealers have no need to discount or give high part exchange prices as they can sell all they can get

[Seamaster73]

You never get the value of any optional extras back. Your car's resale value is what it says in the CAP black book, which takes no account of them. As a motor trader mate of mine quips, "We sell those extras. But we don't buy them".

[blue verso 56]

I always think depreciation is relative to the price you pay and the amount of money you lose rather than a percentage figure as an example take a BMW you pay £40,000 for it new at trade in if you keep 50% of the value after 3 years which equals a loss of £ 20,000 if you buy a Prius which suffers a loss of 60% of it value and you paid £20,000 for it new your loss in depreciation would be £12000 on the Prius which is considerably better than a BMW even though if you look at the retained value of the BMW is 50% of its purchase price you would think the BMW is a more cost effective buy

I think the Prius will hold its price pretty well and expect the prius to hold more than 40% of its value after 3 years because the technology is proven and in the future there is just one way fuel prices will go and there is little competition out there for it and the fact it runs on petrol is a bonus as you are saving 4p a litre on the price of diesel straight away .

[Ikelos]

we got our prius T spirit, 59 plate,in sept 59, one month ago we traded it in for a Prius 10, and we got £18000, I thought that was too good to turn down, only went in there on impulse.....

[dwilson]

One things for sure, they're going to become more desirable!

At the moment they look to be holding their value very well to me

I bought my May 2009 Gen 2 Prius in August 2010 - I think it was up for £13,699 at a main dealer. The part exchange price in excellent condition according to Glass' guide was £12000. I guess it had lost 33% of its value but I think some of this was down to the Gen 3 coming out. In February 2011 the part exchange price in excellent condition according to Glass' guide was £11650. But now the part exchange price in excellent condition according to Glass' guide was £12050. So it looks to me that in spite of adding more miles and age to the car it is worth about the same - that is a result!

My wife's Auris has continued to fall in value over the same period from £6970 to £5560

But at only £5500 it can't drop much further!

David

As an update on my previous post, I have just traded my wife's Auris in and got £5000 in part exchange (bought a RAV4 which I will drive too when I fancy a change from the Prius). I think I paid £14k for the Auris in March 2007 and she has done 18000 miles.

After a year of motoring I think I should get about £11k for my Prius which I think is good.

David