Looking for first Prius

[kaua'iukeman]

aloha, sorry for the longwinded user name; but i guess i clicked before thinking that one out.
I am 58 yrs with a wife and child, not rich, living in Kaua'i, Hawaii, but will finance this with a "family" loan.
Not sure if new is the way to go, but don't want to nickle and dime myself out of the best car for the money. My last new car was from Kauai Toyota, so will give our salesman Pat a call. I bought a 2003 Toyota Echo and have been nothing but satisfied with the car. It has 80,000 miles and we have never even had to change the brakes yet. No repair ever needed.
We hope to sell the Echo and go Prius.
If you have any "must know" suggestions, i would be appreciative.
All we know now is that it should be a basic package and light colored to help with the heat here.
aloha

[tochatihu]

Aloha back atcha. You probably have only one dealer on the island (in Lihue right?) so price negotiations will not be easy. There is really nothing you need to know about Prius. There are few maintenance requirements, and one we'd like you to add to the list eventually (periodic changing of transaxle fluid.

I would have no concerns about buying a used Prius, provided that a couple of simple checks were done on it beforehand. However I doubt that many of those will enter the market, on any island.

There may be a wait before a new Prius shows up. Fortunately you are not unhappy with the Echo, so for now, just keep doing what you're doing.

[kaua'iukeman]

you nailed it; wow. there is a certainty about Toyota and Prius that is great.
Yes; I will have to put in an order and just wait to see what comes down the pike and then either take it or leave it. Hopefully it will not be a "souped up" expensive package one.
I may still check out Oahu (car capital of Hawaii... too many cars!) for a used one.
Will keep looking at the forum here for pointers and stuff about Prius.
thanks

[alexmac56]

Just saw a special about Hawaii... $7.00 for a gallon of juice...
What the heck does gas go for???
Must be tough to keep up with the cost of living
good luck

[Nords]

Aloha, Uke.

Originally Posted by kaua'iukeman

I may still check out Oahu (car capital of Hawaii... too many cars!) for a used one.

Last year we saw 2-3 Priuses/week on Craigslist but that dried up at the beginning of May. I think you're going to be down to just a couple a month and Murphy's Law says they'll all probably be on another island.

You might try a "Wanted to Buy" on Craigslist or HawaiiThreads.com. Some poor Prius owner might be getting squeezed on their payments or thinking about leaving Kauai, and your ad might be the nudge that gets them ready to sell.

[offgrid]

Aloha-- I purchased mine from Big island Toyota while it was still on the ship and waited nearly 5 weeks for it to arrive in Hilo on April 1st! Package 3 about $25k, not much dealing going on....As you know, gas has gone up alot in 3 months, so I am very happy with my Prius. I don't drive much, my 2 jobs are just 8 miles apart, still on the 4th tank of gas at 1,600 miles. When I drive for milage I can get 50mpg, but my husband can't be bothered, so we average about 46. I had an ad on Craigslist all of Feb and March looking for a good used one, no replies--but sold the old Camry from there, lots of calls...Checking the Oahu papers online might get you something used with low miles and certainly more selection of options on new....Good luck!

[kaua'iukeman]

this may be off point here, but yesterday we went into a couple stores like Borders and KMart here. I notice HUGE selections of items that were marked down to almost nothing; under $10 from like $50.
It was eery; very eery.
Buying the paperback book i went in for ($15), and mentioning it to my wife, she said the same thing.... they have overproduced just about everything and are selling it for a loss.
If you translate that to cars, or anything you need (other than food or gas), some models are top dollar (prius)... we mentioned that even used ones are selling at new prices!.... you have the choice of paying full price for certain things that will sell , but stand to make a killing of sorts for drastically reduced items.... like cars?
Point being, what is the trade off financially for paying top dollar?
Well she feels this is an investment in our child 's future.
And yes 6.50 for a gal of milk, and 4.50 for cheapest gas in Hawaii, makes one paranoid to buy anything!