Never thought I would get a red car

[gyudaddy]

Hi,
I picked up 2006 Barcelona red #4 yesterday. Wow what a nice car! Even though I've never seen a red prius driving around, I knew if I see it I would like it. (Red was actually my 3rd choice instead of Silver or grey.)

I printed out the prius checklist with all the notes about some unclear terms (thanks everyone who explained kindly). However I got freaked out when I found that there are two things that I didn't expect.
(1) The 'new' car has 270miles on it already.
(2) The factory sticker was removed.

So I started asking why and this is unheard of. Later my salesperson gave me the sticker along with owner's manual, and I found that the car came from a different dealer. He started blah, blah, and I didn't feel good about it. But my trade-in car could go down in any moement (intake and gas tank leak problem), I was a little generous. The worst case would be it's owned by someone. So I got a wirtten statement to make sure certain things. (Besides I got $500 off MSRP, and good trade-in value.)

The salesman really seems to care about the survey. I started using it against everything from that point. (The dealer got Toyota president award many times. I thought it was suprising considering midwest-KS.) And of course, I have to deny a couple of things (Extended warraty & some seat protection thing), but no pressure.


The last thing that bothered me is that the new car has dealer's decal that I hate!! Since it was Saturday late evening, I couldn't have him remove it. He said to send me some stuff to remove it but I don't really believe that. Why should I advertise their dealership when I don't get paid? He threw a free cargo mat and carpets, so I was okay at that moment. I was not clear enough on that. (If you get a new car, tell your salesperson not to put on).


While driving 180 miles back, wow what a quite and comfortable ride. In my old car, I was not able to communicate with other passengers, but now I realized that I was talking too loud. Since I'm a nice husband, I let my wife drive our new car first. I kept reminding her to drive nicely since it's new a car blah blah... She said 'yes'. Guess what, she, like a speed demon, made 0 to 80 miles/hour in a sec! I really had a hard time to calm myself down, keeping 'Noooooo' behind my mouth. (Did you guys have a similar experience?)

Anyway, when we pulled out to go use a restroom, the car went into stealth mode, and we really thought we killed my car. I really like the stealth mode. Can't wait to get EV switch (hoping it doesn't avoid warranty.) I got home very safely and we're really glad that we bought this car. I still have a lot to learn about this car, but thought this car is very user friendly and intuitive.


As far as the MPG goes, since it's my first tank (probably second tank because the car already had 270miles), I don't really worry about MPG yet. I've got about 44MPG (my wife's 77 miles/hour on I-70 ), but once I got off interstate we got constant 55MPG+ where I would be driving most of year.

PS. I also found that I could take the dealer's name decal off using a hair dryer (applying a few secs from 6" distance and use a dental floss).

[tacomel]

Congratulations on your new car!

The 270 miles would have concerned me too, and a dealer trade would be one possible explanation. Just make sure to hang on to the odometer statement (or whatever paperwork in your state says what the mileage was when you took the car) because I believe this makes your warranties good through 36,270 miles. Neither of the prii we bought had the sticker still in the window either, but both were provided with the manuals and were among the first things pulled out and explained in the finance office.

Salesmen and dealerships are very concerned about the survey, basically because if you don't give them "excellent" in every category, it somehow counts against them -- consequences depending on the question I think. I don't know all the details but both of our salesmen went out of their way to request "excellent" in all regards.

Dealer decal - ugh. They should add that to the pickup checklist, or a pre-pickup/ordering checklist if such a thing exists. I specifically told both of our dealers that I didn't want a decal or plaque, saying, don't waste your time putting something on that you'll have to take back off. One responded by saying that he doesn't want my decal on the trade-in so he wouldn't put his on my new car. :P

[tanteb & rgrpick]

"wow what a quite and comfortable ride. In my old car, I was not able to communicate with other passengers,..."

I hadn't appreciated the quiet ride till I read what you wrote. I am hearing impaired, and couldn't "hear" the difference, but, I realized as I read your comment, that I hear my husband while we are out driving much easier than before, and I also understand the words coming from the radio. I used to keep a special hearing amplification device in our van to use with my hearing aids so that I could talk with Jim or hear voices from the radio.......I haven't done this once in the Prius.

Thank you, gyudaddy, for adding a new level to my appreciation of this car.

I hope you and your wife continue to enjoy your wonderful red car as much as we are enjoying ours.

[gyudaddy]

Taco Mel, yeah the salesman reassured if I will give him excellent on the survey. That dealership lost the presidency award in 2004 in last 7 years. He explained that one old man had to pay $11 more than they negotiated. Maybe one man's survey really affects the award althuogh I highly doubt.

Hey, tanteb&rqrpick. Yeah we're right about the quite ride. I was even able to hear my son's very soft snoring on the way back home. (In our old car, the front and back seat were completely differnt world due to road/car noise.) Thank you for the warm welcome. I see you have 06 red #4 like me. An Excellent choice

[creamer]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gyudaddy @ Jul 9 2006, 09:22 AM) [snapback]283311[/snapback]</div>

I picked up 2006 Barcelona red #4 yesterday. Wow what a nice car! Even though I've never seen a red prius driving around, I knew if I see it I would like it. (Red was actually my 3rd choice instead of Silver or grey.)[/b]

I was quite surprised by the bright shade of red when I picked up my Barcelona Red last week. Looks like I inadvertently bought a sportscar! I knew that the reds had changed with the model year, but I presumed that of the two reds, the former Salsa Red would be the hotter/brighter color and Barcelona would be the darker shade. Nope. I guess I don't really know what "Barcelona" and "Red" have to do with each other...anyone?

The printed brochure and the Toyota website do not show the colors accurately, and with Prius, we don't have the luxury of looking at the whole array of vehicles on the dealer's lot. I'm still VERY happy with it; I just had expected a "burgundy" red instead of a "pull-me-over" red. (I'll have to be careful on the speed, as I've read that bright red cars get more tickets with fewer warnings. Might just be urban legend, but we'll see.)

I'll echo (no pun intended) what you're saying about how quiet it can be in the interior of the car. Makes music listening and conversations easier.

[tanteb & rgrpick]

I was quite surprised by the bright shade of red when I picked up my Barcelona Red

So was I, and initially not at all pleased since I had fallen in love with the Salsa Red. But I have learned to love the color, and it really does seem to complement the lines and style of the car.
As for tickets? After 2 months of driving this bright, "pull me over red" (great term, btw) car, my record is still unblemished, although my hubby has slowed down so much he'll probably get his first ticket ever ticket for going TOO slow. Sheeeeeessssh, a racy, red car and he's driving like he is in a parade!!

[GreenGene]

We weren't sure what color to get when we started looking at the Prius, but there was a Barcelona Red parked next to the door at the dealer's when we got back from our test drive, and it was love at first sight. My wife later said that she doesn't really care for red cars, but that she really likes this one!

[Trevor]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gyudaddy @ Jul 9 2006, 10:22 AM) [snapback]283311[/snapback]</div>

Hi,
I picked up 2006 Barcelona red #4 yesterday. Wow what a nice car! Even though I've never seen a red prius driving around, I knew if I see it I would like it. (Red was actually my 3rd choice instead of Silver or grey.)

I printed out the prius checklist with all the notes about some unclear terms (thanks everyone who explained kindly). However I got freaked out when I found that there are two things that I didn't expect.
(1) The 'new' car has 270miles on it already.
(2) The factory sticker was removed.
[/b]

My salesman warned me about the mileage on a dealer trade upfront. They did not have the color and package that I wanted on the lot, but they claimed that they could trade with another dealership and then my wait would be 2 or 3 days instead of months. Then he warned me that that it would probably be coming from another state and it could be as much as 500 miles on it. They would have someone drive the Prius on the lot to the other dealership and then they would drive back in mine. I told him that I would have no problem waiting.

I ended up getting exactly what I wanted with 1 mile on the odometer a month ahead of when the promised.

[Orf]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gyudaddy @ Jul 9 2006, 09:22 AM) [snapback]283311[/snapback]</div>

The last thing that bothered me is that the new car has dealer's decal that I hate!! Since it was Saturday late evening, I couldn't have him remove it. He said to send me some stuff to remove it but I don't really believe that. Why should I advertise their dealership when I don't get paid? He threw a free cargo mat and carpets, so I was okay at that moment. I was not clear enough on that. (If you get a new car, tell your salesperson not to put on).
[/b]

I told my dealer that he would have to pay me $1000 for the decal advertising on my Prius. It took him about 2 minutes to take it off. He did comment that they put the decal on after the car had been processed, checked and was ready for pick up.

[daronspicher]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gyudaddy @ Jul 9 2006, 09:22 AM) [snapback]283311[/snapback]</div>

The last thing that bothered me is that the new car has dealer's decal that I hate!! Since it was Saturday late evening, I couldn't have him remove it. He said to send me some stuff to remove it but I don't really believe that. Why should I advertise their dealership when I don't get paid? He threw a free cargo mat and carpets, so I was okay at that moment. I was not clear enough on that. (If you get a new car, tell your salesperson not to put on).
[/b]

I told my salesman (St. Charles Toyota, Illinois) that "I hate those stickers, do not put any on my car"

"Ok, no problem"


When I went to pick it up, the sticker was on the car.

I told him "Remember me telling you how much I hate those stickers, do not put them on my car"

"Yes... They must have put them on when preping the car"

It was 5 minutes to close, there was no one there qualified to take it off... I'll reiterate.. I hate the sticker.. it should have never been put on there, it should have been taken off... And, I likely will not do further business with this dealer(service or another car purchase) based on this one little thing. I probably will taint my response to anyone asking about the dealer with some blurb (like this one) how they just don't listen or they don't care.

Otherwise, they were good to deal with on the purchase. But, this sticker thing puts that stink on the deal and I won't be back.

If you're a sales guy or dealer out there... This one is free..