Hi all hopefully getting a prius in a week or two

Don't worry about the naysayers. If people aren't saying that you have gone green they will make up and repeat a hundred other myths about the car. Its frankly the only car I know of where idiots come out in droves to criticisize, usually with factless information they are repeating from some random Auto Blog of the week.

 

You'd save a lot more money buying something used, even if it isn't a Prius.

 

:welcome: Shawn and I think you're gonna love the Prius and find that it is ideal for a 60 mile daily commute. Your gas bill will plummet.

Sorry about the theft of your Accura, however. Perhaps it will turn out to be a blessing-in-disguise.

 

Hi Shawn - I've had my Prius now for 2 weeks. I have a 50 mile commute (one way) and I'm averaging 50 mpg. No one has made any negative remarks about my car or about me "going green". If they did I'd just throw back the awesome gas mileage I'm getting. I'm sorry about your car getting stolen but I guarantee you're going to love your Prius!

 

The Prius works in mysterious ways. Now I find myself using my own bags to the grocery store, getting the funny looking light bulbs, and turning off all my electronics when not in use.

 

I'd say they're using the extended warranty/free inspection bulldada to screw you out of about $2000.

See Consumer Reports April issue or their website here for advice on buying a new car: ConsumerReports.org - Car buying guide for new and used cars by Consumer Reports

I bought mine by phone, email, and fax. Start by telling multiple dealers what you want and getting their bids for it, then if necessary play them off each other to get the best price at the dealer you like best. This saves a lot of running around and expense.

 

Agreed I wouldn't take that package unless they can get it to between $23,000 - $24,000. The selling price of my package 2 was under $22,000.

 

A dealer quote me 25300 with pack# MSRP is 26600 it think it is good deal and i may able to get to 25000 but 25K is kind of out of my budget

 

The extended warranty is about 1500 in my area of Central Texas. I bought a 2008 package 5 touring with leather added navi and another package of garbage/fluff and the sticker was 29,548. The dealer took off 1600 from MSRP -- 27948. No extended warranty. The Prius is loaded up.. I didn't want a base model. If there had been more stuff available to add I would have wanted it ALL. The extras cost extra but for me this is not an expensive car relative to other vehicles I have owned. I don't think you have to take the extended warranty if you don't want to pay for it.

After I saw the Fluffy Package to get the dealer more profit I started to get one of these instead.

 

jsbleach,

It is not the best pricing you should be able to get for a Package 5. I just purchased a 2008 Touring Package #6 for $26,899 plus $199 dealer admin fee for an out the door price of $27,098. As Richard Schumacher suggests, I used the internet and went out for bids to both in-state and out of state dealers asking for quotes and delivery time frames. I sent the e-mails to the attention of the Dealer Internet Sales Manager. Selected the low bidder, visited the dealer, finalized the order and put down a $500 deposit for the Dealer to proceed with ordering. I have purchased both of our Prii in this manner, well under MSRP both times.

Don't forget to put an end date on your Dealer deposit so that if the car doesn't come in within the specified time frame, you can get your deposit check back.

Good Luck and welcome to PriusChat!!!!

 

Fully aware of this, but the difference between a package 2 and a 5 is minimal to justify that type of price increase.
Only differences are
Blue Tooth for hands free (can put your phone on speaker or buy a BT headset)
Map navigation (that you probably wont use unless your driving somewhere new) Could just as easy buy an aftermarket unit to use for these situations
Fog Lamps (that most people say serve no useful purpose)
HID headlights which in my opinion aren't worth it because of the high expense of replacing the bulbs.
Oh the dimming rearview mirror that has the homelink.
and speakers that are only marginally better.

Doesn't seem worth and extra $4000 to me.
And still no leather.

You can add the mirror yourself for $100
eBay Motors: 2004-2006 TOYOTA PRIUS REAR VIEW MIRROR WITH HOMELINK (item 320232170662 end time Apr-24-08 13:24:42 PDT)

you can get a decent aftermarket navigation for $300
and the stereo $300 can replace the factory speakers with some very good mid quality speakers, throw in another $100 or $200 and you can even drive those speakers with a good mid priced amp.

 

You should get what you want on options on your Prius. Sure, you can justify "why you need one", then again, where do you draw the line? I admit that I have owned expensive german sports car with "unnecessary" options and bells and whistles... haha ya.. i enjoyed them.. wasted lots of money on aftermarket stuff.. from performance to audio stuff... at the end... its your money and your car... do what makes you happy.

I do like fully loaded car. Yes, that's how the dealer makes more money off you... but again I am having hard time b/t Touring vs non Touring pck6... its temptation of spending $1200 more... very unnecessary for me... but again.. NAV is something I will use maybe once every 2 weeks.... ill stop rambling on...

 

I hope you enjoy your $500 a month payment, while I enjoy my $285.