I know its difficult... but wait. Right now the 2011s are the lowest prices they have been. There are dealers in California selling brand new 11's for 22,400... with 0% APR. If that is any indication they will continue to go down when the 12's hit the market. the key is to wait and watch the inventory at your local dealers. And also... expand your driving distance... if you have to drive 200 miles to get a great deal on a Prius, its worth saving t he 500 bucks on. And as mentioned before, see about shipping one over to you, or driving your element to california, do the math and see if you save money. Thats only if your dealers are stubborn. Oh and for prices I tend to use cars.com and truecar.com I myself was debating between the 11 and the 12. And was all set and picking up an 11 with some slick deals at the end of the year... now I want a 12 because of the refresh.. ugh lol. GL
Me to. Because it's that unconcious driving that will get ya. But seriously reading the parameters of your choices, I'd look around. Even a Prius II is pretty well equipped and right now 2011's are IMO a pretty good deal. I'm thinking you could go new for close or better than some of those used deals.
Hi folks!! I just bought a brand new 2011 Prius level 4, Blizzard pearl, Tan leather, with the Solar and Nav package! I got a fantastic deal!... I am coming from my ford F150 that I barely manage 13.5 MPG in the city. This prius will virtually pay or itself! excited to be part of the family!
aavega, If your initial reason to switch is mainly to cut cost, why putting more money in? In my view, there are better options than you listed, such as buying a lower mileage 2004-5 gen 2 Prius for maybe $10K. If the car is in good condition, you don't need to worry about big ticket repairs before you put in another 150K miles, that's like 5-7 years based on how much you drive. This option will cut your monthly pay in half, and save you additional $200 on gas, total around $350/month savings. It is like you almost get your Prius for free! The biggest cost of ownership is the depreciation. So you should get rid of your Element ASAP. Best wish all the way...
I'm two months into my new '11 Prius IV after trading in my '02 Suburban. Had similar gas mileage as you F150 and am using extra gas budget toward my car payments. Not sure what you're driving habits are like but I had to drastically changes mine. The changes have not been as difficult as I thought. I'm actually more relaxed on my drives now for I'm not in a hurry and have accepted the fact that I might arrive two/three min later than before. Enjoy the new ride!
What goal(s) are you trying to achieve: Minimize petroleum consumption or greenhouse gas emission? Minimize your total cost of ownership? Get the most-fun car you can afford? Own the most reliable car you can afford? Or something else? There are different solutions depending on how you weight these considerations. From your description of events it seems like you want the most-fun car; you're certainly not on a course for lowest TCO.
I am two days into my Prius and I can tell you it IS a more relaxed feeling, hard to explain, just knowing I am not literally burning $3.50+ every 12-13 miles is so comforting, I find myself driving a little slower, taking my time, and enjoying my prius. It is a differnt style of driving but I like the change.
So I got a deal offered to me for a 2011 package 2 for $22,400. This included the $1,000 rebate Toyota is offering and a $1,000 dealer discount. I would like to think I could get another $500 off that price, but am also considering a 2010 Prius 3 and using the 2011 price as a bargaining chip. I am unsure what the beat move would be.
When I used to have my 350Z (as much as I liked the handling, power and styling), it irked me to get such terrible mileage compared to my Prius, esp. since it required premium. The fill-ups felt somewhat painful in terms of cost for the distance I'd traveled. My Prius was a bargain to fill up. On the Z, when I had a highway commute, I'd get ~21-23.x mpg. When I was living in WA, w/very short city drives, I'd get ~13.x to 17 mpg, was despite me practicing some a few techniques that hypermilers use.
IMO, that's a pretty good deal at this point. If you can get them to knock off another $500, that's even better. Might be easier to have them add stuff to it for free if they wont go down in the price. Id go with the 2011 at this point, not the 2010.
