Am I doing the math right? 2011 vs 2012

Your first mistake is to negotiate with one dealer, on their turf, in their dealership.

Your first mistake is to believe they have the upper hand and to then give it to them. The more Priuses they sell now, the greater their future allotments of more Priuses, Prius V's, and most profitable, Prius C's and Plug in Priuses. Toyota wants the Priuses sold. If a dealer hoards them, Toyota isn't inclined to give them more. If they sell a lot of them, even at a small loss, now, Toyota will allocate more to them when gas prices are high.

Your second mistake is to negotiate with one dealer, on their turf. Imagine what the negotiation would be like if they came to you to sell a Prius and believed they would have to drive across town to visit another buyer to see what they might pay. That won't happen, but you don't have to be a sucker either. Go to one dealer for a test drive. Then cross shop dealers using internet and/or fax (not phone). Some dealers will compete for your business by drastically lowering their prices when they realize that you can easily and are getting competing prices from multiple dealerships, near and not so near. (How far are you willing to drive to pickup your Prius at a $500 savings?).

 

I am actually hoping gas hits $5 per gallon over then next month and a half or so because I will be selling my 2004 (or trading in). The goofy high prices should help me get a decent sale/trade-in.

And then I am hoping the prices go back down.

 

Another problem with trying to negotiate a good deal by walking into a dealership is that this raises the dealership's costs and makes it harder for them to offer a low price. When you go to a dealership, you are quickly claimed by or assigned to a salesperson (or consultant). To motivate and compensate them, most dealerships will give them a commission. When the salesperson takes your offer to the general sales manager, the sales manager must account for the cost of this commission when looking at the profitability of selling the car at your offered price. The fact that you went in raised their cost and lowered their ability to offer a low price to you.

If you negotiate a price by internet or fax before you walk in to or even call (and give your name or telephone number), many dealerships will treat your sale as a 'house sale' meaning that nobody their receives a full commission. It makes sense, given that as soon as you came into the dealership you came ready to buy at the agreed upon price.

 

I found truecar.com to be an interesting place to check out .. with all of the different incentive programs coming and going .... it can be hard to know what the true cost of the car is to the dealer..

You also have dealers that will tell you a price and then not deliver -- I could have saved a couple of hundred bucks -- but I want to use a local dealer to one of my locations,

 

I agree that all of the little things add up. My 2005 is not a bad car but the 2012 offers so much more that I broke down and sold my car today. It's not the best financial decision but whatever.

 

How many miles on your '05 and what did you get for the sale? Just trying to see if my expectations are realistic. Thanks, in advance.

And congrats on the new purchase. What did you get?

 

I'd rather not say what I sold it for. It had 158k miles and needed a lot of small work so it's not really applicable. Let's just say the dealers wouldn't even give me $5,000 for it so I sold it to a co-worker. Thankfully Dianne at Carson Toyota is taking care of me on the new 2012 Three w/solar.

 

Understood. You had a lot of nice upgrades. I tried the AutoTrader guaranteed quote thingy and would not recommend that to anyone. The quotes I got back were laughable, the worst being $7k below KBB.

 

I tried it too and was too honest I think because it quoted me $2950!

Mike (The Critic) and I are going to make a bonsai run to LA on Saturday morning to get my new car. The guy is so jazzed that he already scheduled me an appointment at Premier, after we leave Carson, to get the hood covered in a clear bra for the drive back home. I think he is even more worried about rock chips than I am which is quite scary.

 

If the drive back up the coast is too long and you want another driver --- let me know!

 

Agreed, but I did need to see the car in person before committing to a purchase, so I had to go to a dealer to sit in one, etc. My mistake was wasting 1.5hrs inside trying to make a deal w/these ppl.
The next day- after that disappointing experience, I let my fingers (and mouse) do the walking and contacted several dealers by email followed up with a phone conversation. That was a much better use of my time.

Well, a 145 mi trip west to PA is saving me over $600 compared to the local clowns... Google maps estimates 2h54min each way. That's acceptable for a Saturday ride.

 

Will do! I think Mike and I will be competing to see who gets the best mpg. lol

 

:rockon:

 

Probably really dependent on region. Dealers in the Chicago region during Jan and early Feb of this year were dealing on everything including 2012s that were in bound and not on the floor yet. I got about $2150 off MSRP of $26,770 on a 2012 III just before the price of gas spiked. 2011s had a $500 rebate or 0% in Jan. I could have bought a 2011 II for $21,077+TTL with the $500 rebate. Toyota removed the $500 and just left the 0% in mid Jan so the price of the car actually went up by $500 if you wanted the rebate instead of the 0%.

The local Costco discount for a 2012 BW III was only $1100 off MSRP of $26,770. So I did over $1000 better on my own.

You are probably right about prices going up if gas prices move up. Timing and luck have a lot to do with prices. Gas prices were at a record low for the month of Feb when I bought. Now they are at a high. Many Chicago gas stations are at $4.30-$4.35 today. Prices will probably move towards MSRP as gas prices move towards $5 a gallon. I also read it was possible that gas might hit $6.00 a gallon.

 

Congratulations. It sounds like you did very well.

If it's that far, I'd recommend making sure you get a complete out the door price, with all installed or required options and services, before you go. Ask for a scanned or faxed copy of a purchase contract to read in advance. You don't want to be victim to any bait and switch. Some dealers might figure that you will grudgingling accept additional fees or a different vehicle once you have spent a couple hours driving out and are a couple hours from getting home again.

You might consider offering a small credit card deposit before you go, if the dealer offers a completed purchase contract and to hold the car for you. Without a deposit, the dealership might be wary of you shopping their contract around locally with dealers offering to beat your best offer. The deposit can also earn a promise to hold the vehicle, with no excuse for bait and switch.

 

Hey F8L, congratulations on your new upgrade. And your coming all the way down to my neck of the wood. Must of been some deal. So cool & very happy for u .

 

Thanks man! I'm super excited!

We'll be in Carson to pick up the car then heading to Premier to have the hood clear-bra'd for the drive home. If you're close by we should meet up.