Brand New 2008 Base Prius Package 2 FE-CF-HG-HZ Silver $22,171 + T&L & Doc Fee Toyota Lake City WA

Hi! Excited new Prius owner here to share a bit about my dealership experience(s). I'm writing this to share my Prius "shopping" experience and am writing a (very) long and detailed post in hopes that it would help others in WA (and maybe other states) in making the decision to purchase a brand new 2008 Prius. Oh also, this was the first time I ever actually purchased a car.

First off, as per the title of this thread, I got my Prius for the following price:

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2008 Base Prius Package 2 (HG) Model (1224)
Options: FE-CF-HG-HZ
Color: Silver (1F7)
Interior: Grey Cloth (FE11)
MSRP: $23,759
Invoice: $22,170

Price I paid: "Special sell price $1 over invoice" $22,171 (Invoice + $1) + $2039.73 (9.8% Tax) $186.50 (Licensing) + $50 (Doc Fee) = $24447.23 (Total including tax, license, options, and "dealer documentary service fee")
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Basically about a week or two ago, I went through the "build your Toyota" at Toyota.com, requested a dealer quote, and perchance selected Toyota of Lake City (Seattle, WA). Mr. Shannon Love (note: Mr.) immediately got in contact with me. I told him that I knew for sure that I wanted to get a Prius - the only question is when (within the next 5 months) and where (depending on the lowest price they're willing to offer me). He told me that Prii are basically never "on sale" but he'll keep an eye for me.

Two days ago I got an email from Toyota of Lake City with the offer I stated above.

Immediately I sent out emails contacting every single Toyota dealership in WA asking if any of them can beat the price ($1 over invoice). Here's a breakdown:

1. Curt Wyatt (Toyota of Kirkland, WA) quoted me a "price based on availability of vehicle at time of purchase" for $23159.00 + tax & license fees. He didn't respond to my email when I asked him if he can match or beat the $1 over invoice deal I was offered.

2. Harvey Angel (Toyota of Bellevue, WA) quoted me $22490.00 Invoice and $23909.00 MSRP. He also said "Did you mean $1,000? I can sell you an in-stock Prius package close to invoice but not one dollar over unfortunately. Let me know." and "Thank you for the email. Whether you accept the $1 over or the $0.99 over you've already won. No need to shop those prices. Congratulations." (the $0.99 comment will make sense in a bit).

3. Steven yang (Magic Toyota - Lynnwood, WA) quoted me $22894.00 "special internet price" + tax & licensing (MSRP $23828.00). When I informed him of my $1 over invoice from Lake City Toyota, he replied "I just spoke to my sales manager and have been informed that we will beat the Lake City Sale! Therefore, your price on the exact model that I've sent a vehicle inquiry to you will be priced at $0.99 over invoice!" Beating the sale price by a penny is obviously not substantial but it's cute and made me smile. Unfortunately when I quoted him the actual amount I was offered from Toyota of Lake City, he responded: "The price that you received from Lake City is few hundred dollars below invoice. That I will not be able to do!"

4. The Toyota of Seattle representative did not begin with a quote and when I told him the offer I got from Toyota of Lake city, responded "Wow. $1 over invoice and you are STILL SHOPPING!??? I suggest you go to Lake City and see if you can get this deal in person. You will be surprised at what they do or don't do. After that, I invite you to visit us here and we can give you an honest price and better service." and " Can you email me their offer and I can see if we can beat $1.00 over invoice?" Finally, he said "For your reference a package 2 Prius is invoiced at 22,362 and retails for 23824.00. What would you like to pay over invoice? Considering that at a 9.2% tax rate the taxes will be over $2000, what do you think is a fair profit for us considering that the state of Washington will make 2,000 off of this deal."

5. Wendy Cliffton (Rodland Toyota - Everett, WA) said "We are able to sell this vehicle to you for just $400 over our invoice price through our internet department. I have a Grey package #2-your price is $22,935 plus tax and license." I actually mistook her (I think it's "her"...) for Toyota of Kirkland and thanked her for not questioning whether I "read the $1 over invoice offer correctly" - I told her about the offer I have from Toyota of Lake City and she never replied back.
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Magic Toyota appeared friendliest out of all of them over e-mail. I was told that car sales people at Magic Toyota gets a fixed $100 commission regardless of how cheap/expensive the car they sell. I took this to mean that they'll be able to give me the best price with the least hassles. As is apparent, they admitted they could not beat the deal I got from Toyota of Lake City, however.

Now regarding my actual buying experience at Toyota of Lake City:
I'm not sure if it matters much to go into details really since it was very straightforward and pleasant. I'm not the type of person who haggles and isn't interested in wasting either the car sales person's time nor my own time (and my wife's time - who came along of course). Also, I've done my research and compared prices with other dealerships and was quite certain I was getting the best price I could get.

I still attempted to get them to lower the price several times though. Each time they politely and kindly told me that they're really not making any money off of this car and that they're selling it at this price so they can move their inventory fast. Doesn't stop me from trying though

I'm also a member of BECU and they told me that BECU often refers their members to shop at Toyota of Lake City. They also told me that BECU will likely give me the best new auto loan interest rate unless Toyota Financing can match or beat them.

With a credit score of 747, they told me that BECU could offer me 72 months and 6.49% financing if I do "auto-payment." They also told me that Toyota Financing can offer me the same 6.49% 72 months financing. I went with Toyota Financing.

At this point I should have done my homework more carefully since the BECU website shows that I could potentially get 5.99% financing for a new auto loan. But I think I'm ok with 6.49%. Again, I should have researched this part of it more. So I ended up with a monthly payment of $361.40. However, it does say on the contract that "If you pay off all your debt early, you will not have to pay a penalty."

I know a lot of Prius owners likes to buy their Prius with cash. I actually was going to, but my cash is currently tied up elsewhere at this point, so I liked the flexibility of being able to just put it on a finance first and get no penalty for paying it off early when my cash is no longer tied up.

Mr. Shannon Love's work hours is actually 11:00am - 8:00pm. We arrived at the dealership at 6:30pm and ended up staying there until 9:30pm. Mr. Shannon Love stayed the entire time and maintained a consistently high enthusiasm, friendliness and energy level telling us everything about the Prius.

Conclusion: I didn't expect to spend 3 hours at the dealership, but other than that, I have no complaints whatsoever as everyone was very nice and friendly (even though I kept on asking them for additional discounts)