San Diego dealer fees/options pushed

[sdjimbo]

Newbie, but I've lurked for quite a while. Hope to be able to contribute here...once I get the darn car. I've put a deposit down and have about two more weeks of waiting for my new '05 w/pkg 6, can't wait.

But I'm wondering now what I can expect once I officially purchase the car at the dealer. I'm trying to get a feel for what further options the dealer will try to sell or push, so that I can go in there with no surprises or something i haven't been able to research. From reading here, I've determined the floormat package, extended warranty (which I know I can get here and yes, I know NOT to mention this site to the dealer as negotiation) and some sort of bumper applique are among them.

I'm in San Diego, will be purchasing from a north county dealer. Can any of you San Diegans out there let me know about any weird fees I may need to question as well (dealer prep fees, etc.)

Thanks!

[Micky Lee]

There's the extended warranty. This site has a great discount on that, $985, from a Massachusettes dealer.

There's a package where you get 10% on all scheduled maintenance, but read the fine print! It's "scheduled" maintenance, not their "recommended" maintenance. The "recommended" is not covered, so be sure to read the fine print when calculating the value of a 10% discount. I didn't order this because I thought there was a deliberate attempt to deceive.

There's always the standard underbody coating nonsense as well as the scotchguarding the interior. Buy a spray can of scotch guard if you want.

My dealer also had a local car shop who would convert my cloth interior to leather. I opted to wait. I can always get leather later if the cloth gets too dirty. San Francisco is cool enough for leather, but I wouldn't want it in a hot climate.

[tara]

Hello
I stopped at El Cajon Toyota and saw a Silver #6 on the lot waiting for a new home. Is there still much of a wait?
Tara

[sdjimbo]

There was no wait for silver or the burgundy (red?). I wanted black though, which I was told was the most unpopular color, and it will be about 3 weeks.

Still wondering what sort of fees the dealer is going to try to pawn off...

[Godiva]

I bought my Black #1 at Kearny Mesa Toyota and didn't wait. The car was there when I e-mailed the Internet Manager (ask for Howard) and was still there when I got back from Vegas on Wed. I test drove it and then bought it right there. I didn't hear anything about it being unpopular. They just don't get that many. They also don't get that many #1 either. If you want a #6 that's easy. Silver #6 is easiest. But a black should be doable.

Have you e-mailed all of the San Diego dealers? Try all of them in the county, not just mid city. You can buy in National City and service at whoever is closest to you.

I think you can check Mossy and El Cajon inventory on the web. I've never had any luck even getting into the Kearny Mesa Toyota website...to much Flash.

Contact all of the dealers by internet or phone and ask them what they have on the lot. I'll bet there's a black one out there. I wanted a #1 and got it (and #1 is hard to get as well) but I was offered two different black Prii from Mossy with higher packages within a week of my request.

There should be no markup beyond MSRP, no adding of undercoats, etching or any of that. Kearny Mesa certainly didn't force anything of that sort. It did come with the carpet mats but I wanted them anyway.

Now in the finance office is another thing. Don't buy lojack or any of that stuff. If they can't meet the Priuschat price on extendedwarranty, don't buy that either. (Please remember NOT to mention Priuschat).

After you get yours, why not join the Prius Club of San Diego? We can always use another Black Prius. See the forums here for info.

[VisualMonster]

I just picked up a Silver #6 from El Cajon this morning, probably the same one that Tara saw.

El Cajon is probably where you'll find the best deals in San Diego area.. they WILL go below MSRP, and are the only ones I know of that will do that in this area.

Send me a PM if you want the sales guy that helped me.

[sdjimbo]

I could have had my black #6 on the spot when I first test drove the car about 2 months ago, but I wanted to be sure by doing more research, which brought me to this site to begin with. In any case, the car is coming within a week or so. I'm getting it for 200 under MSRP thanks to Costco, not the dealer (I'll follow up with the dealer name once the deal is done!).

Good replies, thanks!

[Bill Merchant]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(VisualMonster\";p=\"98923)</div>

I just picked up a Silver #6 from El Cajon this morning, probably the same one that Tara saw.  

El Cajon is probably where you'll find the best deals in San Diego area..  they WILL go below MSRP, and are the only ones I know of that will do that in this area.

Send me a PM if you want the sales guy that helped me.[/b]

[font=Comic Sans MS:5a013162c7]Congratulations, VisualMonster! Please tell us who was good. I started a thread in "Dealers and Pricing" so we can recommend good guys.[/font:5a013162c7]

[Godiva]

Great! Within the week isn't bad. I wish I had known about CostCo before I bought mine.

In case anyone would like to use the web to find dealers in their area and find the car they want try these:

First read Car Buying Tips

cars.com

invoice dealers

carsdirect

Autoweb

[sdjimbo]

Thought I would bump this up to say I'm the happy owner of a black #6.

The dealer was Toyota of Escondido. They are currently selling for MSRP, unless you go via Costco's fleet program, which knocked $200 off.

Having had the car a few days, I've noticed other Prius drivers honking or waving, so if that's any of you guys here, hello! I have been honking back.

They did offer the extended warranty at something like $1400 and claimed if I purchased through them and didn't use it, they'd refund the full amount. I turned that down and also turned down the cloth/paint treatment.