Unbelivable!

If he is including the rebate in his number, he is selling you the vehicle for $1500 over invoice. You can do better elsewhere. That is assuming that it is a Package #1 or #2.

However, in order for him to get to your number of $21k out the door, he would have to take a $1,000 to $1,500 loss. I don't see him doing that either.

 

Funny, I live in a suburb of New Orleans, and I've gone to TX twice to get better deals(DWF and San Antonio). Lubbuck is middle of nowhere Texas, and there is plenty of middle of nowhere in Texas. You aren't that far from CA-maybe 1000 miles- I would be tempted to hunt CA, or DWF,Houston or maybe even the midwest.I've heard the hybrids aren't popular in the midwest?

You should just give up on this dealer.With internet sales at most dealers, they give you a price, and that is the price.Most of the time internet prices are better than the price you can get by just going to the dealer, and working with a salesman.

This dealership doesn't really have a separate internet sales setup.Their internet sales are just like "normal sales"-with the usual bargaining.

It is easy to tell if a dealer has cheaper internet prices; ask for a price-what you get for an answer is THE ANSWER.

Don't waste your time with this dealer-AND DON'T TAKE IT TO HEART.The salesman certainly didn't intend to insult you-what would be the point?? It really is JUST BUSINESS.

Send your deal to all the big city dealerships you are willing to buy from. Some will counter offer-ok-some will ignore you,OK.Some will try to get you to come in, but won't make any concrete offer-ignore them.

Just work with the ones that come back with a reasonable counteroffer.

My guess is that you are being a bit too optimistic in your price. A few months back-gas at $1.50 and economy tanking- they MIGHT, MIGHT, have taken your offer. I'n not sure what your sales tax is, but it looks to me like you are offering just $19600 or so before TTL?? I doubt any dealer will accept that offer-why would they? The economy is slightly improving, but more importantly gas is up $1, and headed north again.

I would aim for maybe $1000 or so less that true MSRP including delivery-what is that-about $21000?

Forget that dealer-you are almost $4000 apart.
Prepare to pay more than the well under $20,000 you are offering.
My guess is $21000+TTL is about right for a volume dealer with a true internet pricing department.
Check the internet for internet sales that actually post Prius prices.You'll get an idea of the lowest price you can find.

Luck,
Charlie
PS -It is never the intention of sales folks to insult or belittle you-never take it to heart. A poorly chosen phrase is probably a sales technique-never an insult. Just politely thank him for his time and effort, and move on."Sorry we couldn't make a deal-I appreciate your time and effort."

 

The window for killer deals has closed up some and is rapidly fading. With gas going up so fast and 2009's no longer shipping, the deals are almost gone. My local dealership had 12 2009s 2 months ago and 12 2009s 2 weeks ago. Now they only have 6. Next week, if gas continues to edge up and with no more 2009s coming in, they'll have non. This is a dealer that hasn't gotten any 2010s yet and most local people probably still have no idea that the 2010 is about to hit the lot in the next month.

 

Just for the record, the only reasons I wouldn't recommend going back to the same dealer are #1, You are already uncomfortable, you've already had a negative feeling. Sometimes just follow your instincts, life is too short. #2. I tend to think things rot from the inside out. Which means a manager should know the tactics employed by all his sales people. If you go in person to the dealership (which is what they want) you run the risk of getting put in a "Good Cop-Bad Cop" scenario, where a manager, or other salesperson will pretend to be the Good Cop. The run around could continue.

As always knowledge is your best friend here. First establish exactly what you want. Then establish what a fair, good price actually is. This should be something you can do on the internet or on the phones.

If you know exactly what you want, what is available, and what you should pay, then the dealer becomes almost inmaterial. At that point just stick to your guns. IN the end it's who defines the deal, You or The Dealer. Asking you to stop thinking and just come on in and sign a deal you weren't comfortable with, was not good communication. It might just be a conflict in "style" of communication but certainly if I was trying to sell a person anything, I would never suggest to the potential customer that they should just stop overthinking and get in a do the deal.

If you are really serious you might want to contact other dealers relatively agressively as at least in my area the stock of local 2009's available has really plummeted. They are being sold and not replaced.

Also something to keep in mind is if this dealer is your only local dealer what about warranty service and maintenance?

 

So why bother with the base '09 at invoice (other than the 'unimproved' cockpit) since the MSRP on a 2010 package II (base) is $1K less at $22K? Seems to me Toyota and/or the dealers are going to have to pull back on the '09 price unless they want to turn them into planters.

 

We've been on both ends of the shtick. One of our businesses is on commission, and 'she who must be obeyed' invariably gets insensed when someone 'grinds her down' as she calls it. But then it's a way of life when it's time for us to buy. Not that I'd ever be dumb enough to ask how you reconcile that.



.

 

Ah, just re-read that part. Yeah, offering 21K INCLUDING tax and license is getting down to greedy on a Prius, try low balling a GM, Ford or Chrysler dealer, they are a lot more desperate. They might sell a vehicle that isn't moving at a slight loss just to stop paying interest on it. That is not the case with a Prius dealer. While I hope NO ONE is stupid enough to pay the $3K 'market adjustment' the greedy b@stard in GA is asking (posted by 9G-man). There is no 'market adjustment' if everyone is smart enough to reject the dealer until he takes it off. Well, they are including the $750 destination charge so they are 'only' asking $2,245 over MSRP, how generous!

ANYTHING over MSRP is greed on the part of the dealer. Jabber, what is the invoice on a 2010 Prius that would MSRP for $31,425? I'm betting there is reasonable dealer profit in the difference between MSRP and invoice.

 

Same here in VT, but it would not hurt (in general) to check dealers in 'nearby' states. Dealers in NH are all set up to sell to non NH customers. They have a 2 week NH registration so you can legally drive the vehicle home and register it at your convenience. They even have the VT registration forms all filled out. When you register it, you pay the sales tax. No different than if you buy a used car from a private party. The only sad part is that VT won't take the NH inspection on a brand new car so you have to pay to get it inspected again in VT.

 

I can tell you that there isn't a Prius made now that has more than $2,000 markup between MSRP and invoice. Even the V with AT. We are not used to that small of a markup on Prii.

As far as 09 vs 10 pricing, the invoice is the same between a II and an 09 with a pkg 1. The difference is the 0% financing and the rebate.

 

Forget about it in Texas. Gulf States Toyota is the distributor and the Toyota dealerships in the region are a royal pain in the butt to work with as well. I never would have succeeded in buying what I wanted in state for anything resembling a fair price--I know as I had tried multiple times with many Toyota dealers on three different models in Texas over a decade. Finally, when I bought my Tundra I started calling out of state. Got exactly what I wanted for what I wanted on the first try.

Buy out of state/out of region and let GST's dealers' know they can kiss your...tail light assembly. Hint: this can work really well if you call dealers along a planned out of state trip route.

 

Then we agree. Your last sentence says there is already a 'desirability market adjustment' in the MSRP. $2K should be more than enough to cover the costs of doing business especially since there aren't going to be a big interest charges on cars that don't sit on the lot long.

NO "market adjustments" should be a requirement from Toyota to their dealers. No better way to make for bad customer relations on your brand than to be greedy. It is bad enough the SE Region is famous for 'port option' add-ons. I'd pay MSRP for the model with options I wanted and eat any travel costs to avoid 'rewarding' those tactics. Somewhere along the line, 'capitalism' lost morality for some people.

 

Right Chilibean- no pint in burning bridges. I bought a 2003 Pilot in San Antonio because the internet dealer sold it low enough that it was worth -saved maybe $1500 over NOLA the $200 plane ticket and 500 mile drive.Same story on a Titan in DWF.

The Prius was actually a local buy . I emailed saying I would pay $26000 OTD for a PK4-2006(airbag pk, stability control, rear camera etc). It was 23,700 before TTL(95 sales tax).I think it was a bare $400 under true sticker of 24,100. This was May 2006- great deals were gone, and the full TC-$3150- was in effect. One dealer said OK- the Prius was Black, not my color(NOLA is as hot as Lubbock), but the deal was right.

Cast a wide net in TX. They will counteroffer if they are serious. Other posters are correct, the window for truely great Prius deals has closed with the gasoline price rise. You can always find a good deal-just be patient. My guess is that $1000 under true honest sticker (MSRP+ DELIVERY) is a very good deal now.
Heck,I would be tempted to wait for a 2010-better mpg-why not? If you are only going to save $1000 vs a 2009, then go 2010. The economy is still crummy, and maybe gas will drop after the summer driving season.

Luck, Charlie

PS Back about 3 years ago-Dianne Witmire(sic) I've seem her name here-was internet sales boss at another CA dealer-forget the name.She posted on the Tundra Forum, and was known to give good internet prices. CA is a long way, but if you have some reason to go to CA, it would be worth an email.She is with a different dealership, so who knows, worth a shot.

 

Wanna bet?

 

I can certainly understand the frustration and it sounds like you have already moved on amicably which is likely for the best. I found the local dealership pretty fair in terms of pricing on the Prius back in 04 (was going to get around $400 off of MSRP--good deal around that time). Went ahead and did order with them for a 2004 and they never tried to take any deposit or string me along about how long it would take.

Ended up going with a dealer in Missouri who had one for MSRP and didn't know how much longer it would take to get one from Lubbock dealership. To confirm what others said, you do indeed have to pay Texas TT&L when you go to get your car registered in Texas, so be ready for that bill (think it was around $2k, but that is without going back to look at materials).

Sounds like you are taking with a pretty cool head all in all (I have the same tendency to personalize some of the car salesman mumbo jumbo), so I think you will find a deal that you are happy with. When you do, then I think you will find Lubbock is a pretty good situation to get good mpg in the city (assuming you don't have short trips). With the construction confused it is nice to not have to worry about wasting gas waiting on the lights and you will find good routes that you can go for several miles without ever coming to a full stop.

Lubbock is growing and has a lot more stuff now than in used to. Two Targets, multiple chain restaurants that have 2 or more locations, 4 walmarts, several very large strip malls, etc. Checking with nearby dealers (in TX terms) is still a good idea though.

 

The price on that should be $1,800 below invoice, period. Call all dealers in TX and NM. Tell them you have close to that deal on paper. Don't mention you're paying cash. If they agree, get it on paper first. Have the salesperson overlay their business card and write the vin# on the quote. All is fair in love and war, and buying cars.