New 08 Prius owner...NOT!

"Some is useless to really (vehicle shield...wax right?, security upgrade, roadside assist...I have it etc...)"

I think some sort of sound deadning on the underside and something that stops resonant vibrations on the body are part of the vehicle shield...makes the car quieter. Or did I fall for it???

 

I suspect that a lot of people perceive the car-buying experience negatively because they are buying something they really cannot afford and are going deeper into debt than they are comfortable with. The dealer wants to make as much profit as he can, and the buyer cannot even really afford the bare-bones car.

Any time there's a negotiated deal, you're going to get the worst of it if you are not able and willing to walk away from a deal you don't like or cannot afford. And if you're determined to buy a car that costs twice what your budget can handle, you're going to feel you got shafted even if you got a fair deal for that car.

 

When I bought my 07 last summer, I was amazed to see that the same salesman from whom I had bought my 02 5 years earlier was still there. I know why, too. In 02 he was the only one that knew anything about the Prius. In 07 he was still the guy who was honest about everything. Nonetheless, I asked him to give me his best price, everything included, no trade-in, no financing. Told him I was going to ask a few other dealers the same thing and the best price gets my business.

I then asked my email the identical question of two other dealers that were a bit further away. They all told me what they had on the lot and said told me the price of what I was asking. All were below MSRP, although one was about $1K above the other two. The tie-breaker between the identical prices was that I knew the saleman I had before would stick with the price he quoted. He did, although I had to convince the finance guy that no, an extended warranty was not a "no-brainer" and he heard me correctly, I did not want it.

I financed elsewhere and got rid of my old car privately, but previously I have asked for a trade-in price separately from the car price. Of course the tradein price does not look so good when they have already given you a sale price, but at least you know what is happening. Negotiate one dimension at a time.

 

I really wish I could disagree with you on this one, but I find it difficult to do so.

My first new car purchase was done with my father's assistance. I was still quite young (24), and it helped to have him there. Since then, I decided that I would buy on my terms -- time, dollars, etc. I have financed only one car in the past 25+ years, and that was because the 0.9% financing just looked too good.

My recommendations:

1. Save your money monthly just like you were making car payments.
2. Research all the time -- you will always need a car, so always be ready.
3. Test drive without talking price.
4. Set your price and walk away if it isn't met. You can always go back later if you change your mind. You'll never feel more in control than when you calmly leave a dealership after having said "No, thank you."
5. Know the real street value of your current car and understand the economics of trade-in (tax costs, title transfer, calls from the buyer).
6. Buy with cash (your cash).
7. Buy at the end of the month, the end of the quarter or the end of the year.
8. The Best: Negotiate by email after you've checked out the dealerships.

 

Car sales is tough. I don't do it anymore but I used to consult with car dealerships and design customer retention systems to convert sales and leasing customers into service customers.

You have a fundamental problem with car sales and its a two way street. One you have a labor base of salespeople that are generally unskilled and uneducated that are attracted to car sales by lies and promises of riches that just don't exist. It used to be you could make a good living as a car salesman (we're talking $250k/year good) with absolutely no education or experience. Its just not that way anymore. Dealerships have slashed the profit for the salesperson to the bone to a point where the commission on a car sale, depending on what you're selling, might be as little as $100. They ride these people like animals and keep them in constant fear of loosing their jobs and tell them the reason they're not making six figures is that they're not getting the dollars out of you they should be getting out of you.

The reason car buyers get so angry about the carbuying process is that what they are looking for out of their salesperson and what the salesperson is taught to do are out of sync. The modern ready-to-buy carbuyer walks into the dealer knowing exactly what they want. They know the color, the options, everything. Now thanks to the internet they know exactly what the dealer paid for the car too. All they want is someone to take their order and deliver what they've ordered for the price they've agreed upon. The salesman on the other hand is still stuck in 1985 when they had all the knowledge and it was their job to listen to what the consumer said and put them in the car that was right for them.

The past few car purchases I've made have been with the Internet Sales Manager. They know what I, a modern carbuyer want. I contact them when I have decided precisely what car I want, we agree upon a car, and the first time I meet them is when I pick it up. Its great, and its the future of car sales.

 

Agreed to all of you. We just bought our '08 Prius 2 days ago. Indeed, best way to get a quote is via e-mail/fax. Shop around for best offer, and if you think one dealer gives you a "reasonable deal" then I would suggest to challenge the other to match the offer. That's what we did. Don't let this salesman tell you what the deal is, you tell them since w/o your business there wouldn't be any deal for them anyway.

Good luck. Hopefully you'll have a better experience this time.

 

Sorry to see it get to this point for you.

Prius buying goes in circles. When demand is down and supply is high -- well, you know the story.

I put money down and ordered at a time when the cars were sitting on the lots. When my car arrived, I could have made $2,000 just by allowing someone else to buy the car.

If the car isn't worth the price to you, then it simply isn't worth it.

I really hope the timing works for you later. Please continue to share the journey with us.

 

I too had a long wait to get what I wanted but the wait was worth it.

I must have called 20 dealerships all over the country looking for the vehicle and options I wanted.

I found some dealers insisting on $1500 to $3000 over MSRP, others which tacked on over a grand in worthless options which can't be taken off.

I ended up buying my car from Ackerman Toyota in St. Louis (ask for Ray Trout) and having it shipped to Florida via auto transport.

The lowest dealer add on I found in Florida was $499 whereas the dealership in St. Louis only adds $94 for dealer fees and sold me the car at MSRP.

I did not have to finance the car or deal with a tradein so that made it easy to compare apples to apples.

The dealer quoted me the MSRP plus $94 which I verified on the Toyota site and there were no funky options added or gimmicks to try and suck another few dollars from me.

My local dealership was not helpfull at all, which is why I ended up looking all over the country to find the car myself. The research was worth the effort in the long run.

 

Well, I think the question is was killing the deal over $500 worth it? Yes it stunk, yes they screwed you, but in the end it looks like they had the best deal in your area by a comfortable enough margin to cough up the $500, or maybe go halfsies.

I'm a residential real estate broker and I constantly warn my clients about this. Remember your goals while negotiating. In the end if its the house you want (or a solid buyer that wants your house, those don't grow on trees anymore) and it gets down to a small difference and you just can't seem to get to the middle, remember you goal is to buy the house you love (or unload your house) and maybe $1500 ain't so much when the thing is $500k. People get REALLY wrapped up in the numbers sometimes and cut off their nose despite their face and then in the light of day when the "game" is over, its they that feel like they lost.

The same is true here. If you really want the Prius and these guys have the best deal, maybe the thing to do is just overlook the fact that the guy's a d!ckhead about $500, buy the thing and never set foot in the dealer again. Its his loss, he'd make a lot more than $500 off of you in service.

Thats why I got out of the consulting business, dealerships wanted to know how to convert and keep customers but they just never understood a primary component in the customer sticking around is avoiding the feeling they got cheated.

 

Very true. Also helpful is a $20 telephone transcriber that plugs into your computer (Radio Shack) or a modern mobile phone that can transcribe.

Depending on your state laws, those conversations may or may not stick.

~ dan ~

 

Once back in 1983 I had a Holden dealer finance manager and the salesman who were pressing me to sign the contract act like I was insulting them and their families when I said I was going to buy a Toyota not the Holden Gemini they were selling. The finace guy stood over me at his desk and demanded to know why, so I told him.

You car is noisy rough, slow, poorly built, higher priced and 5 years behind the Toyota and the sales staff at the dealer are friendly and helpful. I then took my wife's hand and walked out while he was still in shock. I have a feeling not many people say it how it is to these guys.

 

Well if thats how you feel then thats how you feel. It doesn't sound to me like you're 100% sold on the car anyways.

There are however deals that don't come around again, trust me. The value of your trade is always coming down (steeply since its a Jeep) and while deals are getting easier to make on the Prius its not dropping that quickly. In the meantime you're paying a lot more for gas and insurance on your Jeep than you would a Prius.

So, if you were 100% sold on a Prius you're probably shooting yourself in the foot because you couldn't "win" the game with the dealer. Did you offer to go halfsies?

 

Once upon a time when I was car-shopping [way pre Prius], I
walked into a local Kia dealership for a test drive. They said
I couldn't *possibly* take a test drive barefoot. I had done
at least two others already at other places... I said "you're
kidding, right?" ... they weren't, and I let them know precisely
how completely, utterly unprofessional that was on their part
and walked out. Too bad I didn't have the presence of mind to
add "...and you WILL be blackballed on every internet forum I
can get my hands on..."
.
_H*

 

"Deal Breaker"

Its not the amount of money , its the principle involved!
We just bought our new Prius = the salesman showed me that a prius with
the #2 package would be $23410 - I agreed to that, they found a Red one near by ,when I went to sign the deal , there was an extra $400 , because there were mats and something else in the car. I said I only wanted the #2 package,
at the price we had agreed upon. They gave me the car for the agreed price
of $23410.
I left feeling really good about the deal ,$400 was a small amt. of the total,
but, if I had paid it , I would have felt cheated .