Best time to buy a Prius?

All I can say is that NOW is not a time to buy, and be able to get a deal. I was doing the clunker program, and because of that, no dealers here were will to bargin at all. All sales were MSRP, and no dealing to be done, because cars were flying off the lots at MSRP. If a buyer would "threaten" to walk away from the deal because it was MSRP, they knew they could sell the same car a few hours later.

When I decided that the Prius was the car I wanted, I called around to every dealer in a 50 mile radius every day. When one said "I just got one in", and it matched what I was looking for, I put a deposit down. I was in a hurry to get my car in before the clunker program ended (and because my current car was breaking down every day), I was not picky about my car. I was looking for either a III, a III with Nav, or a IV. The IV was the first available I found, so that is what I have. I really did not want the Nav, but would have taken it just to get the car.

 

The time to buy is definately not now. I suggest buying when you call a dealer and they say, "Weve got at least 6 on the lot".

 

I think a Prius is like a tree in one respect. The best time to buy one was 10 years ago. The second best time to buy one is right now. I don't think there will be any deep discounts coming into play as early as April next year. I don't think the 2011 will be out until August 2010.

 

I agree with other posters here.

I bought my Pkg III just 3 days before the CARS program started. I did good negotiations, searched enough and finally satisfied with my purchase. I think dealers were listening to me (at least the one who sold me prius under MSRP) as they did not anticipate the CARS program response.

Glad that I was done with my purchase before the CARS program.

 

Wait till the last week of the year. Inventory will be up, buyers will be scarce and salespeople and dealers will be scrambling to meet various incentives.

 

Like the others have stated, now is NOT a good time to buy a Prius. The current inventory is nearly depleted - so there is not much to choose from. My gut feeling is to wait at least 45 days or until dealers have cars in physical inventory (cars on their lots) to choose from. By November, things should return to normal (assuming we don't have another instant oil crises).

Keith

 

In a couple of months a flood of Prii will hit the dealers floor with a lower numbers of buyers and they will get an overstock that should run from Nov-Dec. Buy at the end of the year and you should be able to go less than MSRP and get low financing to boot.

 

Make that at least 6 of each model/package. I got mine at $750 under MSRP when there were at least 6 Vs with AT on the lot.

 

Check Capital One Credit Cards, Banking, Auto Loans, Checking and Savings Accounts, and Small Business Credit Cards

 

This is the first year of the new ones. When winter time hits, the price will still be up there. In certain models, I am sold out through November and rapidly selling out December cars also. If you want a base II or III, wait until december. Of course, this all depends on your geographic area. V's w/ AT are plentiful (relatively speaking)in the west coast area. Non existant in the midwest.

 

Check Bank of America, they have 4.04% up to 60 months

 

You can't beat year end prices. The only question is where financing rates will be at that time. My advice: Try to wait until the week after Christmas. If it seems like rates are creeping up before then, consider buying sooner.

 

I did my deal early August. Toyota matched my pre-approved credit union rate at 4.5 - this was not with Toyota financial, but the finance person placed me with this rate with Chase. Maybe the dealer gets an incentive or bonus for placing the loan?

I just know I was happy to do it this way, saved me the extra hassle of a visit to the credit union to re-close, and I am not bound to auto-withdrawls and other minor inconveniences that the credit union required of me to get that rate.

My opinion, go shopping in November / December of this year.

 

And if the price of gas goes up again, will there is a high demand and there could be no Prius out there.
I do not believe there will be any deals out there
But I also pick the Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup
What do I know

 

Iagree. There are a few signs of the economy improving, especially in China and India so oil prices may be headed upward. I think the time to buy is when you can find the car you want. If we have an economic situation that remains stagnant then late Dec may be the best time to buy if there are many cars on the lot.

 

Alternative opinion: The 'Cash for Clunkers' (C4C) program ends today. I think the increase in car sales was just a temporary response to the C4C deal. This was life support for the auto industry, nothing more. Now that there is no more C4C, the new car sales will plummet again (we ARE still in a recession and unemployment has not improved). The dealers will be dealing again shortly.

See what the sales figures look like for the rest on this month. Since you are in a position where you can wait until April, why give the dealer more than you have to? Search for deals (and financing if needed) through online dealers, bank cards, credit unions, etc. The Prius CAN be purchased for less than sticker.

You might also consider ordering the car and waiting the 7-10 weeks for it to arrive. The dealer has virtually nothing to lose on a special order and might be willing to take a little less profit on a vehicle that won't sit on his lot for more than a day or two.

 

I also think the odds are there will be deals possible later this year or early next year, $500 to $1000 off MSRP depending on model/level - the economy has a long, long way to go. But there are no guarantees. For example it seems unlikely to me, but if gas prices spike again ($4/gal or more) and stay up, I would bet there won't be any deals on Prius at all - maybe even waiting lists again.

What happens now that all the C4C deals are over may be telling. I suspect sales will drop to pre C4C levels or lower, but C4C might improve consumer confidence in which case my expert projection guess will be wrong.

 

probably less than 2.5%