Considering a PiP - some questions

I can't speak to service plans specifically, but Extended Warranties in general are not usually a good way to spend money. You're basically buying insurance, and insurance companies are really good at making sure they don't lose money. The Prius is also an extremely reliable vehicle all things considered. Unless not having coverage would be a major source of anxiety for you, I'd suggest skipping it.

Trade-ins do make it a lot easier that's for sure, and if there is $1k bonus for the trade in, that can make it a good deal. Many states also give you a tax break on the vehicle trade-in price, so that can save some extra dollars. The important thing is to go into the negotiations knowing what your car is worth. This can be hard because tools like KBB are really useless for for dealer trade-in value.

As for buying the car, a few things.

One - negotiate the sale price of the car separate from the trade-in value. Don't let them try to bundle it all together and sell you on monthly payment. It's ok to know the monthly payment you want, just don't let the dealer use it as a negotiating tool.

Second, use Edmunds TMV tools to find out exactly what the invoice price of the vehicle is, and any incentives available. This is the bottom line price that you are shooting for.

Lastly, waiting until the end of the month generally allows for a lot more buying leverage since dealerships live and die by their monthly totals. Find a couple of dealers with cars you want, put a deposit on one, and don't be afraid to work them against each other. It's probably best for most people to do this over the phone or email rather than in person where the dealer gains some power.

It is worth noting that these tactics may be all for moot depending on current PIP stock levels in your region. Around here, since the incentives became available in August, the cars have been in high demand, so dealers have been reluctant to deal, since they'll just sell the few cars they have to someone else anyways. Still, I managed to get a significant discount using this method by waiting until the last day of August, even though the dealers I was working with each had only 1 car.

Good luck!

 

welcome to priuschat! i haven't reached 25,000 yet, i haven't purchased extended warranty on any of my 3 pri, i gave my 08 to my daughter, but we did trade in our 08 hycam for a new one. i would say that cost a few thousand, but simpler as you say. on the purchase, i emailed all the local dealers, got online prices, went to visit and test drive, then took the one with the best net of price and trade in value. all the best!

 

Fully agree - while I was at Toyota I overheard a young couple haggling with a salesperson - seemed they'd been there 2 hours ! wearing them down is a strategy...
I did something similar to Bisco, emailed ahead, got callbacks, let them know I was in no rush but could pull the trigger if I got a killer deal - and they came through...

 

Luckily with the PIP- you're in the driver seat (sorry I couldn't stop myself ) for making a deal.
There's not much demand for them- and the 2014's are due to hit the lots soon.
For once- time is on your side (till they get rid of all the 2013's) a good poker face is your best asset right now.

 

I just purchased a PIP just over a week ago, and here in central NY at least, due to the strong incentives currently offered, the PIP is flying off the lots and dealers can't keep them in stock or get new ones. As a result, most dealers won't deal. Not surprising considering that the PIP can be had cheaper than just about any other Prius model if you do your homework.

 

care to share the deal you got ?

 

Well if I recall ZH went for the nifty lease deal. Leases are growing over 25% of car sales, and I wonder if it's over 30% after last month.

 

Yes, lease - my first one ever.

As of last month anyways, the dealer lease cash was $7300 while purchase cash was $3k plus the $2500 tax break.

With some negotiating I walked out at $250/month with all taxes and fees rolled in, zero down.

 

Leases make my head hurt. I was curious as to what a great purchase price was these days...

 

If you are in California, even if you are up north, I would suggest a call to Dianne Whitmire at Carson Toyota. She is their Fleet/Internet Director, and a supporter of Prius Chat. She will give you the straight skinny, and she delivers on what she promises. You can reach her @310-522-2317 (office), or 949-689-0717 (cell). Or email her: [email protected]
Lots of members here have purchased or leased cars from her, including preorders of the PiP delivered through Carson Toyota. Talk only to her or her assistant, not any of the other sales people.

 

If you have the same incentives our region does, it should be a minimum of $3k under invoice, which makes $29,900 well within reason, leaving about $1k on the table for the dealer over invoice. I'm not sure why you'd purchase right now though if the lease deal is available. You're giving away $1,800 in cash from Toyota by doing so. You can still buy the car out at the end if you desire.

 

Hopefully you weren't serious when you made this remark.

 

she posted on here a week or so ago and I think mentioned 30k for the base PiP
I paid low 28's and think others have that topped so 30 shouldn't excite these days...

 

fyi I am thinking the low cost record purchase in NY last November or so was about $25500 before taxes etc. That was in 2012 when there was a sales push...I thought we might see again this Fall. Not sure cars are left now. Most other great deals were about $1000 more than that. Lensovet has a spreadsheet.

 

Couple of things- regional incentives affect prices, and invoice is what the dealer pays for the vehicle, which I think some posters may be confusing with MSRP of roughly $32K for the base model. There isn't a huge spread between the two on a PiP. There were indeed some good deals on leftover 2012s last fall, and probably will be on leftover 2013s as well, since the new models will be arriving soon if they aren't at dealers already.

 

I'm absolutely serious. With the larger lease incentive right now, your total 'purchase' price if you were to lease the vehicle, then buy it out, is less than any other way of purchasing right now -similar to wjtracy's quoted numbers above. Yes, some people have mileage restrictions that make this impractical, barring that though, take the extra money being offered...

 

As I say above, with the lease cash, if you are able to negotiate well on the sale price, that's about what I calculate my total cost to be if I were to buy the car out at lease end.

 

Show me the numbers please, including hidden fees the dealership has.