1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Proud Owner Of Prius Prime - Dianne Whitmire Is BEST!

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by Priusgreengal1, Dec 12, 2016.

  1. Priusgreengal1

    Priusgreengal1 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2010
    1
    14
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    V
    I don't post often here, but always read. I had a 2007 Prius Touring with 75,000 miles. It was a great car, and probably would have gone another 75,000 miles, but the Prius Prime grabbed my attention.

    As a long time fan of the documentary, Who Killed The Electric Car, I always wanted a plug-in as we have solar panels at house to offset costs of charging.

    I read Dianne's thread about current stock of Prius Prime's. I wanted a red, Prius Prime Premium, with black interior. The car I wanted was on a boat en route to Southern California and would arrive by December 10...it was a three-four week wait, which was fine with me.

    In the meantime, my Prius which I was going to trade in, had some title issues, even though it had been paid off for years. Dianne stepped in, went above and beyond to help me solve the issue. At this point, remember, I hadn't paid her a dime. The title arrived just in time as I had lost it, but without Dianne's help, it wouldn't have gotten done as quickly.

    Dianne called me on Saturday morning to tell me my car had arrived. We arrived early afternoon, and my husband had mentioned upon entering showroom that he was hungry. Why hadn't he told me before we left, I will come back to this in a few minutes.

    We went upstairs to meet Dianne, and she had all of my paperwork ready to go. We met with Thomas and got my car appraised and agreed upon the trade-in price.

    My car had just arrived and Dianne insisted it be detailed before I even took it out for a test drive. It was at this point Ron was talking on the phone to Dianne and said, let me ask them. "What can we get you for lunch? Someone downstairs mentioned to us that you were hungry," Thomas said.

    I knew in that moment we were in the right place to buy my Prius. We live two miles from a Toyota dealership, and 15 miles from Longo Toyota, where I had bought my previous Prius.

    We politely declined the generous offer for lunch because the process was moving very quickly. Took the Prius out for a test drive and the car surpassed my expectations.

    The acceleration of the car, roominess, comfort, had me sold. We finished up the financing which was the best deal I have ever had on a car, 0.9% financing.

    I was taught key features of the car, plugging it in (which I have already done at home), and we were on our way....about 80 minutes after getting there!

    The service we got out Carson Toyota exceeded the glowing reviews Dianne has received here on Prius Chat. As a woman, buying a car from another woman, just made it that much better. I heard Dianne talking to other dealers approving/declining deals, because she is the big boss.

    Dianne had already ordered our carpool stickers even though we don't have the license plates, but she is allowed to do that as a dealer.

    I couldn't imagine Longo or any other dealer going above and beyond to help me. She also gave us information about the California rebate for Prius Prime and the IRS for tax credit.

    While we were in Dianne's office a gentleman called from Florida to give her his flight information because he was going to be buying a Prius Prime and driving it all the way back to Florida. Because he lives out of state, he has to pay for the car in full, but that wasn't a factor.

    It speaks volumes that someone is coming from Florida to buy a Prius Prime from Dianne here in California. I highly recommend Dianne and her team. They will go above and beyond for you, and get you the best deal possible.
     
    #1 Priusgreengal1, Dec 12, 2016
    Last edited: Dec 14, 2016
    Civic4982, iplug, yvette and 11 others like this.
  2. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2009
    5,596
    3,770
    0
    Location:
    So. Texas
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    One post in 6 years? Slow down there motor mouth!!! :LOL:

    CONGRATS and welcome to the brave new world of plug-ins!
     
    DianneWhitmire likes this.
  3. ForestBeekeeper

    ForestBeekeeper Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2011
    691
    267
    0
    Location:
    Maine
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Premium
    I nearly went to California to buy our Prime.

    When we bought our Prius 3 we were told that our state is not a designated marketing region for the Prius. A few cars to sent to dealerships here, but they can not 'order' any specific vehicle. Dealerships can swap cars around, But the statewide selection is very limited.

    Everytime I have taken my Prius 3 in for servicing, I chat with the sale staff. Over the years I have been told the same story.

    We have wanted a plug-in for a while. We have discussed the option of going to California to buy one. It is not just Toyota that has this issue.

    With the Prime, the sales staff told me they had gotten a couple in, and asked if we were still interested. We would have prefered the base model [plus], but they only had one and we did not like the color. They had two premiums and one of them was in a color we liked. So instead of traveling to California we bought a premium model.

    I know it offers stuff for a smart phone. I do not have a smart phone. But it was cheaper than traveling to the West coast and back again.

    We are off-grid on solar power too :)
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    congrats! try telling us something we don't know.:cool: dianne cemented her reputation here a long time ago. enjoy your prime and please drop by once in awhile to tell us about it.(y)
     
    DianneWhitmire likes this.
  5. huskers

    huskers Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2005
    2,542
    2,485
    0
    Location:
    Nebraska
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    It is nice when you have a business you feel really cares about your experience and the product you are buying from them. Congrats !!! And Diana must be a great person. An option I will use if my dealer falls through for me.
     
    DianneWhitmire likes this.
  6. DianneWhitmire

    DianneWhitmire High PRIUStess

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2007
    4,062
    1,123
    64
    Location:
    Laguna Niguel, CA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Premium
    Thanks GreenGal! "Ron" said to tell you hi! ;)
    I sure appreciated your patience ... I know your color combo was a tad bit of a wait, but worth it!! :D

    Dianne
     
    Civic4982 and ttait like this.
  7. DonDNH

    DonDNH Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2004
    1,711
    654
    0
    Location:
    Nashua, NH
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Four Touring
    How does California handle sales tax, license plates and registration for an out-of-state sale?
     
  8. DianneWhitmire

    DianneWhitmire High PRIUStess

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2007
    4,062
    1,123
    64
    Location:
    Laguna Niguel, CA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Premium
    sorry -- to hectic and too much to explain. I'm a phone person anyway when it comes to sorting this all out. Call.
     
  9. danimelara

    danimelara Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 4, 2015
    17
    1
    0
    Location:
    los angeles
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Hi Dianne
    What kind of deals do you have for the Prime.
    I also have a 2nd Gen Prius with 150k that I would like to trade in.
     
  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    call her, she's quite friendly.
     
    DianneWhitmire likes this.
  11. DianneWhitmire

    DianneWhitmire High PRIUStess

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2007
    4,062
    1,123
    64
    Location:
    Laguna Niguel, CA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Premium
    MSRP and please call me regarding availability etc!
     
  12. DianneWhitmire

    DianneWhitmire High PRIUStess

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2007
    4,062
    1,123
    64
    Location:
    Laguna Niguel, CA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Premium
    o_O we allllll have our moments!
     
    bisco likes this.
  13. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    11,309
    3,586
    1
    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    If I recall Dianne explained some of this fairly recently in her Prime thread.