"I figured that if I can get it right away, it was well worth it," said Catoira, 31, a teacher and self-described environmentalist in San Diego.

Other desperate buyers offered more than the $27,000 Catoira paid, but seller Sev MacPete said he refused to fully exploit the frenzy.

"I could have sold it for a lot over list, but I didn't feel like I can do it in good conscience," said MacPete, who happens to be the president of the Prius Club of San Diego. He wanted to sell the 2004 model after only 5,000 miles because he had just paid sticker price for his second Prius, this one fully loaded with options.

Far from sticker shocked, buyers in the past year have paid private sellers and used car dealers $1,000 to $3,000 above the advertised price of a new 2004 or 2005 model, according to Irvine-based Kelley Blue Book, which tracks used car prices. Older Prius models are not seeing the same phenomenon.

"There are some people who want to be the first one on the block to own a Prius and to them, it's worth paying a couple of thousand dollars over sticker," said Jack Nerad, Kelley Blue Book's editorial director.

Rarely do secondhand cars sell for more than their new counterparts, since cars typically lose value almost immediately. The only other instances automotive experts cite are luxury vehicles such as the Ferrari and hot new releases like the Mazda Miata and Mini Cooper.

The Prius, which lists for between $21,000 and $26,000, is the first economy car with a higher resale value, according to automotive experts. Its hybrid competitors, such as Honda's Insight and Civic, haven't seen the same resale boom. The Prius, which underwent a makeover last year, is considered by many to be better-looking and more versatile than its competitors.

When the Prius first rolled out in the United States in 2000, buyers had to wait six months on average because Toyota underestimated demand. As Toyota increases its production schedule — the automaker plans to double to 100,000 the number of Prius cars for the North American market this year — the wait has dropped to an average of two months, depending on where a buyer lives.

Hybrids combine an electric motor with a gasoline engine to produce less pollution and better mileage. High gas prices are a major impetus behind the rush to buy high-mileage hybrids.

While hybrids represented less than 1 percent of the 17 million new vehicles sold last year, the U.S. hybrid market has grown by more than 960 percent since 2000, when 7,781 were sold.