New to the Prius world. Would appreciate insights/lessons learned from seasoned owners. I live in the Chicago area and keep my cars in a garage with a little heat.
You're in the same area. Congrats, I will be picking mine up next week also. What color combination did you get?
Here are some things that will be thrown at you. Do not lease the car Never trust the dealer is giving you the best interest rate. Shop around. Do not buy an extended warranty Do not buy prepaid maintenance Do not buy rust proofing Do not buy life insurance on your loan Do not buy GAP insurance Do not buy Teflon protection for the interior or exterior Do not buy anything they try to toss at you at the end They will try to sell you more stuff then I listed above They will tell you it is a high tech car and will cost a lot to get fixed out of warranty. Toyota is on their third generation of Prius cars. All three generations have an outstanding reliably record. Toyota makes the most reliable car in the world. When you go in have a number ready on how the car will cost including destination charge. Know the dealer fees up front. Calculate the tax up front. Go in with a total and do not let them change that number for any reason. Never buy a car on how much it will cost per month. After you get your total call a few local banks and credit unions. Once you find the best interest rate ask them how much the monthly payments are. Or use a calculator or excel to figure it out yourself. I would tell the dealer before you go in that you have 1 hour from the time I enter the door until I leave. If we cannot do this transaction in 1 hour I do not want the car. Most dealers will make you sit around for hours to wear you down then they will try to sell you all the stuff above.
Thanks for the candid advice. My first Prius but not my first Rodeo. I pay cash and let them know that at the start of the negotiation. Your comments on not adding on at the end is truly great advice, and I appreciate that.
Have them to do the following before take procession: 1. Disable reverse beep 2. Set to unlock all doors with SKS.
I paid cash also. I agree with bedrock8x 1. Disable reverse beep 2. Set to unlock all doors with SKS. I also had the seat belt beeps removed. I did not have all doors unlock with the SKS. You can do this your self.
Do not fret over the gas mileage on the first tank, you have no idea how full the dealer filled it. Do not fret over the gas mileage on the second tank, we want you to learn the controls and the settings. By the third tank, you can worry if you are not getting 'good' mileage.
I would pump up the tires to 49 front and 47 back. It makes a huge differnce on MPG's. I would also order center caps for the rims when you buy the car. The hub caps are ugly and do not have any proven effect on MPG's
congrats I agree about disabling the reverse beep, will still beep once but that is fine. I grabbed the owners manual from the dealer a few ays before we picked ours up and gave it a read. It helped a bit and was pretty interesting. Bigest thing to get used to for me has been gauging a left turn. Even though there is not much nose/hood out there from the driver's seat it feels like a boat sometimes. Does turn well though and a fun car. Enjoy
Thanks for the advice and council Dan. I downloaded the manual off the internet today and more or less grinded thru about 2/3ds of it. Will finish it of this weekend. Best. Randy
I'm currently in the market to purchase a Prius and these comments have been extremely helpful. Thank you all.
+1 just p/u ours 12 May, Dealership finance office 1st offered the extended 6 yr platinum $0 detectable warranty for around $4000 then 3K, Then when I said I've seen it available for ~$1000 he said he could meet it. (here thru Prius Chat, Did not tell him where) Felt he was not dealing fairly from the beginning price w/ me and turned his matching offer down.
+1 on the advice regarding the closer process. I had a better experience with the salespeople. My two cents' advice - make damn sure a knowledgible person goes thru the operation of your new Prius with you before you leave the dealership. Have them show you how to operate the Nav system, the iPod adaptor, and any Advanced Tech package features you're getting. If the first guy can't explain everything, demand that he/she find someone else who knows the vehicle. Verify that they've done any pre-delivery mods like the reverse beep change.
Test drive it before accepting delivery, observe the mileage on the odometer, open the hood, the trunk (hatch), see if it has been cleaned and vacuumed or just rinsed off. Make sure the list of options on the window sticker match the quotation sheet you agreed to buy the car for. Is the cargo cover in place, Cargo area floor mat, are the colors what you ordered. Then check the cars' exterior for paint damage, chips, dings, etc. These cars come halfway across the planet, do not assume they make the journey undamaged. Observe spacing between body panels, color differences, and any suggestion of repairs to the body, they may have repaired the car in some way before delivering it. Later on, you own the damage they repaired, once you accept the car. Be slow, and deliberate in this and try to not succumb to the excitment of the new car until you have been thorough in your inspection of the car.
