tampa 2009 prius ordered

my experience so far....
put down payment on 2009 touring pkg 3 at stadium toyota tampa , fl 8/09/08.
after looking around for about 2 weeks decided to drop the hammer.
preliminary research narrowed contact to about 6 area dealers (i also contacted a dealer in washington state and indiana - they said they would sell msrp with no dealer/distribitor addons).
at stadium toyota i contacted tom thomas internet salesperson.more than once in response to my questioning i was assured by tom i could buy with confidence at msrp with no dealer/distribitor addons. told me 13 week wait approx.
i made appointment for saturday to come in and do the deal.
tom was pleasent. he gave my wife and i seats in one of there rooms (desk and 3 chairs). i went over again what we were there for. tom left the room and came back with a salesman-jeff loper. tom dissappered.jeff wrote up the 'consumer sheet'.
the price (before the usual tax, lic, tag etc) is 1699$ over msrp.
i tell jeff - no thanks, this is not what tom told me. i am lead to believe tom didnt know about 1699$ (which i do not believe).
775$ 'manuf.delv,proc, & handling'
225$ carpet mats and trunk mat
699$ toyoguard protection group
adds up 1699$
jeff says wait a minute. leaves and comes back with next step up sales person (manager i guess). i am told these are factory or distribitor items that come with the car. i am given a sales pitch on the virtues of the toyoguard. it is very painful for me. i hate these people.
i hold my ground. jeffs boss then says wait i minute let me see what i can do. he leaves the room. i presume to check with his boss (a higher up salesperson yet ).
finally he returns and says he cant delete the toyoguard. finally i stand and say goodbye and thank you and i we shake hands with tom , jeff and jeffs boss.
my wife and i walk to our car and as i am backing out to head home- jeffs boss
comes out of the building to flag me down. he informs me he will sell me the car without the cost of the toyoguard. we all go to another little sales room.
a ' new vehicle buyers worksheet' is put together.
$26,875 2009 touring pkg 3 (+499.95 dealer services , $5 tire pollution fee , $1.50 battery fee)
total 27,381.45 (plus tax, lic, tag)
we signed and were told 6 to 8 week wait and we would be kept in touch.

not my ideal path to get what i wanted but in current situation i think i did ok for my area here in tampa, fl.
overall the sales/dealers i contacted in tampa area seemed to behave similarly and manipulate customers to there advantage. not a job i would enjoy haveing.but thats not the point.its just the way it is i guess.
now if the deal consumates with out any more surprises.... oh..joy.
will post more.
thanks for reading and supporting this great information shareing site.
regards
paul

 

hey - dave .. thanks for linking that thread.
paul

 

doug -
yes- i had balked on the manuf- $775 . i had asked other dealers about this $ and was told it was included in the msrp (even though in the prius e-brochure it says the manufacture del/pro/handling fee is $720 and is excluded from the msrp -a dealer told me to disreguard that).
i also did tell stadium i did not want the expensive mats ($225).
these items are not in my total.
the way my buyers order looks is.... 2009 prius pkg 3 (my color selection)
at the top is 'base price' - written in is - MSRP.
several lines down is 'cash difference' - $26,875 (we are paying cash)
then the 499.95 , 5.00 , 1.50 and taxable total amount of 27,381.45.
the tax is prorated on a certain amount then is taxed at a lesser rate on the remainder ( i think) anyway ..
sales tax is $1642.89
discretionary sales tax $50
sub total 29,074.34
then what ever the tag,title and transfer fees are.
whooopeeee ... yeeessssss.... then out the door.

paul

 

$500.00 cc
got the ball rolling. it will be applied to total at delivery.

wish i could wholeheartedly recommend dealer... but must wait.
paul