Good Toyota/Prius Dealers

[phandshaw]

I had an excellent experience buying my Prius at Butler Toyota in Indy. They guestimated 2 to 4 months, but were able to actually deliver in 5 weeks, since I was flexible about colors. Kathleen kept me informed along the way and answered all my questions and multiple emails promptly. She was very honest about add-ons, even arranging outside vendors for me.

While I was at the dealership, they picked up a guy from Washington DC arriving at the airport to deliver his new car. (not a Prius) He also seemed very happy with the Butler Toyota sales service.

Kathleen was knowledgable about Prii and gave me a great orientation, even setting up my phone for me. The whole thing was low key and pleasant. I would recommend her, and Butler Toyota of Indianapolis, to anyone to buy a car.

Having said all that, I will probably use O'Brien Toyota for most of my service needs. Although O'Brien was not able to deliver a Prius as quickly, (I was on 2 waiting lists) they have Erick, a Prius guru, in their service shop. I think he is one of their service managers. He is a regular contributer to several Prius chat rooms and seems extremely knowledgable!

[Whisper]

Add Berlin City Toyota in New Hampshire. Good price (back in March 08), no hassles, low fees and quick inexpensive delivery to me in Connecticut.
I will buy there again and have recommended them to friends. My salesman was a joy to work with but is not there anymore- so just look them up on the internet and call- they will treat you well.

[NYMama]

Hey guys, I spent the weekend looking for a Prius & Berlin Ciy in NH was one of them I contacted because I read good things about them on this board. As of yesterday, they had a black Prius coming in this week or next that was available. So if anyone is interested, you may want to try them to see if it's not sold yet.

I just found my #5 seaside pearl at MSRP at another highly recommended dealer I read about on Prius Chat. Good luck everyone!

[BDDave]

I had my 2008 Prius in for the 5000 mile service today at Toyota of Des Moines. It consisted of an oil change and tire rotation. I told the service advisor to write on the service order "don't over fill the oil" and "tire pressures at 40 psi front and 38 rear". When I checked the above later, the oil was at exactly the full mark and the tire pressures were pretty close to my request, (+/- 1 lb). I was in and out in 1 hour. Just enough time to read the paper and have one of their sweet rolls. I've had nothing but praise for this dealer with the 2 Toyota's I've bought and had serviced there. I've referred another buyer to them and they paid me $50.00 too.

[Jim.Biggs]

I just signed the contract with "Power Toyota" in Tempe, AZ for 2008 Package 2. With my Costco Card I got $300 under MSRP. NO dealer add ons required!

I am supposed to pick it up Tuesday.

Jim

[piehole]

Hi,
I just joined Prius Chat and just bought my first Prius. I have heard bad things about my two nearest Dealerships in California (Keyes in Van Nuys and North Hollywood Toyota), so wonder if you know who is good in the Valley, when it comes time for service? Thanks!

[tundra1]

hi guys im new to prius chat!!! i just wanted to let everyone know i have 2 prius tourings in stock ready for immediate delivery. I have a black one with cloth and a spectra blue with leather we are a small hometown dealer in Brookhaven,Ms with no pressure and no big city tricks contact me Josh Dillon at Legacy Toyota 601 823 7000 or at joshuad@legacyag.net for more details.

[garyzim]

Exec summary: Good dealer in Southern California: Dan Keane at Mossy Toyota

Now the longer story:

The time has come, the Walrus said,
to talk of many things,
Of cars and gas and mileage tricks,
of dealer rips and kings.

At last I am a new(ish) Prius owner! ("Funny, you don't look Newish...")

This post is a few weeks overdue, and I must apologize for that. Deadlines at work, family health issues to deal with, etc. But... the time has come to praise - yes praise - the guy who sold me my Prius.

I had been thinking about a Prius for probably more than a year. My old '88 Celica was getting long in the tooth... My MECHANIC ordered me to Get a new car! (When a mechanic tells you, you listen. He could have made a lot more money off of me by keeping that car on life support. So kudos to Keith at ToyoTech in Lawndale, California too.)

I had already rented a Prius twice - once for a two week driving vacation. I liked it. Finally decided to make my move in May ('08):

The. Worst. Time. To. Buy. A. Prius!

Gas prices had been going up steadily, and people had suddenly started to panic about it. Demand was insane, and dealers didn't even know what they had available. The computer inventories the public and dealers could access were all wrong for Priuses. By the end of the weekend before Memorial Day, I was fed up with dealer tricks and lies. I put my plans on hold, possibly until the "new" Priuses came out. Celica still ran, after all...

When I found out the next gen Prius wouldn't be available for another year, I decided to get back in the game for an '08 or '09 Prius, and started seriously scouring PriusChat for dealer info and advice. I ran into a post from PriusProductConsultant. He acknowledged that some dealers are slime, while pointing out some of the real issues dealers need to deal with (regarding why some will not "guarantee" a price in advance of receiving the car from Japan). I liked what he said. Seemed reasonable and honest. Here's the post:

Please give me advices

He said his dealer had Priuses, and they were selling for MSRP. Really MSRP, with no BS. Well, I was skeptical, but contacted him to get more info.

PriusProductConsultant is Dan Keane (pronounced "kane"), and he works for Mossy Toyota in Pacific Beach (San Diego). He sounded honest and reasonable. Shortly after contacting him for more info, I found another post that pushed me over the edge.

It was a post from ranchogirl, who lives in Southern California, like me. She had been through even more pain in the search than I had. She called 15 dealers or more, and ran into some very slimy liars. Her quest was a tough one, but she finally got her Prius, and wrote about what a great experience it was, and how the salesman and dealer were indeed true to their word of "MSRP only" (plus tax and license, of course). Her dealer? Mossy Toyota.

It's here! In my garage!

That convinced me to contact Dan again and tell him I'd put down a deposit. I needed to drive to Mossy - two hours from where I live, but worth it for an honest dealer. Dan turned out to be a really great guy. He told me to expect a 2-6 week wait for the color and option package I wanted. I expected to wait a lot longer, from all the woe I had been hearing. Lo and behold, TWO weeks later, I got a call from Dan's boss. "We got one in, and it's yours if you want it." But, but, but... I expected a longer wait! "Well, we called several folks ahead of you on the waiting list, and either they didn't want this one because of color or options, or we couldn't get in touch with them. D'you want it?" YES!

Made quick arrangements for a day off, bless my understanding boss, because Mossy's policy is that you have 24 hours to pick up the car in person, then it goes to the first customer who wants it. Got my girlfriend to drive down with me, so she could drive the old car back. I was holding my breath, and felt quite skeptical still - what last-minute tricks would they try?... None!

I was pleasantly surprised. Dan was absolutely true to his word - MSRP with no games. Held my breath when I had to step in and sign the paperwork with Finance, but that was a breeze too. Yes, they offered me the extended warranty, the "Finishing Touch" ScotchGuard and clear coat, the extra alarm. I asked the prices of each, then politely declined. There wasn't a peep or argument from the Finance guy. All went very smoothly. And after Dan patiently gave me the hour-long tour of the car and nav system, I was on my way home in my new Prius. It's Barcelona Red. The "Mossy Green" in the subject line is - well... aren't ALL Priuses "green"?

If you're in the market for a Prius, sick and tired of dealer games and lies, and live within easy traveling distance to San Diego, let Dan have a chance to sell you a Prius. He's a great guy. I'm not authorized to give out his phone number, so I won't, but you can get in touch with him via email through PriusChat. His user name again is PriusProductConsultant. And best of luck to you!

[lalawhite]

Just picked up our Seaside Pearl, package #6 Touring from Longo Toyota and couldn't be happier! Was in a car accident a month ago where my '05 prius with 93,000 miles was deemed total. Heard about the long waits and premiums being paid and was quite depressed thinking it would be difficult to get a new one. We were going to go to another dealership in the area but they were selling their prii for msrp but required the purchase of 3 dealer options (which weren't cheap at all!). Thought I would try Longo, placed a call this afternoon with Aaron, the fleet manager, and couldn't be happier. Even better, was that neither he nor the finance person (Godwin) tried to upsell us on anything. It was quick and painless. We were out of there in about an hour.

[Sean & Ian]

I go to Toyota of Nashua in NH for services and maintenance. They do try to sell their version of the maintenance work at each service interval, but they happily change it to what I ask them to do -- pretty much what's listed in the Passport. They made a mistake of over-filling the oil once, but they haven't made that mistake again after I took my Prius back for re-work. They also set the air pressure of my tires just the way I ask them to.

I did not have a very good buying experience with the dealership, which led me to Toyota of Rockingham in Salem, NH, to buy my Prius. I did hear that the salesperson that I liked (can't remember the name) moved to the truck division at Toyota of Nashua, though.