My wife and I have been looking at getting a Prius for a while now but since both of our cars still drive fine we've been putting it off. While driving by a Toyota dealership today I remembered that starting in October you'd no longer be able to get the full tax credit for Toyota hybrids. Knowing it was a long shot and most likely a waste of time I stopped by the dealership to see if they had anything in stock. When we arrived we asked the first sales guy we saw what they had available. He said they had nothing but that he would check with the general manager. We take a seat inside and wait for the GM, about 15 minutes later he comes up to us and says they had a pre-order cancel on them earlier in the day so they have one base (HG) '07 Prius available. So we took it for a test drive and decided to buy it. We weren't too worried about financing and just took the rate they gave us, we'll refinance with our credit union next week. We did go for the pre-paid service and the extended warrenty, since the finance rep has done three other deals with me he knocked the price down to $2k for both combined so it was hard to say no. All in all it was a great car buying experience, my wife is happy to have her new Prius and I have a new toy to play with.
Congratulations on your new Prius! Welcome to PriusChat! Congratulations on your full tax benefit! I could niggle and say you overpaid for the maintenance and warranty, but you did what you wanted and lucked out. Have fun with your new car!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bill Merchant @ Sep 30 2006, 09:19 PM) [snapback]326355[/snapback]</div> Maybe, was $500 for the maintenance and $1500 for the warranty and considering the "base" price was $2200 for maintenance and $3800 for warranty the wife feels she got a great deal. Also the dealership will cut a check back to us for the $1500 if we never need to use the extended warranty so I think that's what made her say "ok". Anyways as all married men know, if the wife is happy we are happy.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ravie @ Sep 30 2006, 09:34 PM) [snapback]326363[/snapback]</div> Ummm...are you sure you got the Toyota Platinum warranty? You can get it through this site for $990 for the 7-year/100,000-mile/0 deductible version. I got 6 yr/100,000 mile for $875 since I drive quite a few miles. BTW MSRP on the 7/100/0 warranty is something like $1,650, and it does NOT have the "full refund if you never use it" thing. That's what makes me think your dealer didn't sell you a genuine Toyota warranty.
I agree, if your wife is comfortable, the price is OK. Read the maintenance manual and you'll notice it's mostly oil and filter changes, the Prius is almost maintenance free. You can get a Toyota extended warranty here on PriusChat for under $1K. Congratulations, once again!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mcbrunnhilde @ Sep 30 2006, 09:55 PM) [snapback]326372[/snapback]</div> Yes it's the genuine Toyota Platinum, the refund thing is through some other company. Had I known the platinum warranty could be purchased online for under $1k I would have pushed on price more but we went in cold without having done much research. All in all we're happy, we aren't going to cry over a couple hundred dollars.
Hopefully, you did this before but when you try to refinance your car with your credit union, they consider the car a used car and won't give you the lower new car rate but the higher refi rate. Just something to be aware of, unless of course you did it before and you have a good credit union that will help you out.
Hope you enjoy your new car. As to the financing issue, most credit unions give a new car rate if the car is from the last two years, so you should be ok and still get a new car rate. As to the tax credit, and I could be and hope I am wrong, I believe it only covered 06 Prii and the 07 model year was not included.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ravie @ Sep 30 2006, 10:18 PM) [snapback]326378[/snapback]</div> Congrats! Yeah, don't cry over a couple of hundred. Life is way too short to worry about stuff like that when you got a great car handed to you out of the blue. I waited 11 weeks for mine. :angry: But it was worth the wait, even though I ended up getting an 06 a couple of weeks before the 07s. I could care less, really. Love my car.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jennjay @ Oct 1 2006, 05:46 AM) [snapback]326419[/snapback]</div> Our credit union considers as "New" any car from the last 5 model years. Financing a car at the dealer, then refinancing a few days later most certainly doesn't make the car "used" As far as the full tax credit, it is available for the '07 Prius: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=163103,00.html Vince
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DavidTO @ Oct 1 2006, 10:28 AM) [snapback]326441[/snapback]</div> Congrats on your new "07" Prius. I expect to buy one soon. Do you find the rearview has blindspots? I would love to know about this as this is the only thing I am concerned about. Mary
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Masnyd @ Oct 1 2006, 07:13 PM) [snapback]326591[/snapback]</div> I have a 06 and the rear view mirror doesn't bother me at all. I don't think it has any blindspots that any other car wouldn't have. If it does, you can buy a blindspot mirror
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Masnyd @ Oct 1 2006, 04:13 PM) [snapback]326591[/snapback]</div> With the mirrors adjusted properly I don't find that I have any blind spots, also I'm very aware of where all other cars on the road are in relation to mine. That being said, I do feel the visibility is a bit limited out the rear window and the rearview mirror blocks a fair bit of the view in front of me. These are minor issues though and I've quickly learned to adjust.
