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May buy the Prius Prime Premium This Saturday.. Questions

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by forte88, Mar 8, 2018.

  1. forte88

    forte88 Member

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    So I'm currently on my 3rd Prius. I currently own a 2012 Prius Plug In and have loved it. Although the Blu-Tooth on the radio/nav system is giving me some fits. It only works 20 percent of the time now. It would connect, then disconnect and freeze the phone system in the car until the car is shut down. But that's for another thread. I'm looking at the Prius Prime Premium, and possibly this Saturday it will be in my driveway barring a failure in the deal.

    Current incentives are 2000.00 rebate and 0 percent interest for 72 months. Seems pretty sweet there. The price will be around 27k for the car. It's a 2017 -Blue. I'd probably prefer the Red, but I think Blue will be fine. With it being a 2017 are there any complications with getting the Federal 4500.00 tax credit? Isn't there something like a limit of first 1000 cars sold or something? I think I'll still be able to get my California clean vehicle rebate as well.

    I test drove one a few weeks back and my only complaint is that I won't have the 5 seat capability. I don't use that much, but it does come in handy now and then. It's not like I never use that. Things like picking family up at the airport or something. I wonder why they changed that.

    They didn't have the NAV system working in the vehicle I test drove so any reviews on that in comparison to the old ones? My biggest beef with the older systems are that they are too expensive to upgrade to new maps. In a couple years time my 2012 kept getting lost on redesigned freeways, or entrance ramps. The other thing was the lack of POI's and the POI emoticons are funky. Why would there be a grocery cart icon in a residential area with no store in sight. I'd prefer something more like the Waze app for traffic information as well. Has that been improved?

    Anything else I should note? Any buyer beware stuff?
     
  2. Pizza Driver

    Pizza Driver Active Member

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    Double check to see if the incentives are "$2000 rebate OR 0% financing". Usually, it is one or the other. If so, then it is probably best to go with the rebate and see what kind of non-Toyota financing you can get.
     
  3. forte88

    forte88 Member

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    Per the conversation I had with the sales person on the phone yesterday, it sounded like he was giving me both. But I am pre-approved with my credit bureau just in case. Thanks for the heads up. He mentioned something about getting special deal because of customer loyalty with Toyota Financial. I've had a few loans with them in the past. The 2012 was a lease through Toyota Financial, and it was paid off when I purchased the car a couple years ago.
     
  4. pawdugan

    pawdugan Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius Prime
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    Prime Plus
    I can tell you as a new owner of a Prius in general, the nav system is... not fantastic. Entering a POI is a pain if you don't have the exact address to enter manually and the voice recognition is uuussseeellleesssssss.

    On the plus side, the 4 passenger setup is no deal at all for us, even with a carseat living in one spot. The reduced cargo space is noticeable but not a life changer.

    The only buyer beware advice I can give is make sure they give you that package for the free Chargepoint credit which will make life easier in the short term.
     
    forte88 and priuscatprimeguy like this.
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    4 seats, no rear wiper, 3" higher rear deck are the negatives, entune/gps seem to be a wash. the positives are fantastic though.
    the big screen gets some praise and some panning.
     
  6. Since2002

    Since2002 Senior Lurker

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    Most dealers are giving dealer discounts on the Prime in addition to the Toyota incentives, so my guess is that you would be getting 0% financing and a $2,000 dealer discount in lieu of the Toyota rebate. Which is probably a good deal if it's important to you to stretch the payments out for 6 years. However there's never a free lunch right?:) In this case you are getting a $2,000 discount with 0% instead of potentially a $4,000 discount if paying cash or standard financing through a credit union. Even with a standard loan you can greatly reduce the overall amount of interest you pay over the life of the loan by making a lot of extra payments especially early in the loan and work towards paying the loan off much earlier than 6 years. With 0% interest however you can't do that because making early payments would have no impact on interest since there is no interest, or looking at it another way you would basically have pre-paid the interest by forgoing the $2,000 rebate.

    Then again getting a straight up $2,000 discount on top of the Toyota rebate might take some effort but it should be possible. If nothing else you could at least ask the dealer that you are talking to what type of discount would you get if you decided to take the Toyota rebate instead of 0% financing
     
    #6 Since2002, Mar 9, 2018
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2018
  7. forte88

    forte88 Member

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    Still working on the deal. Got the price down to 25168.00 over phone and putting a couple dealers in a bidding war. One said 25k even.. but when we started putting it on paper they tried adding accessories like gps tracking and adding another thousand to the agreed price. Other dealer says 25168.00 is the price plus tax and title. Poster earlier is correct. Rebate or financing. Not both.
     
  8. PT Guy

    PT Guy Senior Member

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    We really like our Prime. Close to 20,000 miles now. Almost ready for our second oil change.

    There is no spare tire. Accept that, or buy a Corolla compact spare and find a way to lash it down so it won't become an unguided missile if you crash. The car comes with a jack, and a compressor and jar of sealant, and 2 years of tow service to a dealership. I put a sealant into the tires, Ride-On Auto Formula. No punctures so far...that I've noticed, and I look for a nail when I change the snow tires.
     
    Redthorne likes this.
  9. Bill Norton

    Bill Norton Senior Member

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    So 10k oil changes are mandated regardless of EV% usage?

    Sounds not very hi tech. Other higher EV range PHEV's don't do it this maintenance intensive way. What a potential waste of good oil...
    Have you ever calculated Total Cost of Ownership compared to the other PHEV's on the market?
     
  10. forte88

    forte88 Member

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    We used to have a Nissan Leaf EV. We enjoyed it except the leash it had on travelling. We owned both the Leaf and the 2012 PIP and anytime we wanted to travel anywhere further than 40 miles away, we would take the PIP. Suffered through many trips with the Leaf with range anxiety. As the battery started to degrade it got worse and the trips had to be shorter and shorter. The Leaf was on a lease and we turned it in with plenty of miles to spare. I love the EV's for around town, but we aren't always sticking around town. Even the vehicles with longer ranges take time to charge, and stations (although getting better) are still not that prevalent in my area.
     
    Since2002 likes this.
  11. PT Guy

    PT Guy Senior Member

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    There are several ways Toyota could have determined when an oil change is needed. There are algorithms that examine engine temperature and load and other factors. Or just engine hours. Or so many hundred gallons of gasoline. Instead, we got just the simple minded 10,000 mile oil drain interval. That said, it is a good idea for a knowledgeable person to give the car a good look-over at least every 5,000 miles, and that is part of the maintenance requirements.