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In our situation ... Buy Now or Wait?

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by Husker4theSpurs, May 3, 2021.

  1. Husker4theSpurs

    Husker4theSpurs Active Member

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    Hey guys!

    My wife has a Volvo T8 XC60 and the lease is up in October. We are wanting a Prius Prime after we turn it back in as of now. I'm starting to worry about incentives going away and the potential of a gas shortage this summer dwindling the Prime inventories. Should I just bite the bullet and go get one now? (We live in Nebraska so I'd fly out and drive back ... or have it shipped)

    We have a third car so if we returned her car in October and Prime rebates aren't great still in October, we have the benefit of waiting if we'd like I guess. Will anything change for 2022 model? I can't think that much of anything will, so that's not really a worry. The Prime is getting a bit long in the tooth though.

    What would you do in our situation? I welcome all and any input.
     
  2. Sarge

    Sarge Senior Member

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    Personally, I would wait a bit and see what happens with the '22 model... I figure we will probably hear something in the next 3 months or so? Just a guess. IMO, spring time is generally the worst season to buy a car IMO, since you are not getting the "new thing" since it has been on sale for 5+ months, you don't yet have the incentives when the next model is introduced, and in just a couple months your car will be "yesterday's news", despite likely still paying premium dollar.. And lastly, often lots of people are car shopping after hibernating all winter, which weakens your negotiating position.

    Re gas shortage, I know there is talk of this as things open back up, but I am skeptical this will actually happen, and even more so that it will impact the Prime specifically (I don't think Prius are really that much in demand anymore, given the competition these days).

    I don't believe there has been any specific news released yet about the 2022 models, but the regular Prius is likely due for a refresh, as Toyota has usually run on a 6-year cycle (Prius 2004-2009, 2010-2015, 2016-2021?). There was no 2016 Prime, it only started in 2017, so it is a bit unknown at this time whether it would be refreshed at the same time to bring it in sync with the standard Prius, or if they would keep it one more year.

    Also, once the new model is announced, you will also be in a better position to negotiate on a '21 if you like, whether the '22 has significant changes or not.

    Good luck. :)
     
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  3. royrose

    royrose Senior Member

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    Japanese web site says next gen Prius won't arrive until early 2023: Gen 5 Prius (possible in 2021) will we possibly see 60mpg? | Page 7 | PriusChat
     
  4. Gokhan

    Gokhan Senior Member

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    What?? Possibly see 60 mpg?? I already get 80 mpg. LOL

    OP, this is a no-brainer: The best time to by a Prius Prime is in December. You get almost the maximum rebate, the latest model, and immediately get the $4,502 tax credit.

    For the redesign, it will be two more years in late 2023 (2024 model year) for the Prius Prime; so, don't hold your breath on that one.
     
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  5. privilege

    privilege Active Member

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    I'm a pessimist... spending $30,000+ on an item that will devalue 25% or so the first year just doesn't compute for me.

    if you're not concerned with depreciation, just buy when you want to. the rebates and credits lessen the blow.
     
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  6. eliteconcept

    eliteconcept 700 mile club, top tank mpg 69.5

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    More of a reason to buy now. 5000 in incentives. Plus 4500 tax rebate. You'll save the 25% in depreciation prettyuch instantly. Many folks who have bought the prime under these conditions in the past have sold them for more than they paid.
     
  7. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    I'm thinkin
    People who lease middle-shelf cars are usually either financially well off, or want to put up the appearance of being so....and you're talking about purchasing a more humbly priced car this time - so that's a plus.
    Me?
    I'd wait, but in your case it's a wobbler, since we're talking about two people with three cars.

    Gas is going up, but then so is everything else.
    Our economy is trying to digest three enormous foie gras cash meals, first thing in the morning.....and despite very mixed signaling from dot.gov, even germ phobes are running out of reasons to stay welded to their living room couches.

    In other words...
    We're about to experience a pretty big buying binge, travel binge, and entertainment binge, house building binge, and everything else binge following a year-long period of very significant supply disruptions.

    BUT on the other hand, PPs are also going to be more expensive on the back side, and you may be able to get one before showrooms empty out and dealers start stopping to negotiate.
    Just don't kid yourself into thinking that buying a new car is some kinda shrewd financial smooth move.
    Cars do not appreciate.
    They're not an investment.
    For MOST people they are an expense that should be managed.
    The rule of thumb for people (who want to retire comfortable, and on-time) is that things with motors in them should not be worth more than half of your annual salary, year over year.
    Like I said...
    In your case, it's a wobbler, but it's not like you're wanting to go out and buy a new boat, RV, or sports car.

    If you're the type of person who buys a new car every two years whether you need it or not, and you have things like housing, retirement, college, etc already funded then....yeah.
    Go forth and live your best post-Covid life.


    GOOD LUCK!
    let us know if you get and what you get.
     
    #7 ETC(SS), May 4, 2021
    Last edited: May 4, 2021
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  8. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    If I were you, I would wait. Yeah, the current price of 2021 PP is attractive. Toyota just bumped the rebate in the NE region to $5500. I don't know if the current inventory will last until Oct and when the 2020 model will arrive. But I am almost sure, they will be offering similar savings. By buying it now, you will be paying for a car you don't really need for at least 5 months. I would think your saving on the purchase of 2021 PP now would be almost gone by then.

    In fact, I am in a similar boat as you are. I sold my 2020 PP last year due to not needing a car working from home, but I will be needing a car if and when I go back to my daily commuting. I just don't know when that will be yet. I am going to wait as long as I can. If it happens when there is 2021 PP on the market, it will be on my short-list, but it may be replaced by 2022 model by then. However, I am seriously thinking of a BEV for my next commuter car, if and only if, the price is right.
     
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  9. Husker4theSpurs

    Husker4theSpurs Active Member

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    First of all, thanks everyone for the input! Still struggling to decide ... argh


    ETC SS

    We leased the Volvo because we wanted to give the PHEV from them a try but I didn't feel comfortable "committing" to it long term so we leased. My wife doesn't drive that much and it started to make less sense to have such a "nice" car for her short commute each day. That's where the Prius Prime came in ... don't get me wrong, I think it's a "nice" car but as you say it's a much more reasonable car to own. It does have a lot of nice features for a car at its price point though--Limited with HUD, heated steering wheel, adaptive cruise, etc. seems like a whole lot for a car I can probably purchase for $26-27k and then file for $4502 tax credit next year, so effectively for $21,500-22,500 (plus sales tax and registration of course).

    We fund our retirement and college funds fully and then some and own our other two cars outright and they are newer models so won't need replaced for a while. I do appreciate your points from that perspective though.

    It does seem stupid having a Prime sit around for 5 months waiting to be used however ... if the rebate were to go away in the fall for whatever reason, I think I'd probably hesitate to buy a Prime honestly.

    Does this change your perspective at all?
     
  10. Husker4theSpurs

    Husker4theSpurs Active Member

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    Interesting the rebate was bumped up there. In Maryland I heard the $500 was gone and now the $4500 remains. A dealer in New York told me no rebate at all there? I wasn't sure he knew what he was talking about though.
     
  11. GregersonIT

    GregersonIT Member

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    A Prius generally starts to make sense when you are doing over 25k a year worth of driving even if gas hits 4 bucks a gallon it generally doesn't do so for very long and that's when the prices for prius is the highest.

    The gas shortage isn't a real thing on anything other than the market side. Will there be a price spike around summer, absolutely, I'd expect to be paying more then just due to the microeconomic effects rather than the macro ones. Will there be a lot more people driving, sure, but there will also be a lot of people who aren't driving anymore due to the covid effect.
     
  12. PiPLosAngeles

    PiPLosAngeles Senior Member

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    Priuses don't depreciate like that. When I traded in my 2018 Prius with 40,000 miles on it I was paid in cash more money than I paid for it after tax credits.
     
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  13. PiPLosAngeles

    PiPLosAngeles Senior Member

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    Prius makes sense at all miles driven per year. With available credits and incentives the price of the Prius Prime is less than a Corolla, and with the plugin aspect the total operating cost per mile is almost half.
     
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  14. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    You can always check it yourself at BuyaTyota.com. According to Toyota, the Greater NY region still has $5000 rebate ($4000 cash + $1000 bonus cash), now good till 6/1/2021.

    upload_2021-5-4_14-6-37.png
     
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  15. ttou68

    ttou68 Active Member

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    One realistic thought to consider is...

    With all unforseen part shortages among all auto manufacturers, how many Prime inventory will there be in 5 month?

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
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  16. MTN

    MTN Active Member

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    OP - if you're set on the Prime, I'd buy now. The offers are not going to get much better than they are currently, especially with chip shortages possibly impacting things. The other great timing for you, is you could likely get out of the lease early due to the huge demand for used cars and their pricing spiking.
    Now is the time, if you are set on buying. Between the rebates and tax credit, you'll have positive equity in the Prime also - so it doesn't make sense to wait. If you felt like you made the wrong choice - you can sell it and make money!
     
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  17. Husker4theSpurs

    Husker4theSpurs Active Member

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    Yes, I've certainly heard that argument as well about part shortages ...
     
  18. Husker4theSpurs

    Husker4theSpurs Active Member

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    I like the way you think ... I should contact my Volvo dealer to see my options. I don't think the used car demand for the XC60 T8 is there right now, but I will check. Can't hurt to see ...

    I'm kind of itching for a road trip :) and I have a couple of golf clubs out that way that I wouldn't mind visiting as well :)
     
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  19. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    I can't speak for the factory to dealer rebate.
    Quite frankly I'm surprised to see that they're still offering one for the PP, and it's probably only leftover inertia from the very slow sedan sales, and lackluster G4 sales mostly pre-COVID when gas was abnormally cheap.
    Right now, the center of gravity for BEV/PHEVs is crossovers, and so it's entirely possible that PPs will stay competitively priced even THROUGH a gas price spike.

    Like I said before....it's a wobbler.
    If my crystal ball weren't suffering from myopia, Ida bought Bitcoin when people were using them to pay for pizza.

    I'm thinking that even in flyover country, PPs make more sense than their wireless counterparts simply because of the tax kickbacks that you're getting from dot.gov.
    In states that also kick over a little cheese, this mostly puts them in about the same price range as their down market cousins...BUT they will be worth more on the back side when you sell the car.

    It's entirely possible - even PROBABLE that there will be a gas price spike this summer which will cause the 2021 PPs to become more scarce and perhaps a little more expensive, but there's not going to be a model change this year/next year and so I would expect that by Christmas they'll be on sale again.....and If I were not going to be "needing" a new car before then I'd probably kick back for a few and wait.
    If you "HAVE TO HAVE" a certain color or trim level then I might lean towards putting out some feelers now, rather that trying to find that Sizzlin Cyan with Moonstone interior and piano-bar interior....when there's only a few hundred PPs left in the lower 48.

    The GOOD news is that you're in Nebraska.
    You can throw a wide net and hop on a plane, so you can avoid places where PPs are up-priced because gas is currently more than $2.40 a gallon.

    Either way, it sounds like you're not going to be eating Ramen more than a couple of times a week because you bobbled the snap.
    Unless of course....you LIKE Ramen a lot! ;)

    Sorry.
    Not much of an answer for all that.

    Usually I'm much more opinionated...:p
    Good Luck!
     
  20. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    There's a lot of moving parts and details to look at.

    1. are you currently or going to be in violation of your Volvo lease; where extra charges or penalties will be applied; and can be avoided if your park it a month or two.
    2. you need to drive the prime - batteries sitting idle for months at a time chips away at the long term battery life. Good news is there's a 10 year 150K mile warranty on the batteries.
    3. Charging outlet 110 or 220; dependent of downtime of car and location of outlet. Will you need an electrician to rewire?
    4. are we looking at another 'false start' economy? doubtful but it could happen if we don't make it to herd immunity. Most foreign countries will probably still have their borders closed. Raw materials shortages, how will that impact our restart and future Prime prices and inventory?

    Just a few questions to get your Pro vs Con list started or added on to.

    Another way of approaching this is to call your local rental car companies or Toyota dealerships and see if you can do a one month rental. This way you don't have to make a rash decision and make sure it fits your lifestyle. While there are slight differences between 2020 and 2021 model years; you'll get a real good feel, if it fits. The shallow trunk, did take a little getting used to and no spare tire. Haven't had a flat yet; but plan on a trip to the bone-yard for an old corolla tire & wheel. Will be carrying this on my long road trips.

    I wasn't even looking at the Prime, when I went car shopping - original plan was to replace my Prius c with a Corolla hybrid, on my 10 year car replacement plan. When doing research, I stumbled upon the out-sized incentives and federal rebates. Standard hybrids no longer qualify for federal or state incentives. It was a no-brainier and win/win. The dealer and federal incentives would easily make-up the cost differential, and the additional MPG would drive down monthly operating cost even further. My utility company discounts electricity prices for owning a plug-ins. There are also incentives/discounts for installing a level 2 home charger; though I can't cost justify that - The numbers just don't pencil out....

    Bottom Line; only you have a grasp of the entire picture - So only you and your wife can make an informed decision.

    Good Luck
     
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