Should dealer mark up Prius price?

Dealers are free to mark up their cars and I am free to not buy a marked up car. There are plenty of other cars to choose from.

 

Concur.
"Whatever the market will bear."

Personally? I put all the numbers into the mix-master almost a year ago, back when you could get a G3-II for $19,999.99 (The G3 I drive everyday is a company car.)
Didn't work out.
Still and all...there are plenty of G3's being sold out there at whatever prices they're going for...plenty meaning ALL of them. The reason that they're selling at the prices that they are is that, despite the current flat economy, there's a DEMAND for G3's that's outstripping supply.
Good.
Dealers, like any business (still) have a right to make a profit. I'm not sure that I want to empower my beloved government into wage and price controls---any more than they already are. We've frozen prices before in this country more than once, and while you're certainly entitled to your opinions about the ethics and effectiveness of such measures, we're not doing so right now.
For some folks a G3, even at MSRP+ still makes sense. They're selling every one they make, so we're already getting the maximum ecological benefit from the current rate of production. There are other car makers that are eyeballing what the folks in Aichi are doing with lustful thoughts of making their own energy efficient vehicles.
So....Win-Win.

YMMV...

 

agree completely, it's not bottled water in a natural disaster. however, we also have the right to whine and complain.

 

If I have the bottled water & you don't like the price then don't buy it. Go drink something else. One can't agree completely then start a list of items that should be subject to price controls.

If the auto market were really free & open any retailer would be able to order any product from any manufacturer. How many of us have griped about not being able to buy the Prius we want because the Region won't order it or griped about how Toyota allocates its production? Is it fair that a dealer has to take 2 unwanted trucks to get the 1 desired Prius? Imagine the outrage if the dealer insisted on selling the 3 un its as a package.

HP fixes the price of its printers. $x.95 at one chain, $x.97 at another & $x.99 at the 3rd.

I doubt free markets exist anywhere. There's always a 3rd party skimming a buck off the transaction.

 

I've gotten the sense that there's better communication between the dealers and that Toyota regional department. Take into consideration that a Toyota dealership sees a lot of people coming in to buy a car. You might go in and complain to the salesperson that you can't find your particular package Prius...but it takes several people coming in and asking for the same thing before the dealer then questions getting that packaged car in inventory. If Tundras are slow in being sold, then it shows up in reports.

When my Camry died while on the way to my hometown of Asheville, I started looking at new cars at Toyota, Ford, and Nissan. I was especially interested in hybrid cars and wanted to check out the Fusion, the Camry hybrid, and the Prius. The Ford dealership just had one Fusion...the salesman said that there wasn't that much demand for hybrids in Asheville, but that the hybrid Fusion should do well in Atlanta. The Toyota dealership just had one Camry for show, and my salesperson said they just keep it for show mainly because they discourage people from considering the Camry hybrid (since it's mpg is only slightly better then the Prius). They had three different V models, and two IV models that had sunroofs. I was most interested in IVs with sunroofs or Vs with advanced packages. None of the Vs had that, and I got the sense that it's hardly ever requested. Having spent a couple summers in Atlanta with a sunroof and light colored seats, I can appreciate my purchase!

 

That isn't correct. Prius mpg > Camry hybrid mpg.

 

The dealers have the right to charge whatever the market will bear. If you are upset with the dealers price on the Prius, you let them know by taking your dollars elsewhere. If no one is willing to pay the inflated price, then the price will come down.

 

Just as consumers are free to cut a good deal on a car when times are slow or problems (real or imagined) are keeping demand low - like a year and a half ago with all of the Toyota sudden acceleration hype dealers - they can charge a premium when a car is in demand. It is a little hypocritical to claim otherwise.

 

The three examples you cited *ARE* examples of Free Market. If HP didn't have the clout to set a specific price, they wouldn't (because they couldn't). If Toyota doesn't feel like giving model X with package Y to a certain region, if it's not profitable enough for them to do so they won't. That's free market (AKA Survival of the Fattest). HP > Chains > You. Toyota, Inc. > Regional Distributors > Dealers > You.

But yeah, Dealers should be able to charge whatever they want. I lean slightly left, but even I like capitalism in its basic form.

 

Opps...didn't re-read my post...obviously meant the hybrid Camry isn't much better then a regular 4 cylinder Camry

 

When I bought at the end of 2009 and when I visited the dealership for my pre-arranged test drive, the salesman said "You were interested in the Camry Hybrid, right?" He might have been trying to get me to consider one (which I wouldn't) or maybe he was just trying to get a feel for how much I was willing to spend (not enough for a TCH).

With the improvements, the 2012 TCH is now the financial set-aside target for my wife's next car (still 7 years away). She wants more comfort up front (better telescoping or leg space) and something with better visibility but will be happy with a hybrid for the higher fuel economy.