Hello, I am new to this forum and have decided to buy a new Prius C model three. I have my eye on one and got quoted at $22,800 that includes alloy aluminum wheels and all weather floor mats. (no moon roof) What ballpark price do you think I should offer the dealer? Any help/advice would be appreciated and I look forward to coming back here more often. I've been a lurker for awhile and I just love the Prius C.
Good luck (and I don't mean that snarkily) on "making an offer." It will really depend on where you live I think. I know that some people here were able to do some impressive wheeling & dealing on their price, but others of us live in parts of the country where the demand far outstrips the supply. I think there may be more dealing that happens with trade-in value (that was my case) or maybe getting a good price on extended warranty/service packages. In the Pacific Northwest, many of the Cs are sold while on the boat and the rest seem to sell within 24-48 hours of landing on the lot - especially if you are looking for a popular color or a moonroof! It took me a month just to find one to test drive! Congrats on your decision and I hope your enjoy your C3 as much as I'm enjoying mine
You are lucky! My dealer had to get out the big sticks to keep people from wanting to run away with The Cheetoh before I picked it up. Someone else can hopefully give you advice on deal-making.
Wiscott, here is the link to a similar thread. Hope you will be able to get a good deal on your Prius C! Reasonable Price for C3? | PriusChat
I am in Des Moines - and there were none on the lot when I was purchasing - my negotiating came on the trade in - not on the price. If the 6 on the lot are not moving I would say you can offer $1000 less, but if the car is moving in WI like it is everywhere else you may not have much room for negotiation. Best bet is to try first, when they tell you no - walk out the door. They will call you back if the offer is reasonable.
most people are getting anywhere from $500 to 800 off the MSRP depending on the model. Dealers will play the game that they are selling off the lot as soon as they come in routine which is always used when a new model is introduced. Just let your dealer know that you will be talking to several toyota dealerships via the internet (fleet sales often gets you better results). We negotiated the price of the C first getting $775. off sticker and then negotiated the trade in vehicle. Good Luck, stay firm!
Wiscott, I am also from the land of cheese. Threes seem fairly plentiful in Southern Wisconsin, so you should be able to negotiate a bit. Two's seem to be rarer and mine will be coming by truck. Good luck!
Is the MSRP $23,010? Like others have said it depends on where you live. I live in CA where the c's are probably more common so I got a dealer to agree to sell it for $21,200 plus fees. If I were you, email all nearby dealers that have the model you want and ask for a quote, then counter offer them and say you have an offer from a competitor for 21,xxx. Someone will eventually get desperate and bite.
Truecar.com or edmunds.com are good places to look at what people paid in your area/what's reasonable. I bought through Costco's Auto Program and got mine for $400 above invoice...and I live in the bay area where they were flying off the lot.
Here's an interesting tidbit...in the Seattle area--home of Costco!--we can't get the C through their auto program (the cs fly off the lot fast enough that not a single dealer in the area will contract with Costco). :-(
same here in OH. Costco said Prius c is not available through it's program and none of my local dealers were willing to shave more than $200 off MSRP. We literally watched as we were talking to the sales rep, the Prius C3, we were looking at just being sold off through another rep. And then next day, we were scheduled to visit another dealer to see the Prius color of our choice, SRM, and just before we started , the dealer called to say that they just then sold off that one too ! None of the other dealers around had an SRM for atleast another 3 weeks and they said they could trade a vehicle from 250 miles off and then drive down the vehicle from there which will add mileage to the new car. Again, in that case they were not willing to cut the price even by $200 ! Then, we looked at auto trader and found one SRM C3 at a dealer 300 miles from our place and negitiated the deal at around $600 off MSRP. It may not be the best deal but we were frustrated for not being able to locate one at a nearby dealer.
I am in the Dallas Texas area and did some online dealer shoping before finding the one who had the cheapest PC3 listed at 23,900. It had the alloy wheels, wheel locks, cargo cover, cargo mesh, cargo mat, floor mats, rear bumper protector, and window tint. I added all those options up at the Toyota website and it came up at 23,200. I offered the dealer 23,000 and wouldnt budge until I was about to walk out and came down to 23, 400. I think thats a great deal, at least compared to other dealers here where I live. There are dealers in my area that were asking 25k-27k for a similarly equiped C3, so I dont feel too bad about my purchase. Its all in where you live and the demand.
What configuration did u get with your C3? Was the MSRP $23,010? I can't seem to configure a C3 on the Toyota website to get to that price... Also when u say "plus fees" are u referring to the fees as tax, title, and license? Or were there any additional fees?
It seems the dealer won't come down from $22,800...they are "best price dealer" (whatever that means) My initial offer via email was 21,700. We'll see what happens.
You got an awesome deal at $21,200 for that C3!!! I finally got the msrp configuration correctly after putting on the alloy wheels and the Floor mats and trunk mat. What color did u get? I am hoping to find a dealer in so cal who will match or beat that $21,200 price but I don't want to be swayed from the super white color that I want.. I've read on some posts here that the dealers sometimes want you to buy a color they can't move from their lot, but I'm not gonna fall for that nonsense. Thanks for sharing, this blog is very informative!
Surely you would have some room to negotiate with 6 on the lot. When I was shopping (June) there were only 2 within 100 mile radius of me (now there are 33), so I had to push for a good trade-in $. Besides, how many sub-compact hybrids could they possibly expect to move off the lot in WI when winter is just around the corner?
That's insane! The people here said the same. I got my c3 on Labor Day and they sold nearly every single c on the lot. Most of the Toyota dealerships out here say the Prius family just sells itself, so they don't really offer any kind of negotiating on the price.
There's always room for negotiation. Don't believe any dealer who tells you that, just move on to the next one and I guarantee they will call you in a day or two.