Silver 2005 BC Prius at Daytona Toyota for only 35,364.50

[flyingprius]

Today, I visited Daytona Toyota. I saw a Prius sitting by the door, so I strolled over to the Silver BC, looked down at the sticker and almost lost it; I read: 35,364.50! There was the standard BC package with window tint, leather seats, Toyoguard, and a few other things... that totalled up to $29369.50. They then decided to tack on an extra $5995 for market value adjustment. I was absolutely astounded; I know the whole supply and demand argument, but didn't they stop ridiculous price gouging on the Prius a while ago?

I collected myself and continued over to the Camrys and read the sticker on one: 2005 Camry LE with Moonroof... $22,000 and then $995 market value adjustment... What's going on? Since when did Camrys get marked up $995?

I looked at a 2005 Camry V6 XLE; $26000 plus $2995 market value adjustment...?????? Since when did Camrys get marked up $3000? I am completely flummoxed; I always thought common cars like Camry were discounted, especially in the South since Toyota sells fewer vehicles here compared to the rest of the country.

I know Toyota is doing well, but are they doing well enough to mark up a Camry $3000? A Prius $6000?

Any thoughts or similar sightings would be interesting to hear about.
Flyingprius

[priusenvy]

Those "market adjustment" stickers are for uninformed consumers who don't do their research and who are gullible enough to believe whatever the salesman tells them.

I punched in a Florida zip code into Carsdirect.com and it says you can buy a 2005 Camry XLE V-6 for $50 under invoice, or about $2450 off MSRP. So a smart consumer would be targeting a price at least $5500 less than the dealer's marked-up price. In the worst case, where no dealer will sell to you for that price, you just buy through carsdirect.com and pay their $250 fee or whatever it is.

[Robert Taylor]

I went 610 miles away to take delivery of the exact Prius I ordered, color, package and options. The local turkeys still are demanding 3,500 over invoice.

priusenvy has some very sound advice, and I might add that inputting different zip codes into the "build your own" area of the Toyota.com website will eventually get you to find what is actually on dealer lots. Its some work, but likely well worth it.

From what I have seen, any Toyota purchased from a dealer in the SE Toyota Distributors geographic area of FL, GA, NC, SC and AL is going to be more costly than one from states north of that area.

[Ormond]

Flyingprius,

Those market adjustments turn me off. ukeleft: ukeright: I guess they hope that we will ignore them, but I drove 40 miles to St. Augustine. St. Augustine seems more willing to deal. I still didn't buy one, but if I do, I will wait for the end of the month. Did you see the article in the Daytona paper about "Hummer vs. Prius?" The News Journal OnlineThe Toyota dealership owner drives a Hummer. His customers buy all the available Prii. What BS!

[galaxee]

I paid MSRP in NC. Those prices are completely insane. I know Southeast Toyota is usually higher priced but I think that dealer is out to screw some people.

[IraJim44]

First post!!! Yay!!

Hey everyone, I am a new Toyota dealer in MA. Just to inform the uninformed, Market Value Adjustment is dealer based. Toyota sets a certain price for all vehicles and its up to the dealership to decide what to sell them for. My dealership, in fact, does not worry themselves with MVA. All cars are stickered and sold as Toyota tells us to(Including Prius). MVA is yet another way for a dealership to make more money. In fact our Prius (plural??) do not sell as fast as most as we don't take orders. So please don't judge all dealers by one bad experience. Thanks everyone!!!

Jim

[Danny]

Jim -

Thanks for making that a "dealer with information to share" post and not a "dealer selling his car" post. If your dealership would be interested in future advertising/sponsorship opportunities with PriusChat, please feel free to contact me.

[IraJim44]

lol That was the plan Danny. I read the disclaimers beforehand. Unfortunately I personally don't have the funding to become a sponsor ( I would like to though) and my dealership seems to think 300 dollars is much too much to "get our name out there." I guess I don't understand their mindsets. I'd like to sell a car as much as the next guy but not while sacrficing reputation. We do pride ourselves as being an honest dealer. So please if you do have any further questions concerning owning or operating a Prius feel free to e-mail me. Also, if you have any concerns on why dealers do what they do contact me. Thanks!!

Jim

[bookrats]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IraJim44\";p=\"90652)</div>

So please don't judge all dealers by one bad experience.  Thanks everyone!!!
[/b]

Absolutely! If you dig through the recounting of Prius buying experiences on PriusChat (and there are many), you'll find plenty of people who were very pleased with their dealers (myself included).

I'd go so far as to say that most PriusChatters were (overall) satisfied with their dealers -- because they had the information from reading PriusChat to go into dealerships in an informed manner, reject the bozos when they encountered them, and shop around until they found a reasonable price and dealership.