Prices of Toyotas in the various value books continues to drop: USATODAY.com "If Prius is recalled, Kelley Blue Book, which estimates market values for used cars, says it will pare 2% from the cars' used values. KBB says it will slice 1.5% from other used Toyotas starting Friday, after cutting 1% to 3% last Friday."
Like anything else, negative media will result in the decline of value of a product. This decline frequently is very temporary. The summer of 2008, when fuel prices rose to over $4.00 a gallon owners of big SUVs and pickup trucks saw their resale value drop like a boat anchor. It was not unusal to see $12K-$18K or more negative equity on diesel pickups that were only 1-2 years old in good condition with acceptable mileage. Now the market has largely rebounded to acceptable levels on them. What will matter will be the resale value of these vehicles 6-18 monthsafter all the negative media dies down. And in the case of the Prius what would be the resale value if fuel prices go above $3.00 per gallon.
Been through this before with the Ford Explorer. In fact, that's one of the main reasons I still have it; the resale value went way down after the Firestone tire recall. It is worth more as an occasional vehicle to go up to the snow or over to Home Depot than the money I would get by selling it. Luckily for me, I plan to keep the Prius for at least 10 years, but I feel bad for those who like to trade frequently. The 2nd Gen owners who are now bitching about the brakes are shooting themselves in the foot, resale wise.
