San Jose, CA: Any recomm. for a dealer willing to go below MSRP?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mxp @ Jun 9 2006, 12:10 AM) [snapback]268480[/snapback]</div>

I just got a #3 Prius from Hanlee's Hilltop in Richmond. The dealer was Estaban Yanez. Very nice, personable dealer who matched the Costco discount that I was offered elsewhere.

Col. Harper at Sunnyvale Toyota offers a $350 Costco discount, but Hanlee's had the Prius first.

The Costco card is $50, and with it, you can also get a lower rate on auto loans at Capital One.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mxp @ Jun 10 2006, 12:35 AM) [snapback]269108[/snapback]</div>

Good Luck. The waiting list is six monhts long, why would a dealer SELL FOR BELow MSRP?

 

Sunnyvale Toyota offers $350 costco discount. Known for long waits.

Piercy Toyota (San Jose) offer $100 costco discount.

Hanlee Toyota in Davis offers $750 costco discount. This is the best deal I know of. Not sure what the wait is, I could never reach them.

Some place in the foothill offers a $650 discount if you $2000 in dealer installed options. Yeah right.

Can't remember the place, maybe concord toyota, had a $250 or $350 costco discount.

You can use the costco car buying website without having a membership. They verify that later. You can enter in a zip code, and it will forward your request for a quote to the nearest dealer. Try a few different zip codes to hit different dealers.

I ended up paying MSRP at Capital Toyota a few weeks ago, because I wasn't getting anywhere with the places offering under MSRP. Good luck.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mxp @ Jun 10 2006, 01:35 AM) [snapback]269108[/snapback]</div>

Er, no. I asked to be put on the waiting list 5/3. On 5/20, I was told the car would be arrive end of May/beginning of June, and a VIN was available. Car arrived on June 5. I was not picky about color, though.

I picked up the car 3 days later, at which point all the other Priuses from that shipment were long gone, and the person who sold the car to me was fending off other salespeople who wanted to sell that one Prius still sitting there. Apparently it's the longest they've had a Prius sit on the lot after arriving.

Hanlee's Hilltop gets less that 10 Priuses a month, but they doesn't seem to have the long waiting list that some of the other dealers have. The person I worked with was Estaban Yanez, who was quite nice.

BTW, you need your own Costco card to get the discount for both the Capital One auto loan and the discount off MSRP. Also, non-Costco Toyota dealers will sometimes match the discount--I essentially got 250 off MSRP.

 

I went through the Costco website to locate a black package #3 SOON and not *too* far from my home in Petaluma. I think I started looking on about May 6. I was contacted by ... I can't remember the guy's name, but he is the Internet/Fleet (manager?) for Freeman Toyota in Santa Rosa. I had the car on the evening of Wednesday, May 10. Freeman gets LOTS of cars--just now, they seem to have FOURTEEN in stock(?!). (I do periodically look at this--mostly, I guess, to torture myself...they do seem to have different ones on the site all the time, but ALL of them say they are "base" trim, which I highly doubt--although out of the 10 or so they got in the day mine arrived, only one other was not spoken for and that one was a base package...) I didn't really want to check about MSRP 'cause I just go into overload and can't think straight , AND I didn't think I would get much off anyway. So, to make a long story less long, I got my car, and they told(!) me they had taken $100 off the MSRP and $100 off their regular price of the extended warranty (I paid $995), and I was only the 2nd one they had discounted at all...And, despite AAA saying they got deals for their members, Freeman said THEY didn't give anything off for AAA, and Costco's was a VERY new deal. And they never did ask to see my card. I don't remember if I had to sign in to the Costco site w/ my membership number...

Given that what I was looking for was rapid delivery, I have to say I am very happy overall!

EDIT: OOPS--I paid $945, not $995 for the service agreement...
'Nother oops--also, they added a ****$65*** charge for a CLEAR STICKER (W/ PRIUS IN LITTLE WHITE LETTERS) that covers the back bumper top (I guess it is a protector for when loading stuff in the hatch...I didn't notice that charge until much later--very observant, me--and then it took ages to figure out what decal they were talking about 'cause it is hard to see...I spent a while thinking they had charged me for the Hybrid Drive thingy Bill Merchant has on his forehead...) And I guess it is probably just as well I didn't notice it, because it would have pissed me off when I told them I didn't want it and they refused to take it off...so I guess the costco thing is ALMOST a wash...

 

I just don't think below MSRP is a realistic goal in CA... If you are willing to turn down cars at MSRP to wait for a token discount, you might get lucky, but is it worth the wait and dealership shell game? If you get them to discount it, count on a few long hours of being hard-sold everything from wheel locks to rust protection... They WILL make it up somewhere if you're not paying attention. I refused to pay a markup, and I generally refuse to pay MSRP on "normal" cars, but it's just not gonna happen on Prii. Find a dealer that will work with you, sell at MSRP, and is committed to finding you the package you want. Consider the color a bonus too if you get the right one.

 

I just got off the phone with Doug Mac Donald from a dealership in Marysville and his # is 530-257-6115. He offered any high end Prius package 7 or 8 for 400$ off sticker and I could order it any way I wanted. He is estimating a 6 week wait time.
-Paul R. Haller-