Hi Folks, I have a 2010 Prius III, base model. It has the JBL sound system with multi-CD player. Nice car, but I'm ready for something new. I have a few issues that need addressed before selling or trading this car and would love advice on easiest and least costly fixes (old and on fixed income). Headlamps are awful, dulled and yellowed. I know there are restoration kits. Any recommendations on which is the easiest to use (again, the old thing). Auxiliary audio jack no longer works. Can this be fixed or should I just not worry on it? I do not want to upgrade the head unit right now. Rear windows will not stay up if you roll them down then roll them up. You can very carefully inch them up, but it's tedious. The biggie - front bumper has a huge area of "missing" paint. It's not really scraped or scratched, it's just gone...maybe scraped off. Can't be sure. Other than that, the car is in excellent shape. She needs a complete cleaning and detailing, but I know local trusted places to get that done. Thanks ahead of time for any and all suggestions or help. Stormwolfe
What's the miles on it? Are you an area with lots of road salt? You say it's "base model" and "III", which are somewhat at odds. Doubly so with the JBL stereo, was that an add-on? Appreciate you're just asking for sales-prep suggestions, but knowing the car condition helps. With a gen 3 miles in particular is big factor: engine head gaskets tend to fail around 150k miles on average. Hybrid battery and brake boosters are other concerns.
IMHO; your never going to recover the cost of those repairs on a trade-in and those type of things are expected on a trade. In other words, they're going to low-ball you anyways. Headlamps are awful, dulled and yellowed. I know there are restoration kits. Any recommendations on which is the easiest to use (again, the old thing). Sam's and Costco will offer you this service, cheap. Also check with your detailer. Auxiliary audio jack no longer works. Can this be fixed or should I just not worry on it? Don't worry about it, unless your selling it to someone you know, just disclose it. Rear windows will not stay up if you roll them down then roll them up. You can very carefully inch them up, but it's tedious. That issue could probably be easily fixed, but the door panel needs to come off to see what's going on. Again and expected issue on a trade. People don't just trade a fully functioning car for nothing. The biggie - front bumper has a huge area of "missing" paint. It's not really scraped or scratched, it's just gone...maybe scraped off. Can't be sure. This is what's going to really knock your trade or sales value down. If you've got more than 150K miles on her, that's also going to really knock down resale value. Unfortunately; no cheap fix for that. Dealership lots go by KBB resale/trade-in value - They don't care how much you think it's worth; that's what they'll give you. Less now that there's a glut of cars on the market and I understand that there's a lot of people more than 60 days delinquent on their car payments. That's going to dump even more cars onto the market as they get repo'ed. Hope this helps.......
a 2010 16 year old car will have all all the common issues that you've mentioned. You should just sell it as is and call it a day. Fixing all the things mentioned, won't appreciate the value of the car much.
if you trade it in at a Dealership, the best you are going to get is "Black Book" or auction value. Private sale you might get a little more, but not much. Both...regardless whether you fix said issues. After 16 years of service, just let her go "as-is" and move on would be my advice. YMMV.
If you let us know what region you live in, some of us might be able to help out for a super affordable price. For example, if you lived in Western Washington state near me I'd only charge $48 an hour to deep clean and fix all these little problems. As for the rear windows that might be a calibration issue. Or it could be cleaning the tracks so there's less resistance when they're rolling up. Replacing the Aux input plug will likely solve that problem... Lastly, I highly recommend selling it yourself by listing it online and keeping the price low enough that you'll have lots of people to choose from and can pick the person who has a compelling story that seems trustworthy. Then meet them at their bank, or you bank to complete the transaction because there's lots of cameras around and paying you will be safest this way.
The reality is a high mile 2010 Prius has no significant trade in value at a dealer; maybe $1500 on paper that is really just a discount on a car you buy from them. They will immediately send it to auction and might get $500 if its a driver. Selling it private party could get a real $5k if its cleaned up. There are $50 headlight polishings at Walmart or Sams Club and $350 painted bumpers (shipped folded) you put on. The windows and aux port should be disclosed as problems and the whole car sold as is. The real issue is dealing with buyers - many calls are flippers wanting to low ball you and a few legit guys who might want it but will stall as they shop further. Cash only, copies of their insurance and drivers license, and signed bill of sale.
