Hi All, Thanks to all the members on this site, I hit the ground running in Prius ownership! I pulled the trigger, and bought a Prius Model 3 with the Solar Roof option via Costco Auto Program at Marin Toyota (CA) on 4/29. In the week of commuting 100mi a day, and after the first fill-up, I averaged 54mpg. It may have been more, but I didn't yet see the excellent video provided by RadioMan (wish I could link to thread) yet. The funny thing was, I completely avoided research on the Prius Plug-In, simply because I thought it was a pure EV Prius which wouldn't work for the range I need. Duh. Then, the dealer called me just this past Saturday (5/4) to see how things were going, and if there was anything I needed. Let me take this moment to emphasize (no, I'm not affiliated with the company, nor dealership) how awesome these guys were-I actually enjoyed the buying experience, probably because there was no pressuring due to Costco's pricing. Anyways, I mentioned the Plug-In only to semi-joke that I was going to see him in a year or two to trade-in for a a PPi when he reminded me that they got that 7 days/700mi customer satisfaction thing. I could exchange my car for the PPi, which made my Saturday into a day of research (on this excellent website), and calculation. In reality, it was really a no-brainer to swap, but what did hang me up was the missing spare tire. Now I'm rolling in a PPi base model, and loving it - this is day one with the new-new car, and having talked so much about the Prius to my friends, it was time to become a member of the site after lurking for a week. The PPi with the 0% finance, the tax credit, the Costco program and the car swap makes me a real happy camper. Thanks again to you all. Your questions, answers, and advice have really made a difference. I hope to contribute to the discussion . See ya'll in the forums!
Congratulations! I'm curious about your out the door swap cost, what was the deal they made you to swap? I too just purchased a 2013 Prius 3 with Solar Sunroof a week ago through my credit union, the before tax and license cost was $25,543. but I was initially considering the PiP. I couldn't justify the difference in cost, I figured I would wait and see if technology increases the EV range and lowers the cost in a few years, but I am still envious/curious.
The guy at the dealership, who works exclusively with Costco members was a real cool dude. Other than talking about the car, we chatted about sports and whatnot. I do not fully understand the guarantee (still-lol, altho don't need to now), but I had 7 days to change my mind. Turns out a Toyota dealership about 50mi away had the same/similar guarantee, but heard that there were no penalties if it was within 3 days. I exchanged mine on the 5th. Not sure if I should have been penalized something, but he spoke to his manager and said I was a good guy, and then it was fully approved. I put 400mi on it. I'm still surprised they let me do that, and it cost $0 to exchange it. This is also the reason why I go around telling people that Marin Toyota is awesome, at the same time telling people the Prius in general is awesome. Worth noting is that I financed through Toyota, so maybe that helped. So some stats. I refilled my tank on the original Prius, and calculated 54mpg - this was the tank provided by the dealership. I just refilled my tank on the PiP, and calculated 59mpg - also the tank provided by the dealership. A very modest gain, but I hope to improve it with better driving techniques acquired from this site, and I'll be inflating my tires 40F/38R today.
