Actual Cost at Dealer for 2010 vs 2009

[patsparks]

Sounds like a good deal to me. At the end of 3 year if gas is $5.00 a gallon you can buy the Prius for less than it's worth and if gas is by some miracle .50c a gallon the prius will be worth very little and you can hand it back. Interest is almost non-existent and I assume fixed, go for it I say.
Leasing a car here always costs the earth.

[Jabber]

Originally Posted by Lottamoxie

Generally-speaking, leasing is the worst way to get a car because you are overpaying right off the bat...to the tune of 15%+. This is why all the financial experts out there *strongly* urge against leasing a car unless you have a business in which you can write-off the entire expense. You would be better off waiting for those '09s to drop in price (and they will, they sure will). Your chance of getting a new '09 for somewhere in the $17K price is pretty good as the '10s roll out en masse.

Personally I think $22K is now overpriced for an '09 pkg II. Timing is everything. Better to wait, save up your $$ and get a much better deal on a purchase of an '09 rather than leasing. IMHO.

I respectfully disagree with you here. For all the reasons I stated in my post.
Do you seriously think you can buy a BRAND NEW 09 for 17k? I'd say the chances of that are slim to none.. and slim run away when he saw your post. Unless of course Toyota comes out with a $4,000 rebate. Which is about the same chance as GM bringing out the Volt this year and pricing it at 17k.

[Lottamoxie]

I think it's possible, yes, depending on how well the 2010s are selling vs. the 2009s, what gas prices are, etc. You *will* be able to get an '09 for under $22K, that much is sure, because people are now reporting deals of < $20K and the '10s are not out yet.

[eglmainz]

Originally Posted by Lottamoxie

I think it's possible, yes, depending on how well the 2010s are selling vs. the 2009s, what gas prices are, etc. You *will* be able to get an '09 for under $22K, that much is sure, because people are now reporting deals of < $20K and the '10s are not out yet.

Lotta,

What I think that he is disagreeing with you about is not that $22k is not a good deal, but that he does not think that you will be able to get one for $17k, and you stated "Your chance of getting a new '09 for somewhere in the $17K price is pretty good as the '10s roll out en masse."

That is why he stated "Do you seriously think you can buy a BRAND NEW 09 for 17k? I'd say the chances of that are slim to none.."

I spoke with "Jabber" last night on the phone, and found him to be one of the more knowledgeable sales people that I have spoken with recently, and would have to agree with his assessment that, at least in the Chicago region, you will not find many new '09s at $17k.

[chancejd]

Originally Posted by skdoula

i do think if you treat the payment like you are getting virtually 0% financing for the first 3 years you "own" the car (if you ultimately plan to buy) then it seems a bit better. but not if $22,448 is too high of a price...which is what is hard to tell considering the situation with the 2010s coming in.

where i live, the prius is highly prized and i would be shocked if there were any left in a few months...and even more shocked if they were coming in at 18K! but if that was the case...yes we would be crazy to do it now.

does anyone have a figure for what folks will actually be paying to drive off the lot for a similarly equipped (such as 2009s package 2) 2010?? if it was the same or less than $22K then I do think no matter how great the monthly payments and incentives are on the 2009...we would feel silly.

does that make sense?

Sarah,
Prior to the 2010 price release, I was shopping for a 2009 with OP#2 with leather seats and I was quoted $23,069.42. Granted, I live in Texas, and there are other transportation fees associated with this sales region. I'd say that your pricing is adequate, and I would suggest, if I may, for you to wait until 2010s hit the lots or at least until Toyota gives dealers more incentives. It WILL happen. I had a hard time convincing myself, but now, I'm happy as a clown just waiting for it to go down. You can save yourself another grand or two if you wait, in my opinion. Good luck shopping!!

Regards,

Chance

[DaveinOlyWA]

couple things to add here. the 2009's will sell cheap only if the 2010's dont sell. now, there was a post last week stating that Toyota already had 40,000 pre-orders for the 2010 which means they will not be selling for anything under MSRP at least for a while.

that means that some will get the 2009 because they do not want to wait and also means that the 2009's are not likely to be discounted much at least until the newness of the 2010's wear off (hopefully it wont take 2½ years like it did for the 2004 intro!!) and those cars start to pile up at the dealership and i dont expect that to happen until next year... possibly this fall if the economy continues to tank.

[Jabber]

Thanks EGL, that is exactly what I meant. The cheapest Gen II Prius is the base model and has an invoice of $22,158 (of course, your region may differ). With the $1,000 rebate and taking out holdback, WFC, and other assorted fees, the cheapest you can get one WITHOUT the dealership actually losing money would be about 20,500. Give or take a hundred bucks. Like I said, unless Toyota comes out with a $4,000 rebate, you won't see one at 17k. And the vehicle mentioned was a 1224 with an HG package. That adds $1,000 to the invoice.

Again, I meant no disrespect, but if I have information that is true and accurate versus an opinion that will most likely never come true, I feel obligated to mention it so others don't take the opinion as fact. Kind of like when someone stops you at a gas station and starts spouting off about how the Hybrid batteries cost $10,000 to replace. We all politely correct them, right?

[Lottamoxie]

has an invoice of $22,158

Ah but therein is one of the problems. The 'invoice' price shown on cars is not really the true price the dealer pays. That invoice already has profit built-in. I've had more than one car industry person tell me that. It's a marketing game being played by the industry on consumers. You're talking like that $22.1K number is real and solid. And it's not.

People on this board have already reported being quoted under $20K for a new '09 (I don't know what trim level). Now maybe $17K will never happen, maybe $19K will be the lowest it will ever go, but the O.P. is talking about leasing at $22K+. If leasing s/he will be paying upwards of $2K or more difference that we already KNOW about. People do pay more for the car when they are leasing it...that's a fact. Profits are built in even on the 'really good' deals.

I'm not saying that no one should ever lease, but they need to at least know the facts: overall they are (or will be) paying more $$ for the car, than purchasing outright.

[Fibb222]

When deciding to buy vs lease, can we not add up the total costs of each and determine which is cheapest on a case by case basis? Why assume one is always better than the other?

[skdoula]

as far as I can tell...the only additional fee on this lease is the acquisition fee of $600. the "interest" (or whatever you want to call it in the lease world) is less than 1% which means we are actually saving money in the long term if our plan is to buy at the end anyway. (the only way we could buy it now is with a 6 year loan at 7% interest). now, perhaps if we were were buying the car, they would be negotiating a lower total cost on the car. if this is true, then yes, purchasing outright would certainly be cheaper. but we went through those numbers first and got them down as low as they would go, and it was the same as the lease total.

they say this "deal" runs through may 4. and then what...they mark them back up? doubt it. so i think we are going to take the gamble and hope toyota offers even more of an incentive as the 2010s get closer to the lot. apparently the dealer is already taking a loss of almost $1000 so I imagine the only way they will go lower is if the incentives get better from toyota. with so many '09s on the lot, just as many of you have said...it is hard to believe the price won't go down, or at the very least stay the same rather than go up in a week.

i am still hung up on the traction control issue as we spend 5 months of the year in ice and snow. i still haven't found resolution on whether or not the 2009 TC was improved upon. i should post about it...but saw so many posts already (though none answered my question but many did freak me out!) that I hesitate to be a newbie poster bringing up the TC issue again. but i think i will do it anyway since it is a big issue for us.

thanks all!