Are 2010's coming down in price

I saw Colonial Toyota advertise a level V with solar, leather, nav, etc... for @$26,800.

 

LOL. A level V does not come with solar. Can't get it.

That aside, car dealerships - even Toyota dealerships - are notorious for bait and switch advertising tactics. They advertise one car at an incredibly low price, and then when you visit the dealership you find out: (1) The car originally advertised as been (conveniently) sold, or (2) It's some sort of floor demo car, so considered a used vehicle.

 

Gas prices are going up in my area. If history is a guide, higher gas prices = more Prius demand = higher Prius prices. It sounds like Toyota Corp has already seen this coming and has already raised the MSRP a few times. The dealers will soon follow with their own markups. I'm just glad I bought a few months ago and am all set for the inevitable gas price hikes that are coming.

 

Here's a teaser ad (ie, the "monthly special") from a dealership in Chicago. This car does not come with solar, and does not come with any of the V's "advanced technology" stuff. This same dealership is advertising Level IV, with the solar package (includes sun roof), for $31,650.

2010 Toyota Prius Package V Continuously Variable Transmission, 17" alloys,
Navigation, Leather Interior, JBL Sound System
With 6 Disc CD Player, Bluetooth


$28,988 Sale Price
1 available at this price.
VIN: xxxxx
Stock #: xxxxx
MSRP $30,700. <dealer info removed> All prices plus government fees and taxes, any dealer document preparation charge (151.65) and any finance charge. All incentives applied. Offer expires 2/01/2010.

 

The one caveat to this is the poor economy. The demand for new cars will be tempered by how people feel about the security of their job, and their own financial situation...which for most, has changed considerable from when ggas prices were higher than they are right now.

 

Destination charges are non-negotiable (paid by dealer to manufacturer). I would suggest getting several quotes from the internet departments from 4-5 dealers within a couple hundred miles. Ask for their OTD cost, as a figure of $'s above/below factory invoice. This will allow you to compare similar but not identically equipped models and know which is the better deal. If you don't quote based on OTD costs, some dealers can quote a good price to get your business and stick you with $400 doc fee, $200 showroom asst. fee, $100 dealer needs a new boat fee, etc... on the final price.

Prices in OK are up and staying up. I couldn't get anything like a good deal after checking with a dozen dealers. The dealers are calling them "high demand", but the inventory is steady or growing at the dealers I've checked. I think "supply and demand" will dawn on them sometime in late Feb or Mar, esp. with sales way over Toyota's annual goal and 2 prices hikes already.

 

I checked my local dealer and he now has 22 Prius allocated to him, about 10 on the lot now and the other 12 available in about a week. I checked the VIN numbers and they display the complete number meaning they are indeed allocated to him and not just part of the SET allocations.

This is the highest inventory that I have seen at this particular dealer in a year or so now. I did not check on his selling prices, though.

 

Yes.

 

We have five dealers within driving distance, the three in SC all sell for more than the two in NC and all charge $200-$300 Doc fees, one even sells more than the MRSP. Our two dealers, only 20 miles apart have no Doc fees and both discount anyware from $150 -$1000 depending on model and trim.
All have cars in stock in all trim models but most are lV or V models.
So there seems to be an ample supply right now.

 

My observation of all local Oregon dealerships plus information provided by this site, suggests to me that prices are not going down, infact they are increasing.

I think good demand, coupled with what turned out to be barely phantom competition from the Honda Insight, is leading Toyota to increase the price. Upon original release the package II's and III's were excellent values.

I know one "area" isn't an entire picture, but what I seem to notice is that Toyota not only controls price but controls price and availability. Early in 2010 model release, dealers were stocked with lots of pkg II's and III's,( I think to compete with the Insight) I've noticed in just the past 2-4 weeks that it seems most dealers stocks are going from top heavy with II's and III's to having more IV's and V's. I'll admit it might just be my imagination, I'm not keeping a chart or numbers but earlier I was looking at dealerships for on the ground IV's and V's and found it frustrating trying to find a dealer with too many choices in those packages, plenty of II's and III's, now, just the opposite.

Anyway, I'm not expecting prices to decrease, not as long as The Prius remains one of the few automobiles in this climate that IS actually selling.

 

Prius prices coming down? In February 2010, the list price is going up by $ 400.00. With the higher asking price, one might have slightly greater negotiating room because the gross margin is slightly greater.

Keith

 

Maybe it was a typo. Maybe they meant to say level IV???

 

Maybe a Typo on Purpose!

Makes one interested and once your at the dealership...Let me show you, or I have XYZ coming in.....

Let the negotiating begin..

 

Ah, the age old car sales bait and switch trick. I know I have to take a shower after visiting any dealership. Slimmy.

That said, do I believe that a dealership here, or a dealership there may have a sale on some specific Prius model? Sure. But on average, I haven't seen any indication - on a national level - that prices are dropping. I know for fact that the price on my model has gone up since I bought this Summer.

I suspect that if there is any hesitation from prospective Prius buyers, it's because of: (1) The economy and/ or (2) Anticipation of whether or not Toyota will release a plug-in version for model year 2011 (not that far away).

 

Something somewhere was misread or mistyped here.

 

No prices are not coming down, especially with the $400 increase from Toyota. I'm not seeing this here.

 

Toyota also increased non-hybrid Camry MSRP.
Is it also true that higher gas prices = more non-hybrid Camry demand = higher non-hybrid Camry prices?
My bet is the pricing is done by Yen to US Dollar adjustment.

Ken@Japan