I'm ready to buy

Hello from a fellow Corona resident. I purchased a Prius about a month ago. I sent out internet quote requests to every dealer I could think of the LA/San Diego area. I specifically wanted a touring model and those aren't easy to find.

Finally found an available one in a color we wanted at Kearny-Mesa in San Diego. Deal was very easy. No hard sell on any extras. Dealt with Roger Baptiste in the internet dept.

Dave

 

Work all the dealers in So. Cal. Make them work for you money. If they can beat the deal, they will tell you. Just becareful of the bait and switch.

Dealers don't have a huge selection of the more popular colors and models (Touring, Blue, or #6) because they sell pretty quick. I had three dealers swearing they had the car I wanted. When I got there, they had been sold from under me. Even after offering to leave a deposit, they couldn't find the Magnetic Grey Touring I wanted. They would find it on the computer, but before it even got off the ship it was pre-sold. Dealers wont trade cars with other dealers because they are so damn popular. Anyway, good luck and use email to narrow down the playing field.

 

I can recommend Howard Sheehy at Kearny Mesa Toyota in San diego.

 

DO NOT BUY ! ! !

But not for the reasons you might think.

Look at leasing 4 years, with the ridiculous buy-back at the end. The low interest rate.

I've always thought that if you plan to own, you are always better off buying a car than renting it.

Back in August 2006, I looked at :
- used Prius
- New Prius bought
- New Prius rented

The used resell very high, and they had high mileage. For not much more money, because of vastly lower interest rates, I could get a new.

Now the brand new bought over 60 months is a standard Total + Taxes - Cashdown @ x% interest = 60 equal payments.

For renting or buying from Toyota, both had the same interest rate back then.

Now for rental, the numbers are very different, due to options.
Options must be fully paid in the lease term :
- clear bra
- 3M protection
- Window tinting
- Extended warrant

Then the "devaluation", say 60% over four years, must be paid.

End result, higher monthly payments renting, the more options you put in. So instead of paying $$$ after getting the car for options, you can roll them in. They will be fully paid for after four years.

Now the fun part - bought 60 months or leased 48, in my case, ended up being the same $$$ per month (to within 10$).

However at the end of my lease, the buyback is 1/4 of the original amount. With the same monthly payment, it takes me 13 months to pay off that last bit. Meaning it's roughly equal (48+13) versus 60 months.
Plus I got over 3k$ of options.

Also I can *very* easily resell the car at 50% it's original price, and get extra money to buy the next Gen 3 Prius in 2010.
Had I bought, the first 2-3 years you only pay Interest not Capital, meaning, the resell after four years, less money in your pocket.

Sooooooo, :blush:, I hope I confused the hell out of you . It's worth the time to work out both scenarios with salesman. If he can't do his math, get someone else.


Cheers,