New driver in CA: Prius Prime LE or Prius LE

If the price is right, then o% for 60 months is a good deal and will help you get a good credit score.

As far as selling price, check trucar or edmunds.com for what a typical selling price in your area is.

 

0% APR is great! But they are telling you to apply, they are not guaranteeing you on the 0% apr. Usually you need a pretty high credit score to get 0%. FYI, if this is a separate application for a loan (as in you tried to get a different loan already or the dealer already performed a credit check on you), there might be another hard pull on your credit report which can lower your credit score. Also, since we are talking about finances, if you are buying a Prime for the tax credits, make sure you have a big enough tax bill.

 

Trucar is a great idea for getting familiar with prices - there's a thread on here about people using Trucar. When I was in the Bay area I found a great deal on Priuses through a dealer in Salinas. It's a little out of your area, but might be worth checking. Also if you're a Costco member their auto insurance is the best price I've found. And a good credit card to build up a credit history is CapitalOne. Good luck, there are quite a lot of aspects to being a new car buyer ;-) Probably wise not to tell any dealer you are a new buyer, or it's your first car. Dealers tend to be "fairly opportunistic" shall we say ;-) PriusChat is a gold-mine of great info and some very smart people.

 

I hate to say this, but I believe you need a credit score above 750 to qualify for the Toyota 0% financing. Dealerships will never say NO to anyone; they'll just steer you into a 15% - 20% loan and won't tell you. The conversation will be about how much you want to pay a month.

Go talk to whomever you bank with; they see your direct deposits and will give you a hard cap on what you can spend on a new vehicle, without bankrupting you.
Dealerships are literally shark tanks, everyone there has a quota to meet - sales - finance - service; almost forgot - now there's an informatics person. Trying to get you to subscribe to all the wonders of the digital world. I had my "joke flip phone" on me at the time and asked her how do I connect to the Toyota app. She turned around and ran away, that's why I almost forgot about her. That one was just too easy; almost sucked all the fun out of it.

Sam's Club and Costco new car buying web site will get you a decent deal; but you'll still have to watch out for the sharks, "value added", "special deals", they've got for members only..

Hope this helps, and you get a good laugh for free....

 

If you are military you have access to USAA which is one of best rates for loans. My credit union is somehow linked to it and always get auto loans from. Even though Toyota was giving 0% I stuck with 1.9% as this was better deal over period of loan.

 

What government incentives do you qualify for?

 

Would you be paying full MSRP? Isn't there some sort of cash discount offered by Toyota if you finance through them?

BTW, don't let them sell you on an extended warranty. Not worth it.

You should be eligible for state and federal tax rebates, $4,500 Fed, $1,000 state.

Bottom line, if you want the vehicle and can afford the payments, go for it.

 

Did California get rid of their rebates?

Usually not with a 0% deal.

 

i think they are fabulous, and would go for the power seat. all the best!

 

Do the math. With 0% APR you are not getting a $5000 rebate. With your numbers including tax and fees, you would be financing ~$29K. $5000 interest for the life of the loan (5 years), is about equal to 6.5% loan rate. If you qualified for the 0% APR from Toyota Financial, then your credit score is much better than you think. You can look around, credit union or local bank, or even dealer financed deal, I am sure you can get better than 6.5% APR on the car loan. If you can, then taking a $5000 rebate is a better deal. If you can only get a loan APR higher than 6.5%, then taking 0% financing and forgoing the $5000 rebate is better. Actually, without the 0% APR, you would be taking a $5K rebate, which means you are only financing $24K. This brings your APR to be almost 8% to end up with a $5K interest for the life of the loan. I am almost certain that you can get a better than 8% APR on the car loan, meaning that taking 0% APR is almost sure to cost you more in the end.

Your numbers do not include tax and fees. Your final price is going to be higher than the net price indicated. Also, the sales tax is added to the price before the rebate but the dealer discount will lower the tax. Yeah, for those two offers, the XLE is a much better deal for sure.

 

How often is the power seat really used?

Since my wife doesn't drive our Prime, it sits in the same position all the time.

Just one perspective.

 

Great prices - $22k+. If you have the ability to pay cash (don't tell the dealer) then it's a real win. Negotiating some higher rebates, a few thing tossed in (like a free loaner car anytime you come in for service or any other reason), can now be just a game, not something you have to win. A friend of mine buys new always, and trades in once the warranty expires - talk about stress free car ownership!

 

I'm happy with all manual adjustments. I would buy the power seat just to get the adjustable lumbar support.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

the car is pretty reliable. i wouldn't trade every 3 years unless you really like driving a new car all the time and are willing to pay for it.
although, with prime, some peeps have been trading every couple years and making money. the question being how the irs views the tax credit.