Cold Call from Prius Salesman --How Things Have Changed

Last night I got a call from a salesman at the Toyota dealership I bought my 2008 Prius from exactly one year ago. He informed me they had "several" new Prii on the lot and asked me if I would consider trading up to a 2009.

What a sad commentary on the state of our economy. A salesman who fears losing his job making desperate calls to people who would almost certainly have no interest in buying a new car. BTW I have a "5" package so there would be very little to trade up to.

It's also interesting that six months ago dealers were offering to buy your Prius back for what you paid. Now they're making cold calls just to try to move cars. And GM isn't the only auto dealer in trouble. Toyota sales took a breathtaking drop in November. Just my 2 cents today.

-In Canada- Toyota sales were up 1.9%. All others except Ford were way down.

Ha, if they could keep my payment the same for the same payoff I would trade up to a package 3 for the bluetooth

Down 34% overall in the U.S., with Prius sales down almost 50%. Things are getting ugly down here.

It is worse than that, the november Toyota sales include large numbers of fleet vehicles that were not inn last years numbers. Almost 50% of the enterprise cars that service my stores are now Toyota's. Unheard of a couple of years ago.

What, Mazda and Nissan/Infiniti don't count?

I think Toyota sales to fleets will increase because rental companies and Enterprise in particular are using more "risk" cars. Risk cars are cars that Enterprise own rather than some other arrangement. There are worse makes than Toyota to take a risk with.

Between new and used, my local Toyota dealer has 18 Prius on their lot.

I was on the phone with a friend of mine today who has a toyota store and he has almost 400 new toyotas in and incoming. He has never had more than 180 on his lot. Inventory cost has never been a major part of the toyota dealers income statement until now.

10+ used Prius on the lot in Columbia, MO at Joe Machens Toyota. They are not selling and they are not lowering prices. 22-24K

Only 18!!

I got a cold call last week from a local dealer, they have 34 new Prius in stock.

Yeah--the media keeps talking about how the Big 3 car companies are down 30-40%. But they don't say that the Japanese and German car companies are also down by about the same. It isn't just the American companies.

What hurt them is the $4 gas and then the financial mess and the October crash. The car companies got a double whammy with the $4 gas and the financial disaster. There has been a massive rush to cash and T-bills. My banker told me some people have even taken their money out of banks. The media (mainly TV) doesn't help in these situations, because they like to accentuate conflict and fear to get ratings.

Right now, the biggest problem is tight credit. That hurts the housing and car markets. Paulsen is spending billions, but he hasn't been able to loosen credit enough. And Bush is totally useless at this point. Some are saying Obama is pulling the strings right now.

The biggest problems are credit and confidence. I wonder how bad the great depression would have gotten with a 5 minute news cycle? There is no truth anymore. What is real and what is hype? Can you imagine the scenes form the hoovervilles? God help us if it gets that bad again.

Mossy toyota in SD has 97 new Prius's sitting on the lot.

Tonight I received an email from a dealer I inquired about Prius inventory over a year ago offering $ 1000 off new Prius. Never saw that before. Prius always sold really well here in Tampa area.I noticed for the first time the dealer I bought my 07 from now has about 20 lined up in the front.

These are very scary times.

Thank god Bush is not trying to help though. Please just stay in your WH residence with the blinds pulled while you and Carl wring your hands and try to re-write history you morons.
I read an editorial the other day calling for immediate inauguration of Obama with no huge Inaug. Ball party considering our austere times.
Great idea but I know it won't happen without an act of Congress. Too bad.
Not that Obama is such an economics genius because he's not but he's smart enough to surround himself with some. Our country needs to get moving again and quickly. I'm hoping when our current wretched jackass heads back to Crawford to spend his remaining days clearing brush the World will breath a sigh of relief. The world and the markets.
Great job brownie!......oh and gas is now $ 1.76 regular here.

Over the past couple days I've driven by 3 different Toyota lots and noticed quite a few Pri's. I didn't stop to count but I would guess each had at least 20 on each lot. Now, if my salesman called me to deal, I would do it if he offered what I payed (which isn't likely).

I think most of the potential car buyers are more concerned about their job security than be able to get a car loan for now. Sales gonna be slow....and even slower when the holidays season is coming by.

A friend here in Edmonton went to look at a Prius and no dealer had one. All quoted him 4-6 month wait. I wonder if Toyota is smart enough to relax the "embargo" against importing them from the US. Probably not.

My salesman called me and offered me a $200 finders fee for anyone I steer his way that buys a new Toyots.
Shortly after I had mine on order from the Lockport dealership. I actually got a call from a dealer who previously would not give me the time of day................
Another Toyota dealer had one on his used car lot that he was asking more than a new one cost a few months ago. When I asked why it was more than a new one, he shrugged his shoulders and said "supply and demand".
Wonder what he is doing now with the cars he had overpriced before............

I guess I don't get the big deal. We've had cold call'ers in good times & bad, everything from timeshares, to cars ... even ice cream in the Montana winter! Sales; ... ya gotta make a living, so what do you expect them to do? In CA we can put our names on 'no-call' lists. It's pretty easy to collect the penalty if they violate, once they've been put on notice. We've made a nice amount of coin against the Orange County Register. I now get excited when they call! I kind of appreciate their dumbness in that regard.