Decided on Camry, but many thanks

Was the price of your Accord based on dealer's price for a trade in? Did you consider selling it as a private party? Usually gets you more.

Too bad you couldn't wait a year. Toyota is making a hybrid version of the Camry due in 2006.

Glad you have a car you're happy with. Maybe after this one you can afford a Prius. Who knows what will be offered in 2009.

 

Understood -- I know how it is to balance your budget.

The Camry is a great car, and reliable as all get-out (like most Toyotas).

Have fun!

 

Everybody's situation is different.

We currently drive from a '93 saturn sl2 (can't kill it) and an '88 dodge Ramcharger (can't kill this either but the gas pains -Ouch!). I commute in the saturn, wife gets 8 mpg around town in the truck.

We'll soon get our Pruis so I'll commute in the Pruis, the saturn will be the 'round town vehicle.

Like most sensible people, I budget for gas and repair /maint. Before deciding on the Prius, I made a spreadsheet of my miles per day for each vehicle and estimated a low 45 MPG for the prius.
I also figure my repair/maint will be cut in half as the saturn will be driven about 100 miles per week, the prius will need little maint (I do my own) and I am banking that the prius will not need costly repairs.

my numbers: about 2000 year savings! keep in mind I am already budgetting this money so its not fluff... I will actually realize these savings in CASH..
then theres the tax rebate.

I figure in 4 years I'll accumulate 8 to 9000, and can trade in the prius for a new car by throwing in a couple grand.

So as I see it...I am upgrading to a green vehicle at no extra cost.

 

I well understand budget caps when it comes to big purchases, sorry the Prius didn't meet yours and that you had such a crappy dealer. There was no reason for them to treat you like that...First, they should have known by law that there is no such thing as a non-refundable deposit on cars, second, the demand for the Prius is so high that it wouldn't have stayed on the lot very long anyway.

I guess the only possible thing I could think of was that competition for commission was so fierce that the salesperson wanted to make sure he had their name attached to yours if you did decide to buy.

 

game - I know how it is to try to kill the "saturn that won't die!" My 96 SC2 is refusing to go, was hoping it would die whiel on the list for the Prius, but my wait turned out to be short. Now I have two cars and don't even need one! Must say the early saturns really keep ticking (my earlier 92 SC2 still going strong by my step-brother)

 

It may have been a credit hold they placed, and not a charge. Credit holds expire after a time and are mainly to be sure you have the necessary credit, and you don't end up maxing out your card on something else.
Many gas stations need to do this now, especially for at-the-pump transactions.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Claudia\";p=\"90316)</div>

What was the problem?

 

Can't kill a Saturn? My husband's 94 SL1 died after the timing system went beserk and the engine head got all bashed up from hitting the valves. Then he went and replaced all the engine head parts only to have the oil pump die on him 3 days later and the engine seized.

Make sure you have a receipt for the credit back. It took a few days for us to get our credit back when we financed everything. And we had to give them the credit card number about 5 times. But they should be able to produce a receipt if they actually did put the credit back.

 

galaxee -

too bad about the SL1 timing problem!

Was it related to the serpentine belt? I change that every 70-75 thou.

on my 3rd one now.

Bought my SL2 used with around 35k miles and been drivin' that car 90 to 100 miles a day m-f every week for the last 10 years.( do all the routine maint myself.) "It don't owe me a dime!, that car"

-Al

 

nope, that plastic timing chain tensioner guide snapped after too much wear and the whole system did a meltdown...

hubby's a mechanic so he kept a close eye on all gen. maint items. but obviously you can't *see* that the timing chain tensioner is wearing through since it's inside the engine.

we lost well over $5000 to that car after multiple repair attempts- and that's just parts not labor, he did all the labor- and had to pay it off before we junked it, so it sat dead in the driveway for 6 months.

never, ever again will we buy anything but toyota!

 

my dad settled for a Camry also and its a very good car. he didnt do if for money, he simply couldnt wait any longer for the Prius because he had to have it for his trip to Texas. he was on the list for 2 months and finally said heck with it and went down and drove the Camry off the lot an hour later.

 

I am actually in the same boat... I ordered a Prius yes but am having serious 2nd thoughts. I looked arround again to make sure I was doing the right thing for my family...

We are looking at the Accord... I can get it at $200 over invoice, side bags, auto etc... that makes the price difference between the Prius and Accord close to $5000. Even with tax deduction - it is still about $4500 difference (the package I wanted). I just can't seem to justify it unless gas goes to $4 for the amount of driving this car will take.

So - most likely I will go Accord route. If I lived in Colorado - it would be a no-brainer ($3000 state CREDIT + fed deduction), but Texas - you get squat for going hybrid...

So - we'll see. In any event, I learned a ton on this totally cool technology and car, loved it!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(paul16451\";p=\"90280)</div>

Wouldn't this vary state-by-state or is this a federal law?

 

Varies by state.