Buy now or wait until next year

we are prime.

 

1) The $4500 is hard to pass up and I think better to get it while it is likely to be available for you. And prices can go up by 2019.
2) Just because you are in the midwest does not limit you to buying locally. A member here bought a Prime Plus for $25,500 before taxes in NY after $2000 current rebate (till April 3 in some states in northeast), and additional dealer discount, plus paid no Doc fees. Transported it home for $9xx? I drove mine home 765 miles from Maryland and enjoyed my one way flight there ($206) and the drive home though mountains I had not driven thru before.

 

I'm with a Bisco. I'm keeping my PiP for a few more years. The 2012 PiP was introduced and sold for MSRP $33,000 in March 2012. I canceled my reservation a month prior and took my deposit back due to cold feet. By October 2012, the price had fallen to $29,700 which is when I bought my PiP. The price continued to fall every year into 2015. The reason was simple: competition, as the PiP was one of the early plug in vehicles.

I think it's a pretty safe bet that the federal rebate will go away and the Prime will be sold for less than MSRP. When and how much is the question. I'm not going to speculate. It may fall fast like in 2012 due to competition from 200 mile BEV's. It may fall slowly because Toyota is only interested in the Prime as a CARB compliance vehicle and doesn't need to sell many. OP may break even in 2019 with no federal rebate but with a lower cost Prime. I don't know. So I'd rather concentrate on things I do know.

I do know the longer you drive your vehicle, the longer you amortize it's cost, the less you pay per mile or per day to own it. If OP paid $25,000 for the 2008, that's a real cost of $2500 every year over 10 years + maintenance and fuel. If OP keeps the car another 2-3 years, OP's cost goes to ~$2000 a year. That's a real known cost that can be calculated.

It's kind of abstract as it's a sunken cost and the car is long ago paid off but imagine if you bought a whole pizza. You ate 7 slices. Even though you are still hungry, you decide to throw the last slice away because there's a limited time sale on another pie with extra toppings. If you had waited until you finished the last slice, you would have paid the same or a little more but you'd be full longer with that extra slice of pizza in you. Ack, this analogy sucks but I already typed it so I am leaving it here.

TL;DR what's the point? If you wait then you would pay the same or slightly more (say about $2000 more) due to no rebates but lower price. You now have a brand new 2019 Prime instead of a used 2017 Prime.

 

I'm not sure I'd agree with that. Comparisons on what happened with PIP pricing may not be realistic. The PIP has a small EV range, which probably put off a lot of buyers, and was only sold in some states, and was probably overpriced to begin with, compared to the Prime where the MSRP is very close to the invoice price. The Primes seem to be selling well considering that they are in short supply. The Prime is second only to the Volt in sales, and will probably overtake the Volt once supplies improve. Gas prices have gone up $.50/gallon around here too (although if an educated buyer realizes how much it costs to charge vs plug in...). You also have to consider that it costs Toyota more to build this car than the liftback, and you are not going to see them priced less, and I don't think Toyota will make the mistake of over producing them, as you would be seeing a lot more at dealerships right now. I think Toyota is going slow and being cautious about ramping up production. You should also consider that the federal tax credit will go away.

 

My tax advisor said that while it is possible for Congress to terminate the federal EV incentives retroactively to Jan 1, 2017, it would be more likely that if they were terminated, it would be as of Jan 1, 2018. Given the statements of the Trump Administration in this area, I think it is quite rational to buy now if you want to at least have the possibility of the tax credit.

 

we'll have to agree to disagree, exempt on gas prices. i don't see how any of your points will reduce the landslide depreciation that all plug in's go through. it's not just the pip, it's the leaf, volt, tesla, bmw, you name it. but we won't know for a few years, maybe prime will be a depreciation game changer.

 

This all sounds like a lot of anguish to me! If you've got the money and you like the car, it's a great buy! I got it, Toyota!
I'm enjoying the car now and all of its benefits now. And I'm not worrying about breakdowns and or service since my service is free for 25,000 more miles. And I just love sticking it to those oil companies with my fantastic fuel economy. Driving my 25 to 35 thousand miles a year, I'm filling up maybe once a month putting in 10 gallons. You can't beat that with a stick!

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

You call it anguish. I call it prudence. Not worrying about a breakdown is good. Not worrying about making car payments due to a job loss is better. . We'll also agree to disagree.

BTW, maintenance service is not free for 25,000 miles. You paid for it under the purchase price of the car. It's no more free than the full tank of gas you drive off with.

 

Depreciation... I see your point. That was not on my radar screen when I bought my Prime. I'll probably be in your shoes in a few years if I want a new car. If I can keep it for 10 years, then not. I tell you what though, a PIP in California should fetch a good price because you can get carpool stickers for them.

 

I did say, if you can afford it. Obviously, money is an extremely important aspect in the purchase of a car. I just know people who have plenty of money and yet will anguish month after month over whether or not to make a purchase such as a Prius or some other major purchase. At some point you gotta get off the pot, and get 'er dun son! Even though I'm facing a major medical crisis right now, I'm still cheered up by my interesting, reliable, and fun Prime Advanced. It's Prime Time, boys and girls! Enjoy.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Look at those used Nissan Leafs and off lease Fiat 500e's going for as low as $5000. With the limit on green stickers removed, plug in hybrids like the PiP aren't faring much better.

I'm going to make a wild assumption and say those that know better about fuel economy also tend to have jobs to afford a new Prime or Volt. Those that don't... well they think you need to plug in the PiP and they rent an apartment without a place to plug in. The used market is just horrible for plug ins.

 

So.....
There's not one, single, good reason to buy a Prime right now unless some cell phone queen or GPS jock puts you in the new car market this month.

1. March, April, May are tax months. People with poor financial planning skills have extra tax refund money burning holes in their pockets right about now, and the Christmas hangover has dulled. People who sell cars for a living are NOT dumb. They just tend to be morally challenged at times. They're screaming about the crazy good deals right now, but they do that for the other months of the year as well.
Dealerships are the least hungry.....right about now.

2. Primes are in high demand, and since nobody has repealed the law of supply and demand, it's going to be difficult to get one at a good price without buying an airline ticket.
Remember 2015?
G3's were selling for MSRP minus $4,000 in some places.....after going through several boom and bust cycles from 2010-2015 caused by early adopters and fuel price spikes, followed by fuel and inventory gluts (Hint: don't buy during the booms.)

3. Gas is < $2 a gallon in some places.
Yes.
It's going to go up, and you want to buy a gas sipper before the next price spike BUT you also want to do that after all of the early adopters get theirs. OPEC is trying to artificially lower inventories right now to push gas prices over $2, and we have an administration in DC right now that is a little more 'domestic exploration friendly.'
No matter how you feel about that, it's bad for OPEC.....which......is good for long term gas prices.

4. First model year blues.
Part 1. Toyota are not immune from this and if you know anything about the teething pains from the G3 and are in the market for a used G3 you'll buy a 2012-2015.....if you're an informed buyer. The G4 seems to be fairly reliable so far, and the Prime is mostly G4 but it's still a fairly good reason to wait for the 2018s.

5. First model year blues.
Part 2 They may yet do some emergency cosmetic surgery on the G4s for 2018....nuff said

6. Tax breaks.
If any dealer suggests that the federal kickbacks are going buy-buy then they need to be immediately and permanently boycotted (see #1 above: "People who sell cars for a living are NOT dumb. They just tend to be morally challenged at times." Tax regs tend to follow calendar years and this is March.
Dealers know this.
Yeah...the federal kickbacks could end overnight, but it's unlikely that this would happen without advance warning.
Paying $2-3K more than you have to for a new model year to preserve a $4.5K kickback isn't dumb.....but waiting and monitoring gas prices, and buying when dealers are hungrier, and supplies are larger is even less dumb.


YMMV......

 

I don't think the MSRP is going to come down and invoice price is very close to MSRP and there's a Toyota rebate. I think Toyota is "trying to create a buzz" with their pricing. I think it's unreasonable to think that the price is going to drop, although some dealers are marking up the price over MSRP. Also, since the Prime shares about 90% of the parts with the liftback, there is less risk of first year problems since the liftback came out last year.

 

My dealer in MD was easy to deal with on my out of state fly in deal. Picked me up at he airport, car was just washed and completely charged at my request upon my arrival. I waxed before departing from their delivery bay.

In our email correspondence the dealer wanted I think around 550 for a company they use to calculate the correct liscense and state sales tax for where I live. This 550 included paying the actual 192 owed to my state for title registration and tags. The big problem I had was they calculated the wrong tax and I told the general manager. So we agreed to eliminate the $550 fee and let me handle the registration and tags when I got home to my state. I paid $10 for temp MD tags good for 90 days. Once my personal check cleared, the dealer overnighted the Certificate of Origin to me and I went to the DMV and paid the correct $192. There were no inspections in MD or in my home state so no hassles. I really liked saving money by doing a 10 minute stinct at the service counter at my DMV in my town.

 

I'm fine with 25 EV Miles, what I would rather have is a flat cargo area with the rear seats down... Maybe I'd have to wait for the 2nd Gen Prius Prime for that one, which I have the time for, considering my Prius is a 2015.

 

makes sense, all the best!

 

+1

 

+3
(From the 3 people that recommended wait)