Ordered my 2010 Prius III w/Nav

Hi. First post from me, just registered.

So over the weekend I actually managed to find and put a deposit down on a 2010 Prius III w/Nav.

This was no small task. Here in Washington State there's a tax incentive for buying hybrids: No Retail Sales tax. This incentive was supposed to end on Jan 1, 2011. But thanks to the cratering economy, they scrapped it early. The incentive ends at the end of July. This July. As in, the end of the current month.

I somehow missed this news (bad habit of following national politics closely but not paying enough attention to state and local politics) until last Thursday.

I spent Saturday contacting dealers via 'net and phone in an ever-expanding concentric circle from home.

Almost Every dealer I talked to had already taken deposits on their Prius allotments for the remainder of the month. A couple of them had a fully loaded IV or V, but those are way out of my price range. One dealer told me they had 50 cars coming in, all of which had deposits down on them, and they'd also taken deposits for another 40 people on the waiting list for those same cars. The idea of putting down a deposit on a waiting list spot was laughable to me so I kept dialing.

After a few hours my persistence paid off. I found the III w/Nav I wanted, in my 3rd color choice, only 45 miles from home and I put down a deposit over the phone right then!

That was on Saturday. On Monday I got a call from the salesperson I'm working with (who seems like a very nice guy.) He had called an Oregon dealer (not under the pressure of a tax break ending at the end of the month) who had a matching car on the next boat. My car had been scheduled to arrive on the boat after next. He got the Oregon dealership to trade cars so that my car will be on the next boat. So not only will I have the VIN# by the end of the month. I'll have the actual car by the end of the month! (The VIN# alone would have allowed us to close the deal in time to get it tax free.)

I'm trading in my 2007 Yaris for it. I'd have bought a Prius instead back in 2006 if not for the 6 month wait and dealers marking up the Prius with a 2nd sticker to $5k over MSRP back then. I'm glad I waited. The generation 3 Prius looks to be very significantly improved. The Toyota mothership putting a stop to the 2nd sticker markups is also a very significant improvement.

My first hybrid was the 2001 Honda Insight. I gave it up before our first kid was born because it had no back seat. I've missed it since. But I get the feeling the 2010 Prius will make the 2001 Insight easy to forget.

I'll just be lurking until I've got the car, but will be active on the forums once the car is in my driveway.

(Sung to the tune of Rush's "Fly by Night") "Drive by wire, away from here, Change my life again..."

 

Thanks for the congrats.

I went to the dealer and did the deal today. A very pleasant buying experience with Jim and Kay Love, the internet sales team at Titus-Will Toyota in Tacoma, WA. Their Business Manager Trevor was also great to work with on the financial details.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the offer they my on my trade-in, my loaded 2007 Yaris S, automatic, 3-Door with 20k miles on it. I just got the 30k service done last week which probably helped, and I've taken great care of the car. They gave my the KBB 'Good condition' trade-in price. They could have tried to lowball it because it does have a nasty 4 inch scratch above the left rear wheelwell and the wheelcovers/hubcaps will definitely need to be replaced.

Their initial asking price for the 72 month platinum extended warranty was too high. Thanks to a quote from Troy to use as a bargaining chip, they came down $350 from what they initially wanted which worked for me. I also bought the pre-paid maintenance/roadside assistance and GAP coverage.

I got $2/mo less than the max monthly payment I wanted to get. Thanks to taking a longer loan, this is only $13/mo more than my Yaris payments, and I'll save more than that on gas.

The car should be here Thursday or Friday. I feel like a kid on December 20th watching the hours waiting for Christmas. :-D

 

I've seen the iGuide of the nav at toyota-eshowroomdotcom and it is quite obvious that it won't compare to my Garmin Nuvi 650.

But I didn't get the Nav package for the Nav itself. I got it for the upgraded stereo, the reverse camera, the bluetooth for connectivity with my G1 Android phone, the option to maybe turn on the XM radio someday etc. There's a lot more to the Nav package than the Nav itself.

 

Got the call today. I pick it up Thursday afternoon. :-D

 

Leaving work in one hour to make the hourish drive to pick it up.

Pics to come this weekend.

*jumping up and down with giddy excitement*

 

:-D :-D :-D