How to Buy a Used Hybrid Car

Now that hybrid vehicles have been in production for several years, there is an active market in used hybrid cars. Most of these are Toyota Priuses, but you can also find used hybrids from other manufacturers, including Honda and Ford. Resale prices for used hybrid cars tend to maintain relatively high levels because they have not saturated the marketplace.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Learn what you are getting into regarding battery replacement. Toyotas are renowned in the automotive industry for quality, long-lasting engineering that tends to keep many of them on the road as their odometers approach 200,000 miles, and the same applies to the Prius. However, the expensive battery pack on any hybrid car may need replacement at about 8 years or 100,000 miles.
2. Seek warranty coverage that includes battery-pack replacement for a used hybrid car. If this warranty coverage is not available, the sales price should be discounted accordingly on a vehicle that is likely to need a new battery pack soon.
3. Research used hybrid car prices using your local newspaper classified as well as online sources, such as the Used Hybrid Cars page at Automotive.com (see Resources below).
4. Compare used and new hybrid car prices. New hybrid buyers often paid a premium above sticker price until Toyota ramped up Prius production late in 2006. You should not have to pay that premium now, as new hybrid prices have leveled.
5. Examine the virtues of buying a "certified pre-owned" hybrid car from a dealer to maximize your warranty protection. Since Toyota has been manufacturing the Prius since its 2001 model, you can use its website to locate dealer-owned hybrids within any radius of your location (see Resources below).
6. Pick the car you want, negotiate your best price and financing package and buy. Use factors like recently lowered new car prices, the lack of a used car tax break and battery-pack issues to get a fair price.
   If used hybrid prices seem high, you may want to reconsider the recycling approach, and buy a new hybrid car instead. Even if the sticker price is a little higher, this may be offset by the longer warranty, better financing deal, hybrid tax break and that nice new-car smell.