Changes to my business going forward has me with too many Prius. I have 5 of them. Also with business downturn, this is an admitted attempt to harvest maximum dollars from this one sale. With this maximum goal in mind, I have decided that the first Prius to sell is my my original, first Prius. Of the 5, it is one of two that is a clean title, not salvage rebuilt like the others. My rebuild cars are great but they're probably greater to me, who knows the whole story, than they are to potential shoppers.
I bought this #1 Prius 5 years and 81k miles ago for $5,800. I now have it listed in this new post covid market for $6,500 on both FB and CL.
2007 Prius w/ 160k miles
https://sandusky.craigslist.org/cto/d/sandusky-2007-toyota-prius/7431055279.html
It really seems like a stretch price to me, but here is all that is out there within 100 miles of me on both FB and CL for a Gen2 Prius:
$8,500 for '09 w/143.5k
$6,700 for '08 w/171k
$6,299 for '05 w/134k
$6,000 for '09 w/172k
$6,000 for '06 w/194k
$4,950 for '08 w/214k
$3,800 for '05 w/172k (sold)
$3,350 for '08 w/261k
$3,300 for '08 w/262k
I'm open to any and all critiques of the ad. It just went up yesterday. I've had one test driver so far. A nice Asian couple in their 40's that traveled in from an hour away. They said very little and finished with, "we'll think about it." Never at anytime on the phone or in person did they discuss price at all. They found me on CL.
I have had one sort of BS chat via FB that quickly insulted my price and quickly offered $4k.
Cooter
PowerDork
1/12/22 3:49 p.m.
Talking about your fleet is very honorable, but may hurt your sale.
I'm thinking it may end up getting around your original price you bought it for, but I've been wrong before. It's a really good looking car. I would add a photo or two of blemishes.
In reply to Cooter :
I contemplated the fleet discussion, but, when they come to my house that will see 3 Prius in the driveway, just like the last picture shown. I thought I might want to get that out there right away...rather than surprise them when they arrive.
Blemish photos might be a good idea. Generally, I try to speak positive of cars I'm selling not negatively. I guess my thoughts are that my blems are consistent with a car of this age and miles.
Damn. I'm glad you arent close or I might be headed your way with $
Cooter
PowerDork
1/12/22 4:25 p.m.
John Welsh said:
In reply to Cooter :
I contemplated the fleet discussion, but, when they come to my house that will see 3 Prius in the driveway, just like the last picture shown. I thought I might want to get that out there right away...rather than surprise them when they arrive.
That makes sense. My take is that the blemishes seem so minor that they actually are a selling point. (This is just me wearing my Pessimist Buyer Hat looking at the listing, and thinking "he must be hiding something")
John, I think your photos could use a little work: I've taken the liberty of fixing them along with rewriting your text below:
Prius
160miles
works good non smoker
no lowballs
The ad's about perfect.
Everything a prospective buyer needs to know is there and the ad is neutral, there's nothing to make people think it's anything other than what it appears to be.
Agreed fleet sale and true private conflict. People don't care when you bought, or maintenance details just up to date and records. Clean carfax will help. Try one car at a time. Meet them some where close, not by the prius pile. Tax return season is on, it will help.
In reply to clownkiller :
One reason I hate buying off dealers is they know nothing about the cars history. If a buyer asks me, I have the Carfax from before my purchase. I also have the history since my purchase.
My intention was to accentuate that I've owned the car for 5 years. I also haven't been crazy hard on the car, adding just 16k miles per year, average.
clownkiller said:
ProDarwin said:
John, I think your photos could use a little work: I've taken the liberty of fixing them along with rewriting your text below:
Prius
160miles
works good non smoker
no lowballs
I know what I have...
Missing a finger over the licence plate.
Tom Suddard
Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
1/12/22 5:00 p.m.
Looks like a great ad, but agreed: Leave the stuff about your business out and move the Prius pile. You're just a dude who loved his Prius until it was time to sell.
How much do you want for your worst prius. Just need it to beat on for a few years then sell it for whatever
In reply to yupididit :
The worst? Good question. I have:
'08 w/190k, rebuilt but a solid runner. My P2 (Prius #2) I expect to keep this one.
P3: '04 that I sold right away after rebuild
P4: '04 w/200k, rebuilt. Needs an abs controller (not sure of cost) as well as rear brakes (drums/shoes, cheap like less than $75 parts) and a clock spring to fix some of the non working steering wheel controls ($20 part and easy fix.). Tires are bad ($300 for 4 includes mounting.) AC leaks down about a month after recharge (price not diagnosed.) Need a 12v battery ($200.) Not drivable in its current state of failed abs controller. My intention was to "part the car." $1,300 factory cat and back up hybrid battery for myself has a $500 value. Add some other parts I'd like to have and this has a more than $2k value to me...with brake trouble. Is headed to Patrick as a Challenge hulk after I harvest my "parts."
P5: '04 w/ 150k, rebuilt. Needs a front wheel bearing (common issue and about $100 part.) I expect to keep this one.
P6: '08 w/227k, clean title and the car I drive daily. RF wheel bearing is just getting noisy, common. I noticed this week as we're in a cold spell that the heater is weak and mpg is down. I suspect thermostat. Recently threw code for misfire but age of spark plugs is unknown. Parts car gives me coil options if plugs are not the answer. The clean title and newer year of 2008 makes this a good candidate to sell. Local market analysis in posting #1 implies an asking price of $4,500 after some easy fixes.
I guess that makes P6 not the worst but the most likely one that I will sell.
Seems that P4, is the worst. It has a $2k parts value and then needs $600 more repair and that still is a non-runner needing abs work and then AC work. That could be $1k more. $3,600 for a runner but then its a rusty 200k car. I bet you could get a runner you can test for near the same. '05 w/190k asking $4250 in DC and claims to have new hybrid battery. Get that for anything that starts with a $3 and it could be a deal.
John:
I think the ad looks great. I, like the others, think the idea of meeting somewhere else, where there is not a small herd or Prius for them to see, would be better. Best of luck with the sales!
BBC
In reply to John Welsh :
I think it is an excellent ad and i would buy from you in a heartbeat. I wish all sellers wrote ads like this and gave the important details and history.
In reply to y'all :
Agreed, the business portion gets wordy and confusing. I have dropped these words and one picture from the ad:
I own a fleet of 5 Prius used for business deliveries. Changes for 2022 means I have more than I need going forward. This is my nicest Prius. I love these little cars. I have others with as high as 226,000 miles and I have the utmost confidence in these cars, even with what seems like high miles for a normal car. These Prius are very economical to keep on the road. The best part is they just don't break.
I resisted the urge to add in Darwins blurry photo. I thought it would be a great little "easter egg" for those following along but ultimately I'm still trying to present a quality product.
I also added this phrase: The car is located 1 miles for the Sandusky Mall, Sandusky, OH and can be seen at my home or a mutually convenient location.
I've used that phrase before in past sales. I had a female shopper, who was ultimately a buyer, ask to meet at the local mall for which I recommended the front of Best Buy because they have cameras on the parking lot which is good for both of us.
I think the ad looks good and I think it should sell at that!
Some update to the sales process. I put that car up on Tues. Got one weak FB question on the same day and on the following day CL brought in a phone call that resulted in a test drive. That test drive finished with, "we'll think about it." Since then, it has been complete radio silence. No inquiries from either source. I really expect that I'd have someone inquiring about a Saturday test drive. So, maybe a little premature, but I've made a price change going from $6,500 to $6,200. Not a huge change but at least for people on FB who may have saved the ad, they will now get a ping from FB telling them of the price reduction.
Here's some of the experiment: I launched the ad with what I admit felt like a crazy high price. My goal was to ask $6,500 and see what kind of traffic that would bring. Those first days tend to bring the serious buyers and sure thing, the very next day a couple drove 1 hour to see it. Typically in that first weekend, I would hold firm to my price, especially if it seemed there were multiple shoppers. But, here we are just 2 hours before the banks close for the weekend (plus MLK day) and I have no one coming to see it. So, today I made a slight price drop.
To show my cards...I'd love to get $6,500 but I was always ready to drop to $6,000. I'll try holding $6,200 sighting the recent drop but I'm flexible. It becomes that delicate balance of I want the high price but I don't want to wait forever. I'll continue the small price drops. My real bottom is $5,000 but I have some time before I get there.
Does it have heated seats? If so, I'll come buy it, seriously! Or another one of yours if this goes. My girlfriend needs a personal car for her electrical line forestry job, and a Prius with winter tires fits the bill.
Heated seat, no. Actually, heated seats were pretty rare on this Gen Prius. I have seen them but to me the switches look like they were aftermarket switches. This Gen Prius doesn't offer a power seat either on any trim level.
As for winter tires. There is not a set on this car now but in my garage I have two sets of General Artics with a few years on them but still good. These cars do really well on winter tires. Engine weight over the front wheels and battery weight over the rear wheels.
Also, be aware of: https://priusoffroad.com/
John Welsh said:
I have seen them but to me the switches look like they were aftermarket switches.
If I recall correctly, there was a (long discontinued) aftermarket kit that was very popular on priuschat back when the gen2 was new.
Interesting, all the ones I have seen look aftermarket for sure at least on Gen2. And also appears rare even on Gen3.
This would be a fantastic vehicle for power line forestry with a lift kit, I think this needs to happen! Suprisingly, it doesnt look absurd at all with the lift kit.
