How much you paid for your Prius??

Bill,
I recommend calling the fleet/internet salesperson first - before sending your email. I think this makes you appear to be a more serious buyer.

I used Google to identify all the dealerships in my targeted areas. I compiled an Excel spreadsheet with this data for easy reference.

Call the dealership and ask for the fleet or internet salesperson. If you get transferred to a regular salesperson firmly request a Fleet or Internet salesperson. Introduce yourself and tell them you will be buying a new Prius in the next few days and would like their dealership to provide a price proposal. Get a contact name, email address & direct phone number. Then email you spec's to them (I can send you the form email I used - it's a pretty assertive memo). I found most were eager to respond and was surprised at how many responses I got. The price proposals I got were significantly better than Costco's pricing. The dealerships who don't want to quote are the ones you don't want to deal with anyway.

Make it clear you want their best price up front (bids should be itemized and also include final out-the-door pricing) and that you will call all the bidding dealers with the winning bid.

When you've assembled all your bids rank them from highest to lowest. Start with the highest bid and call then to share the lowest OTD bid. Then go silent - don't say another word. Wait for them to counteroffer. About 60% of them went lower for me. Keep going down the list with the new best OTD bid until you've gone through all your list. You should have your best deal at this point. I only went through one round of this as I got below my target price and I felt I had pushed things far enough.

At that point call the winner and tell them they have a deal. Ask for a signed purchase order to be created and emailed or faxed to you.

I think this is the best way to buy a new car and thoroughly enjoyed the whole process.

In the interest of full disclosure, I used the new car buying package from fightingchance.com which includes detailed instructions on the email/fax attack method of buying a new car.

Best of luck to you.
Dave

 

I just got what (at least I think) is a GREAT deal in Eastern Mass.

2009 Spectra Blue Prius with Package #6
Includes: Carpeted Floor Mats, Cargo net and iPod adapter (Anyone have experience with this??)

LESS $750 Toyota Customer Cash -- only $24,309. Originally I qualified for the grad rebate too (so it would have been $23,909), but the finance rate was high and I got a better rate so I opted out of the $400 credit.

It took a lot of finagling to get that price. I literally was fighting between two dealers, but got it.

 

Was this OTD or before T & L?

 

Rebate is now $2000 in Northern CA, through 2/17/2009.

 

What are the chances the rebate in the rest of the US will go up from 750?

 

double post

 

if you get a quote from walnut creek toyota you can get a new 2009 prius touring with pkg 6 and floor/cargo mats for $23,812 + TTL. that includes a $2000 rebate that expires 2/17. this is a price that cannot be beat. I am thinking of getting one and shipped to me.

 

I just got what I think is a really good deal in the Northern VA area. Keep in mind in this area they are only offering a $750 rebate.

09 Package 6 with mats, cargo net, wheel locks, and bumper applique for $23,744. OTD price was $25,756. (tax $812, freight $720, tags $67, processing $389)

In the interest of full disclosure, the salesman accidentally quoted me a package #5 price and the sales manager ended up honoring it.

 

I'm from Ncalifornia and bought a used Prius package #4 with 8,000 miles for 22.5k OTD and that came with the maintenance coupon deal. But in my search I found that SF Toyota was offering $23,274.00 for package #6.

 

1220 + Leather package, $22500, Toyota of Grapevine, Texas

Metallic Gray Color. Now shopping for the MP3+Bluetooth+USB receiver to install on it.

02/11/2009

 

I take it you are referring to the grey one with about 7k miles on it? I went back and forth with the guy via email, and he would only go down to 22,500 + tax/license with me, I guess you got him down another $1000.

I told him I would give him 20k and he wasn't interested. I have a hard time paying what he's asking for a used car when you can get the same one brand new for 2-3k more. Add in the fact, that the sales tax on a new car is now deductible that probably subtracts another $600 or so to the equation.

 

Just get a new one then.
I bought a used one but it was $12400 less than new and that was on the road versus plus on road costs.

 

Agreed, I am going to buy a new one. I've been negotiation via email the last couple of days with a few dealers. Correct me if I am wrong, but do a lot of these rebate programs start on Tuesday? I am wondering if I close a deal today, if there is any risk of the $1000 rebate going up tomorrow.

That being said, I imagine the price will just go down as the 2010 models get closer, but I am looking to buy something in the next week or two.

 

Ended up buying a new Package 5 tonight, with floor mats, rear bumper applique, and cargo net, OTD was 25,514. Happy with the deal and happy with the car!

 

Sounds great, well done.
Here's to many many happy miles.
Cheers.

 

i got a quote for a 2009 toyota prius touring pkg 6 with floor and cargo mats for $25,067 including destination. i think i am going to go sign paper work tomorrow. this is in chicago.

 

This is a good quote.. have been looking in and around chicago for the past 6 months, have been thoroughly disappointed in the way dealerships have treated myself and my wife. One place I won't name, had a used 2008 model for sale on the internet on 3 different sites for 3 different prices, I drove an hour to get there, was told the cheapest price was wrong.. every other dealer that I've offered a price for a 2009 like your's above + $300 more than you got and was told "do you know what the MSRP is???" immediately and was told that i was wasting their time.. wouldn't even make a counter offer. I could understand this behaviour if we were offering $20k for a new 2009 package 6, but our offer around $24-25k is being received as offensive..

 

would that dealer with the 2008 be naperville toyota? you can name toyota dealers on here. i got mine from continental toyota in countryside, il. they were great and honored the price we had agreed on via email. no funny business when i got there. i was in and out in an hour. i would definitely do business with them again. i hope your experience there is the same.

 

I originally saw a 2007 at Carmax, which had 23K miles and they wanted about 18K. That was the first Prius I drove and I loved it. But someone else was making a deal on it and I already knew from their website that another Carmax in the area had a 2008 with only 9K miles and they wanted 22K for that one. Well I did research online and went back and forth with the local Toyota dealer's internet sales and got a brand new 2009 for just 23,115 + tax & license, and got to pick from all the colors Pirus came in, (the dealer had at least one of each). So I was pretty happy with the deal. In fact, I got my financing thru my credit union and they had their buyer see if he could get me an even better deal and he said he couldn't, unless maybe if I were willing to wait a few weeks. But this was to replace a totaled vehicle, so that was not an option.

 

this is my first post...I'm a few days away from buying my first Prius. Using the recommendations from this thread, I have a fighting chance of finding a very good price on a package 6 2009 right now. After negotiating with 5 dealers, I have the lowest OTD bid at $25,500. My question to you all is about what is in the bid and if there is still room to negotiate the following:
Destination Charge: $ 720.00
TDA: $ 505.00 (What is this anyway?)
Gasoline: $ 14.52 (Huh - they want to charge me for gas in the hybrid? Funny)
Dealer Holdback: $ 467.00 (not sure what this is)
Whsl. Financial Reserve: $ 233.00

To be clear, I know the OTD price is a good one. A friend paid $32k for the same car back in August. I also know times are tough for the dealers and I want them to have their fair share of profit. But I am also struggling and only buying a new car after my last one was totalled. After 10 days of searching for a low mile used package 6 2008 (there are about 15 certified in the entire country) for an extra $2k I can buy a new one.

Appreciate your advice - I've been a lurker for a week now and have learned a lot from you all!