2010 Prius 2 from Burnsville Toyota (Minnesota)

Picked up my 2010 Prius 2 yesterday: Light silver w/dark gray interior. Here in Minnesota, all car colors have the prefix “road salt-” during winter, so road salt-silver seemed slightly more attractive than the darker colors like road salt-blue, road salt-red, black, etc. And I was too cheap to pay more for road salt-Pearl White. I had a similar strategy regarding my choice of interiors: I am very messy, so my hope was the inevitable coffee stains won’t be quite so noticeable against the darker background. (…except I take cream in my coffee! Oh no…)

All negotiations were done in advance via phone & email. So all & all, this was about as painless a process as I have ever encountered. In & out, lickety-split. I know others here have won better deals, but I was satisfied w/$21,739. I was then given an additional $1000 rebate from Toyota which was applied to that amount. (My finance lady Amy said she did not expect the $1000 Toyotathon rebate would extend to 2011.) I was also given fair trade-in for my 2004 Ford Taurus, which was valuable to me since that saved the hassle of having to sell it myself.

Re extra warranties: Because we have 3 months or 36,000mi to pay for whatever extended warranty we may need later on, the only extra protection I financed was a 1 year extension of Toyota Care for $265, and a 5-year insurance policy for road hazards for my wheels & tires ($359). I think these added about $7 or $8 to my monthly payment? Seemed reasonable at the time.

Re tire & wheel protection: Here in New Ulm (a.k.a “Cornville”), the streets have been liberally sprinkled with roofing nails following periods of high winds last summer, after which roofing contractors began descending upon us in droves from miles around. I think they are related to folks in the tire repair business. That’s why it seemed to make sense for me to buy tire & wheel insurance.

I did pay cash to have an EBH installed ($106.39 total), rather than roll that into the loan.

My sales guy Josh mentioned that he’s sold 7 Prius’s so far this December (it’s only the 10th!), but that most customers seem to be gravitating more towards the upscale 4 & 5’s rather than the basic 2 that I bought. Guess that makes me a miser J. He also warned me that it would be cheaper to buy floor mats elsewhere than pay dealer prices, so my elderly mother said she wants to buy me a set of Weathertech’s for Christamas! I gave her a hyperlink to the correct page on the PriusChat store.

I have gained a lot of good insight from PriusChat. I have also read the manual. Which isn't to say I'll remember or understand everything. That's why I'm glad there's PriusChat!

Thanks,

~Jim

 

Thanks John!! It's always fun to find other MN Prius ambassadors, & especially ones with as much knowledge & insight as you. I have also enjoyed your website, although I did get caught watching one of your videos here @ work :-(

I thought I'd block off the lower & upper grills later tonight using the methodologies illustrated in other active threads. Which is about the extent of my DIY skills.

I'm having a blast

PS: FABULOUS photo!!!

 

Tia,

A few of the 2010 Prius II's they have in stock are subject to something called "internet pricing." As I recall, they had 3 cars similar to mine with the same $21,739 internet price: All 3 happened to be road salt-silver/metallic, but as I recall there was also a choice of light vs dark-gray interiors. These prices do not include floor mats, unless you count the paper floor mat the shop uses when detailing the car before delivery... & those were free

Ask about their internet specials. If your sales person does not happen to be in the internet sales department & becomes puzzled, you might give them a stock# of 650, or 651. (#651 will definitely indicate being "sold" in their system, as that was the car I drove away in... but it might be useful as a point of reference.)

I worked with Josh, primarily, & my finance lady was Amy. Both are good people.

 

Hi Tia,

Brrrr! The snow stopped in New Ulm a couple hours ago, so I hope this event has come to an end for you too. My dad is a driver for Metro Mobility up in the Cities. He said they were shut down today, & that they may be shut down again tomorrow, depending on how how well the snow plows progress. He also remarked there is fierce competition in the jigsaw puzzle center, but that he's just reading a book.

I just came in from digging my Prius from out of a snowbank. Since I lack an accessible garage, I get to park on the street. New Ulm lacks the draconian snow emergency rules you enjoy up in the Cities, so I get to park anywhere & shovel at leisure. I also just wasted Lord knows how much gas turning the cabin heat up to 80, and eventually, after about an hour, the 1/4" sheet of ice finally melted from the windows enough so I could drive it away & park somewhere plowed.

The hybrid system started right up, and the traction control came in handy as well. I like how this car behaves in the snow.

Two other really nice things happened to me tonight:

• (a) 2 very young enlisted guys in Army fatigues home on leave for the holidays insisted on stopping & helping me shovel (wouldn't take no for an answer -- like they were bound & determined to fill up the old Karma jar, whether I liked it or not ) and
• (b) I got to read your message on the Toyotathon Tweet deal... so I signed right up, & Tweeted away.

I got an email congratulating me on my new Toyota. They are processing my information, and promise to send the results shortly. A $500 debit card will come in quite handy, given that I'm essentially broke after financing a new Prius ... so I can't even begin to express the depth of my gratitude for sharing that info: Roughly $500 worth, at least!

I think you got an excellent deal by sticking to your guns. As for me, I'm happy with my deal too, although I'm one of the few people around who didn't quite qualify for 0% (I am SO ashamed!), so the rebate came in especially handy for me.

Thanks again & stay toasty,

~Jim E.

 

Thanks Tonic! I have a friend who lives in Montreal. In honor of his visit last summer, we put up a bilingual welcome sign "Bienvenue Jean-Louis!" Canadians are cool. I approve of our friends from the North