I've looked on Edmunds etc... but would love to hear from actual consumers what they've paid for a package 2 Prius. Currently I have a quote of $22,927 but I'm a member of USAA which would guarantee me at maximum a price of $22,855? Is under $20,000 totally unheard of for this package? Dealerships in my area seem to have quite a few on their lots. Ideally I don't want to spend much over $18,000 for a new car but I would rather give my extra money to Toyota than the gas companies. Thanks everyone!
2008 Prius BIG SALE ***** HUGE DISCOUNT ***** If you are in NorCal, get one here for $21,900. I suggest calling a few more dealers. You can probably knock off $500 of that price too ~$21,400.
It's hard to say what the going rate is somewhere else, other than, Whatever the market will bear. Consult Consumer Reports advice on car buying, either on their website or in their April issue in a library. If you have more than one dealer within reach you can shop and get the best price in writing by phone, email, and fax, and save money and a lot of bother.
FWIW, I just bought a 2008 Prius (different package, different part of the US) for 4% over the corrected invoice price. The correction = invoice price minus a holdback Toyota hands to the dealer later to inflate the invoice price. I learned the holdback amount from a Consumer Reports report, which was well worth the nominal fee they charge. My strategy on car buying is to go to several dealerships, armed with a looseleaf binder. When I sit down, I open the binder with the Consumer Reports page on the left (with the invoice and holdback marked in highlighter). On the right a there's spreadsheet with the names of all the local dealerships running across the top and lines for the numbers of their offer. And I've got business cards from the dealerships I've already visited stapled to the spreadsheet below their offer. The spreadsheet is printed in a big enough font size to make it readable across a table. I tell the salesguy up front I'm shopping for price, and they should just make me their best offer now, because I've got an appointment at the next dealership later in the day. Amazingly enough, each salesman manages to come in at least a little below any price written in the other columns of my spreadsheet . Knowing this, if there's a dealer I'd prefer to do business with, they're the LAST one I visit to get the best price there. Now, it would be manipulative and sneaky to fill in reasonable offers a just a little above your target price into an apparently almost full spreadsheet before visiting the first dealer. Or to collect business cards from all the dealerships on preliminary visits before getting down to dealing, so that you could staple them onto the sheet to be visible during your first real negotiation. So don't do those things.
$21,900 (before tax and license) is the lowest I've heard of a Package 2 selling for. I got mine for $22,000, so I feel like I did pretty well. I'm in Los Angeles, by the way.
You should be able to purchase for invoice. kbb.com or edmunds.com will get you close. The only difference will be destination/shipping charges to your area. These differ across the country from the port of entry. You can try and get a dealer to give you some of their year end holdback but they have to make some kind of a profit. The holdback will only be a few hundred dollars from invoice. They do increase holdback on any left over 07's but all of them are long gone. I would suggest finding a dealer with the best service record in your area and just negotiate invoice on whatever package you want. Email can cut to the chase quicker than traveling all over wasting your time. It's still comes back to the best service dealership in your area. Some things you can get thrown in would be your first oil change or tire rotation. Just my two cents worth.
