Hello there Prius fans, I'm new and don't yet have my Prius, but have been looking for a used one (hopefully with stickers). I came across a 2005 that looks like Magnetic Gray color, but I didn't think they made that color since '08. Could this be the Tideland Pearl? Bottom line: What color is this? LOL Also for those who own used Prii, what kind of luck have you had with them? THe one i'm looking at has about 76,000 miles on it and is a little over $20,000 Thanks guys - Camille
That sure looks like Magnetic Gray to me, and that's the color of my Prius. That really is a tough angle though...any chance there are other pictures? On the price, can't you get a 2008 Prius for a little over $20,000?
Mine is a magnetic gray and I can tell you that picture is definitely a Mag gray, as far as I know the Mag gray is only available on the 2007 and 2008 models.
I think it is a 2005 (black upper tailight on 04-05 only), and a Tideland Pearl (04-05 only). Tideland Pearl is a lighter gray and has some green in it. That's the thing about both Tideland Pearl and Magnetic Gray -- the color changes a lot depending on the lighting. Probably more so with the Tideland Pearl because it has green in it. BTW, Tideland Pearl is a great color too. I'm not sure myself whether I prefer my Magnetic Gray over Tideland Pearl.
Camille087 [& morpheusx (at least ForTheGlory used the words "looks like" & "tough angle" & asked about other pix)], The picture you provided in post #1 definitely is NOT Magnetic Gray! It IS the Tideland Pearl color. The Magnetic Gray is more like the color on the side of the car where the tree shadow is. It's really dark, almost to the point of appear'g black from a distance. For some pictures of the Magnetic Gray color (if you haven't already seen this), go to the main forum & look for the topic "The Magnetic Gray Club" (it's still on the 1st pg about 1/2 way down). First, you might want to write these pages & post #'s down that I'm going to give you [unless you're going to check all 24 pages for pix---I only checked pg #1, then "last" (pg #24 at present), then from there back to pg #20 (skip'g from #2 through # 19 altogether)]. Click on these thumbnails : on pg 1, post#4; last pg, post#231; & pg 21, post#201. The full-size photo on pg 20, post#200 is a good one, but the full-size one on pg 22, post#216 is only representative of the color in the front 1/2 of the car. The rear 1/2 has too much sun reflection & almost appears more like the Tideland Pearl color. When you're on pg 21, I don't think I would advise you to click on the thumbnail in post#203 or to look at the full-size pic in post#207 because too much of the car in these photos is in the shadows on the shade side & it's almost impossible to accurately judge any color in the shadows. I hope this helps you. Ken (in Bolton,Ct)
This'll blow your mind ... non of us have new ... we ALL have used Prius' Sorry, just couldn't let that slip by. I think you can do better, but you don't say which package you're looking at ... 1? ... 3? ... 6? or? We got our used 2004 IN '04 with (trying to remember) maybe 10K or 12K miles on it, all the bells & whistles for $19,500 or so, but that was out the door, after taxes registration etc.
Price sounds like a ripoff, time to use the fine art of negotiating: Tip 1: Do research. I've already found a few 05s online that are going for far less than that. Tip 2: Do not act as if you like the car, if they can tell you've made up your mind on this particular prius you're dead meat. Maybe look at some of the other cars at the dealership, this can satisfy tip 5 as well. Tip 3: Actively look for for imperfections in the vehicle, and point them out repeatedly throughout the negotiation process. Tip 4: Start out with a ridiculously low offer, say, 14,000. You almost want to insult the dealer, and it'll be harder for him to tell you he can only go as low as 21 when you've told him 14000 is a real stretch. It's pretty much proven that the lower an offer you make, the less you'll get it for (also, the higher they set the price, the higher the customer will pay after the negotiation). Tip 5: Use a considerable amount of the dealer's time. Test drive it of course, and ruminate over with it at length. They'll be less likely to blow you and your ridiculous offer off if they've spent a lot of time trying to sell it to you. Tip 6: Bring along your wife, assuming you have one, for the purpose of groaning at the very prospect of spending so much freaking money and appearing quite annoyed with you when you tell the dealer you'd settle for $15,000. Tip 7: Walk out the door! If after 3 hours of bargaining, test driving, and groaning you tell them you're not interested, it's pretty common for the dealer to chase you outside and tell you they'll actually sell it to you for the price you want.
Looks gray to me, but it could also be the color quality of the camera. As a side note, the price does seem a little steep even if it's fully loaded. I've seen the same year and mileage on eBay for around $15k or less. I saw a 2005 Magnetic Gray being sold locally in Houston loaded with everything with 48k miles for $17,500. If you're in a major metropolitan area, take a look at Carmax. I always thought Carmax was a rip-off, and for most cars, it is. When I was looking for a Prius, I debated between new, certified pre-owned, and private party used. I almost went with new because there wasn't much of a price difference for the package that I was looking for. That is until I stumbled upon the Carmax listings for the Prius. It seems they don't know what to make of the Prius when it comes to pricing. I've seen a 2007 pkg 8 (SKS/JBL/BT/HID/Leather) with 20k miles for $21,995, which was only slightly more than what they priced a 2007 pkg 2 with similar miles. The deals vary, but it looks like they price mainly by year and mileage depending on the store. That would have been my perfect deal except the car was newly listed and according to their corporate policy, they couldn't ship it (for what I think is a nominal fee depending on the deal) to my local store until it sat on that specific lot for a couple of weeks. Of course, by that time it was long gone. I ended up with a 2006 pkg 4 (SKS/JBL/BT/HID) with 25k miles for $20,998. The best part was that the car was detailed, checked out mechanically (alleged 12-hour inspection process), repairs done if necessary, and was fitted with brand new tires. In addition to the factory warranty, Carmax covered anything that went wrong with the car for 30 days (they re-aligned my car under that coverage.) On top of all that, if I wasn't satisfied or just changed my mind within the first 5 days of receiving the car, I could take it back, no questions asked. Ok, really maybe the best part was not having to deal for the price. You either like the price or you don't. It's amazing how much different the car buying experience is when you don't have to haggle. As for that terrible Carmax sticker that they put on the back, it peeled off with relative ease. To this day, I still do an occasional search to see what others are paying on eBay. Sometimes people pay a few hundred or at most, once, a thousand less (not including shipping) for a comparable Prius, but for the most part, I see higher numbers. Private party and non-chain dealers might be less sometimes too, but I would say it's a relatively higher risk to buy in that situation. Sorry for the lengthy (and hopefully not unwanted) tangent, but hope it helps.
Since you are willing to travel, I would look on Ebay, autotrader, cars.com etc. I just bought a silver 05 last Saturday with 68K for 14500, it was listed for 15995. Take your time and shop, I watched the above sites daily for weeks before I found this car.