I'd've traded my '04 HCH in a heartbeat if the '06 HCH had a MT. I even promised my '04 to a friend. She was very disappointed when I told her I wasn't trading it.

 

I've decided I'm trading for a 2007 HCH at about this time next year. My car will have about 38,000 miles on it and be three and a half years off the boat by then.

I hope to get at least 14K credit from the dealer at trade time.

 

See what they are *Really* selling for by looking at completed auctions where the reserve is met on ebay . . . (quick search below)
Year Mileage Price
2003 81,510 $9,700.00
2003 68,500 $12,100.00
2003 58,000 $14,050.00
2003 34,000 $12,600.00
2003 25,000 $13,010.00
2005 9,815 $17,905.00
2005 3,350 $19,995.00

And a TON where the reserve ins't met, (presumably, by folks looking to "cash out" with all the hype). Good luck actually getting over $20k for any used HCH. Not saying it can't be done, but you'll have found a sucker.

 

Actually, E-Bay is a TERRIBLE way to buy or sell a car, and the prices there certainly are not indicative of what most people "are really getting." Those E-Bay motors sales are ALL over the place. People sell cars for WAY under the KBB on there, and sometimes buyers pay WAY more than KBB too. Terrible car sales model.

Go to Edmunds.com and look at the TMV price. Those are based on ACTUAL SALES of actual vehicles in dealer lots. That's a much more reliable source for accurate info.

 

so if I sold my car on ebay I'd get about $100 less than what I owe on it. When i say that I mean I haven't made a single payment on my 05 HCH and the loan has grown about $200 in interest. I paid about 19,300 (rounded up) taxes and 7 year warrenty included. If the 06 HCH has a MT and a better looking dash (I hate the new dash) I'd trade mine in for it and possibly pull a profit. Actually I would pull a profit because I've saved myself gas money for the last 3 months, I could claim the deduction and then claim the credit as well.

I read that wrong! So at 19,900 I'd already make $600 bucks! YIKES!

 

Edmunds prices involve a trade,so the selling price is actually inflated to "give" the buyer "more" for his trade in.
Ebay generally involves no trade deals,so you are actually seeing what a buyer will pay.
Ever noticed that when dealers are selling a used car they advertise"$1000's under KBB?"When you go to trade in of course, you get the very low end of the NADA number.
The HCH and the Prius have held their valve very well-great trade in valve-but not KBB.The Ebay prices posted earlier are reasonable indicators of what you might get on a private sale.CA might be a special market.There are other reasons to pay more-HOV tags,trendiness etc.
A member recently bought a2006 HCH for list.Why would anyone pay >$20,000 for a used 2005 when they can get a better 2006 with a full warranty for $5000 more?True,it might involve shipping,but so what?Thanks.Charlie

 

I disagree that its a terrible model, because if there is terrible variance on one side of the equation, then the market would correct itself. I'd go and ****** up all the HCH's for mid-to high teens, then flip them for low $20's. I couldn't do that and I doubt anyone could without being a "car dealer".

I agree people do pay more than KBB, as well as people paying more than sticker for new cars. It comes down to two factors: 1) Supply & Demand or 2) Ignorant Buyers/Sellers

TMV is a decent model, and if you actually went on there and looked at the data its pretty well in line with your "terrible car sales model"

 

Sorry Josh, I guess we have to disagree, but I know I'm correct...... I have looked at the issue for several years now, and I have never been shown to be wrong.

First off, E-Bay Motors sells too few cars to make it a valid statistical measuring stick for prices. Edmunds TMV takes into account THOUSANDS of vehicle transactions.

At E-Bay Motors, there are too many cases where cars go FAR below KBB value and also the ones where buyers make the bid WAY HIGHER than the car's KBB value, and you have something that is statistically unusable, because they have no relation to one another - in other words, 10 Priuses might sell for below KBB but then 75 might sell substantially higher than KBB because of bidding wars.

In addition, anyone who buys a car "sight unseen" based on a few pictures and a random description should not be considered a "normal" car buyer.

E-Bay is a terrible way to buy or sell a car, unless you:

A. Don't care much about the car you are buying, (buying it as a broker) or
B. Don't really care about how much you get for your car (reserve price drives away potential buyers.)

My advice to anyone selling their car is to keep it off of E-Bay motors.

 

lar-ss-I don't get it;some vehicles go for well under KBB,so go for well over KBB.How does that make those statistically unusable??The main problem with Ebay is that some of the sales are shams,and there is a fair amount of shill bidding.The sellers really don't have to use a reserve because if they don't get their price ,then they just tell the "winner' that it is already sold.Sellers,especially big sellers on Ebay,are never punished for not going thru with a "sale."
KBB prices are a bad joke.The dealer selling price for a used vehicle is frequently more than the advertised cost of a new vehicle??I can give one quick example;12 months ago KBB showed the dealers selling price for a 2004 XE Titan KC as $18000.The same week a 2005 was advertised for $17,999 new!
The Edmunds prices have problems also;becuase these deales involved trade ins the selling price is inflated.The dealers give inflated trade in prices.Dealers aren't stupid.They know that many folks are so focused on not being '"screwed" on their trade in that they willl ingnore will an inflated sales price.
Ebay sales are cash sales-no trades.If you keep the sham sales ,and shill bidding(shilling is most frequently done on Salvage Prius) in mind,Ebay is a good resource.
I have bought and sold cars and motorcycles on Ebay.Do a careful autopsy on the seller before you buy.
1)Check for BS buys(bunch of cheap items $1,$,$5 items bought to build up pos feedback-),
2)check for buys from friend to friend(same area for example)-
3)check for shill bidding(no point in bidding early,and no point in multiple early bids-any early high bid is probably a shill-).
4)Check to see what sort of negs they have.
5)Check the feedback on the folks who left the negs.
6)Shills usually have a low number of transactions.If the item you are bidding on is being bid on by several low transaction bidders,they are shills.
7)Call their phone number-see if a dealer answers
Buying a car on Ebay is a risk;you have to like doing that sort of thing-taking a chance.
Selling on Ebay costs just the cost of the insertion.Of course there are lots of weasel bidders.No,you really can't make them pay-despite what some sellers write.It is waaay too expensive to try to force a weasel to pay.Charlie
PS I'm not picking a fight;I just have found KBB prices to be inflated-I have sold probably 15- cars trucks,and 30 MC's over the years.

 

Judges, dealers and insurance companies aren't going to surf Ebay or guess what a dealer might give you for a car.

KBB is the standard, and adjustments are made from there.