California. Should I buy a '19 Prime now with $2500 incentives or wait until the end of the year?

$2500 is a pretty good rebate in CA, but you should wait if you can.

The 2020 Prius prime is ~3 weeks away and it comes with a 5th seat. It’ll definitely have good incentives by the end of the year.

 

I bought a '19 plus over memorial day and negotiated for 3100 off on top of the 2500 cash ($5600 off MSRP) and did very well on my OTD price. This dealer really wanted to move cars.

If you have the luxury of waiting then wait - I needed to get something new and it worked out well for me. I'm happy with the car and the price I paid.

Don't forget that the 2020 is also $500 more than the 2019 model. If you don't really need the 5th seat or updated electronics I'd consider a better deal on a 2019. I actually like having the center console for the kids to keep their stuff organized in the back seat.

 

welcome!

start emailing dealers, and asking for their best price on a car you like in their inventory.

you should be able to get a great discount on top of the rebate. i doubt you will ever see a higher rebate in cali.

 

And keep in mind that you can't use the 1.9% Toyota financing if you take the $2500 cash back from Toyota, so you'll have to secure your own financing or pay cash.

 

my guess would be that in cali, you wont see better than 2500. but you can haggle for some dealer incentive on top of that.
they run out of inventory. too many greenies out there buying up all the primes...lol
if you want to wait AND go to the east coast to get the 5k rebate, i think you will see it there.
of note, getting 5k manufacturers rebate kind of makes dealer tighten up, they only want to kick in 1 or 2k on top of a 5 k rebate...
i think wether its 2.5k manufacturers and 3k dealer or 5k manufacturers and 1k dealer, there is a baseline price they wont sell the car below. also some dealers arent that interested in negotiating, they will wait for someone to come along and buy at closer to list price.
thus no guarantee of getting 5-7k off your purchase. its a bit nerve wracking. if you are willing to come east to buy in december, wait. if not, go ahead and buy now, haggle for 5-6 k off the msrp...

 

This. ^^^

There are 3 very good times to purchase a car:

1) End of year
2) Memorial day weekend
3) End of month.

If you need a car soon, I would start emailing or calling all of them mid month and get their best price. Get the best quote and start asking other dealers to beat it. If they don't want to budge just stay on the sidelines until the last few days of the month and tell them you will buy today for the price. 99% of the time one of them will budge. Remember it's a game.

Negotiate over the phone and email. Be polite but firm. Do not walk into the dealer until you have written out the door price you're happy with. I would figure out the out the door price you're willing to pay and negotiate from that.

You're basically only going to show up at the dealer to sign the paperwork and hand them a check. If they want more than that, or won't hold to the deal, walk out.

Try to find a "volume" dealer. It's usually a little easier to get a better price from a big dealer vs a smaller one.

Dealers don't make as much on new cars and sometimes are willing to take a loss to hit a sales goal in order to get a bonus from the auto manufacturer.

 

Where in California are you buying? This matters a lot

 

We are getting those discounts because we bought the car in December of last year or early this year, leftover 2018 models. Also, the big discounts were on the East Coast. I don't know about California but my impression is it's harder to get a discount. Some people actually flew to the East Coast Dealers to get a huge discount and then drove back.

This website gives you an idea of discounts available now in MA on the east coast. It will increase at year end but it's a good basis to compare your pricing.
Drive Green | Meet the cars

 

The discounts in the Northeast are to make up for the lack of government incentives in other states.

 

I got $2100 off sticker on my Plus last month, and the $2500 from Toyota. South Coast Toyota in Costa Mesa, SoCal. Dianne Whitmire (Dealers & Pricing section of this forum) is excellent, no hassle, very knowledgeable. Got my carpool stickers yesterday, she applies for them in advance so you don't have to wait so long.

 

can i ask what your OTD price was?

 

wow, great deal for cali, go dianna!