My Prius buying experience in LA

Just got my 2006 Magnetic Gray Package #7 at msrp. I originally wanted package #8 but I'm really glad I didn't get what I wanted. Did I just say that? Well, after reading as much as I could about after factory leather I became convinced that it was better for me because I could choose a darker gray that matches the interior better. I read that Toyota may change to the darker leather but for now it's light. The company that recovered my seats also offered to make my covers 100% leather. Apparently the factory uses about 20% vinyl in their seat covers. It was an additional $300 though.

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Buying A Prius
My advice for buying a Prius in LA kind of depends on your urgency and available time. I started on the Toyota.com website and basically called every dealership in the LA area, about 45. I know that's a lot of calling but I wanted the car fast! I learned that about 40-50% of the dealerships will sell at msrp so I pretty much avoided the one's that marked up or put excessive accessories on them. So that cuts back my options to about 20 something of those original dealerships. I also learned that a number of those msrp dealerships require a deposit. Their deposit policies are all different. Some are really binding others are just to hold your money. I tried briefly going the deposit route but I asked a few more questions and found out that this particular dealership, Santa Monica, had somewhere around 250 people on their waiting list. They require a fully refundable $1000 dollar deposit and they were probably moving no more than 15-20 cars a month. I wanted a very specific package so I didn't think they would ever get a car for me and I really objected to them getting a free $250,000 loan just from the Prius waiting list. Some dealerships won't even take your name unless you give a deposit but many will. The one's that do tend to have a preferred list for the buyers with deposits but if they drop out or buy another car in the meantime you've got a good shot at the car! So my approach was to offer no deposit and be on the sloppy seconds list at as many dealerships as possible. My theory was that each dealership receives a somewhat random shipment of colors and packages. Somewhere in LA a dealership will get my car and not have a buyer ready. The reason is that Toyota doesn't really take specific orders, they have a preference list. This is essentially a wish list so there are no guarantees that you'll ever get the exact package and color you want. This means that a lot of people are settling for a different color or package and then sometimes not.

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I felt positive about my approach since the dealerships would call about every other day on average but always the wrong color and package. Well a few weeks into it I got a call from Tina at Redlands Toyota and she had a mag gray package #7. I told her I wanted a package #8 so I passed. What a mistake! Tina knew that she could have just swapped the seat covers with only a subtle difference but she wanted to get me factory leather. What a doll! I got a call a few days later from Frontier Toyota in Valencia and they offered me a mag gray package #7 and told me to just swap the seat covers. I didn't know that the process was so easy otherwise I would have suggested it to Tina a few days earlier. So with the help of Priuschat and it's great users I read all about after factory leather pros and cons. So I felt like I should proceed with Frontier. If you do your research you might find some negative comments about them. They have sort of a free-for-all system where all the salesman fight to line up a buyer ready to sign on the spot. It promotes some really aggressive salesmanship... kind of a turn off. They do however sell at msrp and apparently get the most Prius' from Toyota(they could be lying though).

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So while all this is going on Tina makes some more calls and gets that package #8 for me. I felt horrible! So hopefully someone out there can make up for my blunder and buy a Prius from her. Give her a call and let her know you read about her on Priuschat. Thank you in advance. Peace!


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Oh yeah, I got some Enkei CDR9s and Michellin Pilot Exaltos just to pimp it out a little. Once again more research on Priuschat and decided to go with 205/55/16s. Two steps up in width but with super smooth tires! It doesn't seem any more sluggish with the wider tires and I haven't noticed a loss in mpg yet. Gotta love the look though!