Staying on topic. Any used car where you can document the service history of the car adds value over an “unknown” car sitting on a car lot. KBB, Edmunds.com, and NADA guides give you ballpark estimates of value based on historical data. This makes the KBB numbers useful, but not perfect for every case.
I believe an older Prius with a known history including a recent main battery replacement adds value. Since you’ve driven the car much more with the new battery than the friend who owns the car you’ve gotten more value from the new battery than he or she did.
While you may not feel you were driving a “free” car for a year, your friend did you a BIG favor in this case. Just do the right thing, a favor deserves a favor in return. The seller in this case should be happy with the deal, as in not thinking he or she was taken advantage of. Whatever price you decide on, fairness to the seller is due here.
And you get a known good car with lots of miles left in it that gets about 50 mpg. I think you win in this case too. Go for a win-win and see if all parties are happy in the end.
The reason I favor the seller’s perspective in this is the 30K miles in a year. Perhaps the seller knew and expected that kind of useage, but I suspect the number of miles was just a bit of a surprise to the seller. That is the kind of miles I racked up yearly covering a large sales territory. The mileage per year norm is about 12K miles. The seller drove the car even less miles per year when they had it.
According to NADA is car is worth about $5000-$5500. Putting in a new battery don’t doesn’t increase the value at all. It’s expected that the car have a working battery pack. But if you’ve been using the car for free for a while then you should factor that into your offer.
Does the battery have a 10 year warranty, transferable to you? If so and I was buying the car I would be willing to go an extra grand, maybe 1500. If no warranty, less fiscal consideration. If you need to sell the car hopefully you would find a buyer like me.
That’s a good point – I’ll ask!
Don’t buy a car from a friend.
Yes I grew up with never buy from or sell to a friend, if you want to remain friends, but what is xae?
The honorable thing is to pay that friend what the car was worth at the time you started driving it, period. Unless it has gone up in value as many used cars have. Don’t worry about the value of the battery except as it was worth it a year ago.
I sort of think this is your basic view, if so, I agree.
Now, you indicated you had a rental payment agreement, which complicates things. If you do pay him substantial rent, then you should pay him what the car is worth now. If that rent was modest in relation to the miles driven allow for that.
Exactly, what I’d like to do is pay my friend what the car was worth before I started driving it (that’s why I’m factoring in the mileage it was over a year ago and calling it “excellent” condition). And because he was so generous in letting me use the car, I would gladly even pay him a little more than what it was worth at the time I started using it in 2011.
However, in trying to figure out what the car was worth before I started using it, I don’t know how to account for the fact that he put in a new battery in 2010.
It’s got to be one of two possibilities: either it’s already factored in to the KBB value, or we need to add the depreciated battery value on to the KBB value. When we’re talking another $2,000+ above the KBB value, and this isn’t exactly pocket change to me, I just want to make sure I’m not doing something crazy!
I thought this would be a common issue when buying a used Prius, so I assumed there would be a straightforward answer to this question (whether to add the cost of the battery to KBB vs. don’t add it), but I’m getting a wide variety of answers! I guess there is no simple answer, so I think it’ll just be something my friend and I have to figure out between the two of us.
Thanks for the help, everyone!
Most of us have already given you the answer. I’m guessing you did not like it because you seem to be ignoring it. It does not raise the price if the car, it would be a deduction of huge proportions if the battery was bad. Replacing it just brings the car back up to normal values. It’s an intrical part of the car, it must be in good shape or the car is basically scrap.
@gsragtop I do like your answer (and definitely not ignoring you – I very much appreciate your help!)
ctnickname123:
Are you really hearing that a new hybrid battery boosts the price of the vehicle, or is that what you’re trying to believe because your friend (the car’s owner) feels that way and you don’t want to hurt his feelings.
You’re trying to combine too many pieces of the transaction into one. One piece is the use of the car for 30K miles. Another is the residual price of the car. And the third is your friend’s expectation for a bump in price due to the new battery.
If it were me, I’d consider the following:
1: You used your friend’s car for a year (30K miles). Figure out what that is worth, pay him for it, and be done with it.
2: Then look at the car transaction. You need a car, he has one he wants to sell. If you like the price he wants for it and think it’s a good value to you, then buy it. If it’s too much, for example because he’s inflating it due to a new battery, then move on.
Remember, don’t pay twice for the $30K depreciation (you already paid it in step 1 above).
Here’s how I set my upper price limit on any used car- how much would collision insurance pay me for the car if it was totaled the next day? No insurance I know of will factor in any add-ons. It goes only by condition of the factory original car. Recently replaced parts only bump the condition rating as most have said.
Putting the shoe on the other foot.
Let’s get in the WayBac machine and go back in time to when your friend is about to leave the country. He decides to sell his Prius to you.
A. If he knows the battery is going bad he discounts the selling price by about $2K. You buy the car and in the near future pay $2200 for the battery. No harm no foul.
B. He doesn’t know, or doesn’t tell you, the battery is going bad and sells you the car at its full value. You now have to shell out $2200. Feeling a bit screwed you ask him to reimburse you for some of the cost of the battery. This is something that only happens in deals between friends. If you were just some guy he sold the car to, you wouldn’t ask and he wouldn’t pay. Caveat Emptor.
Since we are still WayBac, IMO you pay the used car price for a Prius in good condition. The battery goes bad. Your friend, after the sale, warranties the battery. A good friend indeed. You will get the long term benefit of the replacement battery.
Back to the present:
Perhaps this is my Ah Duh moment. You need to determine the used car value of the Prius at the time it was turned over to you in what ever condition it was in and assuming the battery was in good condition. If you absolutely can’t come up with any other way to determine what the sale price would have been then try this, using the mileage and condition of the car when you took it over check the KBB of a model one year newer.
The value of the car, as-is, is exactly how much you are willing to pay for it. If you feel that with half the battery value added to the KBB price the car is too expensive, thqn the car is too expensive. If you feel the final price is a fair deal based on the car and what’s available for alternatives, than it’s a fair price.
This sounds trite, but it isn’t meant to. Forget about factoring in the battery. If the final price is fair to you, than go for it. If it doesn;t feel right, than graciously decline and keep looking.