Louisville, KY experiences

Just recently, I decided to start the journey of buying a Prius. I've narrowed it down to a Barcelona Red or Black with at least Package #2.

This Saturday, my wife and I travelled out to Toyota of Louisville (on Dixie Hwy) to chat with the folks there. We had earlier gone to Greentree Toyota in Indiana, but they were EXTREMELY busy.

Back to Toyota of Louisville -- I was interested in just how long the wait for one was, what their inventory was, etc. We were initially told "1 week" wait with a $500 good-faith check. We ended up test driving the slightly-used 2005 Prius they had on the lot, and it was as I had expected. Later, as we sat down to talk numbers with another salesman, he told us flat out that the first guy we spoke with was lying about the "1 week" number, and that it was going to be closer to 60-90 days for a Prius. He then presented us with the numbers for a 2006 Prius Package #2 - $26,389 w/o tax, tags and licensing.

Having done my due diligence, I knew that MSRP + Package #2 should have been around $23,000 and I called him on that. "What's the MSRP again?" $21,175. "Package #2?" $825. "So then how does this number come in?" Let me find out.

Find out he did, and he was gracious enough to tell us that they were marking up Prii $3000. "That is what a lot of national dealerships are doing because of the lack of cars." Aside from that, the salesman was nice enough the entire time, and if he had given me a better offer, I would have taken it.

Our family has done business with Greentree in the past, so I'm probably going to go with them if I can get something at least a little closer to MSRP. But, I am glad that I got Toyota of Louisville's offer. (For what it's worth, they jerked a friend of mine around on a Scion tC last month to the tune of 4 weeks of unexpected waiting).

From what I gather by reading the posts on this (wonderful) site, I think I should be able to get a Prius for near MSRP with a little hunting. Am I out of my gourd? What are my options here in Louisville, KY?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(HeyKB @ Apr 3 2006, 01:45 PM) [snapback]234201[/snapback]</div>

Yes, I've seen the threads about dealers in Chicago (5 hours away) and DC (10 hours away) but I'm assuming I'd have to drive there or pay through the nose for delivery, thereby frittering away my $1700 MSRP. Is that the case? Would they deliver here for a reasonable fee?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(CinciPrius @ Apr 3 2006, 09:23 PM) [snapback]234439[/snapback]</div>

I just got off the phone with "Logan" at Greentree Toyota, and when asked about markups over MSRP, they said their policy is to not do *any* markup on *any* of their cars, which is nice to know. He wasn't positive, but he said the wait on a Prius would be 30-60 days, dependent on availability of color and package.

Also left a message with Sarah Baumgartner at Miller Toyota in DC. Gonna see if they can ship me a car.

More later.

 

About 5 weeks ago, we ordered a Magnetic Gray Pkg 2 from Greentree Toyota and we picked it up this evening! The wait was expected, as it had to be ordered from the factory.

We worked with Jim Parker at Greentree, and he was very attentive and generally a pleasant guy to work with. During our 4-5 weeks of wait, he'd call even if he didn't have any news - just to let us know what he knew.

Having been through the car buying experience a few times before (I'm 27), I'll say that Greentree was the best I've ever worked with. As far as pricing goes, we paid MSRP for the car -- Greentree doesn't do markup like many dealers around.