Dealership games

[Rhino]

So you are saying roughly

$23000 for a new car.
With 11K miles, the car is now 21000.

Is it worth it.

Let's do some rough estimate. 2K off for every 11K miles. 100K miles would cost $18,000 in depreciation. So at this rate you need to drive 125K miles to get $23000 depreciation -the price of a new car.

But wait, there is more. If you drove 125K mile, you probably invested another 4K in new tires, new brakes, oil change, transmission fluid change, radiator, battery ($200+ a pop)?

So the dealer is giving you a linear discount assuming you will drive 147,000 miles before junking the car at zero value. This is a fair guess because by that time you are probably looking at a new battery, new inverter, new computer etc. Just throwing numbers around, I know many of you think the car will last longer. On the other hand, at that age, there is a good chance it can be totaled earlier (e.g., rearended, causing 2000 damage, insurance gives you the money instead of fixing it, etc, transmission goes, etc). So I think zero value is a good comprimise at 147K miles.

If you plan to drive more than 147,000 miles on this car, it is an even deal . Not great, but even.

These numbers are all quick estimates, rounding etc. And we are talking about a linear estimate - assuming you are enjoying the car from 130K miles to 140K miles as much as the previous owner enjoyed the car from 0-11K miles. We know that's not true.

Is this fair? I rather not deal with having to drive 147K miles to consider the deal fair. I would like my car to be fully depreciated at 100K.

So if you could afford it, buy new.

[Rhino]

Or to put it another way, the previous owner took a hit of about $2400 after about a year (just a guess for 11,000 miles). This means she rented your new Prius for $200 a month and then walked away. Is that fair to you?

[regentofthesun]

I don't think you over reacted. It sounds like you were listening to your gut which probably saved you from a bad experience.

On Used Versus New

With every year there are advancements in technology. Based on the marginal difference in the price I would buy new.

On The Dealer
A car purchase is not like buying bread or milk. It is significant enough to demand that a dealer treats you with respect and provides correct and accurate information the first time, every time. I would find a different dealer to make your purchase.

Best of luck in whatever decision you make and I hope you enjoy your new Prius!

T

[dchipkin]

Originally Posted by richard schumacher

Save yourself bother and annoyance. Buy cars by phone, email, and fax. Tell as many dealers as you like what you want and have them send you in writing their best out-the-door price. Then go with the dealer you like best, or ask that one to meet the best offer. The only reasons to visit a dealer are for a test drive, signing the purchase agreement and taking delivery.

I am in the process of buying a new IV now and the dealer says it is 1000 over list. I find that hard to believe but now hearing the high demand it might be true. Anyone just buy a IV and at what price?

[Snowbell]

Originally Posted by dchipkin

I am in the process of buying a new IV now and the dealer says it is 1000 over list. I find that hard to believe but now hearing the high demand it might be true. Anyone just buy a IV and at what price?

I purchased a 2010 Prius IV at the end of August. In June-July I seriously started looking and checked out about 10 different dealers in a 50+ mile radius of where I live. All were asking MSRP, none asked over and none offered anything under, no freebies or anything. Very few dealers even had a IV available then. I put in my request in mid July along with a deposit and my car came in about 6-7 weeks later.

I ended up choosing a dealership where I would probably have the car serviced.

The one helpful bonus was that I did get a reasonable trade-in on my 2000 Subaru which needed a new timing belt, water pump, radiator, rear brakes, and had a potentially damaged head-gasket. Otherwise it was in very nice condition with great tires and reasonable mileage. Had the Subaru qualified for C4C (which was starting in the next week or so), I would have gotten a better deal.

Best of luck!

[Rhino]

Originally Posted by dchipkin

I am in the process of buying a new IV now and the dealer says it is 1000 over list. I find that hard to believe but now hearing the high demand it might be true. Anyone just buy a IV and at what price?

I ordered a 2010 Prius Package II today. No money down. $300 off MSRP. Delivery end of Nov, early Dec.

Salesman say I would have gotten $500 off on a Package III.

More off if I got a package IV but he did not specify.

[LakePrius]

I would not purchase a car with ~10k miles on it for only $1000 under what I could get a new one for.

The easiest way I've found to buy a Prius is to go to the Toyota website and use it to request price quotes from dealers around your area. Many dealers have "Internet" departments which will sell you a new car *at most* as MSRP and often below MSRP - and all without any haggling. The Internet departments tend to operate on different compensation metrics - and also most of the folks they deal with already no exactly what they want, so there is no test driving and no selling time involved.

Beyond that - many banks and credit unions have buyers clubs which will give you a price at or below MSRP, and Costco also has some buying service which usually ends up at less the MSRP.

If you are willing to wait to take delivery - Toyota is happy to make more - so don't believe hype about demand being too high.

[Wolfgang80]

I think the used one is a pretty good deal if you are planning on paying MSRP (23K) for a new one. You're getting 2K off MSRP and a Toyota CPO warranty for 7/100K miles, which is a good resale tool for the future.

[bad1550]

Hi,

This is my first post. I appreciate all of the forum's input.

I am considering purchasing a 2010 Prius III with only floor mats as option.

Total payment is $372 per month with $3000 down for 75 months.

Is this a fair deal - I will be driving approx 180 miles per day so MPG is very important

thx

Bob

[Rhino]

Originally Posted by bad1550

Hi,

This is my first post. I appreciate all of the forum's input.

I am considering purchasing a 2010 Prius III with only floor mats as option.

Total payment is $372 per month with $3000 down for 75 months.

Is this a fair deal - I will be driving approx 180 miles per day so MPG is very important

thx

Bob

There are actually three questions. (1) did you get a good price and (2) did you got a good interest rate, and (3) are your payments accurate considering the interest rate.

For (1). Tell me your prices. MSRP price. Dealer prep, Tags, fees etc. Tell me your out the door price. The group could probably critique these numbers.

For (2) tell me your interest rate. Easy. I think right now the going rate is 4.9% or something like that.

For (3). You need someone to plug into a financial program to see if the actual payment really reflect your actual interest rate.

Assuming your out the door price is $25000.
$3000 down.
Loan is $23000
Repayment term is 6 years with $372 per month.
Interest rate is 6.7%

You have a bad loan because your interest rate is 6.7 vs. the current rate of 4.9%.
Alternatively, if your loan is good, your car must have cost more than $25000 out the door, so you are paying a bit much.

Either way, somewhere in there, you are getting ripped off.

On the other hand, it depends on your credit. If you are in a high risk group, then maybe these loan terms are the best you can get. In that case, what choices do you have? If you can't get better terms, these are the terms you need to take.

If I were you, I think you have some things you need to solve now. Because you are driving 180 miles per day. Assuming you work 250 days a year which is 5 days a week for 50 weeks. That will be 270,000 miles in 6 years. By the time you finish paying for your car, there will be 270,000 miles on your car. And I am assuming you don't drive on the weekends and holidays. If you drive then, the miles will even be higher.

Chances are, for most people, the car will be finished before your payment is finished. You are just heading into debt and problems down the road. If you cannot afford to pay of your car in 3 years, when your car has 135,000 miles, then there are problems with your long term financial picture. If you drive 180 miles a day on the weekdays, you should be prepared to (have backup funds) and be able to buy a new car every 3 years.

I have driven 30,000 miles a year. You are proposing driving 45,000 miles a year. Are you prepared to change oil every month, change tires every 6-12 months, etc? Change brake pads every year? So that's $1000 to $2000 of maintainience a year. Are you prepared? Because that's what it takes.