I am actually looking for advice - live in New York, willing to buy from dealers out of state. Want a 2008 or 2009 package 2, in Spectra Blue. Having a very tough time finding this - caught between seasons and that blue is rare. And I'd like to pay MSRP or below (also hard in this area). Any advice much appreciated.
I really don't think you are going to be able to just walk into any dealer and buy a new Prius without being on their waiting list.
No lie I went through the Toyota site, put in my zip and popped the first 100 dealers. :nerd: When you call ask for the inventory managers. Whoever you get ask if they have any sheduled to land to your spec. Make it clear they are not to call back unless they can sell it for msrp and have your spec! GIVE THEM YOUR PHONE # and name! I did this and had my model in 2 weeks. Write the name of the person you spoke to and the date on each with comments about the call. In one week call back and try again!! If you get a different person that's fine, just ask again. two in a dealership with a lead is not a bad thing for you... I am still getting calls from dealer to this day asking if I still need that color and model. Worst they can tell you is no they don't have, that they only have a waiting list, or that they want more then MSRP. Saleman use volume to make quota, you can use volume to get your car.:second:
I got sick of waiting for a Prius from one of the two Dealers in Tucson. So one Saturday morning I started calling the dealers in Phoenix (100 miles away), by 4:00 pm that day I was driving my Prius home. I was quoted as high as 3K over MSRP. I ended up getting it for $300 under sticker with not add ons. At least 5 of the dealers had them on the lot. My advice is find a big city near you and start calling.
Cynthia, Try Warrenton Toyota in Warrenton,VA. About 40 miles S.W. of DC/N. VA area. New Toyota dealership, only open for 3 months. I got mine there without a waitlist, I did wait 3 weeks for it to come in though, short compared to what I have read on PriusChat. New facility and because they are new, Toyota has given them greater allocation of hybrids (both Prius & Camry). My wife got a CamHy there also. Mike Kelly was my sales person and he called me the other day and said they were getting 3 more Priuses, I think pckg 2 & 6. I dont know the colors though. My first choice was a Spectra Blue pckg 2, but I settled for my 2nd choice, Mag Gray pckg 2. I paid MSRP @ $24,300. He said because they are a new dealership, they are just trying to move "units" to show good numbers to Toyota and selling at MSRP only. I am in no way related to any one there, just had an excellent experience with 2 transactions. Give Mike a call :cell:, you may luck out. He goes the extra mile. Google Warrenton Toyota & Scion for the number. Tell him that you got his name from PriusChat, he'll get a kickout of it.
There is one left at Brown Toyota in Charlottesville, VA as of 12pm today -- Spectra Blue, pkg. 2, @MSRP. Ask for Kevin. Just a little further south of Warrenton.
David Maus Toyota in Sanford FL (my home) has them always in stock. The pkg 2 and 6 are the most popular here and they keep them if they can. If you dont find what you want closer send me a note and I will drive over (2 miles) and check for you.
So what I'm hearing is that between the price of gas having dropped ca. $0.50 per gallon (depending on location, etc.) and the general poor state of the economy, Toyota dealers now actually have a few Prius just sitting on their lots? Somehow I guess I find that just a little hard to believe. Two months ago, there were people lined up for this car. Did that many people really bail on the line? Anyway you slice it, that wouldn't be good, as I'd interpret it to mean that people are either really stupid (OK, I know), we're in real trouble, or both. I wonder when the stealerships will quite charging premiums. There's one that's near where I live that's still trying to sell a package 2 for more than $30K. Then again, if the cars are starting to sit on lots, that won't last long.
Keep all those ideas and offers coming! Much appreciated. Still on the chase - and hoping to narrow the search to under 300 miles from NY. Pennsylvania? CT? And I've been on the phone with a number of dealers in this area and it's amazing to see the breadth of what they say: MSRP +$4000, 6 week to 4 month wait... Trying to rule those out. But I really do appreciate the ideas and offers to check out stock! Thanks...
Just out this listing in the Phoenix Craigslist: 2009 Toyota Prius | I have 8 on the ground | Under MSRP
Thank you SO much for this: bought the car last week in Maine. Already logged 800 miles and very happy. You were very kind to offer your help. Thanks again.
I'd love some input on this as well. I've been searching for a used one for awhile, but I guess the bottom line is that the new ones aren't so far off from the used ones in price quite often, so I'm looking new right now, and keeping my fingers crossed on financing (I've got great credit). But I would LOVE to get the spectra blue. I keep cars for a long time, so I'd like to love it. I'm in Baltimore, and don't want something super expensive, so base or pkg 2 is fine. I'd greatly appreciate any ideas!
lady, One of the things that you are unfortunately up against is location. From quite a few of the recent availability postings on PC, if you were in California you could (enter slight hyperbole mode) essentially drive to the dealer of your choice and view a sea of available Prius (exit slight hyperbole mode). In the mid-Atlantic/mid-West, we suffer... Greg
One of the top dealer in Sacramento has 39 in stock today, down from 43 last week. I heard that the deals are invoice +500.
Call Rob Goldberg at DH Toyota in Wappinger Falls. You could take the train up here to pick it up if they had one.
Spectra Blue I must confess to not paying attention to Priuses until I decided to buy one after visiting the Philadelphia Auto Show in early February of this year. Spectra Blue is one of my two favorite Prius colors, the other one being the red color. However, I have only seen one Spectra Blue car in all of these months. I have the lighter blue color, Seaside Pearl, and I see those all over the place! I'm glad you finally got your car. Is there any special reason why Spectra Blue is not to be found anywhere I've been? Maybe the dealers around Philadelphia don't have them in stock. But I have drive through parts of Florida, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas, plus the DC/Baltimore area in the time I've been looking, and I haven't seen such a car then, either. Earlier tonight, in a far part of the Philadelphia area where I don't go very often, I was passed by a car that I know was a Prius due to its shape. At the time, I thought it was possibly the second-ever Spectra Blue Prius I had ever seen, but I wasn't 100% sure. Other colors I don't see very much - gold/sand (although I almost ended up getting one from a different dealer), gray (as opposed to silver, which I see all the time, especially parked outside our home, since we also have one), and black (someone at work has one, though, so I see this one in the company parking lot).
