Tryin' to swing a Prius for my momma in Pburgh...

[katieoh]

hey folks! this is the obligatory "omg hi2u i'z a noob 2 priiii" post, and, like everyone, i've got a couple questions!

1) we've kind-of selected a dealer because they're offering a [free] lifetime warranty on all the cars they sell. has anyone dealt with toyota of greensburg at all? we're probably going to go with them due to the warranty, but if we hear horror stories, we'll probably switch.

2) will we get a lower price on our current [2003 saturn vue] car due to its low gas mileage? kbb puts it at around $5900 trade-in value as of right now, but can/will they offer less due to the current state of gas-related affairs?

3) what is the apr that some of you have gotten from your dealers? my momma is 58, so she has 40 years of established credit history. i don't think the woman has ever made a late payment in her life. she got a 0% financing rate on her vue, is something this low possible?

thanks for your help in advance, guys! i'm stoked to get in this car... provided we can even get one! ;]

[wchardin]

Originally Posted by katieoh

1) we've kind-of selected a dealer because they're offering a [free] lifetime warranty on all the cars they sell. has anyone dealt with toyota of greensburg at all? we're probably going to go with them due to the warranty, but if we hear horror stories, we'll probably switch.

You need to ask for the fine print of the warranty. I was in communication with a dealership that was offering a warranty like that, but there were lots of hidden things. You have to get all the work done usually at the dealership, you must have copies of everything, and if you are unable to produce the papers they can cancel it. Also the warranty usually has a $100 deductible, so if you have a fuse blown on your accessory plug, then it will cost $100 bucks.

Originally Posted by katieoh

2) will we get a lower price on our current [2003 saturn vue] car due to its low gas mileage? kbb puts it at around $5900 trade-in value as of right now, but can/will they offer less due to the current state of gas-related affairs?

Right now, trade-in on SUVs are very low. If you can do a private sale, you will get more, but that is a hassle to some people.

Originally Posted by katieoh

3) what is the apr that some of you have gotten from your dealers? my momma is 58, so she has 40 years of established credit history. i don't think the woman has ever made a late payment in her life. she got a 0% financing rate on her vue, is something this low possible?

You will have to get a quote from the dealership.

[katieoh]

Originally Posted by wchardin

]Right now, trade-in on SUVs are very low. If you can do a private sale, you will get more, but that is a hassle to some people.

the thing that i'm worried about with a sale vs a trade-in is that the car has 120k miles on it. pardon me, since i'm new to car-related things in general, but would that not be a deterrent to some folks? i mean, the car is in pretty good shape, but i'd be worried that folks would see 120k miles and turn away... my mother sold her old car, so we know the [general] process, but i'm mostly worried that it wouldn't sell privately.

[fcc]

about the interest rate part, accept nothing more then 5.25% interest. anything
more is a rip off. shoot for 4% in my mind. there is no special interest rates that
i know of. i guess it is up to the dealership if they agree to something like that.
maybe people here have gotten better but was there a special at the time? my
credit rating was quite good.

[wchardin]

Originally Posted by katieoh

the thing that i'm worried about with a sale vs a trade-in is that the car has 120k miles on it. pardon me, since i'm new to car-related things in general, but would that not be a deterrent to some folks? i mean, the car is in pretty good shape, but i'd be worried that folks would see 120k miles and turn away... my mother sold her old car, so we know the [general] process, but i'm mostly worried that it wouldn't sell privately.

There are people who don't mind high mile cars. If the car is in good shape, it might sell. Currently demand is high for the Prius, I would go to the dealership and see what the waiting list is like and if they are sell at or above MSRP. You could always put a deposit down and then try and sell the VUE while you wait for the Prius.

[EJFB1029]

120k miles is a deterrent, especially for a dealership, it will depend on how their used car department feels about the value, and how desperate they are to sell you a new car. Private sale would be better, to give you closer to book value, if dealership low balls you.

Check out their warranty offer, it may not be as good as you think, as stated before.

And finally, never ever go to a dealer without finding out what banks and or credit unions would offer you for interest rates. Example, I got my credit union to give me 4.99% when the average bank rate and even my credit union was offering around 5.99%, good credit power. The dealer wanted to give me 7.5%, then when I told them no, my credit union was better, they countered with 6.25% and expected me to go for it, I laughed and told them no until they finally realized I wasn't stupid.

[katieoh]

Originally Posted by wchardin

There are people who don't mind high mile cars. If the car is in good shape, it might sell. Currently demand is high for the Prius, I would go to the dealership and see what the waiting list is like and if they are sell at or above MSRP. You could always put a deposit down and then try and sell the VUE while you wait for the Prius.

the dealership, for some reason, is only getting cars with packages? so we were told that, for a package 2 silver pine mica, that it would be $24400. which, according to toyota's website, is a whopping $300 over msrp. not that big of a deal, imo.

the biggest problem is going to be the selling-while-waiting thing. we're a one-car household, sadly, so we wouldn't have another car to drive while waiting. the only other option is to get the prius then attempt to sell, which creates the conflict of: would people buy an suv when gas could [potentially] reach $4.50 a gallon? decisions decisions!

[wchardin]

Originally Posted by EJFB1029

And finally, never ever go to a dealer without finding out what banks and or credit unions would offer you for interest rates. Example, I got my credit union to give me 4.99% when the average bank rate and even my credit union was offering around 5.99%, good credit power. The dealer wanted to give me 7.5%, then when I told them no, my credit union was better, they countered with 6.25% and expected me to go for it, I laughed and told them no until they finally realized I wasn't stupid.

Very good advice. You can also go online to bankrate.com and check out what is the current rate.

[wchardin]

Originally Posted by katieoh

the biggest problem is going to be the selling-while-waiting thing. !

I guess you could try and talk them up on the trade in price. Have you been to the dealership to see what kind of trade-in they will give you?

[pdhenry]

I've read (around here, probably) that dealers are offering ~half the book value on SUVs.