Alleluia, Indyking has finally orderd his Prius!

Yes, exactly.

Finally found a nice Toyota dealer that was not asking above MSRP. It's really annoying and disappointing that some dealers are taking advantage of the high demand and marking up their prices. Despite of having picked the Prius over the Jetta (explanation provided somewhere else here); I did checked VW dealers to make sure there was no unbeatable deal that could make me get the Jetta instead (some of you know how much I enjoy its performance). It turns out that my local VW dealer are all asking at or slight above MSRP because of the high demand too (a few months ago, the 09 TDI Jetta was being sold up to 2K bellow MSRP but not anymore). So the Prius made more sense financially too.

Anyway, I chose Prius 3 and my rationale for that is:
- 4 and 5 was completely out of question because I don't see the point investing that much money in a hybrid. I want to safe money with gas in the most reliable and comfortable way as possible, but saving money was my priority (30K and up would give me a lot way better options than just the Prius). Besides, the price charged for 4, for instance, is way more than its worth based on the leather quality.
-I could just get the 2, but I'm completely addicted to satellite radio. The dealer charges $500 to have the 2 satellite radio ready bringing the difference down to only $500 between the 2 and 3. I think $500 is fair for the upgraded sound system and Bluetooth, especially because Toyota in general uses base sound system of poor quality.
-Got no options on it, just plain 3, because 1: options are overpriced 2: they have questionable quality at best. I'm sure my Garmin kicks the heck out of the frustrating Prius navigation system and it gets traffic for free using the same source of XM traffic. Have I mentioned I can update the maps and system software for $100 for the entire lifetime of my Garmin instead of paying $150+ for a single update in those built-in navigation systems?).

Now I have to wait 1-2 months to get it, which I think it’s not too bad…

 

Thanks! My post is not meant to bash people getting the 4 or 5 either, I just think it's just not worth it based on my needs and opinion about pricing for extras in 4 and 5...

 

No, not getting the nav/camera... like I said, my Garmin ($400 vs the $1800 Prius navigator) does a much better job than most built-in nav systems, has much lower maintenance as far as map updates and cost of traffic feed, and is portable (I take it with me and use it for other stuff too). I find back-up cameras useless... have one in my Odyssey and barely use it (for some people it's handy to look for small objects, toys, pets, etc not seen through the window, but not my case).

 

THANKS!!! I ordered the Winter Gray Metallic with Dark Gray interior... but if they can get me one with black exterior faster, they have permission to do so.

Just updated my profile about the nav system... thaks for the reminder!

 

Thanks... I think the dealer is happy that I finally got it figured out... poor guy... nice guy though. They locked in the value of my trade-in until the car arrives which is pretty nice I thought (assuming I won't do anything insane with the car of course)...

I'll keep you guys updated about my impressions and MPG numbers once I get it....

 

I tested drove the Prius 3 times, including a long drive of 30 miles and I did enjoy all my drives. I'm a Honda guy, and now having a Toyota makes me feel very comfortable because I know they both crush the competition when it comes to reliability in the US. But of course, you're right; I will be reporting what I don't like here...

 

That's good advice, but I'm happy with what my dealer offered: 1k above KBB plus the benefits of paying taxes over the remaining balance after trade-in. This could possibly be beat privately but I hate the car selling drama...

 

Yeah, I was really surprised by how much they offered in my CR-V. They first appraised it virtually based on my input just to give me an estimate, but when they inspected it physically, they raised the offer because they said it was in better condition than I described. When I asked my sales guy, why pay well for a car from a competing brand (Honda), he was clear: despite of being the competition, we know we're buying a great car, besides, the CR-V is right now the Honda that hold more value and even beat the Civic, which is impressive...

 

Yes, I agree, most people don't realize how much room the Prius has…

Financially speaking, the Jetta did not make sense at all even by taking into consideration the 1,3K tax credit, the main reason being resale value and maintenance costs, which are predicted to be considerably better for the Prius.

 

It is a great car. I was not ready to give mine up yet as well, but I will be driving a lot for the next 3-4 years, so my math tells me that the economy made with the Prius will pay for the money lost trading in the CR-V... although cars should never been seen as investments... I just hope the prius will handle snow decently, althout likely not comparable to the CR-V.

Here's something irrelevant for this thread but the only thing I do not like about my CR-V is road/wind noise. I found the Prius cabin surprisingly quieter than my CR-V... for some reason Honda is still struggling with road noise.