Don't buy a Prius right now. Long range, sure. But the technology is changing rapidly, so see how the dust settles in a year or so. Besides, oil pricing is in a turmoil and highly inflationary. They have to do something about it--or the economy will tank. Expect lower gas prices by the end of the summer--after everybody has ditched their SUVs in panic.
Could it be that 6 or so months from now, the customer that paid $XXX over MSRP might be saying "I lucked out."? :car:
I do intend to buy a hybrid someday, no question. I want one for two reasons. 1) Global warming. I can't wait till President Cheney and his puppet Bushes are out and Sen. Obama is in. (That is a topic we can talk about later) 2) I don't want to be dependent on oil. The only point I'm trying to make here is that paying several thousand more for a toyota now it is not good financial judgment. Now with so many other autos out there that offer good milage. All I was trying to do before I bought one was learn about hybrids, find out who makes what and select the right car. I can't believe that there are some of you in this message board that don't agree with that.
Your completely right Hube01, There are plenty of efficient cars that aren't hybrid. Anybody paying over list price for a mass produced car is looking to get burnt in the medium term.
No idea. But call the internet manager: Howard Sheehy. He sold me mine. Or I should say he sat in the car and let the car sell itself. Answered my questions (and was correct).
Actually, I started "car" shopping in November. I had a Saturn SC2 coupe and was looking for a replacement. I went to the Saturn dealership to see what replaced the SC2 coupe. Basically nothing. So I test drove an Ion. And hated it. So I went home and started doing some internet research in the ensuing months. Settled on a Prius around March but didn't really have time to go car shopping until April. When I did....all I did was e-mail all of the surrounding dealerships for colors, packages and availability. Heard from three. First didn't have any of the colors or packages I wanted. Kearny Mesa contacted me, I talked on the phone and went the following week. Mossy didn't reply until AFTER I'd already bought the car. April 6, 2005 I signed the papers and drove it off the lot. When I bought my Prius gas was just starting to settle above $2.00 a gallon. I was subject to some friendly jesting but *I* saw the writing on the wall. Now that it's consistently over $4.00 no one makes fun of my car. And I'm thrilled that it is maintaining it's value. I have CA HOV stickers, so I could probably easily get 80% of what I paid for it three years ago. Might even be able to get 100% return given the shortages, my low mileage and the stickers. But....I'm not looking to replace it yet. Not until I can get a plug-in Prius.
I remember Honda doing that too. Accords used to be hard to get. My folks sold their first Accord for more than they paid for it. When I bought my Honda CRX I paid $1000 over MSRP, on a $7000 car. Why, because that's what they were charging. Why, because that's what the market would bear. Tom
Yep, wait until winter, gas prices will be at a relative minimum, not as many people buying cars. A good time is just before or just after Xmas; no one buys cars in the dead of winter. I did. $3k off of sticker, but I bought in Feb 07. Gas was cheap at $2.60/ gal and the dealer had a bunch of Package #6 cars on the lot. You can get a better discount on the loaded ones, cause they have more room to work with. 2 weeks after I bought my car, gas rose to $2.80/ gal, 2 -3 weeks after that it hit about $3/ gal. Gas is now $4.60, making this car one of the best purchases I ever made. Yep. Its still a great car, but you needed to buy it about a year ago when production was high and demand had not caught up. Didn't even try to trade the Ford Explorer. It is now part of the Sequestered SUVâ„¢ program.
Maybe I'll just have to wait for the 2010 plug in version! Now that would be worth the extra money!!! Yes Godiva I did say that....lol (Thanks for the PM too!) Then I'll see if my wife would like to drive the Accord..... I've found in the past that it's no good practice to try the old "hand-me-down car" to the wife. It tend to get her a bit pi$$ed off....lol Jay
I may be in a position to help. If you are in my area I have a 2000 Intrigue that gets 30mpg on the highway. That's close to a Prius and will cost way less so there will be a great return on investment.
Bought a Prius .... Yup, My 1998 Toyota Camry was giving me fits driving it around from a dead stop during November, December of last year and January of this year . I found out from the person I gave the car to that it had distributor issues as well as spark plugs that needed to be replaced, and he's still going on the vehicle with 307,000 miles on it now (I gave it to him with 306,000+ miles). I had to break down and get another car... it was and has been the Prius since 2000. Though with the advent of the second generation it only made more sense, but the Camry was paid off therefore I held out until the car could give no more (for me). I ended up in mid-January with a Standard Model (1224) Prius in Magnetic Grey with Package #2 for $23,900 but I waffled at paying that price until my inside connection at SET added leather seats at no extra charge. So what would have been $25,520 was still $23,900. It took me a total of three days to seal the deal and everything was fine (The dealer originally didn't believe I would have $$$$ in hand and held off delivering the vehicle back to the distributor to add on the leather seats, thus the three days). At this point, I'm happy and satisified that I won't need to spend much on maintenance and other things. (Now back to your regularly scheduled programming)
We bought ours in Sept. 2005 and gas had just hit $3 per gallon and everyone was FREAKING OUT. If only we knew... We have the carpool lane stickers too. Now looking for a 2nd Prius.
We have a 2005 Honda Accord and a 2008 Prius. While the Prius obviously is best for mileage, the Accord is no slouch. I drove 400 highway miles last week and got 34 mpg (on flat terrain). I think it's really important to stick with the 4cylinder Honda. It's got plenty of pep. Buy the 6 and you're just wasting gas. Also, we've got 43,000 miles on the Honda Accord and have had zero problems -- nothing. I'm sorry the Prius won't work out for you, but the Accord is a fine second choice.
Hope not. We can't afford the war we are already in. I actually think McCain is a decent guy as far as politicians go, but he's on the wrong side of the war issue and won't be getting my vote.
I was able to trade in my 2004 Ford Expedition back in March, just before dealers were no longer taking them for trades. Those suckers! I didn't get much for it, but more than I was expecting. I drive about 18K miles/yr. So using that math: Expedition (15 mpg avg) 1200 gallons/yr X $3.90 per gallon (Charleston, SC avg) ------------- $4680 per year in gas 2008 Prius (49 mpg low avg) 367 gallons/yr X $3.90 per gallon (Charleston, SC avg) ------------- $1437 per year in gas Savings: $3248 per year if gas stays at $3.90 per gallon (fat chance). So it will take me about 1.5 years to make up for the "price premium" over a Toyota Matrix (closest to similar size as the Prius).
JoeKC, Like any bad drug out there..... "Just say no" to McCain.... We need hime like another hole in the head. Or any GOP member..... I still think this is going to be a blow out election any ways! OBAMA 08 (Not only do we need a change, the rest of the world does too!) Jay
