2009 Prius, buying advice needed!

I am not sure where you live, but I the SF Bay Area, dealers are discounting $1k to $1,500 off MSRP (maybe even more today). There are a lot of cars available now. I bought a 2009 Touring Prius last month.

 

Dealer in Sacramento advertising $3000 off MSRP. They have 39 in stock.

2009 Toyota Prius at Maita Toyota

A package 6 is $$29,060.00
Special Price: $26,060.00

I think it is slightly below invoice.

 

I think it depends a lot on where you are. We're in a small town in Illinois and bought a 2009 Touring about two months ago. There was still a waiting list in our region and the dealer had only one on the lot. We bought that car and got about $500 off. I called another dealer in Indianapolis that had 2 on the lot and would only give a few hundred off. I have not been back to our local dealer to see how many they have now.

In the long run, the value of Prii should remain stable. Oil prices will go back up once the economy picks up and/or OPEC's production cuts have their desired effect, plus Toyota just announced they are stopping work on a new US plant, which means availability will remain limited.

Good luck with your decision!

 

Just thought I would mention...

Out of curiousity I searched Ebay completed auctions for "2008 Prius."
You need to look more carefully... The 12-14k cars are sold with a SALVAGE title.

Cars with a clear title are selling around 20k.

I hope that makes you feel a bit better about resale value.

 

Where do you live? If you live in the LA area I can give you more specific pointers.

I did not find it worthwhile to buy used. The markdown was very small, and many of the priuses with HOV stickers were MORE than a new one. There is always a large degree of uncertainty, especially with eBay purchases: it may have some indolent problem, it may have had its block frozen or overheated, it may never have had the oil changed... Much better, if you plan on maintaining it well and keeping it for a long time, to buy new, IMO.

Now as far as the new price, you are being jerked around. The very first dealer I spoke to offered me $1000 off the MSRP right off the bat, without my asking. I calculated the price I wanted to pay (5% above invoice less holdback) and offered them that when I was finally ready to buy; they agreed without hesitation. Make sure you go through the fleet department (and online quote req puts you in touch with the fleet department), as their commission isn't based on the final price of the car. For example, I got my Package 2 for $23,388, which is $1,282 off MSRP, and this was less than a month ago. For a Touring Package 6, invoice is 26,754. Less Toyota holdback (2% of base MSRP = 22276; 22276*0.03=446) that's 26,288 final dealer cost, puls 5% profit is 27,602. That should be your target price. If you pay 31 grand you might as well go stick three thousand dollars in the dealer's pocket.

For the source of all this and a wealth of great carbuying advice, go to CarBuyingTips.com new car buying guide, avoiding dealer scams, new cars, used car buying . Read it cover to cover and save yourself a few thousand.

PS I like your review of the electric lawnmower.

 

Read Consumer Reports car buying advice, either here:
Car buying guide for new and used cars by Consumer Reports
or in their April issue in almost any library. You can do all the work by phone, email and fax, and be confident of getting the best possible price.

Fer gosh sakes, if you buy used, research the title and *don't* buy a salvaged Prius. So much can be wrong with a modern car it'll give you the willies.

 

You are going about buying a Prius all wrong. First of all use the computer to find a few of the Prius that you would definatly buy. Then don't think in terms of "off msrp", think in terms of "how much over invoice". Then call the dealers and ask for the sales manager. Be very nice and tell him you are not shopping but really in the market to buy a Prius now. Then ask him how much over invoice he will sell you one for now. If he trys to tell you you gotta come in ect., ect. be very nice but explain to him you don't want to waste your time travelling to different dealers and you want to get prices first to save your time and aggravation and that your gonna buy from the guy with the best price. I bet in todays market you'll get somebody to sell you one for $500 over invoice maybe even better. Also any reputable dealer will show you the invoice when you get there, and you can get a pretty good idea what invoice is using www.kbb.com