Well..one day before leaving for my summer travels, I sold my Tahoe..planning to buy a Prius when I return in September. Following the forums, EBAY and auto trader....i know leadtime on a new 2208/2009 will be a problem. Appears to be a few dealers advertising new 2008's in stock with prices a few K over MSRP....don't know if they even have the cars!! Anyone have an idea what the supply/demand picture will be by early September? I am located in Tucson AZ and am willing to travel a couple hundred miles or so to purchase.
Congrats on selling your Tahoe. I got lucky and sold my Pathfinder last April before SUV price drop. Anyone with info on what the market will be in a few months has a real good crystal ball. As you will be able to travel to make purchase I would suggest you post on this forum when ready to buy. If any members are aware of available Prius cars I guarantee you will get a response.
Just for the h_ll of it..I checked autotrader...found a dealer in Tucson..had a couple of cars listed..at MSRP. Sent him a e-mail..' LETS MAKE A DEAL "... call back next day..of course they didn't have any actual cars..wanted me to place an order with 6-15 week leadtime. Wasn't fazed a bit when I told him about the ad!. Not surprised..no way to enforce any honesty in these ads..bet E-Bay is just as bad.
From July 4 Craigslist (I presume it is Scottsdale AZ): +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ((((((((2008 TOYOTA PRIUS (40 available) ))))))) (scottsdale) Reply to: [email protected] Date: 2008-07-04, 3:21PM EDT I HAVE 40 2008 TOYOTA PRIUS AVAILABLE TO CONTRACT ON,ALSO HAVE 15 2007 PREOWNED PRIUS HERE AVAILBE NOW,MOST COLORS AND PACKAGES CALL BRUCE AT 602-301-5699 This item has been posted by-dealer. Location: scottsdale it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests PostingID: 742731915
Around here, anyway, you can't trust Autotrader.Com's numbers. When you call the dealer, they say, "Yeah, were getting that many in this month, but they were all sold 2 months ago, you want to get your name on the list?" The best thing to do is start calling dealers, find they ones that don't charge over MSRP, get your name on thier lists, and be willing to drive a couple hundred miles to pick it up.
Craigslist is loaded with these ads also. Every one I have contacted hasn't had the Prius in stock but was wanting a deposit.
I have heard that Prius are readily available in the Tucson area and at MSRP! A friend who lives in the area even offered to help shop for some of us who can't find one here in SoCal.
The key word here is 'available'. This generally means that the dealer has up to 40 in his normal allocation over the next 30-45 days that are 'available' for a deposit. Our Richmond VA store bought 27 preowned Prius' at auction because they only have a limited number of new ones allocated to them.
This morning an ad on the radio said that a Chicago area dealer was selling off all their fleet and demo models-including hybrids! Yeah, and I'd bet if you called and asked for a Pri you'd get "gee, we just sold the last one".
