Pondering a Prius Purchase

If you have your mind made up, the best thing to do would be to contact the Internet salesperson of several dealers within driving distance. They will be aware that they are bidding against each other, and you may be able to get a lower bid than the first once you have a competing bid in hand.

Also beware of any extra dealer offers, warranties, glass etching, paint protectors, etc. You can always do better elsewhere.

 

Consult the Consumer Reports website, or their April car buying issue in a library, for buying advice. You can do everything by phone, email and fax and get the best possible price (assuming that you have more than one dealer within reach).

 

Please, peruse the punny word play topics prior to your Prius purchase and pick your pleasure. Or post-purchase, as you prefer.

 

You're probably still going to pay close to MSRP unless the dealer has quite a few Prius on his lot. It's a very popular car and demand is still high.

 

Pick what you believe to be the highest quality dealership. You can spend your whole life figuring out how to negotiate. There's probably $1600 total profit in the car. Don't spend days trying to negotiate pennies. Find the exact Prius, color, package, etc., and make a reasonable offer.

If you want to save money, focus on the rate, not the dealer's profit. A 1% difference in rate on a 5 year note (on your estimated price of 23k before state sales tax) is about $600. That's much more than the dealer has to offer in terms of further price reduction.

 

That was absolutely bad advice to focus on the rate and not the price. You should negotiate the price entirely separately from anything else.

I just got mine for the dealer's exact cost (it was on his lot but he was willing to get one for me for the same price). The way to know his true cost is to order an instant pricing report from Consumer Reports for $14. It tells you the cost of each option package and each accessory. It tells you any special or regional incentive that the dealer received. It tells you the holdback amount, which is a refund check the dealer gets from Toyota after the sale. It was $450 on my car.

Then tell each dealer you know his cost and see which one is willing to take the least profit.

The Prius is widely available now, so ignore those who are still saying that you have to pay MSRP or that the demand exceeds supply. That is a myth now though it may have been true years ago.

 

With new Prius inventories starting to build up, it looks like many of the dealers are selling near or even at invoice - with the profit limited to factory incentives and holdback. The only issue with buying new today is whether the Gen III (2009 maybe?) will be available this year. Granted, the first Gen III's will sell at a premium - which will drive down the price even further of Gen II's still in stock.

 

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2008 package 2 was sold for 22,365 not including taxes, tags, etc based on a post on the above site. So around that price might be a good price to shoot for.

 

perhaps you mis-interpreted my point... I wasn't guessing that the profit is about 1600 because I sell them. My point was that once you've established WHO you'd like to deal with to buy your Prius, don't let the last small $'s get in the way. At that point, rate is much more a factor in what you pay for a car. Why is it that people constantly pat themselves on the back for getting the last red cent out of a dealer and yet never advertise their rate, or actual payment? That's where the money is... Take it or leave it... Just trying to help.

 

I have no problem posting my particular $ amount. However, my advice was to get the consumer reports data so that you could know the exact dealer cost on the exact car you choose. I paid $23,650 for a 2008 package #4 with 5 piece floor mat set. That included everything except tax and title which goes to the state, not the dealer. Don't let them add document fees or anything else on top of the price you negotiate. (Consumer Reports pricing does include the $660 destination charge). Without that type of data, you'll never know how much profit is there to bargain over, including special incentives and holdback rebates to the dealer.

I understand why there is some degree of dealer hostility to this approach, but just as some on this post are dealers, I am a consumer advocate by profession. There's no reason a consumer shouldn't bargain for the lowest price. My dealer was very nice about it even though he made less profit than usual on the car he sold me.

 

Thanks, Newportdog. I took your point as intended. It is just unfortunate that our actual posts are not the best form of communicating with groups of people.