So how should I go about buying a Prius?

Being that you didn't put your location in your profile, we are at a major disadvantage for giving you a good answer. The answer most definitely would change if you were in Nome, Alaska rather than Los Angeles.

 

I would try the internet. Check Craigslist.org in your area and see if any dealers are listing Prius' for sale. Check local dealers online to see if they have any in inventory. You might have to spread your search net out a bit.

BTW California is beautiful this time of year (our little secret called Indian Summer), and there are a number of Prius' around. One way plane ticket and a "Get to Know your Prius" drive back home.....Okay, maybe not....

 

If I were you, I'd try some other dealerships. In and around major metropolitan areas would be a good shot. Demand has been very high for these cars; actually in my opinion, artificially high. Like so many other things in the financial/economic arenas, that is probably correcting itself.

Getting into a major metro area where the dealership(s) may have had higher allocations might yield at least one you could look at. I have no clue as to the situation with "the list", you might want to check the Newbie forum here for a read on that.

If you can't locate a car to at least look at, you might consider renting one. Several of the major car rental places offer them. No, that's not free, and probably not even cheap, but it is sort of the ultimate extended test drive.

Good luck in your search.

 

For that, you probably need to order it. Dealers might have one or two on the their lot (for a couple days), but you'd be unlikely to get the right color and package level. In my case, I took what they had available, and got the package I wanted but not the color. But most of my time with the Prius I spend inside the car, not outside, so the color wasn't a showstopper for me.

Living that close to Detroit, I'm not sure how many Prius drivers there are, but you may have a friend of a friend with one that would at least let you check it out up close. Some find the driving position a little uncomfortable at first, it seems to be built for people with short legs or long arms.

 

The best dealers always seem to be the smaller dealership without the large advertising budget that are usually located in the bad section of larger midsize cities that are large enough to have multiple Toyota dealers.

 

Be persistent, figure out where your limits are, and what you're willing to do/how far from home you're willing to go.

When I got mine, I got both the color and the package I wanted, but that was before the demand got out of control. I did have to wait a couple of weeks while the dealerships shuffled cars around, but I thought it was worth it. There are other stories around here of people who got exactly what they wanted during the high demand; a few were lucky but most were patient and persistent.

I really do have to agree with nerfer, from the inside, you really don't see the outside of the car. The two exceptions are when looking in the side mirrors and a thin strip (ca 1/16" by about 2.5") that's the trailing edge of a trim piece on the hood. Of course you do see the outside when you're also outside.

Even knowing this, I'm sure that I'd have settled for a color that was not my first or second choice. This basically falls into the philosophy of "it's my money and I can take it elsewhere." That's harder to do at the "top" of a market, but it remains true.

Good luck!

 

no need to apologize, go to buyatoyota.com, that's how i got mine last year and it was much harder at that time than is now..i found mine there and the dealer /salesman didnt know he even had it in stock. maybe a fluke, but i was on the toyota site several times a day til i found it

 

If you want to fly to Phoenix (very nice this time of year) you should be able to pick one up at or below MRSP. Try calling one of these dealers: Larry Miller, Big Two Toyota, Right Toyota, Avaondale Toyota or Earnhardt Toyota. When I was looking (July) they all had a selection at or below MRSP.

 

American manufacturers offer this, but Japanese manufacturers do not. You can order a specific color and equipment config, but that order does not get transmitted to the Toyota manufacturing plant with your name on it.

 

The best collection of buying advice I know of is in Consumer Reports magazine. See the most recent April (car buying) issue, available in most libraries, or online at
ConsumerReports.org - Car buying guide for new and used cars by Consumer Reports