Kool Aid drank and stating to come-on..... Ready to do the deal on a 2013 Prius 2 on Monday or Tuesday, but am slightly disappointed by a couple of add ons. Etched glass: What? "Makes thieves less likely to steal". Really? Pin-striping: Oh yeah! I want my new car to harken back to 1982... (The Warden (wife) likes it. Go figure. The one thing in common is that the etching is impossible to remove and the pin striping is a hassle to remove. Oh and I forgot, makes it easy for the dealer to mark-up profit margin. At least there is no Ad Fee. I like silver. Wife likes white. How dirty does the pearl white get? I liked the Barcelona Red but wife vetoed.
FranklinS, these are the facts and I know because I did it. If you buy off the lot, what you see is what you get. "Add-Ons" are preordained at Regional, sent through "Make Ready" and distributed to specific Dealers all according to plan. Go to your Dealers Fleet Department and tell them you are ready to buy and exactly how you want your car set up. They can then select a vehicle before it reaches Regional and have it delivered just as the Factory built it if you like. That way you pick the color, options, add-ons (or not), and is delivered your way just for you. It is unnecessary to order from Japan and never was. Understand the Dealer would rather sell you what they have in stock, because they are stuck with it, but Fleet can and will work to deliver "your" vehicle if you are a "Hard Sale", and probably at a better price than the Salesperson that attacks you as you enter the lot. You have 3 Dealerships in your local area to pick from if one resists. Remember they all want your money, so buy what you want (or what the Wife wants).
My windows on my long distance deal were etched. I refused to pay for it ($168 for a $15 etch job). My sales person was nice enough to warn me it had a pinstripe on it, and have it removed (sent me pics, it was really bad). I think the blizzard pearl is very elegant, even though I don't like white cars generally. Silver is also not a bad color on this car. My guess from seeing them around is that the white shouldn't show dirt any worse than the silver. May even be better, since the dust might blend in a bit with the creaminess of the blizzard pearl. Definitely get what you want. Just ain't worth spending thousands of $ and be unhappy about something, especially the color.
Blizzard pearl really shows dirt on the rear of the car that gets picked up when there is any moisture on the roads. I'm constantly wiping my car's rear off after I get home, even have set of old towels in the garage specifically for this purpose. And it is always the rear only. Be glad you aren't in the SET or SWT distributorship regions, there it is distributor options that run up the prices. Can't help you on your wife's preferences, just remember she picked you. (Who is gonna drive it is the color picking rule in our house.)
+1 The rear spoiler keeps a swirling vortex of road dust going back there all the time- the backside gets filthy as do the lower door sills. Otherwise- the BP is really nice.
for me they added: rear bumper protector clear plastic guard in door handle wells\edges of door (not on front of car!) tinted windows nitrogen tires mud flaps They wanted $1000 extra for everything but I had them totally drop the cost in negotiations. At least with etched windows you get an insurance deduction
To avoid these rip off dealer add-ons, tell them you'll wait for a car in the exact configuration you want (sans add-ons) to arrive. Don't fall for the trap of having them magically, dramatically reduce the price--or drop the price to $0--on the add-ons, since they are very low cost (high margin) items. They'll do this to take the attention from the real negotiation item--the price of the car itself.
I had a BMW dealer attached their logo plate directly to the paint on delivery. I went straight back in and discussed the options. 1) Remove it without trace 2) Open negotiations for a monthly advertising fee It was gone within 10 mins
I suspect you aren't going to see much of an insurance discount. Ask the insurance company but my guess is less than $5 per year. Politely state that the VIN etching is a deal breaker. Since it is already done they'll remove the charge. If the etched glass is really that big of a deal then shop for another car. I don't consider tape "real" pin striping. If the wife really wants this, is the battle worth it? Not to say it can't be used as a bargaining chip. Another angle to try is to see if the dealer will throw in x number of coupons for the service dept. BP & silver will get equally dirty. Maybe the BP hides the white salt filth better. The silver seems to hide the the dark filth better. The rear is always going to be dirty due to the aerodynamics (or lack thereof). In the old days supply was thin. You bought what was on the lot when you saw it because it wasn't going to be there tomorrow. Now there's enough inventory everywhere so you should be able to find the car you want. You will want to get 3M or VentureShield film on the car including the cups on the door and across the top of the rear bumper. If you don't you'll be back complaining that your wife's fingernails scratched up her door. For as much as the car costs & for as long as you'll have it a few hundred dollars isn't significant.
Good advice about the film! It doesn't add up to much in my case just the etching and tape. The local dealers are running $2,800 off MSRP list and no state tax. The one dealer I went to had 60 Prius's on his lot. Back in the day I've seen up to two pages of add-on's posted on a car. Non-OEM wheel and tires Scotchgaurd "Pin stiping" Dealer tinted windows Undercoating Dealer Vinyl top Dealer floor mats. Salesmen around her get a minimum of $200 for each car or 25% of net profit whichever is more. If they charge $200.00 for pinstiping they likely paid $40-$50 which would be $150 to the dealer and another $35 to the salesperson. A few of these can bump up the wad in the salesman's wallet pretty quick. The dealers in this area don't make much money off new car sales. They get the majority of the profit from service.
I think your reply of going to the Fleet Manager is great. My case precludes that, to me anyway. My salesperson is a friend and neighbor two houses away for 12 years. My child and his eat at each others house, are in the same class, and play together. We call each other on a regular basis. I like and trust him as a person. It doesn't mean that I'll send his kid to an Ivy League school on the commission. I'll negotiate amicably but with vigor. I've told him my ground rules of how I negotiate. I tolerate no pressure and demand respect. I will be getting a good price. Saying all that; I feel that for 90% of the people going to a Fleet Manager is a very viable option!
Doesn't hurt to ask the Internet Sales Dept. of the next dealer what they want for the car configured your way. You see this as friendship. He's a salesman. This is business. I suggest a slightly different approach. Tell him what you want. Let him know he's getting the first opportunity to fill the order. If he can't or won't then move on. If he's as good a friend as you believe and as good a salesman as he believes he'll find your car for you. If "the other guy" has exactly what you want at a higher price then you'll have to decide if you can live with your friend's car. If the other guy is cheaper then be up front with your friend. If everyone is being reasonable your friend should be able to sell a car to you at a fair price that you'll be happy driving.
