Prius Prime - official prices paid thread

It also becomes ineligible
for the Calif state rebate ($1k) after April 5

 

Hi - I'm purchasing my first brand new car (without my parents!) and looking at the Prius Prime XLE. I've been calling around NorCal dealerships - and the dealership discounts vary widely - I was able to negotiate with a dealer here - his phone quote for the dealership discount was $1,000 but went up to $2,500 when I stated there was another local dealer offering $2100. (That was fast) I guess I shouldn't be so surprised by the fast negotiation - but it's making me wary to go to the dealerships to test drive. With the $5,000 manufacturer discount plus the Clean Fuel Reward program going away very soon for Prius primes, I am getting the sense this is a good time to buy. I'm reading through the recent posts - would you say this is a good deal? I'm afraid of the bait-and-switch once I arrive at the dealer...curious to hear about your experience / thoughts - I'm sure you are more experienced than me. Thanks!

 

Scott, when did you get your car and who was your salesperson. I am dealing with the same dealership and trying to use your deal in my favor.
Thanks

 

For those of you who used Koons Toyota Annapolis, did they try to double-charge the freight? On my draft contract the destination fee is included in Market Value but there's also a separate Freight Charge. I'm satisfied with the price otherwise, but this seems suspicious.

 

Isn't is a destination charge of $995 that is always added to the MSRP by Toyota? If so that is the cost of freight from Japan to the US and is charged to every single Prime sold in the US.

 

Yes, there's a $995 charge in the MSRP listed as Market Value. The sales offer also includes a $955 "Freight Charge" which seems sus(picious).

 

If the $995 is the destination charge (part of the market value posted on the window sticker) and $955 is the "freight charge" for trucking the vehicle to your location, then I don't see anything suspicious. I have no idea what the freight charge should be. If you are trying to close the deal remotely, then, by all means, make sure all the documents are clear and the numbers are explained before you sign anything.

 

Got my 2021 Prime Limited today. Worked on it back and forth with multiple dealers for about 10 days and focused on a total out the door price/number including everything and not starting at their fake high price to try and work downward - so my number always included all fees, sales taxe, tags, title, everything not allowing any surprise fees at the end. I developed this number over the week+ by relentlessly contacting/calculating OTD from every dealer who would respond/published a "web special", etc. . I then followed up with sales managers giving my OTD number by email after studying what specific 2021 Primes were on their lot using cargurus.com by model and trim for Maryland where the cash was being offered. I tried to be politely persistent and positive - "I want to buy this car from YOU/need to get close to this #, etc...politely pushing/contacting until it began to take shape as several came back with good offers, or at least more in my OTD ball park. I tried to convey seriousness/willingness to come and buy if they hit my OTD number - and trying to stay positive and thankful and light/jovial - sort of "how can I help you help me buy this car".

I began to contact only sales managers/general managers - and ultimately got a very aggressive counter from a general manager Saturday after sharing the number/offer I had turned down from another dealer and telling him what we needed to hit. He wasn't aggressive on his first response to my email - so I countered by moving up a small amount on my OTD price (one that I would accept if offered) and I committed to coming to buy it -same day- if he met it - and he did. I had included a photo from test driving the model at another dealer the day before to show seriousness. His dealership had several of the color/trim that I wanted - so I figured he'd want to get one sold - and I was right. I took advantage of the $5k toyota cash avilable this month n Md. and was able to get an active uber driver profile (took about 48 hrs.) and get that additional $750 cash (search uber on this thread/prius chat and some targeted googling found it for me in Maryland). I ended up paying under $27.9k OTD for a 2021 red Prime Limited (about $9500 off the door sticker total - so the fed. tax credit of $4500 will put my total cost in the low $23k range) including everything - fees, taxes, tags, title,all equipment port/factory, everything. We were lucky enough not to have to finance as we'd been saving up (with our 2004 prius at 213km miles and other mature vehicles) and we signed credit check papers, contract, disclosures, insurance cert., etc. wrote them a check - and cruised home in silent EV mode lost in testing the radar cruise control, lane tracing (periods of near autonomous driving) heads up display, and no "knobs" anymore lol. What a lovely, smooth and precise driving car with a lot of new tech to learn/use - wow.

For those looking to buy - it seems like a good time to take a shot at a new 2021 Prime - with cash offers, and less long commuters due to the pandemic right now so maybe less demand(?), and the fed. tax credit makes them a better deal than a recent used Prime. Figure out a good OTD number to strive for from the available offers, researching this thread for what others have paid (depends on State and current Toyota cash/discounts), web specials, engage in the back and forth with a sales manager, etc. Don't be afraid to go a bit lower than you think they'll take on your offer- when they're serious they'll counter - especially if you go in/show commitment and walk away from a deal - and add in your state sales tax, and the tags/title fees that they'll eventually tell you - and then work from that number. Working from your OTD by default includes all their fees so they can't add in something later - and then go back and forth until you find someone who will negotiate and beat the others because they have 4 of the same car on their lot.

I guess I may have been able to do a bit better if I'd waited toward the end of the month - but with the stimulus money flowing- potentially upping demand and the Toyota cash expiring at end of month - I decided to strike when a manager made me an offer that was a quantum leap below others I'd gotten so far.

Good Luck. Excited to play with my new high-tech toy. Got home, plugged it in to my porch outlet - and began to pour over the manual and prius chat threads. I clearly have a lot to learn about this fantastic efficient and beautiful machine.

 

Yeah, I would buy it at a $2500 dealer discount, $5000 Toyota rebates, and $1000 CFR. Make sure they don't have add ons like tint, nitrogen tires, paint protection, etc. I would send some emails out to other dealers to get their out the door price.

 

I purchased my 2021 Prime XLE the middle of January and got ~$3k off MSRP before rebates. That was from a dealer in the East Bay. All my other quotes (I contacted 10 dealerships) were in the ~$1.5k to $~2k off MSRP.

My coworker purchased a 2021 Prime LE for ~$2.7k off MSRP before rebates. That was from a dealer in Sonoma County the end of January.

Both of these deals didn’t include a trade-in. If you’re trading be wary that what seems like a great deal on the new car could be undermined by a less than stellar trade-in amount.

The deal you’re getting (assuming no trade-in) is pretty decent. You might be able to do a little better; it just depends on how much time you’re willing to consume to save an extra few hundred dollars.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

I actually am interested in buying one from them

What was your OTD quote?

 

Oklahoma taxes and tags are weird, so I'll list the pre-tax/tag figure of about $28.5K which I think should be $27.6K. It's first choice of color outside and inside so that affects things a bit.

 

Give Sheehy Toyota of Laurel a call/email to beat koons. They have a bunch of primes on the lot- seem motivated. Todd Bell helped and sales manager - you can find on their about link on web site. Good luck. Don't let them "fee" you. Work that OTD - with everything.

 

What does that mean? No longer eligible for AER incentive? Is that related to the Federal $4502 incentive?

 

no, this is the $1000 California cvrp rebate

 

I dealt with Mark Santana

 

So just to clarify: If you bought a prime last year and claimed the $4502 Fed. Credit, you can trade your car in this year and claim the Federal credit again?
I checked the NY state refund and I will be required to repay a portion to the State refund

 

Absolutely, as the original purchaser (and not leased) with sufficient tax liability to cover the amount. I've done it two years in a row, and will do it again on my 2021 taxes for our new PP. Trading in PPs is almost cheaper than buying new tires and wiper blades!

 

With the current incentives I've been shopping around local dealers trying to trade my 2020 Prime LE for a 2021 LE. No great deals to be had locally. I have a very good over from an out of town dealer. It's about a 3 hour drive which doesn't bother me too much. The problem I see is this out of town dealer is offering a deal that is about $2500 lower than local dealers. Local dealers are telling me there is no way I can get that deal. I'd hate to make that drive if the deal is different once I get there. All I have is their word in an email. Any thoughts?

 

Check the reviews of that dealer to get a feel if they consistently pull the bait and switch technique. If they have good reviews then it’s probably worth the gamble to save that amount of money. If there are other dealers on your way home you’ll have that fallback option if the deal falls through.

When I drove an hour to buy my Prime a couple months ago, I went with the mentality if the deal didn’t work out that I’d be passing three Toyota dealers on my way back home and that one of them would probably want my business.