Hello all, I have been lurking these forums for a while as I am the kind of person who likes to do an excessive amount of research before buying in to almost anything. As I have never purchased a home so this car will be my largest single purchase ever. I live on a small 7 mile island in Florida some of the year and the metropolis of Tampa the other and so the PIP seems to make sense as most of my commutes are shorter in distance, 1-20 miles. I have come across a dealership that sells the PIP (rare to find in FL) for what seems to be a very reasonable price, they are a "no haggle" dealership with great reviews from what I can find online and their cars seem to be priced very competitively. Their Prius and PIP models are all low miles (20k-50k) and priced from 12,994-14,994. In my research on these forums it seems like these prices are VERY low, which makes me feel like I'm missing something. The dealer is located in Seffner FL outside of Tampa and is called Evo Motors. I'd link it here but no web addresses are allowed. The dealer said the out the door price is ~$15,500 for a 2012 Plug In Advanced with 38k miles ($13,994 + tax tag). I know local economics and supply and demand determines price but this seems very low compared to what others are paying on these forums. I'm excited at the prospects of being a new PIP owner but want to make sure I'm making a good investment in a new vehicle. Thanks everyone
Is this car a rebuilt or salvage car? A clean title 2012 PIP with 38k for $13,994 is at unheard of prices.
I'm suspicious also but cannot find anything negative to feed my doubts. All their reviews are great everywhere. Dealer confirmed all vehicles on the lot are clean title. If you google Evo Motors you'll find the dealer in Seffner FL and this on the homepage "We Do not sell any Rebuilt or Salvage or Flood Vehicles. All of our vehicles have a CLEAN title History." But there HAS to be a catch, right? Would be very grateful for help figuring it out!
Really just want to own one. Is it possible that the market is just different here in Florida? I've soured the forums and I've seen no mention of this dealer, which surprised me.
If you're worried, take the car to a Toyota dealer and have them check it out before purchase. It'll only cost 1 or 2 hours of labor. these good deals rarely last, all this thinking.......it might be sold when you get there
I mean, all the Prius on the lot both regular and Plug in are this price range, it's not just 1 car, they have a lot of prius' and seem to sell a lot of them. I would do what you said with any new car purchase just to be sure, of course. Were you able to find the dealer? Throw Evo Motors in your browser and see what you think.
My thoughts about these low priced cars are they are all from auctions. Maybe not salvage auctions, but definitely some type of damage/repo auction. You can fix a car that's damaged and still maintain a clean title. We have a member that specializes in Gen2 prius cars in Tampa, he's at tampaprius.com. I don't think he can touch those prices you're mentioning.
I don't think he has an Gen3 cars, but I'm sure he'll give you some insights about the Tampa marketplace and that dealer you're thinking about.
The member from the other tampa dealer you mention has some 2012-2013 in stock, a few plug-ins. His are 50k- 60k miles at the same price point ~$13.9k. Maybe the used car market is just much different here? I would think it would be more expensive though seeing as the supply of the plug-in is so small. They are hard to find.
I didn't know he has Gen3 cars now, I would think that would just make sense. Seems like the FL market is different, gas prices must be really cheap there lol
Yea they are, gas prices are about 1.95-2.15 in Tampa. I've always had a hard time believing the cost of a Prius moves much with the price of gas. I think the dealers just sell less of them in times like this but not for any cheaper. All things aside do you think that price is pretty good for a 2012 plug-in with those miles?
It seems costs have dropped a lot lately. It would have been min. $19k only 6 months ago. JC, Dianne just said HOV stickers raise PiP value $4k in CA right now, she said PiP in CA is expensive due to being unobtainium. I think the value is possibly in line with recent (non- CA sales). Caveat, don't forget we had Hurricane Sandy when PiPs came out. I got the heebeegeebee's about 2012 for that reason. I know I'd be checking to see if I could see date of entry to USA and port.
Great info, I will indeed do that. Dealer claims to never sell any flood damaged and I would always get it checked out in a 3rd party dealer before purchase
Regarding hurricane sandy, the car I am looking at was built in July 2012 and sat on a dealer's lot located in Portland, Maine, until it was sold in December 20, 2012. Should I be worried? Regarding the HOV stickers in calif, they are still available in California for an $8 fee. Thx iPhone ?
