I can't wait to get my own Prius but for some financial reasons we're holding off until the end of May. It'd just be more time to save more money to put down. But today I had one dealership email saying they are trying to reach sales goals for the end of the month and they'd like to get my business by then. It seemed very automated email format type so I dismissed it. But then I just had another dealer (the one closest to me actually) call and tell me they are trying to meet sales goals and asked what they could do to earn my business today. I've read about the end of the month being the best time to buy for better deals so they can meet their goals. However when I was looking for my Mustang the dealers didn't really call or email or anything like these Toyota dealers do so I'm a little confused. Is there something to this end of the month sales goals thing they're telling me or is it just a way they want to pressure me to buy today?
Yes - There IS something to it - and if I were you, I would try to take advantage of those 2 dealers and "haggle" with them to get them to give you the best deal possible. Now, of course, THAT depends on whether they have the car that you want.
Call them back , let's talk deal ,,,, what's the deal price , what was their original offer If this is a trade in deal , are they giving you KBB trade in prices ,,, what add ons Cargo mats , or what else , if a new one disable the beep beep reverse noise and any thing Else that might make you happy , what kind of interest rates , careful on extended warranty They can up charge you on that ,,,,, then pick the phone call the other dealer ,,, if I Would go to a dealer , what's the deal ?? I'll let you know tomorrow
don't call them, don't go in, keep it email. that makes it difficult to pressure you. if they can't make a great deal in an email, wait until the end of may and try again.
Let's Pretend: You're sitting in a bar.... Sound familiar? Do I need to go on? Of course it was a line....a trick...a scam!!!! The only difference between now and before you were married is that they're not trying to sweet talk you out of your knickers. All they're after is a signature or two, but trust me. They're every bit as desperate, and some of them can be every bit as sleazy. First of all....you need to take a deeeeeeeeeeeep cleansing breath and consider the fact that the adult-sized Prius is getting upgraded next year from a G3 to a G4. This means that suddenly all of the "leftover" 2014's are going to be pretty much like my 2010, and everybody is going to be slobbering over the new G4s.....so if you can wait about 9 months? I'd wait. Then? The G3's which are still great cars will be a little cheaper to buy and you'll have time for this new purchase to be more of a blessing than a curse. I'm not going to tell a young lady that 9 months is an insignificant amount of time because I have a wife, a daughter, and a grand-daughter......and frankly....I know DANG well that it can be a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG time! However (comma!) so can 4-5 years worth of payments. In the meanwhile, bone up on the art of buying a car. Places like Clark Howard's web site can be helpful as well as getting flattened fingertips from doping a bunch of internet searches. SHOP AROUND!!!!! You DO NOT have to buy this car locally!!! The idea that they'll send you sweet notes on your birthday and "take care of you" when you bring your car in for maintenance just doesn't work in 2014. They'll certainly "take care of you" in the maintenance shop.....but that's a topic best gone into after you get the new car and read about 1,347 posts about Dealer Repair Rip-Offs. Be patient. There are still people blowing their tax refund checks!
Is it a dealer trick? Probably not. Some dealers are more aggressive than others. First, you have to know what you want. If it is a common combination of color and package then most likely you can wait and there will be another one on the lot. The Prius on the lot today is not going to be there a month from now. They know what they have into the car and what they have to get out of it. Keep talking to both dealers. You'll know you got to the lowest price when one says, "If you can buy it from them for that then go ahead." Twos are common. Threes, not so much. There was one Four-Solar and one Five-AT on the lot this weekend. No PiP. You have two dealers anxious to move inventory. Use it to your advantage to whittle the price down on the car you want.
The sales quota thing is true, it is rarer for them to just come out and say it. Usually they dance around the fact that they need X sales per month to fall into category Y. The more you sell, generally the more commission and/or bonuses you get paid. For instance some dealers around here pay only a couple hundred dollars per car regardless of the car. Then if you sell more than Z in a month, you get another hundred dollars or so per car including all the previous cars in that time period. So it stacks easily and makes aggressive behaviour common. Of course others are just percentage of the sale price based and those are the ones more likely to push crap like clear coatings and protection plans on you because for every dollar you spend, they get a few cents too. I would use it to your advantage to try and get a price. But if the price is not what you'd like, then don't do it. And next month, the exact same things will happen, and potentially with better deals. ETC is correct in that if you want to wait until autumn, you can get a much better deal on the G3's.
If you decided to wait another month for financial reasons - stick to it. Stay in control of your timing, not the dealers. Go back to the dealer sometime after the first of May and let them know you're still interested. They'll call you toward the end of the month again.
The new Prius is not coming out as MY 2015 but as MY 2016 according to all the articles I've read. Does anyone have a link that shows that this autumn the Gen4 Prius will be available to buy?
Actually, April is a good month to buy. The cost goes up in the Summer, because the tax season is over, and more people have income tax refunds to spend on cars for the Summer travel season. I am local to the OP and understand the market in the area. February and March were better months to buy, but April is not much worse. May will not be as good as many may want to purchase a car for the Summer warm weather, which brings out more buyers.
Excellent advice. In the meanwhile you can do a search of the Toyota Dealerships in an arc that you're willing to travel within to see which ones have the model/trim level/and color that you want. You'll want to decide on these things before you start negotiating. If you (and your spouse/partner) do not both know, there's nothing wrong with test driving several different cars before you decide. Leave everything at home but your D/L. You'll also want to arrange for financing BEFORE you start negotiating price. I typically advise using a CU, since they're practically giving auto loans away. Don't get swayed by the "zero percent" financing scheme, or at least pencil out the numbers before you go that route. I usually get pre-approved for a specific amount before I shop for the car. That makes the trip to the financial manager's office pretty easy. I offer them the opportunity to beat my CU (or bank's) rate by a quarter point if they can. To date...they have't. I also advise strongly against additional warranties, GAP, tire protection plan, Credit life, ionizing radiation insurance, and additional protection for Elvis sightings and alien abductions. The one caveat for the additional warranty would be for low mileage drivers who have to get their oil changed. Some people like this can benefit from the additional coverage, but there's no reason that it should get financed for 4-5 years like the rest of the car. With all due respect to 2K1Toaster's excellent response, most people worry about getting money off of the MSRP, and then they wind up giving it right back, plus some, in non-optional "options." These include, but are not limited to: Nitrogenated tires. Paint and fabric treatment. Mats. Etched Glass (VIN) Pinstriping Admin or title fees. The deal get obfuscated even more if you trade a car in at the dealer---especially if you still owe on the car that you trade. There is an advantage in negotiating towards the end of the month, especially if you're one of the many customers who come in when they're juuuuuuuust ONE SALE away from making their monthly or yearly sales quota However, if a dealer has had a particularly good sales period (like....during tax season!) and has already reached the bonus number before the month ends, then the primary motivation for slashing prices has been removed. In fact....one could argue that they might even slow roll you into the next month. I usually ignore all this and just negotiate a flat, OTD price, and ignore the quotas. If you decide firmly on model, trim, and color then you can negotiate between 2-3 dealers within as large an area as you're willing to travel within, and this will greatly increase your chance of getting a skinny deal. It takes work, but it can literally save you hundreds if not more. Good Luck!
Concur! Also Concur! Just don't be fooled into thinking that the lot has to be the closest one to your house, or that you cannot get warranty issues resolved by a different dealership. It's a TOYOTA product. That means that even if you buy the car in BFE, the Toyota dealership closest to your house will suffice for servicing issues. Otherwise? The "two state, one ocean" rule would also mean that you'd have to get another car.
Dealers will and web sites will let you think that there is a lot of difference between them and another. Actually, there is VERY LITTLE difference between the "margin" of one dealer and another. Dealers are lucky, if they make $500 on the sale of a NEW vehicle. They make the bulk of their money on FINANCING and SERVICE. Fortunately, the dealer closest to me had the exact car that I wanted and their SERVICE over the past two years has been BETTER than most. That, to me, is worth the few extra hundred dollars that I may have been able to "pry" off of another dealer's margin.
There's a great episode of the radio program This American Life than follows the story of a car lot sales team. It's worth a listen. 129 Cars | This American Life Parental advisory: There is some unbleeped cursing, etc. Enjoy!
...I do not know what's going to happen with regular Prii...but I think sales may soften as gasoline prices "expected" to come down next couple of months. Famous last words, I know. Plug In Prius who knows but with CA losing green HOV stickers we may see a good Fall for PiP's, which you'd probably have to go to MD for.
