Thinking of a cheap upgrade

[Speedwing]

Perforated leather factory seats are far from spill proof. Liquid will get to the foam underneath in short order. Order cloth seats and have them redone in non-perforated leather (spill proof). GT seats or Wet Okoles would be my first two choices .... and I am sure their are many others.

[dwdean]

Originally Posted by AndyMartin826

Tell me what you think of this, if I'm just crazy or if it might just be crazy enough to work.

If this works it'd be a real coup. I'd say at least do the research before you take the leap.

Not living in your area, the only things I see to question are:

1. The reality of selling your 2006 for some figure in the mid-20's. (No, I'm not blind, I have read many, many posts about outrageous Prius prices, but for this much money, it's worth checking that those are real in your specific area.)
2. The reality of buying a new 2008 or 2009 package 5 for "$27K and change". As I see it, that's the current MSRP. If I look a toyota.com, the current "selling price" for that car in the SET region is $33K. If you can still tolerate that and make this work, great. It seems like you've thought this through far enough to not get blind-sided.

Best of luck!

[AndyMartin826]

Originally Posted by BellaInAZ

If you don't mind my asking, which dealership are you purchasing your new Prius from?

Big Two in Chandler. I bought my 2006 from them, and that's where we've got our deposit for my wife's. Will probably use them for my new one too if I decide to go that way.

Originally Posted by dwdean

If this works it'd be a real coup. I'd say at least do the research before you take the leap.

Not living in your area, the only things I see to question are:

1. The reality of selling your 2006 for some figure in the mid-20's. (No, I'm not blind, I have read many, many posts about outrageous Prius prices, but for this much money, it's worth checking that those are real in your specific area.)
2. The reality of buying a new 2008 or 2009 package 5 for "$27K and change". As I see it, that's the current MSRP. If I look a toyota.com, the current "selling price" for that car in the SET region is $33K. If you can still tolerate that and make this work, great. It seems like you've thought this through far enough to not get blind-sided.

Best of luck!

I think the key is people just don't want to wait the 60 days most dealerships are quoting for a new one now. Demand is high, and overall supply has stayed constant due to the battery manufacturing. In our market, supply has actually gone down as it's increased in other areas. Dealers here aren't getting the same allotments as they used to. If the Prius is in hand and ready to sell immediately, people seem to be willing to pay that $25k for a 2006. I've got less miles on mine than most I've seen, too, so that might help in the price. This really seems to be a recent change on the craigslist boards in the last month. The only problem is that you can't really see what they sold for, you can only see what they listed them for.

As for the 2008/Pkg.5 for $27k and some change, Big Two is selling them for MSRP plus their delivery fee, about $400 or so. No premium like some of the other dealers in the area are adding and getting away with. Don't know about the 2009 pricing, though I would guess it would be similar.

[AndyMartin826]

Originally Posted by Highly ImPriused

Great if it works, but I'd question whether anyone is really going to pay $24K+ for a 2006 with 20k miles when they can wait a month or so and get a brand spanking new one for a couple thousand more. Have you checked out craigslist or other resources (eBay?) yourself to see what people are actually getting in your area? That'd be the first step, I'd imagine.

Also, why not ask the dealer what he'd give you on a trade? The benefit there (other than not having to deal with selling it yourself) is that price of the trade is deducted from the cost of the new car when calculating sales tax (at least it works that way in NY). That alone could easily save over $1K.

That is a REALLY good point on the tax situation, I really going to have to mull that one over. I could afford to take a little less on the trade if it offsets the $2k in taxes I'm going to have to pay (taxes here in AZ are pretty tough).

The dealer sold a used 2005 with more miles than mine for $25k, so I'd think I might be able to get the same privately for my 2006. Craigslist seems to have them listed at around $3k over Kelley Blue Book in the last couple of weeks, though there's no way of telling if they sold at that price. eBay hasn't looked as good, but they have shown a slight uptrend in the last few weeks.

People just don't want to wait, we're in an instant-gratification society. My wife was seriously thinking about the Hi-Hy just because they had one on the lot, even though it's more than we want to spend and less mileage.

[auricchio]

At this point, you only have the dealer's word that you will be able to sell your car for a good price.

The dealer has a vested interest: he wants you to buy a new car. If you can't get your price for your old car, he'll just shrug.

Do your research very, very carefully.

This is a difficult situation:

1. You sell your car first, and get a good price. How can you be sure you'll be able to get a new Prius at the price you expect?

2. You buy the new Prius at the price you expect. How can you be sure you'll be able to sell the old car at the price you want?

And, if there's financing involved, you're gambling that the new loan will issue at the payment you want. I suspect auto loans will tighten up just like mortgages---they're not gonna give that money away as easily as a few years ago.

It's a tough one.

[AndyMartin826]

I'm biting the bullet and putting down my $1k to get on the list. Trade in, I'm looking at $24k for mine (that's BB trade, not private sale) and I confirmed that with the dealership. I might be able to get more on private sale, but if I trade in then that does come off the price of the car before tax, which saves me about another $2k so it makes sense to just trade it.

Our dealership here will also sell the 2008 Package 5 for $27,250, which I believe is MSRP, no uplift. They did that on my first Prius in 2006, and did that on my wife's 2008 Package 6 that we're picking up tomorrow. So, I think I can pretty much guarantee that price for the Package 5. That would put the car most likely around $3,250 + tax/title (would transfer my hybrid tag to the new car, and it was just renewed). Most likely I'd pay for that out of pocket and have the new car clean.

Just seems like a great time to get the value out of my 2006 before it potentially drops with other hybrid offerings being announced. I mean, I can trade this guy for $24k, and I paid $25k for it two years ago. That's holding value pretty well, I must say.

[hill]

Originally Posted by Bill Merchant

That makes perfect sense to me, though you can't be guaranteed a particular selling price. It would give you the bells and whistles you want at not much cost.

BTW, I prefer cloth seats to leather. Warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer, you don't slide around, and the cloth cleans easily.

Don't listen to Bill ~ he doesn't know what he's talking about. That badge on his skull goes 1/2 way into his brain Now, sticking up for the leather lovers (and all of us oily dirty grimy greasy people ... with dogs) the leather is easier to clean. Ever heard of dust mites? Yuck. The leater is a nice barrier. Way back in '04 the factory only made 'em in cloth. After a couple years? Forget it. Yuck. We had leather installed & never looked back.

[Bill Merchant]

Leather is what you have for skin if you live in South OC So Cal & the Flathead Valley MT.

[subarutoo]

If it sounds too god to be true, you must be a Prius owner. I've thought of that too. My 06 has just over 66K miles, but I'd lose the HOV stickers. If I retire next year, I just might do it too (I won't need the HOV then) .

[Mauibound]

I'm doing the same thing. I'm planning on selling my 2006 with the HOV stickers with a little less than $60k miles on it. The HOV stickers definitely add value for us californians!