Prius on Ebay- 68 listings-14 sold, 8 were salvage - GreenHybrid

phoebeisis · #1 (**permalink**) 07-26-2006, 11:36 AM

I just quickly scanned Prius (2004-2007)completed listings on Ebay.It returned 68 listings; 14 sold, but 8 of the sales were POS salvage Prius, just 6 were Prius with good titles and factory warranty.The least one sold for was about $5000, the highest salvage sale was ~$17000-$18000. The lowest a good title sold for was $20,500 for a base 2004 with 22000 miles.The most was about $27000 for a loaded one with low miles(it wasn't new, so I was really surprised someone would pay that and give up the credit-of course, there is lots of shill bidding, and auctions with no bidders' IDs listed-so you never know the real story).
There are currently about 11 Salvaged Prius(2004+) on Ebay.Most are located in CA(you west coasters have all the luck!). You can immediately spot most of them -they have BINs under $20000, and offer free shipping.Only one decent dealer mentions salvage in the title line. The rest say nothing about them being POS salvage cars with absolutely no warranty on these very expensive to repair cars.Once they become salvage no warranty is enforceable-not the CA extended warranty, not the factory 80,000 warranty, or the usual 3/36,000 warranty on non hybrid items.You are strictly on your own.Most of the salvaged ones sold for about $16500- 66% of new price, and no Tax Credit of course.
Who buys a salvaged car for 66% of new?? Thanks.Charlie

philmcneal · #2 (**permalink**) 07-26-2006, 03:10 PM

ya i was about to buy a salvage prius until my dad went nuts and said NO!

probably for the better.... at least coasting was easy! I had the impression deadband mode was impossible (since it required a light foot) but for me... my foot was too light!

phoebeisis · #3 (**permalink**) 07-26-2006, 05:32 PM

philmcneal,
Your dad is on the ball; he did you a HUGE favor.These hybrids have a whole second set of very expensive to repair parts that have a very short track record in respect to reliability. Paying close to 66% of new for a no warranty damaged car with no tax credit.Good insurance companies won't insure them, and the POS companies that will insure them usually screw you if you get in an accident,"this is a salvaged car, so it is only worth $2000, so we will just total it instead of repairing it". They are essentially uninsurable for the amount you pay for them.
The dealers who sell them invariably lie about the extent of the original damage,"it had a dent in the left front bumper, so the insurance company totaled it out." Right, insurance companies are really known for being quick to throw away $20,000. If an almost new $25000 car is totaled by an insurance company then it has damage that will cost at least $15000 to repair.
The late model salvaged Prius are a bad deal at $16000(OK at $5000 maybe).Luck,Charlie
PS If Ebay was less CS they would make the dealers specify that they are salvaged in the heading.Instead they bury it in the small print of the listing.A couple of sellers do put it in the heading-honest guys apparently.A couple of the listing even said "LIKE NEW" .Yeah, if like new means twisted like a pretzel!

Tochatihu · #4 (**permalink**) 07-27-2006, 10:57 AM

Have been trying for some time to bamboozle somebody into track all the new model Prius on ebay. I have been doing the classic model for some time,and frankly becoming bored with the exercise.

One among us has mentioned developing a perl script (or some such thing) to automate the task. Would rather not say who, so as not to put pressure on that person.

Tochatihu · #5 (**permalink**) 07-27-2006, 10:59 AM

Oh and BTW I understand that Toyota's warranties all evaporate in the case of a salvage title. This could leave one in a precarious situation.

DAS

phoebeisis · #6 (**permalink**) 07-27-2006, 01:51 PM

Tochatihu, yes I remember.I follow them some, but not consistently. I have found that only a small percentage of "good title" 2004-2006's actually sell-reach reserve-maybe 10-20%. The sellers want very close to full MSRP for used cars with 20K miles on them, so no surprise-they don't sell.The ones that sell usually sell for $1000-$2000 under MSRP-very good for used cars!
I don't know why anyone would buy a used one for close to MSRP when you can buy one for MSRP and have it shipped for ~$1200 to anywhere in the country.You would then get the $3150 tax credit.Only a fool would buy used at these prices.Miller Toyota has 16 Prius-all at MSRP-buy and ship!
Luck,Charlie

bwilson4web · #7 (**permalink**) 07-27-2006, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tochatihu

Have been trying for some time to bamboozle somebody into track all the new model Prius on ebay. I have been doing the classic model for some time,and frankly becoming bored with the exercise.

One among us has mentioned developing a perl script (or some such thing) to automate the task. Would rather not say who, so as not to put pressure on that person.

Yeap, and now that I'm getting back to programming, one more for the list. Funny thing about programming, it works best when I can batch them since it leads to code reuse and saves a lot of time.

Priorities:

1) Oil database
2) Price scan (especially important as tax breaks tapper off)
3) Auto glide

Bob Wilson