Stopped at the dealer today and looked at a 111 2010 model. Sales guy says the 2011 is $300 more. Do you think I can get enough of a deal on the 10 so that it makes it worthwhile? First yr depreciation is stiff I think. HELP!
First about the depreciation ......... Any brand new car purchased, then sold within 2, 3, 4, ... years is a big depreciation, but that depends on how much use one got out of it too. Prius can hold its value pretty well because it has one big, fat 'ace in the hole' ... 50 MPG. Gas prices going up ... people want Prius. Prius is a car one can sell at any time. My 2009 buyers were about 60 y/o, and they were established, and homeowners. If the 2010 is the trim and color you want, plus the build date is recent, I see no reason not to get the 2010. Look at the placard near the door for the month, year build. Also, is the 2010 low miles like 10 or 20? Or has it been demo'd for 3 months and has 150 miles on it? Toyota has been selling the 2010 Prius since May of 2009. If yours has been built in Oct, 2010, no big deal. FWIW, Toyoa Sunnyvale has a lot of 2010 III w/ sunroof leftover, so they would likely discount heavily on those.
If you are a member go to www.aaa.com to build your car & get up to 3 dealer quotes. 2010's are under invoice while 2011's are invoice around here. If you're getting NAV make sure the DVD is version 10.