Dealer tried to raise the price...I'd like to know what you think.

It's not fair or ethical, but from a practical standpoint there isn't much you can do about it. You can take your business to another dealer, which means going to the back of the line and waiting again, or you can threaten to sue, but for $400 that's not really an option, assuming you have any case at all.

Given the scarcity of Prius, I'd make a good effort to shame the dealer into honoring the original price, but after that effort fails, I'd pay the extra amount.

Tom

 

Actually, 99.9% of the time, most factory orders are honored at the agreed MSRP price by the factory, at the time of order. Your dealer had a sticker with $400 more in MSRP, which is correct, the factory did raise the price, salesman did not know about factory honoring the original deal, sales manager did, they don't loose anything. There could also have been the thought in their mind that they could get you to pay the $400 for extra profit for them, since you agreed on MSRP and might not question or fight them on it.

 

If the contract says "MSRP" and not a specific number, I would think you would have trouble with this one. But if the dealer says he will eat the charge, I might think that was fair.
And from what I can tell reading here, you can't really "order" a Prius. Toyota does not build them to order - they just build & ship, and the cars are allocated to dealers when they arrive. That's why when the demand was lower, your dealer could get the package & color you "ordered" by trading with another dealer if the desired car wasn't in his allocation. Unless the contract you signed had a VIN number, there is no specific car ordered.

 

I think you should let your wife handle the negotiations.:tape2:

 

xartis, technically, you probably were in negotiations, not a contract. And you (your wife) negotiated the asking price down. The sales manager was uncommonly straight forward about not wanting $400 to negate a sale, but he should be astute enough not to let it get that far -- when you complained, he should have gone immediately to apology mode. It's called "customer service", the only reason in these perilous economic times that customers frequent a business more than once.

 

At the end of the day it comes down to how much you want a Prius. Dealers always build an escape clause into contracts, so you won't be able to force them to sell you a Prius. If you can't convince them otherwise, you either pay their price or walk.

Tom

 

see i would have bucked that $400 msrp issue because a specific price was LISTED in the contract. it the agreement had stated simply msrp then its one of those things unfortunately.

 

Yup, he bucked and won.

 

xartis,

There was an announcement by Toyota that there would be an across the board price increase of their products/vehicles in mid-May. I thought it was going to be $300 for the Prius, but now that I think of it, that's the amount of the price increase I just misssed in Aug 2005 when I got my Prius on July 14th, 2005. It was indeed a $400 price increase to the MSRP of the Prius in mid-May of this year.

That being said, I do agree with "redhandeddenial" that since your paperwork didn't just say for MSRP, but actually included a specific $ amount/price alongside the MSRP that it would be the price that is legally binding (& NOT the new $400 higher price). Your salesman may have thought he could pull a fast one on the 2 of you (NOT know'g your wife's background) so he could line his pockets with some of the extra $400 he was try'g to get you to pay to the dealership.

The sales manager may have been correct about paperwork usually support'g him in charging you whatever the MSRP chg's to (& maybe that's why his attitude upset you at first), but in this case they wrote the actual $ value right next to the MSRP & that helped to make your case. His attitude in the beginning may not have been what you wanted to hear from him, but in the end he did the right thing in NOT allow'g the $400 extra (that they wanted) to be the deal killer for you. He may have been in the process of pull'g your paperwork as he started talk'g to you, but once he saw that a real $ amount was actually specified on the agreement/contract, he knew he didn't have a legal leg to stand on to get the extra $400 & he quickly chg'd his tone to that of a more compassionate businessman not want'g to lose a good customer.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

That's also part of the psychological attacks, usually employed by the dealers, to make you go frustrated first (the Right to charge $400 more, take it or leave it) and then soothing you by saying they will not do it (because We are the good guys), to win you over for the loyalty to them.

From this point on, you'll mostly just buy/service your Toyota from this dealership only, since they are the good guys.

 

remember when you take delivery that you do not need an extended warranty - you can buy one here in about 3 years when your 36,000 36 months is almost up.

and you don't need scotch guard, extra special undercoating, new high tech wax, a lojack, a special prepaid service contract, etc etc etc....

careful, they'll try to screw you at delivery time to get that $400 and then some out of you

 

i got hit with all that stuff on my USED prius.....i looked at the guy and said.....cut the s$&*, and sell me the car...the only option i want is a mistress in the glove box......the little one on top, not the lower one. the salesman instantly said "ok sign here"

 

When I ordered my Prius from Tuscaloosa Toyota in mid May I was told of the price increase. I was also told that if I didn't get a 2008 but a 2009 (by default) that the MSRP would probably go up. He said that Toyota typically went up about 1% but there were no guarantees.

 

my rule with stealerships is to go in with a chip on my shoulder, unless proven wrong by actually getting a person, not a sales robot.

also ITS NOT TRUE UNLESS I HAVE IT IN WRITING WITHOUT CONDITIONS IN TINY PRINT ON THE BOTTOM.