At MSRP, is the Prius still worth it?

In June 2006 gas was $2.979 and dealers were selling over MSRP to walk-ons and at MSRP + BS fees through internet sales. I'm not sorry I bought earlier than 2006 as the electronics were upgraded but I got an early Magnetic Gray. If I had bought an earlier 2006 I would have picked a silver. My fuel consumption is less than half, oil changes are less frequent, and I expect minimal maintenance. If I lost the Prius today I would start shopping for another tomorrow and since I have two cars I have the luxury to wait until I find what I want either a 2008 or a 2009.

If you want a new car with a low entry price then you may be able to pay invoice for a GM, Ford, or Chrysler but you'll end up paying more in the end when you add in the additional gas & repairs.

 

We walked into the dealer intending to look at the Prius and walked out the owners of one, since they had the exact package and color we wanted on the lot. Our original intention was to wait until after our wedding later this year--since we'll be living together, we'll have more of a disposable income. However, we purchased Yoda that day and haven't regretted it a bit.

It is always interesting when people compare this to the sub-compacts, as was mentioned by someone else earlier in this post. My parents have two Fits, which they love. They're great cars, and we love driving them as well. However, the Fit is noticeably smaller with less features than the Prius. Add to that that the Sport Fit costs around $17,000, and it's not that much cheaper than our car when you consider all of the additional features of the Prius. That being said, the Fit is also a relatively new car, and it's hard to get a good deal on them as well. (My parents were happy to get a slight reduction off of MSRP + free cargo net and floormats.)

 

When we decided to buy a few weeks ago - a couple of items were apparent - First gas was going up - it may drop back some but with the China and India demand that has been rising - (look at gas futures) - it will likely average around $5/gal or more over what I expect to be the 10 year life of the car. Just on the economics - The car we are replacing gets 23 mpg on premium - we will be cutting our gas bill in half. If you drive a significant amount - the money that you MAY save by waiting will be erased by the money spent on gas. When we decided on what we wanted, I hesitated at paying MSRP but after finding that the car that we wanted would be at the dealer on two weeks and that the best that we could get was $500 off and that was at a daler quite a distance, we stuck with the original dealer and will pick up our car next Monday or Tuesday. Good luck

 

It is so worth it!

I bought my 2008 Prius in April and I only had to wait three days. I thought I would have to order one but a guy who already had, changed his mind, and I got his Prius since I wasn't too picky about color and options. Luck was on my side for sure since my other vehicle had just died.

When I was sitting in that dealership waiting for finance, several people came in wanting a Prius. In fact, one salesman took some folks for a ride in my car! I felt so possessive when I saw them get in and take it for a spin. That was my car, buddy! :yell: They had to change my odometer reading on the paperwork from 10 to 15!

The bad news is you really don't have any power at the dealership and they know this. The Prius is in demand, many are selling it well over MSRP, and there seriously isn't any room for negotiation. In fact, I felt damn near raped by Toyota by the time I got out of that dealership! Every car I saw on the road on my way home represented a painful experience at the dealership!

The good news is, Prius holds its value better than most (I am tempted to say all) vehicles. If you're having a difficult time with local dealerships and are willing to travel, try searching online. I saw some on ebay that were brand new so there are other options. The Prius is a fun car, it has a great reputation and Toyota itself has a reputation of producing a quality vehicle. I went from driving a 17mpg vehicle to this wonderful 50mpg Prius and I am so glad I didn't make the decision to "settle" for another car. I don't regret paying full price and I feel grateful to just get to own one. I'm even okay some other dude took it for a spin before I took it home. It's mine and I am definitely a proud new Prius owner!

Good luck to you!

 

Yes, at MSRP the Prius is worth it. Not only do you get good mileage, the car is super reliable, low maint, and is non polluting. That last part is one of my main reasons for buying one.

 

At 10 years the last of the warranty has just expired. AFAIK the useful life of the car hasn't been determined. The very high mileage cars I've heard of reached the end of their lives in collisions.

 

In couple of years, I'd say that you'll probably have more regrets if you don't buy it all.

For me the bottom line is simply this: if I had to make the purchase decision all over again today, it would be the same, I'd buy the car. I'm specifically including in that paying MSRP and maybe even some premium.

If you're going to make comparisions between the Prius and other vehicles, at least make the comparison with other cars that have the same MSRP and/or have the same or similar features. If you're making any car comparision between MSRP points, you're going to have the same problem, you can't compare apples and oranges. The whole price point decision is really a financial one and you have to make it based on what you can afford. There really aren't any attributes of the car itself that are going to change what you can afford.

So:

• Make your price point decision based on your finances.
• Compare apples to apples if you must make comparisions.
• Really stop to think about what you want and see if the Prius, or any other car, represents that feature set.

 

So technically the car wasn't yours yet, correct? Oh man I'd be pissed if someone took a test drive on a car I just purchased.

 

Hi All,

Supply and demand can be very locallized. Remember there are dealarships out in areas that are pretty red-neck, and have an attitude about the Prius. Yet, Toyota was allocating these dealarships cars. This may have changed now, but it was the way things were when I got my car. Chicagoland dealars were MSRP and 6 mo wait, or sooner for a $2K markup, figuring the buyer would be interested in giving paying them 2/3's of their tax credit back in early 2006. So, I went well out of the area to find a car, 384 miles to be precise. A newbie recently posted he had gone 400 miles away to get his car at a reasonable price.

The Package 2 Prius is a little cheaper at the moment MSRP that it was back in 2006, but metro and high rural population density areas (CT for example) have dramatic demand with the onset of $4/ga gas costs.

If you drive cross-country, look for areas with allot of pickup trucks, and few Prius. Then when you get home lookup all the Toyota dealers in those areas and send em off emails.

I think MSRP is a good deal in comparison to similar interior spaced cars on a cash purchase. I did a comparison to a base level automatic transmission Pontiac G6 by updating my spread sheet I used in 2006. The G6 has a smaller interior space, but its a little quicker, so its a even comparison. The Prius of course is allot more versatile with the hatchback. Still, the Prius broke even in about 3 years with gas at Febuary levels and 12 K miles per years. So, in 5 years of ownership the Prius comes way out ahead. Smaller cars would take more years, but as long as the break-even is before the end of the life of the car, one can expect to realise that advantage. Since resale will be allot better on the Prius, primarily because the wear-out maintanence on the Prius is allot less than on an Aveo et al.

 

i paid MSRP for both of mine simply because in my area, there has never really been a "glut" of Priuses available for sale.

not even a hint of a doubt in my words when i say.

"it is the BEST car decision i have ever made"

and i should say it with confidence... the old adage..."if you could do it all over again, knowing what you know, would you?"

well, since i did it, the answer is obvious.

 

Whether it is "worth it" or not probably depends on a lot of factors as others have pointed out. If you really need a car and now is the time, as opposed to just sort of jumping on a bandwagon due to soaring gas prices as I see a lot of people doing (and is contributing to the shortage), then it could be false economy up to a point.

But if you "need" or are in the market for a new car, would have been notwithstanding the current fuel situation, then the issue of whether to pay MSRP as opposed to the "good old days" of just a few months ago when you might get a several hundred $, maybe even $1500-2000 discount depending on the package, is kind of silly when you think of it. What is $2000 in this day and age if you amortize it over the service life of a car, roughly 10 years? Comes to $200 per year which is only a small fraction of what you'll save in gas and maintenance costs. Cars, gas, corn, hog-bellies, Ipods, whatever, is only worth what people are willing to pay and I guess if people are now willing to pay MSRP, or even more, that's what Prii are worth.....but, again, only if you would probably have gotten one (or some new car) anyway.

 

Life can be short, so have some fun. Drive a Prius. It can be more than the money, that comes and goes. 3,000 miles later I still smile every time I get behind the wheel.
"G"