Depreciation

[jdrrco]

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

£5,000 for an Auris with just 18k on the clock sounds like a bargain. Did you try to advertise it privately? Even in the current doom and gloom-ness, I'd have thought someone would have snapped it up.

[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

£5,000 for an Auris with just 18k on the clock sounds like a bargain. Did you try to advertise it privately? Even in the current doom and gloom-ness, I'd have thought someone would have snapped it up.

No I would not want the hassle and risk involved in a private sale - unless to family. The price to change was still good and I had everything I wanted thrown. The Auris should be a bargain for the next owner but I believe I have secured a similar good buy with the Rav4.

I sold my Prius yesterday and did get the 11k anticipated as a trade in. So after 13 months and 10k miles it has depreciated by £2700 which I am fine with.

All the best,

David

[Jolly English Gentleman]

I paid £7,994 for my 2007 2nd gen T Spirit in March 2010 last year from a South Wales dealer. It was a high miler (62K) but with full detailed service history, It took me several weeks to find it and concluded that there are regional variations in prices in the used car market (dearer in rural areas). Main dealers within a 100 miles or so were looking for another £2k for the 2006 models without IPS. The list price for a 2007 T Spirit was around £20K, so a bit hit in the first 3 years, but the introduction of the 3rd gen and the recalls taking place on that model probably had a knock on effect to market confidence when I purchased mine (several weeks of snow also must have been a factor). I have now got 71K in the clock so I am guessing that over 18 months I have lost about £1K. The rate of loss will reduce the longer I have the car especially as more general dealers get used to the technology. When I brought my Prius there were 2 or 3 others in the area. Now that is well into double figures.

Years ago when I brought a 1999 Corrolla less than 3 years old but with £66K on the clock and paid £5k, during negotiations with the dealer I ascertained that they would be more prepared to move on the ticket price where finance is involved as they get a commission from the finance company. I was paying cash so could not get them to move so much. I also found out that if a car sits on the forecourt (as my Corrolla had done) they are more likely to move on price as non selling cars do find their way into the auction system and they are aware that they would get far less in those circumstances. I sold my Corrolla last year for £950 with £100K on the clock so over 8 years or so of ownership I lost £500 a year. The car was around £14K list price when it was new so the main hit was in the first 3 years.

In general I feel that depreciation rates have probably slowed a bit and will remain low until a 4th gen and/or the estate version and plug in options come out next year as that will almost certainly mean a few more gen 3's being traded in.

[doctor cummins]

With my Gen 2 T3 I found most problem with the dealers. Nowadays they want a £2000 profit. My T3 was 1yr old with 15000 miles in spanking condition yet the Pt ex offer was £7000 against a Gen 3 valued at £18000. They would sell mine at £11000! Provincial Toyota dealers seem to have strange ideas. I found Canterbury and Derby as the more realistic dealers. Curiously the Lagoon Blue of mine seems to be difficult to find on the Gen 3 cars.

As for the Gen 3 being better, I have my doubts on that other than being younger MPG seems very similar, so perhaps the bottom line is that any low mileage Gen2 would better the better buy (cheaper) for those not yet sold on the joy of the Prius. (My personal view is the Gen2 is also better looking than Gen3 which looks chunky by comparison).

[Chris Dance]

My experience of trading in my immaculate 3 year old Gen 2 with 13.000 miles for a new gen 3 T spirit was as doctor Cummins stated. I got £9000; the car sold off the dealers forecourt for £11,000 within a few days of trade in. Overall I think the Gen 3 is a better car than the Gen 2. Dealers do seem to want to make at least £2,000 profit on a trade in. Trying to sell privately for me was a major hassle.

[Bibsy]

My experience of trading in my immaculate 3 year old Gen 2 with 13.000 miles for a new gen 3 T spirit was as doctor Cummins stated. I got £9000; the car sold off the dealers forecourt for £11,000 within a few days of trade in. Overall I think the Gen 3 is a better car than the Gen 2. Dealers do seem to want to make at least £2,000 profit on a trade in. Trying to sell privately for me was a major hassle.

But when was the last time you paid the sticker price on a car? Unless you know otherwise, it might well have been advertised at 11, but only gone for 10, so that 2k profit really is only 1k in the real world, and out of that it has to be prepped, warrantied, etc. Seems reasonable.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

But when was the last time you paid the sticker price on a car? Unless you know otherwise, it might well have been advertised at 11, but only gone for 10, so that 2k profit really is only 1k in the real world, and out of that it has to be prepped, warrantied, etc. Seems reasonable.

So says the car dealer :)

You do have a point though. People seem happy to forget the hidden costs in running a business. I used to get complained at for charging £22 for a 10 mile trip to the airport. They always forget that there's another 10 miles for me to come back AND my costs are not just 20 miles of petrol (£2.50) - if only.