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Illinois -- New Member with a New Prius

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by winebuff08, Apr 24, 2008.

  1. winebuff08

    winebuff08 New Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    West Dundee, IL
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Hello All...

    New member here ... just bought my first Prius two days ago. An 08 Package 6 in Barcelona Red.

    Here's the funny part ... I've been driving a Hummer H2 as my daily for the last few years and finally decided to pull the trigger on a Prius largely due to soaring gas prices here in the NW suburbs. I rationalized that by parking the Hummer, the fuel savings alone will pay the payment on a new Prius.

    After shopping extensively throughout northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, I went with St. Charles Toyota because they had the car I wanted at the price I was willing to pay. I **highly** recommend St. Charles Toyota and especially David L., one of their best sales consultants. After talking with him on the telephone a few times, I drove down to the dealership and within 30 seconds, he tossed me the keys to a new Prius with instructions to go have fun for the day and come back when I was done. Didn't even want to discuss price yet. I drove the car for the afternoon, and went back before closing time to sign the deal. No hassle, no fuss. Didn't have to haggle one bit because I knew what I was going to pay and got the deal I wanted within a couple hundred bucks.

    That said, I would strongly recommend steering well clear of Pauly Toyota in Crystal Lake. Great selection, beautiful facility, but obscene prices and an arrogant and uncooperative sales staff.

    So how has my first few days with the new Prius been? Perfect in every regard. What a beautiful, magnificently designed car. It puts a smile on my face every time I sit down and press the Power button. So far, the fuel gauge hasn't moved one tick off the full mark. If I were driving the H2, I'd have gone through half a tank already.
     
    #1 winebuff08, Apr 24, 2008
  2. ualdriver

    ualdriver Member

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    Location:
    Midwest US
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    I'm out here just about 10 miles north of you in IL and wil probably be buying a Prius in a month or so. Do you mind telling us what the price was below MSRP? Did you check any other dealers in the area? Just wondering where I should start with my search......

    Thanks.........
     
    #2 ualdriver, Apr 24, 2008
  3. winebuff08

    winebuff08 New Member

    Joined:
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    West Dundee, IL
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Judging by your screen name, I would guess we may be in the same line of work. I sit at the pointy end of the tube for AA out of ORD. :)

    I like to think I'm a pretty good negotiator, but the reality is that Toyota dealers around here are not wiggling too much due to excessive demand and a deficit in supply. Most dealers have 3 or 4 units on the lot. Some have 1 or 2. Pauly in Crystal lake has about 8 or 10 as of last weekend, but my recommendation is to take a pass on Pauly.

    That said, mine is a fully optioned pkg 6 that stickered at $27,685 and I paid $27K out the door.

    I wouldn't waste too much time hunting one down. With gas prices steadily creeping up around here, supply will continue to dwindle and demand will be even stronger. My sales person suggested that come summertime, they will be selling them for over sticker and I believe it.
     
    #3 winebuff08, Apr 24, 2008
  4. TravelBliss

    TravelBliss It's worth the wait !!!

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    ^^^^
    Congrats on the new Prius !! So, are you getting rid of the behemoth?
     
    #4 TravelBliss, Apr 24, 2008
  5. Yoda-chan

    Yoda-chan New Member

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    Winebuff,

    Your post made my day and has made me feel much better. We got our Prius (Package 2) last week at sticker price. The dealer wasn't about to negotiate, and it's the only Toyota dealer within 70+ miles. There were only 3 other ones on the lot--two that had just arrived that day--and one of them was sold while I was there. Yoda was the color and package that I had been wanting, and I realized that it might not come by again soon...

    I've seen a decent number of posts for people who purchased their cars at well below MSRP, and I've wondered if we should have tried haggling more than our feeble attempts. However, I've also realized that that wasn't likely here. Edmunds.com suggested that people in our area are at best paying around $40 below MSRP...courtesy of living in an area with only one Toyota dealer, I suppose.
     
    #5 Yoda-chan, Apr 24, 2008
  6. wchardin

    wchardin Senior Member

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    ----USA----
    Welcome to PriusChat, I'm glad that you got your Prius, did you get a Touring? Hope to see some pictures soon.
     
    #6 wchardin, Apr 24, 2008
  7. winebuff08

    winebuff08 New Member

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    Vehicle:
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    With cars, its all a matter of supply and demand. If there are a lot of Priuses in a given area, then the prices are driven down. Here in Chicago, there are a fair amount of them available, fewer available exactly the way you want it, and even fewer dealers willing to deeply haggle. Reason? They don't have to. If you don't buy, then the next schlep in off the street probably will.

    I felt I did pretty well buying at under sticker, even if it was only $600 under. Most people around here are paying sticker +. When I called some dealerships, they were completely disinterested in even discussing any price other than sticker.

    In the end, I think I ended up paying $500 over invoice so the dealer ended up making $500 plus the holdback. Not a big deal, really. Somebody has to pay the bills.
     
    #7 winebuff08, Apr 24, 2008
  8. chriscard25

    chriscard25 New Member

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    Location:
    Chicago area
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Hello--Bolingbrook here. Bought mine 3 weeks ago in Elmhurst. Sticker 23,900, paid 22,800.

    Good experience all in all.
     
    #8 chriscard25, Apr 24, 2008
  9. donee

    donee New Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Hi Winebuff...,

    Welcome to PC. There are several pilots around here. I am not one though. One is a Marine Corps Harrier Jockey. Another is retired AF, who got great pictures of his Seaside Pearl (pretty close to AF blue!) Prius next to a SR-71 when he was on base, and one was visiting. And both vehicles with the comptuer controlled multimode engines. Just makes an engineer smile all over!

    When I was buying a Prius, there were none in the Chicagoland area without a 6 months wait. I eventually found one on a boat unsold, headed for La Crosse, WI. So, I hopped on the train, and walked over to the dealarship, and picked it up (10 days after the down payment). It was a 384 mile trip back home here in the western burbs. Have not been out of car nirvanah since!
     
    #9 donee, Apr 24, 2008
  10. freshmtt

    freshmtt Dachshund Addict

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    2008 Prius

    I also bought mine at Elmhurst Toyota, I paid $23,100 for my package 2 though,, you got a better deal, very good!!, I really enjoyed my experience with them and they had me in and out last Saturday morning in just 2 hours.

    I suppose you will be at their next new owner meeting, I asked them to try and get me in as soon as possible. They think one is coming up in May, orginally they told me July.. I don't want to wait that long to go to this new owner meeting.

    I think the demand is going to skyrocket for these even more than it is now.
     
    #10 freshmtt, Apr 25, 2008
  11. chriscard25

    chriscard25 New Member

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    They never mentioned a new owner meeting to me. I pushed them pretty hard to get me out asap, so I can't balme them.

    Please let me know the details when you hear!
     
    #11 chriscard25, Apr 25, 2008
  12. douglas001001

    douglas001001 smug doug

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    There is a chicago prius group meeting on sunday, details in the local groups illinois area. unless its been canceled since I last looked..
     
    #12 douglas001001, Apr 25, 2008
  13. nerfer

    nerfer A young senior member

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    I'm not sure what this "new owner meeting" is, but you do know the ChicagoPriusGroup is having a get-together this Sunday? Go to the forums for local groups, look for Illinois-Chicago or just jump to this thread, or go to ChicagoPriusGroup.com. There will be much more Prius-savvy people there than the average sales person.

    edit: Oops...didn't see the last post! Sorry Doug! I added links to make this repeat worthwhile...
     
    #13 nerfer, Apr 25, 2008
  14. ualdriver

    ualdriver Member

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    Midwest US
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    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    Yes, you are correct about me as well. I'm also in high speed aluminum tubing flying for your worthy competitor a couple of terminals down.

    I'm looking to buy in probably a few weeks, depending upon how quickly my current car sells when I put it on the market next week. I literally plan on sending e-mails to 10's of dealers, across the country if necessary, to get a good deal. Otherwise, I guess I'll just buy used. I'm surprised Pauly is playing hardball. I've been watching their on-line inventory for the past month and they always seems pretty fat on Prius'. Oh well.

    That seems like a pretty good price for package#6 out the door. I'd probably be willing to pay that.

    Congrats on your new purchase.

    ualdriver
     
    #14 ualdriver, Apr 25, 2008
  15. winebuff08

    winebuff08 New Member

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    West Dundee, IL
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    The best prices available seem to be on the west coast (most of the cars make landfall in Oregon, ergo, less travel expense getting them to Pacific coast dealerships). I would have flown out to pick one up but frankly didn't want to wait until I had the time to accomplish the task. Additionally, I'm also very big on "rapport" with the selling dealer. To me, that can either make or break new car ownership. I'd rather have a good rapport with the dealership I intend to use for future servicing and the first step, in my opinion, is to execute the purchase from the dealership I intend to return the car to for servicing throughout its lifetime.

    I may have been able to save $1000 or $1500 taking a ride to California to consummate the purchase, but I would have probably spent at least 70% of that savings on hotels and other travel expenses getting back to Chicago.
     
    #15 winebuff08, Apr 25, 2008
  16. ualdriver

    ualdriver Member

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    2012 Prius Plug-in
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    Plug-in Advanced
    All very good points. I'm hoping not to have to jumpseat all the way out to CA to find a good deal!
     
    #16 ualdriver, Apr 25, 2008
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