It’s not just exotic car owners who are having a hard time with resale right now. If you own a Toyota, you may want to wait a while to sell your vehicle.
Toyota vehicles have long had a reputation for retaining resale value, but recent Toyota recalls may have changed things a bit. Last week, the Kelley Blue Book made several revisions to Toyota values, none of which were good news to Toyota owners.
Many recalled Toyota models have seen values drop by up to ten percent, and some models have seen even more dramatic declines. The 2010 Toyota Prius, which made news headlines last week for a brake-related recall, has seen a decline of as much as $1500 from previously estimated values.
Experts expect further drops in Kelley Blue Book estimates for Toyota vehicles, amid record recalls and a glut of Toyotas on new and used car lots. Values may be downgraded by an additional one to two percent overall.
The Kelley Blue Book reports that before the spate of recalls, users looking up Toyota values had about an 18% chance of requesting a quote from a dealer. Now that chance is only 11-12%.
CarMax, the nation’s largest used car sales service, is also being cautious about what it offers for Toyota vehicles.
Jennifer Sampson, owner of a 2008 Prius, told the Chicago Tribune that she was forced to try to sell her car on her own when CarMax offered a low value.
“What CarMax is offering is far below Blue Book,” Sampson said. “They said the demand’s not going to be there, even though it’s not part of the recall. We listed it on Craigslist and hopefully maybe someone would be interested.”
Sampson listed her Prius at $22,000, more than twice the value offered by CarMax.
Many owners have simply decided to wait to sell their Toyotas until values rebound. Because they are generally fuel-efficient, inexpensive to insure, and require fewer repairs than some other cars, Toyotas are likely to regain their value at some point in the future.
“It’s a difficult time to sell cars,” says Ron Sturgeon, owner of a Dallas exotic car storage facility. “But it can be even harder if you’re dealing with recalls like this.”
Kate Miller-Wilson is a professional freelance writer, specializing in web content and technical writing.
