At MSRP, is the Prius still worth it?

I think so.

 

First of all, MSRP sounds pretty good to me. I've been converting our company cars to Toyota so I've purchased 5 Toyotas from one dealership in the past 15 months. I thought that would make me a pretty good customer. Today I checked on another Prius, they now want $2000. over msrp on every Prius. Your "maybe" on getting a few hundred off msrp sounds extremely attractive.

As to the worth of a Prius over anything else, it's a fun car with very low operating costs. It's really satisfying to fill your tank after 350 miles and only use 7 gallons, it even softens the sting of $4.00 gas.

Gas prices aren't going away, so the Prius is only going to be in greater demand as the price goes up. The more you think about buying a Prius, the more sense it makes. Good Luck in your search.

 

HELL YEAH it's worth it!

I don't understand the fixation many people have with "getting a deal" when buying a new car. The Prius will sell for MSRP plus a premium now because the demand is just that high. I haven't heard of any other car going for above-market price (granted, I only hang around PC, where that fact about the Prius is commonly cited). It also retains its value extremely well over the years. For a depreciating asset, the Prius is a pretty good way to spend your money. Anyway, there are plenty of people out there who will buy at MSRP+ in the coming months if you won't. Similar questions were posed when the federal tax credit expired. It's still worth it.

If you want a good discount right now, you ought to be looking at SUVs!

Seriously, it's worth it. Comparing it to a comparably equipped car (smart key system, backup camera, fold-down rear seat, cargo capacity...what else?) of similar mileage and build, the "hybrid premium" is not that large (maybe a couple thousand). Unless fuel prices drop dramatically in the next year or so, you will have paid off the premium within two years. I don't understand how Toyota can sell a car this advanced and full of features for so little. It's worth it!

 

Hi from a fellow Pennsylvanian I am dealing with the same thing as you, matter of fact I almost bought a used Prius yesterday. My wife and I decided that we are going to wait, I really think that by this fall people will calm down a little bit. Right know everyone is buying off of emotions i.e. gas prices are shocking and some people are impulse buying. I might be totally wrong but I think being a little patient will result in getting a Prius at a reasonable price. My wife and I want one as bad as anyone else but we are not willing to let ourselves be ripped off.
We have two paid for trucks and will be buying our Prius with cash, so I will wait and buy when I have more power than the dealer.
Just my opinion its worth what you paid
Kirk

 

For a lot of us who bought before 2005, there was no choice but to pay MSRP, or worse, a markup over MSRP. Well, there was another choice: delay purchasing.

 

I guess it depends on your local or internet dealers. MSRP seems to differ as much as model availability (touring vs basic). I feel fortunate to have gotten $600 under MSRP -- from what I am seeing on this site.

 

In '05, when I bought mine, I paid sticker. I had to look around 5 counties to find one that wasn't spoken for. Best decision I made, even though I usually look for the best deal. I've got over 104k on mine and the "premium" of the hybrid has paid off at this point. I looked at the Corolla at the time and saw the gas mileage was about 20% less. I also looked at the resale for previous Prius models and it became a no-brainer. I plan to own this car for 5 years and then trade it in for a new one. The money I save on gas by that point should actually pay for the difference between the trade in value of my care an the price of the new car! Now THAT's worth the price of admission!

 

Yes.

 

Dont read too often here, it makes you want a prius more, the more you read the more you want to have one.

 

Boy You got that right We actually rented one a couple of weeks ago and LOVED it!!
We will definitely get one but what can I say I am one of those annoying people who always looks for a deal
All the Best!
Kirk

 

You can spend significantly less on a new or used car, but a Prius is the best thing for the money.

 

This sort of question gets asked frequently, and a problem is that it's vague to the point of meaninglessness.

"Worth it" in what sense?

What decision are you actually making?
1. replacing existing old-ish vehicle w/ new vehicle?
2. replacing existing recent-ish vehicle w/ new vehicle?
3. existing vehicle totaled, need new vehicle now?

Once you clarify that (although someone, maybe you, mentioned it was case 3), you now need to specify what class of vehicles you are looking at purchasing.

(Some people, typically the diesels-are-better-than-hybrids crowd, like to cherrypick features; their 1.0L 3-cyl diesels with 20+ second 0-60 times get better milage than the Prius, but they are smaller and slower (and might be cheaper); the faster diesels don't get as good of milage as the Prius; diesels burn 15% more mass per gallon, thus have worse CO2 emissions; diesels have drastically worse SOx, NOx, and PM emissions; etc.)

The most typical response to all this is that someone is determined to buy a new car, and they want to know whether the "hybrid premium" has a reasonable "payback period".

The Prius makes this difficult because there is no non-hybrid version. The most popular choices for similar base cars from Toyotas are Corolla, Camry, and Matrix. Adding features to those cars (auto trans, keyless entry, etc) usually puts them within 2-3k$ of a similarly-spec'd Prius.

(This doesn't work for all hybrids; last time I looked at the Highlander, the hybrid premium for otherwise similar vehicles was more like 6k$, and the MPG ratio of the HiHy vs. gas Highlander is not nearly as favorable as that of the Prius vs. any of its comparables.)

Assuming you want a car, you next have to say how much you drive every year, and what kind of driving it is. I did this math myself when I was replacing my 1995 Subaru L AWD sedan with my 2005 Prius #6, and I got payback in less than 3 years (at 3$/gal gas, 19k mi/yr driving). I didn't factor in inflation, but I figure that it mostly comes out in the wash. And I bought mine at MSRP in April 2005, so...

So is it worth it? I think so, yes. Even a purely economic argument comes out in my favor; it doesn't even touch emissions (carbon credits), future-proofing (even if the future is fuel cells, the Prius has lots of tech that is directly applicable to serial hybrids, not just parallel); legendary Toyota quality; 100k+ miles between brake jobs; etc...

(And I won't even dignify people who try to compare the Prius vs. crap cars, e.g., Chevy Cobalt. What was CR smoking?)

Anyway, if you can't find a Prius, or can't find a "good enough" deal on one, consider getting a cheaper econobox until the current Prius rush settles down.

If you do a lot of highway driving, the Honda Civic Hybrid might be your cup of tea (but as with the HiHy, the HCH vs HC MPG ratio is not all that amazing -- 45/35 with the old EPA estimates, IIRC -- and that would drastically extend the payback period).

Regardless, good luck.

 

i got mine for just under sticker by threatening to go to another dealership that had another prius i would have been willing to drive off the lot with in one day. i think i just got lucky that i found three dealerships that all had at least one prius on the lot.

 

I got my package #2 $21,995 the end of March. Deal with the internet sales guy, around the Boston area they offer way lower prices because they don't make commission. Wait until the end of the quarter, last week in June and already have financing lined up.

 

I bought my package #1 2008 Prius one month ago for $21,000 plus destination and docs fees.

Please tell me what car you are looking at that costs $6,000-8,000 less than that (AFTER RESALE?!?! Nothing is holding its value better right now than a Prius) and has comparable size, performance, and features/comforts. I decided on the Prius because I couldn't find such a vehicle.

The way I saw it, if I was going to have to spend almost $20,000 to get a car with automatic transmission, air-conditioning, a CD player, 4 doors, some cargo space, etc... then I might as well buy a Prius and save on gas by getting 45 mpg (and so far I'm doing even better at 57 mpg).

Tim

 

It was still like that well into 2006. I think it was only the end of 2006 up until about a month ago that you could routinely find one under MSRP. So basically the first 3 years of the hatchback model you had a wait, but felt lucky if the dealer sold it at MSRP (which most did, to their credit).

But why are you comparing it to a car that costs $6K less? For the subcompacts that have decent mpg (Versa, Fit, Yaris, FWD Matrix)? They won't have the same features or interior space that a Prius has, altho still good cars. But if you're looking only to save money, buy a 3-year-old Matrix or stick-shift Corolla, etc. Gas prices would have to go pretty high to beat that deal with a new Prius, depending on the length of your commute (trips of less than 5 miles get maybe 35-40mpg, but most people average 47-50mpg real-world). But if you're in the new-car market, and ready to spend $20K+, then the Prius is definitely the best option.

 

Yep, I have the same plan if the trend sticks.

 

Bottom line, which will I regret more in a year or two -- paying full price now for a Prius, or not buying it at all?

I know everyone here is a little biased, but hopefully you all can give me an honest answer. [/quote]

My biggest regret is not getting one sooner. And my husband is now in line for one. I think you can figure out my answer.