Voltage. Charge the battery until it's "full", then put a tester across a battery's terminals and measure. For example:

a 12V starter battery

100% - 12.7V
90% - 12.6V
80% - 12.5V
...
10% - 11.6%
0% - <11.6%

 

Sorry, not the 12v, The battery pack was what i thought he was refering too (Im talking about the NMHD)

 

That was just an example. Just trying to show that at a certain voltage (11.6V for a lead acid battery) it is considered drained or incapable of holding a charge. You can do the same thing with the NiMH pack. Your voltages will be different of course, but you can still get an idea of capacity.

 

As some here know I am in the business. I sold the first Gen1 in our area in 2001 and possibly the first or one of the first Gen2's as well. Last Nov, after a 100 sales or so, I also put my money where my mouth was and traded a 2000 Camry for a 2005 Prius.

Depreciation. It is related to one thing only. The current auction values in a given region. The auction values depend on geography, population and supply. In WY and MT there is little demand or interest in hybrids. In SoCal, DC, NE there is a massive demand. The best way to evaluate depreciation is look at a purely impartial source like the Mannheim Auction summary for a given vehicle with certain miles, age, equipment and condition. If you owned a 2001 Gen1 Prius w/ 75K mi on it right now and wanted cash for it right now you'd get about $8000 at auction. It originally cost about $21500. This is the true market value of such a vehicle as of today on the EC. Your depreciation is $13500 over 5 years.

This is the easiest thing for anyone to do who is in the auto business. Why CR didn't use this to verify their numbers is beyond me.


Oh, btw, a 2001 Camry LE with similar miles, equipment, etc ( which also sold for ~$20000 in that year ) is now worth about $6800 or ~ $13200 depreciation.

 

Hi Bob,
I see Mannheim is open only to dealers. Are there dealers who for a modest fee will work Mannheim for an individual?

For example, I perfer used cars to minimize the first year depreciation loss. We might be interested in a second hybrid next year and would be happy to travel to WY or MT or any other state that has a good deal on a hybrid.

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

 

Bob,

My wife was born and raised in Lancaster County, PA - about 10 minutes from Manheim, PA (where their first auction is - I think they now own auctions all over the country). So with those connections you'd figure she would know somebody who would have access to the auctions on a "personal" level. Well - no such luck. That said - there are a number of small car dealers around the auctions that will act as "buyers representative" at the auctions and buy for cars for you. My mom actually used one last year - but she got pretty much a lemon of a car and was stuck with it (as she signed a contract telling them what to buy and in what condition - apparently the condition part is "in the eye of the beholder"). I think she paid like $750 or something above what the auction price was. Good luck in your search.

Eric

 

As Eric says at an auction there is a lot of 'caveat emptor'. If you do know someone in the business who will buy you something from auction then you can get it at a good deal. but..

You must transport it to your location/home;
Pay to have it inspected;
Fix any inspection failures;
Replace any normal wear items; ( brakes, tires, blades, lights, glass, etc )
Pay the auctioneer fee;
Take all the risks of buying a true problem child;
Clean it up for your own use; ( detox if it was a smoker )
Pay your friend a 'finders fee' for his work.

After all this is accounted for you will likely save abt $1500 as opposed to buying it from a dealer ( normal profit, after costs, on a used vehicle ).

 

When I bought mine, new, in Nov there were two traded in that same week - a 2004 Pck #6 with 58K mi and a new 2005 Pck #6 with 3500 mi. Even working at the store the best I could buy the first one was $21K and the second was $26K. I opted to get a new one, Pck #4.

I like you have been buying used vehicles, Toyota's mainly, for 18 yrs with no qualms about longevity - as long as there is a significant price differential. IMO right now there is not enough price differential in the Used Gen2's vs the new ones. For example on that 2004 vehicle I would want to buy it for abt $15K not $21K.

The supply is too thin in the resale market to allow the used prices to reach a natural level ~ 50% after 5 yrs with normal wear/miles.

 

Rigger,
Great post! Now I have something to say to the Rush Limbaugh followers who believe that the hybrid battery will cost 10k to replace!

 

Not only that, but why is it assumed that the whole pack is dead? In EVs that almost never happens. You should be able to open up the battery pack and test each individual cell. It'll take more time, but in the end it'll be *much* cheaper because you'll replace maybe one or two batteries in the pack instead of all of them.