2023 Toyota Prius - Mark Up and Sticker

Dealer-installed options are a scam.

When I bought my 2023 Corolla Hybrid 2 weeks ago, I searched for the cheapest offer on the Toyota website and call a dealer 2 hours up North. I said right away that I will only buy at MSRP with no mark-up, no dealer options, with my own financing and no backoffice tricks.

She promised that the car is on the lot and she will sell it to me at MSRP.

I arrived the next day, did a test ride, sat down, and a new sales guy takes over, brings the window sticker, that thing now has a print-out attached to it, see below, and tells me that the price is MSRP plus $7,600 for dealer installed options and mark-up.

I asked if he was kidding and he said no, and said that he will sell the car the same day for that price. I told him that I was offered MSRP without any markups or dealer options, so he asked who told me that, I told him her name, and he tells me that she is not supposed to discuss prices.

I raised my voice, became VERY firm at that point and told him that I will not play the typical games. He can stand behind her offer or I will leave right now, and I will raise all hell, and that I know how to get past the firewall called the exceptive office at Toyota. He ask if I'm threatening him, and I told him that those will be the consequences for trying to scam me and wasting my time.

He walked off to his manager. 10 min later the manager came over and offered to sell the car at MSRP, with no mark-up and that I will get those dealer installed options for free.

Next time I'll go back to signed buyers orders only, via email, sick and tired of those clowns.

The manufacturers really need to get rid of dealerships, they are the cancer of the industry.

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1600 bucks for floor mats, PINSTRIPES, nitro in the tires and tint. That crap is worth 200 bucks at cost.

Pro pack my a$$.

 

42 large for a Prius? The world has gone crazy

 

And no spare...

 

In 2010, we signed a sales agreement that had "documentation fee" at $0. They came back 10 minutes later, saying "we reprinted it on the form with our dealership letterhead". Well they did a bit more than that: $0 had blossomed into $295.

They actually got huffy when I called them on it, did the usual "this is highly irregular, I'll have to check with the manager"; I guess when you get caught with your fingers in the till that's as good a strategy as any. Anyways, second plug for them today: that was Open Road Toyota in Port Moody.

I wonder if they're still pulling this BS; think they could use a secret shopper...

 

Stopped by my Toyota dealership yesterday(upper midwest, Kansas region, Wisconsin sub-region, supposedly largest dealership chain in the sub-region). Was told $1500 deposit to get on any list. $5000 base adjustment for all hybrids(-$1000 for financing with them, -$1000 for a local buy, -$1000 for a trade). Currently 8 names on the Prius Prime list, #1 on the list agreed to $15k over MSRP, #8 agreed to $7k over.

I told them no-go on any deposit that is not a locked-in vehicle, and that I'm more than willing to wait until all the people paying stupid markups get theirs first. Plus once I heard Canada is getting mustard, I'm also more than willing to wait until the 2024s come out to see if the US gets mustard next year.

It's nice to walk into a dealership with a f--k you attitude if they want to play stupid games. I'm perfectly content to wait or eventually widening my search to the coasts and take a little vacation to pick up a car.


They have a regular Prius coming in that's almost exactly what I would be looking for if I was willing to go HEV instead of PHEV. Only thing "wrong" is the gray interior instead of black. AWD might be nice, but I'm okay with FWD and eventually fitting great tires(had already accepted FWD since I've been looking at Primes). They're supposed to call me when it comes in so I can test drive to get a sense of the gen5.

If the pending MSRP for Primes is as bad as I'm fearing, I might consider this one if I can get the dealer adjustment under $2000 and get a good deal on my trade. I want the plug in, but I'm not willing to pay $7000 MSRP over an equivalent FWD non-plug.

 

Those games have been around for a long time, and they get played every time in a sellers market, and many times in a buyers market.

What sometimes works well is lying to them. Search for the best deal on AutoTrader, call the dealer with the best offer, ask if the car is still on the lot, tell them that you are in the business doing the financing, working for an out of town dealership and ask for a buyers order via email with their best offer. Once they sent that, call, ask to put hands on the car, then ask to send the same buyers order signed and put a 1k deposit on it, on the phone. Get plane tickets and ask them to pick you up at the airport. Pick up car and drive back home.

Done that several times. Got my last new pickup in 2019 with a 31% discount this way, 2 states up North.

 

I wanted only the Prime and its nowhere to be seen in the foreseeable future

Went ahead and ordered the Tesla on the jan 13th and it's already sitting in my garage. No dealer bullshit whatsoever.

 

It’s amazing how Tesla keeps producing while everyone is sitting on the sidelines

 

Santa Margarita Toyota

 

Their production outpaced demand in 2022 for the first time, so they've got extra cars available right now. Combine Musk's idiotic moves in 2021 & 2022 causing Tesla stock to start dropping because he used it as part of his Twitter bid, then add lower demand for Teslas than predicted and surplus cars sitting in factory lots with no buyers and quarterly reports about to come due, and you get large discounts to try and get sales numbers back up to reassure investors and stabilize the stock price. Of course you also anger recent Tesla buyers with that move because they feel screwed and their cars immediately drop in resale value by several thousand. But it's still a good deal for current buyers for whom a BEV will work. (Unfortunately for me, I'm not one of them; I need a hybrid.)

 

not big enough discounts for me. but if prime is 40k, that might push me over the edge.
and surprisingly, the stock is on a hot streak.

did i read they had record profits last quarter?

 

The Prime range will be impressive. It's still no Tesla, but if you only need that range - it might be your choice. Unfortunately, I wasn't willing to wait.

 

there's a lot to like about the new prime, but also a lot of question marks. nevertheless, it is a maximum i'm willing to pay, if one ever becomes availble

 

I won't get a Tesla due to one major reason: no proper access to parts. None of my vehicles see a dealership or shop ever again, I do all the work myself. Only EV I would consider is a new Bolt at 30k for local errands.

 

43k for a Prius is nuts. I got my new 2019 Vette for that price, before taxes and fees. At that time everybody wanted the new C8 and the remaining C7s sold with big discounts.

At that price I don't care about MPG anymore since its already a bad value proposition.

Installed a few stealth tricks on her, stage 3, headers, heads, fuel system, HP, 640 RWHP, about 700 at the crank, still NA, race suspension for insane traction and cornering speed. Below 3 sec car, GPS measured.

 

Well, 2019 is long gone. The Vette now is probably cost a lot more.

 

I was offered 65k in December. The inflation we are facing won't go negative and regain the old dollar value ever again. Since my income didn't go up equally, I refuse to "accept" the new price reality we live in. The 2023 Corolla Hybrid I bought 2 weeks ago for 25k plus tax will be my last new car for a long time. And that's fine by me...

 

agree on tesla parts, although i think bob wilson gets them somewhere. and service can be an issue.
not sure what i could repair on a tesla myself, but i likely wouldn't have it long enough to need anything, short of a wreck.

 

Hey DC, I am in HB myself and will soon be in the market for a new Prius. Please reach out if you want to connect and share info. Laurens 714-552-2281

 

Can we count on getting a much better deal by waiting a few months, when Toyota plans to limit the number of Primes in the US market to something like 4,000?