Surplus?

I don't expect you'll see significant discounts in the near (or not near ) future. If he likes "old man cars", maybe he wants to wait for the 2006 Hybrid Camry - standard 4 door sedan with a trunk. More "old man" like. Of course there are no details on it yet.

As to #2 - take him to one of the sleazy dealers that are charging over MSRP, then to one charging MSRP, maybe 'saving' $3K between the two dealerships will do it. After all, that is how it works for most cars: Get the best price from 1 dealer, take that to the other dealer and say "can you beat this". When he see's he 'bargained' the 2nd one down $3K, he'll be pleased. Just hope he doesn't get wise just before he signs

You might be able to get him hooked just on the cost of a 'fixed income retiree' driving 100 miles roundtrip to the club - Prius vs "old man" big car. "You know Dad, it will cost you $10 a day just in gas for that Lincoln, you can do it for $4 in a Prius". If he plays golf 3 days a week, he will save $18/week, close to $1K/year at $2/gallon

 

One way or another, time will solve this problem :-|

 

I agree that the logic of "the more you use it, the more you save" may be the way to go here. Only you can tell how much your dad's imagination will fill in the possible savings, and who he is (in his mind) getting the better of.

Is it the gas station owner who sets the prices, or the brake shop that will not see a Prius in for work as often as other cars, or the transmission shop that also won't have much to do?

It could also be shown that a lighter car won't wear out the driveway (if you have one) surface as quickly as the OMC. With caution you could show the Prius to be safer than many larger models of car.

With my dad, I would just fold down the rear seats and he would be hooked by all the storage room. On a recent trip to Sam's Club, my wife and I bought every known paper product and we could not fill the rear hatch. Good luck in your persuasive efforts.

 

The Prius is a car for tree-hugging techno-geeks and people who just plain appreciate value. If your dad is not a tree-hugger or a techno-geek (and I assume he's not, or you wouldn't be asking us how to convince him to buy this car) then your only hope is probably to sell him on the value: you just cannot get the features of the Prius on any other car at this price.

Do some research: list the features that the Prius has, and find out how much he'd have to pay to get those same features in another car.

If he really insists on the big size of a Lincoln, you may be out of luck. But maybe once he gets to drive that rental Prius, he'll realize that he does not need a bigger car.