Newbie Questions re Prius "premium price"

It's simple, car dealers will try to get all the money out of you that they can. If enough people will pay over MSRP then that's what they will try to charge. But the truth is the dealer makes a ton of money even at MSRP.

I don't like to pay MSRP but I did; I refuse to pay over MSRP. You can call around and use the internet to contact other dealers, you may find one for MSRP if you have the time to go and pick it up.

 

These days no one in any part of the US needs to pay a premium to get a Prius. However, you do need to be a little bit more flexible if you don't want to pay a bunch extra. This may mean waiting a little while (i.e. anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months), or calling several dealers in your area, but there are many dealers out there (probably most dealers these days) that sell the car at MSRP.

If you're willing to wait for a while, you should be able to find a dealer in your immediate area that can get you a car in a month or two. If you're not willing to wait but are willing to travel, I'm sure you can find a dealer in some part of the country that could get you a car inside of a week. There are several stories of people flying large distances and driving their Prius home (including, most recently, the Founder of this site).

And if you start looking around your area, you very well might get lucky and find a Prius this weekend at MSRP.

But, just to say again, these days no one should expect to have to pay over MSRP for a Prius.

 

Go to the Toyota website and build one there. You should be able to find a dealer that will not charge over MSRP. Unfortunately, with most units sold before they hit the lot, you most likely will not find anything under MSRP. The only variance may be negotiating a higher trade in if you have one. The dealer I bought from charged exactly the amount that the car came out to on the Toyota site. I priced it first and then got his price without telling him just to see what the answer would be. Good luck finding your deal.

 

a $6,000 premium tacked on. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????????????????

I paid MSRP in Connecticut, waited 6 weeks. Start shopping around. You can JetBlue to California and drive the car back, and save yourself about $5500. Plus you get to see the USA.











Uh... you guys in CA are paying MSRP, right?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(newbie2 @ Jul 21 2006, 10:41 AM) [snapback]289935[/snapback]</div>

It's a matter of supply and demand. If people are willing to pay a premium, the dealer is more than willing to take it. But do yourself a favor, and expand your search area. Do some searching online, looking at current inventories at various dealers. It's not unusual to have to pay MSRP, but I don't agree that "there is no negotiation" with Prius prices. I paid about $1300 under MSRP in April, but that's in Northern Virginia where the Prius is very popular.

In fact, if you don't mind traveling, Northern Virginia Toyota dealers have a good Prius inventory right now. Check Chantilly Toyota with 25 Prii on the lot, and Miller Toyota with 14 on the lot, for example. Plenty of people have traveled out-of-state to get a good deal on a Prius.

 

I bought mine for MSRP(although the dealer tried to charge 5,000 over)....I live in Dallas and waited 1 week......

 

Hi - I just checked the Ft. Lauderdale site at www.craigslist.com, and there are several dealers listing new cars at MSRP. Don't get hosed into thinking you must pay more. You may get pushed into a few dealer options - a rear bumper applique is common - but negotiate based on MSRP.

Do you already know about the Fed tax credit?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(newbie2 @ Jul 21 2006, 09:41 AM) [snapback]289935[/snapback]</div>

There is an Earl Stewart Toyota that has and ad on the priuschat home page. I have seen in the past were they say MSRP ONLY. Don't pay more and don't buy there extended warranty or service contract. If you feel you need and extended warranty, you can buy it much cheaper on Priuschat.com

 

This is what I did.

I called Earl Stewart Toyota in North Palm Beach FL and ordered a #4 silver 2006 in November of 2005. Price was MSRP with NO Toyoguard (yes, you can get a Toyota in the Southeast region without Toyoguard!), floormats, doc fees, etc. Just a #4 2006 Prius. Put a $500 deposit on my credit card. Was notified a few weeks before my anticipated delivery date of mid Jan 2006. Took a one day advance 8:30 AM Southwest Airline fare of $80 from Tampa to PBI. Salesman met me at the airport and drove me to the dealership. Spent about an hour or so signing papers, inspecting and getting familiar with the car (1.2 miles on it, just off the truck the day before, detailed that morning), paid the balance of the car with a personal check. Had a nice drive home across the state that afternoon driving the Prius. They even handled the transfer of my current tag to the Prius at cost.

As stated on numerous posts on this board, it's not that hard to get MSRP if you are willing to do a little homework and perhaps look more than a few miles from your residence.

Some posters have reported paying less than MSRP. That would be great but just make sure the dealership is not making up the difference with other add ons which you do not need.

It's because of this site I found Earl Stewart Toyota was the dealership which I chose to purchase my Prius.

Rick
2006 #4 silver Prius

 

i bought mine on MOnday, no waiting...it was on the lot. Depending on how you look at it, the dealer either gave me $3000 over book value on my trade or knocked $3000 off MSRP.

 

In my area nearly all of the Toyota dealers, even the more reputiable ones place a side sticker on the car that they label with "regional adjustment". That "regional adjustment" is easily 2 or 3k over the sticker price. Believe me, they do find suckers out there that pay MSRP plus the "regional adjustment" with now questions asked. I suppose those folks didn't need that money afterall, but if there were in the mood to give it away, I can think of numerous local charities that could have done a lot with 2 or 3k. I could have done a lot with 2 or 3k.

Buying a car is not like buying a gallon of milk and box of cereal. If you shop at a more expensive grocery store rather than a lower priced one because the higher priced on is closer to where you live or work, the difference in price is negligible, even if you make the same buying choice for months and years.

However, regional adjustments are a way of the dealer creating a higher price point to work down from. When I was shopping for a Prius, the local dealer, who I didn't end up buying from, almost immediatly dropped the "regional adjustment" they had on the Prii that were comming onto their lot as soon as I balked about it. The sales creature I was dealing with didn't even do one of those go-talk-to-manager-walk-around-get-coffee-go-to-bathroom things they do, while leaving you in their uncomfortable office. He picked up his extension, called manager, and the regional adjustment was gone.

I didn't purchase from them becasue they were going to put me on a waiting list and I figured that if I was going to wait, I'd go see what other dealers were doing and see what kind of deals or delievery times they had before commiting to a dealership. That worked in my favor.

But for you, call around to some dealers. Maybe take some time and visit other dealers that are just a little out of your way and see what they can do for you. Buying a car is work, it is never easy. But the effort you put in will pay off in some fashion when you make the purchase

 

I was almost about to buy one at 1000 over MSRP...even had my deposit down at a dealer ....but managed to search some dealer who was willing to sell one for MSRP. Actually the car was waiting for me.....i wanted to buy it on 5th may my mom's B'day. I think i got lucky ....the car was sitting on dealers lot for 15 days .......now thats what i call a wait .......
The point I want to make is you dont have to pay any premium over MSRP. Do some search.

 

I didn't pay any premium.

No one has to pay a premium if they're a little patient and willing to do a little work.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(newbie2 @ Jul 21 2006, 10:41 AM) [snapback]289935[/snapback]</div>

Newbie 2...You don't have to go far...I ordered a Prius from Earl Stewart, in North Palm. Even though they had a bunch on the lot..I wanted a certain color and certain package. That was 9 days ago..Two days ago I got my VIN and my salesman said the car is now in port. He said I should be able to pick up the vehicle on either Monday or Tuesday of this week...I paid MSRP and he threw in the mats. My salesman is Jose Garcia..call him at 561-572-5118. That is his cell phone directly to him...He was very knowledgeable and was pleasant to deal with. no high pressure and wanted to be sure I got what I wanted. If you have any questions email me directly at [email protected] I will be happy to tell you in more detail what the experience was all about...Al Santoro

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jeromep @ Jul 21 2006, 03:45 PM) [snapback]290078[/snapback]</div>

Geez, Can you get much closer to Japan in the lower 48 than Washington State?

"Regional adjustment" my a$$. :angry:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(newbie2 @ Jul 21 2006, 07:41 AM) [snapback]289935[/snapback]</div>

I paid MSRP for my Prius. No dealer hassles, no dealer add-ons, no pressure to get the extended warranty from them or finance thru Toyota. Very low-stress process and I was beyond pleased with my dealer and salesmen at Longo Toyota, El Monte, CA.

 

It seems like the number of cars available to the dealers is increasing-- I bought my Prius here in Massachusetts 2 weeks ago, and in shopping around I found 2 dealers in the Boston area who were willing to sell slightly below MSRP (only about $300, but it was something...). The place I ended up getting it from told me I'd have to wait a month, and I was shocked when they called after a week to say the car had arrived and was ready for pick-up.

 

I picked up my Prius last September and paid MSRP. I could have had it the next day, but wanted leather installed, so I waited a week.

 

We bought/picked up ours (Package #6) on 7/14/06 @ MSRP and with one day shy of NJ raising the state sales tax from 6% to 7%, so we saved a little there as well.
Went in July 4th weekend, test drove one and put the deposit down. Luckily, they had two coming in, one was already spoken for, the other was the option package we wanted and in a color we both liked, so we basically lucked out with a minimum wait time.
They offered the extended warranty but were very low pressure and accepted our "we'll think about it over the weekend" graciously. The only part of the process that bugged me was the totally off-the-mark value they offered for our trade-in. They wanted to give us $500 dollars for a mini-van that I sold in less than 18 hours for $2000.00 (I priced it quite low to move quickly), with no ads, only signs in the windows (one of the benefits of living on a main road in town).
Kudos, also, to our salesman, who actually was very well informed about the car - something that should be the norm, but unfortunately many times isn't...I recommend him in a heartbeat.
Good luck!