Broken-hearted: Lost my Prius Prime Opportunity

Completely agree with the Extended Warranty. It's too expensive and mislead. When they "extended" the warranty from 3 years to 8 years, you are not paying for the additional 5 years. Instead, you are paying for the entire 8 years. Why? I you cancel that warranty, say after the 4th year, in theory you have only used ONE year of the warranty out of the extended FIVE. But instead, they will only return you half of what you've paid for, because they considered warranty starts on day 1, and the prorate it for 4 years of usage (from year 1 to year 4), over the totally 8 years coverage.

So, if you cancel it few days after you purchased your vehicle, you will get almost 100% back.

 

If you have the 2019 Corolla hatch with apple CarPlay then you probably have Lane Trace Assist which keeps the car centered in a lane. The Prime does not have this Trace feature, nor does it have Apple CarPlay. If the 2019 or 2020 Prime has this, I will be looking to buy it as it would make long drives much easier. I love my Prime advanced, getting over 140 MPG plugging into my electricity from solar panels. But a semi self driving car might be worth the extra gas, especially while gas prices are relatively low.

 

Yeah, Corolla Hybrid for 2020 is already talked about here. 2020 Corolla Hybrid Sedan (Yes, for the US) | PriusChat

Are you sure about the transfer to other Toyota vehicles? AFAIK, if it is Toyota Vehicle Service Agreement the transfer is allowed only once to a subsequent owner of the same car and dealer will not qualify for this transfer. So, if you sell your Carolla to someone privately, yes you can transfer the remaining period of the warranty to that buyer. But, if you trade it to a dealer or sell outright to a dealer, the warranty cannot be transferred but must be canceled at that time for a prorated refund. What you are saying is not a transfer, but the portability of the contract. I have never heard Toyota Vehelde Service Agreement (aka Extended Warranty) contract being portable to another Toyota vehicle purchased. I suggest reading your contract very carefully to make sure of this. Please see this page for some general information. Vehicle Service Agreements | Toyota Financial
Also, please remember that Toyota Vehicle Service Agreement can be purchased online usually for much less cost than what most dealers charge at the time of car purchase. AND, you don't have to buy it at the time of a new car purchase. You have until 3 years/36 mo to purchase it.

Toyota Vehicle Service Agreement has 30 days cooling off period. For the first 30 days cancellation, it is a full refund.

 

Again, even including an 8 year extended warranty, which lists for around $2,200, it is damn near impossible to pay $35K for a 2019 Corolla. Did the dealer add every possible price jacker... fabric protection, paint protection, underbody protection, a LoJack, a remote starter? I could go on. Dealers have been using these to line their pockets for as long as I've been around.

You claim to be an engineer. As such, you should be a whole lot smarter than you are showing yourself to be. I hate dealing with car dealers, but with the dealerships at your fingertips. there really is no reason to anymore. And there's certainly no reason to fall for the dealer add-on game.

 

OP stated, "The car was 27,300 but with taxes, fees, an extended warranty and accessories it came up to $35.000." So, yeah, this Carolla Hatch is loaded. Heck, it is $15000 more than what I paid for my 2017 PRIME Premium. I would love to see the photo of this beauty.

 

Angela, you need to STOP listening to what that dealership is telling you immediately...and never go back there.

This is 2019.
Cars are build to standards and using technology that was unheard of even a few decades ago, and there is absolutely no reason that a dealership would say something as inane as that.....other than testing your gullibility or demonstrating their ignorance on the subject.

Here's the web site for the pdf copies of the owner's manuals for all of Toyota's cars:
Toyota Online Owners Manuals and Warranty
The reason why PDF copies are handy is that you can do a keyword search for anything relating to (as an example) "break-in period" and I'll bet you that there is NOTHING about limiting your speed to 60 - or much of anything else.

I only skimmed through this but I saw something about an extended warranty.
The smartest thing you can do is immediately get a refund on this product - and for no other reason than you do not need it.
This is because if you drive enough miles for a 50mpg car to be significantly cheaper to operate than a 30mpg car, then you're going to bolter past the the warranty before the car experiences any age-related failure......and besides....there is a non-zero percent chance that your dealership is weaponizing your warranty.
While (or if) you're on the computer looking into any of this....look up a little something I like to call the "Affordable Car Act" passed in 1975:
Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act - Wikipedia

Finally....
If they rooked you into prepaid maintenance - interestingly referred to as "Toyota Care" then you need to go back to the web copy of the warranty and maintenance guide and print out the maintenance guide and familiarize yourself with this document....because it's going to be important later.
My rule of thumb for the maintenance guide (and it's ONLY a guide...) is that generally something that's not on this document is not "maintenance", but rather a repair.
Those require an explanation, and at least a second opinion, and there are some examples (CVT fluid changes and perhaps brake fluid) but generally speaking if your dealership tries to get into your pocket while your car is in the shop for routine maintenance, then it's probably neither routine nor maintenance.
Make "NO!" your default answer until and unless there is a clear and present reason NOT to.

I'd look into an immediate refund on this prepaid maintenance plan, but my Spidey sense tells me that (unlike the warranty) they're not required by law to offer it.....and thus, do not.


Good Luck!
You are the VERY FIRST person that I've ever said this to, but in your case you might have been better off sticking with Das VolksVagen.

Fire you dealer and try another one.

Really...
If for no other reason than the idiotic and probably patronizing "...don't take it past 60" line they fed you!!!

 

I give people the benefit of the doubt, even if suspicion does arise.

In this case? Given the parameters of the situation, I don't have an easy answer anyway.

 

Stay under 60 MPH for the first 1500 miles?

I agree that is questionable advice.
BUT....
It is remnants from the old "Break In" period advice that really use to be given.
You can google the terms, and you still read a various opinions. You get that you should avoid high RPM's, vary your speed, etc, etc,...

Some people are old school....even though I agree 1500 miles at below 60 mph is not needed with new engines, I can believe that advice could be continued.
It's almost a ritual. And sometimes people have a hard time giving up those rituals.
Ask someone sometime about "Break In Oil" and when you should do your first oil change, and then step back for the avalanche of varying opinions.

I would say...I avoid extreme speeds with my new vehicle and harsh acceleration, for about 1500 miles or the first month or so.
Is it needed? Probably not...but it's just habit and I don't think it hurts.

 

THIS x1000!

 

I cannot believe the less than 60mph for 1,500 miles bullshit. That is literally INSANE in new car standards today. Look at the Owner's Manual of the vehicle, it will spell out what you should do very clearly.

But, the thing to remember about the OPEX (Operational Expense) of a vehicle is the only metric that matters: $/mile. Not fuel economy. Its one of my pet peves. If you are coming from a 52mpg TDI, but Diesel is $3.30 per gallon (Assumption). That's (3.30/52) = $0.063/mile. Or 6.3 cents per mile.

Compared to a 30.5 mpg Corolla @ $2.40/Gallon (Assumption). That is: (2.40/30.5)= $0.0786/mile. Or 7.86 cents per mile.

Now... That's only a 24% increase in cost... when looking at from an MPG perspective, you'd think its nearly double the cost.

The same can be done for tires, oil changes, scheduled maintenance and on and on for a determined effective life of the vehicle.


Another thing to keep in mind with a Prius Prime or any electric or plug in hybrid vehicle. The MPG given by the onboard computer, cannot be trusted. You need to know your $/kWh including tax on your electric bill and how many actual kWh's it takes to "fill up" the battery. Once you can monitor and know these figures, you can produce an effective, dollar equivalency, MPG for the vehicle. This changes with the split between electric miles and gasoline miles for the owner, but I would guess, for most people it will land at 66 to 90 effective MPG of cost.

 

Don't feel bad Angela- I have the same weird fettish! Prime was and is the only car I wanted.

 

FYI. Here is what the manual says for a 2019 Corolla Hatchback:

https://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/om-s/OM12K90U/pdf/OM12K90U.pdf

■Breaking in your new Toyota

To extend the life of the vehicle, observing the following precautions is recommended:
●For the first 186 miles (300 km): Avoid sudden stops.
●For the first 621 miles (1000 km):

• Do not drive at extremely high speeds.
• Avoid sudden acceleration.
• Do not drive continuously in low gears.
• Do not drive at a constant speed for extended periods.
​

There is a more vagueness than I would ever approve for such a document. However, basically, just drive it. HAHA .

​

 

Angela,

My advice for you is to treat this as an engineering project. My dad, who was a chemical engineer, used to do this with me when I wanted to buy a car, and it drove me up a wall, but since you are an engineer, this should be relatively painless for you. (Dad passed away ten years ago - I'd sell my soul for a chance to be sitting at the kitchen table with him now listening to him boringly explain net present value of money and total cost of ownership). But I digress.

Pretend you're buying a piece of equipment rather than a car, to try to get some of the emotion out of the decision. You need to look at total cost of ownership over the expected longevity of the car, for both cars. That's everything you can think of - purchase price, rebates, electrical costs, gas, maintenance, fluids, expected repairs, mileage, finance charges, insurance, depreciation/value of vehicle after 10 years, etc. Calculate it once for gas costs remaining constant, and again for costs to rise.

Check purchase prices across several dealerships and in several states. Investigate the actual value of your Corolla, too. I suspect other dealers will give you a much better trade-in price, but you might do even better by selling it outright. I'm willing to bet that you will, at the very least, be able to make an even trade - your 2019 Corolla for a 2019 Prime. Even if you can't, I'm pretty sure that the numbers will work in the Prime's favor over the years.

Once you've done all the numbers (lucky you, you get to do it in Excel - my first spreadsheets were really spread-out sheets of graph paper taped together) you can factor in the intangibles - what is it worth to you, in dollars and cents, to be driving your dream car? If you spread that cost out over ten years, is it worth it? Are you willing to sacrifice other expenses in your life to be able to afford this one?

Once you've answered these questions, you should have a path forward.

Just as a suggestion, I've found Shannon Ferry, the E-Commerce Manager at Balise Toyota of Warwick, RI 401-780-3595 to be friendly and helpful, even though it turned out that I can't afford a Prime this year.

 

Oh, and one other thing. You said the dealership really regrets painting that original Prime. I'm guessing that they're having trouble selling it. Maybe you should ask them if they're willing to give you an exceptionally good deal on that one? Try to speak to the owner or general manager for the negotiation - whoever your original salesguy was who said it was a jinx needs to be avoided like the plague.

 

This is what I don’t understand: the dealership received a damaged car, didn’t inspect it at delivery and then because of some scratches and chips you noticed, inexplicably repainted the entire car an unattractive orange instead of the original color. This makes no sense. I don’t believe this happened.

I appreciate all the sincere interest others on this forum have taken in your posts. It is a real indication of the generous and helpfulness of many people here.

 

"She" has said several things that are contradictory and/or make no sense.
But that doesn't necessarily mean that they are not true......or that "she" is not real.
But further discussion isn't worth my time.....either way.

 

agreed, but it's the ulterior motive that is elusive

 

Read the small print/see what the laws are in your State. Perhaps you could return the Corolla if you didn't like it - or you feel you were cajoled into buying it with all the other events that were happening - I don't know. All Prius's are pretty awesome, and there are many used ones on the market. But all Toyota's are pretty awesome, and the Corolla is also a great car, with excellent fuel economy for a non-hybrid.