Am I doing the math right? 2011 vs 2012

Are both the '11 and '12 package 4

Regardless, I'd probably go with the newer model simply because it adds to resale value.

 

I just bought a 2012 Four and I found that aspect somewhat puzzling as well. I think it's mostly how much the dealer wants to deal to clear out the 2011s. If the price is close enough, may as well get the 2012.

I also haven't quite found the happy medium with the seat positioning but the power seat helps out. Besides, sometimes I feel like sitting up, some times I feel like slouching. It's nice to be able to easily fiddle with that.

Also a little bit of fair warning, I find there isn't quite a comfortable position for my left foot. It's a pretty cramped space between the front tire and the parking brake. Make sure that works for you. People have wanted to return theirs for much smaller problems.

 

This is my first Prius so I can't comment on that. I'm short too which I kinda assumed of you as well since we have similar pedal problems. I know, I know, it's bad to assume. In any case, I think it's something more for me to get used to and I only notice it when I feel like stretching my left ankle a bit. I drove a S-10 Blazer for 12 years that fit me so perfectly and I'm missing her quite a bit.

I thought about the plug-in as well but it really didn't make any sense for me. HOV would have been nice but I don't currently have anywhere to plug it in and don't know how long before I would be in that situation. I believe you will also lose the Softex moving from a Four to the Basic, if that was the reason why you were going with the Four.

 

I think you should check the prices again -- my 2011 five with Nav was less than your numbers? Plus 0% ... ? I was almost 2k more from 11-12 on a five and no 0% on the 12

 

With the pre-order for the Plug-in I don't think your going to find one up for sale on the dealer's lot for the next 6 months. Also high gas prices ALWAYS give the dealers the idea they can raise Prius prices. I you wait too long you may regret it.

 

It may depend on the region and dealer but you should definitely get quotes. None of the quotes I got put the 2011 lower but with a little effort, it may be doable. Then again, if the dealer is actually offering the 2012 for the same or less, I'm not sure the effort would be worth it.

 

Well a month ago no dealer could touch the price I got on the 2011 - maybe they had additional incentives from Toyota ... They have both a rebate and the finance rate incentive.

You can't price them using the MSRP ...... And why would you not use the finance rate ...... even a municipal bond will give you a 4k profit from the money.

Normally you are correct on the trade -- Although occasionally I have been surprised at the offers.

I was not sold on the "non leather" in the 12 -- but for the same price I would still go for the 12

 

I just purchased my first Prius. We traded in a rav4, trade value was good becuase demand is up for little SUV. We went with the 11 package 2 prius. For $21,133 which is well below the what a current 2012 package 2 is selling for. We added dealer installed leather $1000 and I will be adding aftermarket nav. For another $1k. So total for a 2011 Prius with leather and nav is $23,133, still much lower than a 2012 w/o leather and nav.

 

I decided on the 2012 4 because of the 8 way adjustable seat. I have lower back problems, and it is the ONLY car I've been able to drive without some sort of lumbar cushion in 20 years. I was looking at a 2011 with Nav, and the dealer's pricing was just about the same after the deductions for the older model, so I ordered it the end of December. NO REGRETS.

In addition the 2012 has Entune if that sort of thing is important to you. The weather radar came in really handy last night as we traveled through a band of dangerous storms (northeast KS - tornado touched down about 30 miles from where we were driving). I could have done the same thing on my phone directly, though, so not sure it would have made the difference for me.

 

Depends on your budget, I think if you are in the low 20's I would go with the 2011, if you can move up to mid 20's I would get 2012. The entune system seems pretty cool.

 

I don't think most dealers will budge much on the 2012 prices and most 2011 have factory rebates that puts it around $1k less than 2012 MSRP on average. These dealers know the type of customers walking in wanting this car and not very likely they will budge beyond what's given by the manufacturer. If you could find it for less I'd rather pay less, the new tail lights don't do much for me, I like the new front facia but fogs lamp position is not quite optimal, etune is useless to me...so it all depends on what you value.

In the end it's still a great car, buy it before gas price goes beyond $6/gallon. I do not work at a stealership, ops I meant dealership but when gas goes through the roof and it will, you can't get one of these car even if you wanted to...Toyota will probably have to shut down operations in other segment just to meet the new influx of demand for the Prius family vehicles!

 

I just bought a 2012 Prius 4 in MA and helped a friend in CA buy a 2012 Prius 3. I found several dealers willing to discount over $2k off MSRP for 2012 Prius Threes and Fours.

I highly recommend CarWoo! It is now much easier and more effective than faxing bid requests, which worked extremely well for me in the past. When you are truly ready to buy, you can make offers through many of the dealers' inventory websites, saying "$X, at this price, I'm prepared to buy this car today or tomorrow." This works even better at the end of a month.

Don't even bother using MSRP to conjecture about what a new car must cost without quickly looking it up at truecar.com or edmunds.com's TMV.

If you do stop by looking at MSRP, at least look at the options. Don't compare a 2011 without the navigation package with a 2012 Prius 3 or above which includes the navigation and backup camera in the MSRP.

 

Carwoo, what a great idea...we need something like that in Canada.

 

maybe i'm falling out of the loop.. but i didn't know the genIII was in it's mid model refresh. so it gets entune and more adjustable seats?

all i have to say is.. the little things make the difference. i have an 04 and i'm envious of this power seat thing (as if it's foreign to me.. haha)... not to mention in 06 a prius came standard with features that my car doesn't have, like tire pressure monitors and backup camera, aux in.. etc.. it's little things but usually that one little thing makes a huge difference down the line.

mine if fully loaded for the year. (at that year you couldn't get navigation in a car for less than 35k. aka bmw, merc, lexus, etc)

a fully loaded prius is a pretty nice car... the market is a little more even now since you can get just about any car fully loaded.. but fully loaded and great reliable gas mileage is kinda why the prius is king. extra features are great imo. some things like voice command and such never get old.

 

+1
Seems it's changing from a buyers to a sellers market for fuel efficient cars once again..

When shopping around for a leftover 2011 last week, after negotiations the salesman gave me his "final" offer. I said it was still over my budget.. he did the mandatory "I'll run it by the sales manager" bit- when he returned he didn't say anything- he showed me the invoice sheet (required by the terms of the Costco Auto Buying Service), just below his "final offer"- there was a figure of + $1000 circled in red. When I asked what that meant- the salesman said "the sales manager said when gas hits $5/gal next month- that's what we'll be getting for this car- if we can even get one". They would not budge beyond what the manufacturer was kicking back at this time- that was very apparent.

They (Toyota sales/especially dealers with Prius's on hand) are salivating at the prospect of $5/gas. They're using as leverage against any discounts they may have had to offer to move old stock. I've spoke with four dealers in the past four days... and every one of them has mentioned $5/gallon gas in the first few minutes of our conversations. The current rebate/financing offers end on 3/5/12 who knows if Toyota will even offer any incentives on the 2011 Prius in the near future.