non-refundable deposit for out of state car dealership

That is a good price for what I assume from your avatar is a 2011 Prius III. I paid about $26,700 for a 2010 Prius III with Nav, plus window tint and carpet mats, in 2009. Subtract the $1900 for the Nav and that is a decent price since there have been a couple of price increases in the last year or two.

As for the non-refundable deposit, when I was looking for a Prius in 2007, the dealer had me sign a $500 non-refundable deposit while he looked for the car that I wanted and possibly swapping one that he had in his pipeline. His justification was that he could sell all of the Prius' in inventory and for him to hold one for me required a deposit. He could not find the exact car that I wanted so he did end up refunding my deposit.

Assuming that you are planning to ask the dealer to hold the car for you, I do not see this as an unreasonable request. This is like "earnest money" to hold the car for you. More than likely he could sell the car in the meantime.

 

Welcome. If you are a member go to www.aaa.com redirect to build a car & get dealer quotes--in OH & NC. If you found the exact car you want at a price you are happy with asking a dealer to hold it for 3 weeks without a deposit is unreasonable. Prius inventory & sales have picked up and 3 weeks is a long time. Have the in-laws check it out & record the mileage then put down the deposit--a bird in the hand... Just my opinion, but a Three base shouldn't be that hard to find unless you want a scarce color combo.

 

Speaking from experience...I bought a 2004 Prius out-of-state. I flew to the airport, the Toyota salesman picked me up and took me to the dealership and I then drove it home to NC. Since everything you need to know about options and color is determinable by talking to the dealer via email or phone, I would just establish a sales contract knowing all the costs beforehand and put a deposit down with a scheduled pick-up date (when you visit the in-laws). There was a silver 2011 package IV with solar and nav and no dealer packs (yet) at my local dealer for less than list. It was there the last two Saturdays.

Current owner of a 2004 white Prius with factory XM and NAV with 165,000 miles.
Former owner of a 2001 Prius, 2004 black Prius with factory XM and NAV, 2005 Prius with leather and NAV and a 2010 Gen 3 blizzard pearl package III.
Future owner of a 2012 Prius v package 5.

Good luck with your purchase!

 

Email is better than phone because everything is documented. Don't forget to print the emails and save them!!

 

Since this is a new car it does not seem like there is a whole lot to consider - that would be different if used. You just need to decide if you want to buy now.

If so, you can visit a local dealer and figure out what options you want in terms of color, package, etc and then it is just a matter of getting the best price. Another poster mentioned AAA - if you are not a member now may be the time as cost is around $50 a year and you might save far more than that.

 

I do not think a non-refundable deposit is a good idea. To many things can go wrong. There could be problems with the car, such as damage in shipment or things that just don't work out right. A non-refundable deposit only protects the dealer, not the customer. I would wait until I got to where I was going to buy, and know the price I expect to pay before I went in.

Always have a "plan B" such as "buy it later". Things can go very wrong when you are dealing with car dealers. They are professionals at getting our money, we are amateurs.

You might consider one of the car buying programs such as the one Costco has, no deposit required. The Edmunds site will tell you what the average retail price in your area is.

Don't let them sell you any "extras" such as extended warranty, maintenance plan, or protection plan.

Good luck.

 

Don't do the non-refundable deposit or you'll set yourself up to be screwed over if anything goes wrong. The dealer isn't going to lose that much money by selling it later (certainly not anywhere close to $1000) if they don't sell it to you.

 

NON-REFUNDABLE,....my nice person!!