Prius Price Gouging !!!!

Seems like ma common theme here recently. Enjoy your Civic. It's a great car.

 

KEEP UR EYES OPEN FOR AN 09, NOT THE NEXT GEN. i did that last year and got an 08 in november no problem

 

The Prius market went nuts the second week in May, a week after I ordered mine. It was delivered May 20, and by that time there was a 3 month wait on orders. Now the situation is worse--many dealers are charging a $2-3K premium over invoice. Unless you can find an honest dealer (they are out there), stay away from the Prius until those idiots in Washington finally do something about oil futures.

 

Totally agree on the May timing! My deposit was May 15th and delivery on May 20th. MSRP and good value on my trade. Of course, earlier in the year would have been better, but....hindsight.
Can't hurt to be on a list, something might fall in your lap.
:yo:

 

Not quite sure where you are from but here in the US we have a neat system called capitalism. Basically it means if you sell a product you can charge whatever you desire. In nearly all cases, even our government cannot tell you what you can charge. Sure we have rules and regulations in place to prevent monopolies but if a dealer wishes to tack on a premium on a Prius because of a high demand, well, that hardly qualifies as a monopoly.

I suppose if you are bitter at the added charges being tacked onto the Prius because of high demand, then perhaps you should buy your own dealership (or start manufacturing automobiles) and sell your cars at or below cost. That way you could sleep at night knowing you are a "honest" dealer; not some shady character who actually has the nerve to make a profit.

Not quite sure what you meant about oil futures, but are you suggesting we dismantle all commodities, stocks, and futures investments? You just cannot pick on oil. Next you'll be complaining about corn prices, beef prices, metal prices, coal prices, pork bellies, etc. Maybe we should ban most if not all forms of investing. After all, these greedy investors are only out to make a profit, right?

Rick
#4 2006

 

This affects everyone. I personally know of a professional buyer at an auto auction who paid $25000 ( !!! ) last month for a 2007 Pck #1 with ~12000 mi on it ( Enterprise fleet turn in )!!

That's $2500 over the original sticker - a year ago. I'll venture that it will take 2 weeks for this vehicle to sell at ~ $28000. As noted previously a Corolla, Civic, Matrix is a 'better' buy for the time being.....But all three are close to being sold out as well. Now THAT's scary.

Where does one go when all the Prius', Civics, Corolla's, Fusions, Matrix/Vibes, Yaris', Fits, Versa's and Mazda3s are sold out? I'm not just being funny here. Begin to watch for spot shortages on the bread and butter compact vehicles. Everyone of them had massive sales last month nearly wiping out existing inventories another big month and 4th of July weekend may wipe out all small car inventories.

Cobalt? Aveo?

 

This is very accurate.

A couple of comments. The two business of making/selling vehicles and retailing vehicles are completely independent from each other. Once the vehicle is sold to the retailer it's only subject to the supply and demand in that local market.

The complainers about oil futures prices have only one person to blame ... themselves. HUH?

IF Jose in Barcelona and Dmitri in St. Petersburg and Mr Lee in Hong Kong are each willing to buy a futures contract at $1 per bbl higher than the last owner it's only because they each are willing to risk that Mr DeadPhish and Mr. Viking31 and Mr PriusSport are going to pay the higher price at the pump when the oil arrives, is refined, shipped and retailed. If we refused to pay that little 'bump' then they would lose money on that contract and back off, bidding less for the next contract, meaning the price would fall. But as long as we and our competitors in China, Asia, Europe, India are all trying to outbid each other for that next gallon at the pump then the futures buyers are safe.

Without us to buy the final product they have no market...that's basic economics. It's WE who determine the prices. We validate their risks by saying YES when we pump.

 

Here in LA I've been noticing a lot of new Yaris lately. Checked the inventories at the local dealers and the compact cars such as Yaris and Corolla are definitely very low on inventory, compared to the larger cars like the Camry. This is not surprising at all with these gas prices, which seem to go up every day. It's about $4.60 for regular around here and $4.85 for premium. Seems like $5.00 by July 4th is very plausible.

 

And let me add a little further. Futures trading, as you correctly described above, PREVENT shortages of products and commodities. Sure, I wish everything was free, but we all know that's just not how it works. So by letting investors AND buyers set the price naturally, shortages of commodities can be avoided and at worst be minimized.

Here in FL we have passed laws preventing price gouging during hurricanes and other emergencies. On the surface it looks great and is a real "feel good" law. But, these laws have been documented to encourage people to hoard items such as generators, fuel, lumber, etc. resulting in flat out severe shortages of these items. It is so bad that industrious individuals who who in the past would go out of state to purchase wholesale lots of generators and such for resale to communities which have a need for such items are simply avoiding that business for fear of the state imposing arbitrary price gouging prosecutions. Another example of "Hello, I'm from the government and I'm here to help". Uh huh...

Rick
#4 2006

 

Sorry, I disagree. The laws do exactly what they were designed to do....prevent the price of gasoline doubling on evacuation routes along with the price of bottled water, plywood and the like during declared emergencies. I am thankful we have those laws on the books and violators should be both fined AND jailed. Hard to grasp the mindset of someone opposed to these protections.

 

Not quite sure I like your smartass attitude, but as for your comment on the oil futures, trading oil futures is a fairly recent development, and that is part of the problem with why the prices are so high. The economics of the market and usage means that investors see oil as something that they may not be able to get at any price in the future, so they buy the futures at the higher prices. Sellers, taking advantage of the market, up their prices, and the buyers, fearing none will be available later at any price, buy at the higher price whether they like it or not.

In actuality, there is NOT any less oil on the market today than there was a year ago. The only thing that has changed is the PERCEPTION of scarcity of oil.

 

I bought my prius for the sticker price in the middle of May. It was an 08 with 7700 miles on it. It was their last one. I told them no way would I pay sticker price for a car they had been using as a loaner / shuttle vehicle with 7700 miles on it, but I would if they would include a 7yr warranty on it.

They immediately said no and out I went. That night I got a call from the sales manager and he said if I could make the deal the next day they would do it. (It was the last day of the month)

So I went in, got it all done, got my bumper to bumper warranty for 7 years and $0 deductable and was happy as a clam in mud

 

Price fixing.. I certainly don't want to stand in way of dealers putting customers and lenders into deals that go up side down in a matter of weeks. After all we the tax payer can bail them out just as we did the over priced housing market.

Capitalism is great but there's always someone trying to find an easier way to cheat the system.
Ask Californian's why they were paying 2-3x per Kilowatt more than the rest of the country a few years back? Does Enron strike any nerves?

Ethics in the this country are at an all time low, its all about me and F_ck the rest of you.

 

In Chicago the dealership show rooms were filled with Prius' in February (according to a number of different Toyota dealers), By April the inventory of Prius emptied and lists were being started. I had missed out on purchasing 3 new Prius for different reasons; out of town and the dealer wouldn't hold it a day, another dealer refused to take my credit card for a deposit and sold the car the evening I called, and one, Car Max dealer in Kenosha Wisc where they sell new Toyotas, agreed to sell me a Prius if I sent him a certified check for $1000.00. He called me back hours later and said the dealership traded it to another dealership and he was not informed at the time he talked to me.
I almost purchased a demo with a package 2 (at a new car price) when my salesman turned manager where I purchased my 1982 Celica GT and 1997 Camry LS called (yes I am old) and told me to get over to his dealership ASAP..They had a Prius in Portland Oregon destined for their dealership with the package and color my wife and I hoped for. I know Toyota and its dealerships value loyalty in its customers....it really helped having my old salesman remember me and give me a heads-up when I called him urgently looking for a new Prius.
We reminded each other how good we both looked when we both had hair in 1982 and even 1997. I am sure we were both stretching the truth a bit but the point I am trying to make is; if you have established any kind of purchasing relationship with a reputable Toyota dealership in the past they will be very helpful with you...plus you'll know your dealing with a good dealership and not a bunch of cut throats...Good luck, Terry

 

i got my prius "just before" they started hiking up prices, according to my dealer. he actually wrote down a $2,000 premium on the car, and told me because i came back after checking out another dealership he wouldnt tack it on. which was nice of him, and got him the deal.

 

Ditto here-got mine just before price hike,salesman took 2,000 off msrp.
Evidently I got in just under the wire,I ordered car from their online "stock".
It took less than a week for it to be delivered

 

You just painted yourself into a corner with your above explanation. On one hand you state investors believe the demand for oil is outstripping the supply so correspondingly the price naturally rises. And by the way, with a higher price, supplies of oil will be preserved for the future instead of a relatively sudden major scarcity of the commodity.

Yet you state you somehow have inside knowledge that there is no shortage of oil. You claim that the investors AND the buyers (Exxon, Mobil, Shell, end consumers, etc.) have it all wrong. You seem to be so sure...

Confused still?? OK, I'll give you a hint... Take your life savings and bet AGAINST the investors who believe the price of oil should be high. Bet that by X time that the price of oil will be X dollars (on the low side). If, and only if, you are correct you will be rubbing elbows with Gates and Soros.

Same thing happened with the housing market. Naive people thought they could make an easy buck buying and selling houses on someone else's dime until the end of the world. Most did not bite and still easily pay their mortgages and bills on time. But some did, and it is those unsavvy novice investors who get all the pity from the media (after all, it is an election year).

So it really boils down to this: who would you rather control our oil supplies? Investors or simply have the government issue ration cards? I'd rather let the free market control our commodities. Think the gas lines in 1973 were bad? Imagine the same scenario today. We would literally be crippled.

Rick
#4 2006

 

" Re: Prius Price Gouging !!!!"

There is no such thing as "Price Gouging". However there are plenty of buyers who don't have enough common sense to walk away when they know that the asking price is too high. I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

You Never Get The Deal You Deserve, You Get the Deal You Negotiate...

Keith