Just put in my deposit!

I just committed to a 2008 charcoal Touring (Package #4). I'm moving into the city soon so my daily commute will go from 10 miles round trip to about 35. I currently drive a 2004 Mazda 6s, a gas guzzler of epic proportions. Luckily, its trade-in value is about $14,000 in the condition and low mileage I have.

I want to get my Prius before I move in August and now seemed to be the right time to act on this. I'd like to keep the car for about 5 years before I go out and get a new one. Should the plug-ins be readily available by then?

Anyway, I won't be driving my own Prius for another few months with this waiting list about 40 strong. My friends are already sick of hearing about the car I don't even own yet, so I figured this board would be a good place to yap away in while I strike out the days on my calendar (yes, I'm really doing that).

FYI I was a lurker for awhile. I want to thank a lot of you for some great information in helping me choose between the Prius and Civic.

 

Yeah, sorry. Mazda calls it charcoal but it's the same color.

I put in a bid through the Toyota web site and told the saleswoman that I wasn't going to pay over the MSRP. She didn't argue with that, I guess since there's a competing dealership 5 miles down the road.

But, yeah, owning a smaller car and having to pay almost $60 to fill a tank is ridiculous. Even if I'm not saving money over 5 years, which I should, I'd pull the trigger on this just out of principle.

 

From everything I read, these cars are almost non-existent right now in the tristate area-PA, NJ, NY. She told me if I made this decision a few months ago I'd be driving out in one almost immediately. But since I don't really need the Prius until I move, the wait is fine by me. Knowing I'll have the car when it's needed was the primary goal, even though a new toy would've been nice.

 

Well, I've been talking about doing this since January. I just got a 20% raise, so now it's a little more feasible to make this move. What I'm planning on doing is trading in my car for the $16,000-17,000 the dealership said it'll be worth (he said they'd match the Blue Book value, which is at $17,500. It's in excellent condition besides a shopping cart dent that can be suctioned. My dealership just did a full circle inspection saying everything was perfect with it other than the one cosmetic ding). I'll then put in $5,000 upfront. That'll leave me with about $2,500 owed, which would be less than $100 payments over 5 years. Not too bad!

And yeah, it's a v6. I get 270 miles per tank if I never use any air and don't brake hard or accelerate like a maniac. The car also requires 89.

My dealership just called me again this morning. He said I can definitely pick up my mag gray before August if I wanted. He tried selling me on changing to an '09 since that line should be coming up pretty soon after but I'm pretty sure they'll be a bit more expensive.