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New Owner 2011 Prius III 1/3...and our experience buying it

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by PriusOwner2011, May 5, 2011.

  1. PriusOwner2011

    PriusOwner2011 New Member

    Joined:
    May 5, 2011
    3
    0
    0
    Location:
    SoCal - LA/OC
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Hello Everyone,

    My wife and I are proud new owners of a 2011 Prius III. We're located in SoCal so if there are people that are looking to purchase one, may our experience will help them in their buying process.

    Been wanting to purchase a prius since '05, but having four cars between the two of us, we felt that we didn't have room to for a fifth. Fast forward to April 2011, after selling two commuter cars to friends who needed them more, we went shopping for a third one. The left over was a "weekend" car and the other, is a company car.

    We didn't know there was such a shortage in the Pkg II in the Prius market. Guess the earthquake and higher gas prices cause a demand for it. There were Pkg IIIs and IVs, but we didn't want to spend the extra money on extra stuff so did more searching. We did find some pkg IIs, but dealers wanted up to $4000 over MSRP. That's crazy!!! We drove to Longo Toyota to see if they had any (knowing that they probably didn't) and found out that they didn't have any pkg IIs, but IIIs and IVs. Ughhh. We looked at the pricing for the 2011 pkg IIIs anyways and found out that one pkg III didn't have the NAVI. The fleet manager said finding a pkg III without navi was rare. It was ordered by a customer, but customer couldn't be reached so it went to the open market. MSRP for 2011 Prius III w/o navi was 25,267. It just arrived with 1 mile on it. :) We bought it on the spot! Fleet manager at LONGO said they don't markup. Guess it differs from dealer to dealer. Thanks LONGO.
     
    #1 PriusOwner2011, May 5, 2011
  2. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2009
    7,543
    1,558
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    Location:
    Alaska
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Welcome aboard and enjoy the ride!
     
    #2 spiderman, May 5, 2011
  3. cycledrum

    cycledrum PSOCSOASP

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2008
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    Location:
    NorCal
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Finding a III w/o nav I guess now is rare, but they were common a couple months ago.

    Typically, I've seen more plain III's than III's w/ nav, except since EQ/tsunami.
     
    #3 cycledrum, May 5, 2011
  4. PriusOwner2011

    PriusOwner2011 New Member

    Joined:
    May 5, 2011
    3
    0
    0
    Location:
    SoCal - LA/OC
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I have been using my iphone as the navi so I didn't want to spend the extra money on the it. I thought the pkg III all came with 8 spkrs, navi and bluetooth. Are there different versions of pkg III ?
     
    #4 PriusOwner2011, May 5, 2011
  5. BrettS

    BrettS Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 18, 2011
    290
    136
    0
    Location:
    Orlando
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    All of the pkg III cars come with a set of standard features, which include the upgraded audio with bluetooth. However, the Navi is an option on the pkg III cars. It may be that all of the III's in your area were ordered with Navi (or, more likely, all of the ones left were ordered with Navi... as I understand it, there haven't been any new Prii arriving in the US since the earthquake, so the cheaper non-Navi versions may have all been sold within the last few weeks).

    It's not really different versions of the pkg III, it's just different options on a pkg III car.
     
    #5 BrettS, May 5, 2011
  6. twittel

    twittel Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2010
    1,605
    148
    0
    Location:
    Mt. Pleasant, SC
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Congrats on your new Prius and welcome to PriusChat :welcome:

    Enjoy the high mpgs, technology and low emissions.
     
    #6 twittel, May 5, 2011
  7. PriusOwner2011

    PriusOwner2011 New Member

    Joined:
    May 5, 2011
    3
    0
    0
    Location:
    SoCal - LA/OC
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I see. Prius III came with upgrade audio and bluetooth. Navi was an option and not part of the pkg. I'm thinking of adding leather seats after driving off the lot. Does anyone know how much adding leather costs? Last quote was 1500 for parts + labor. Does this sound correct?
     
    #7 PriusOwner2011, May 6, 2011
  8. littlered2

    littlered2 New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 18, 2011
    7
    0
    0
    Location:
    houston
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    (your leather is $1000.00). i'am getting a 2011 prius 3, factory leather,tinted windows,bluetooth hands free 8 speakers xm satelite radio stereo cassette.blizzard pearl,premium carpet set.night vision mirrior / homelink, 3m paint protect,shield package, fog lights. oh free rental car if i need one, it has 4 miles on it $25,499.00. plus tax title license. texas.
     
    #8 littlered2, Jan 20, 2012
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
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    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    :welcome: and :whoo:congrats!
     
    #9 bisco, Jan 20, 2012
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