Toyota Dealer Pays More for Used Prius Than It Was Sold For New

2010 Toyota Prius

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Washington DC July 1, 2011; The AIADA newsletter asked is the Toyota Prius really so valuable?

Yes according to Auto Remarketing, a Toyota dealership recently announced it bought one of these used models back from a customer after more than a year for $1,500 more than it was originally sold for.

Is this the result of high gas prices, the impact of the Japanese quake on supplies, or what? The supply level of new Toyota Prius models has wallowed in the 10-day range for the last two months, according to National Automobile Dealers Association chief economist Paul Taylor. He now says supply has probably fallen to four or five days.

But who would have imagined that on the used-car market a one-year-old Prius would fetch a higher trade-in price than the amount for which it was sold? Earl Stewart Toyota knows all too well what a bevy of economic influences has done to the value of a used Prius.

About 15 months ago, the North Palm Beach, Fla., dealer sold a used 2010 Prius with 8,700 miles for $20,500. The consumers who bought it — Jupiter, Fla.’s Greg and Louise Candea — sold it back to the same dealership for $22,000.

Click here for more on high Prius demand and how it is impacting prices.