O No, Dealers Marking up PrIUS

you said it fast, some will gladly pay over MSRP to drive a Prius, I'll wait till the '09s are gone and so is the summer driving season

 

One of the local Maryland dealers is marking up $2500

 

Northside Toyota in Chicago is adding a $1975 "paint protection and undercoating" package to all of their 2010 Prii, and I think that they are getting some customers to accept this!

I was ribbing the sales guy about this as I was leaving the showroom, and it was clear to him that he was not going to make a sale with me if it included a markup above MSRP. He acknowledged that his store will have to drop that add-on package later this summer when/if the initial demand for the Gen 3 lets off.

Of course, we may see more of these "pain protection" packages at high markup if gasoline hits $4 this summer...

 

Yeah, I was at Northside Toyota, they were crazy to think anybody would pay their $2000 markup. Not only that, but their sales people didn't have a clue when i ask them basic questions on the 2010 model. In all fairness, they said they won't get trained on it until the end of the month. I went over to Midtown Toyota or Grossingers and they are both willing to sell at MSRP. Cheaper if you are willing to push and negotiate.

Paying MSRP seems to be the normal for current supply and demand rate. But some dealers are still delusional from last year's summer buying frenzy when they could get away with charging $5000+ over MSRP. We need to give them a good slap of reality. Let them know you have other competitions to buy from.

Bad news is oil market experts are predicting a slight increase in gas prices for the coming summer. It won’t be as crazy as last year, but this will sure keep the demand up for Prius, or at least keep the demand from settling down. The only hope is if Toyota over ships enough cars to fill the dealers lots so they are willing to get rid of a few at lower prices.

FYI, that market adjustment nonsense is fully negotiable. My dealer first tried to sneak $2000 above the MSRP price for a car I reserved. I told him no, I have other places that will sell a Prius to me at MSRP. They eventually got rid of the markup as well as their arbitrary dealers fee close to $1000. No matter how desperate you want a 2010 Prius, play it cool and just let your dealer know there are plenty of competitions in town, and they all would like to sell you a Prius. Ask him if he wants to make his sales commision today or does he want to see you walk out infront of his boss.

 

Why pay it in this economy, the Prius has higher demand for now because it's new to the market but it's not immune to the economy if you just let the market reach equilibrium in a few months.

My sales guy told us that solar panels run the AC...sigh.

 

Went to my local dealer here in Wilmington, NC to test drive a package V last night. I found it much improved over the 2007 that I currently own.

They are doing a sneaky thing with the carpets/cargo mats and the rear bumper protector. They list them as dealer installed items and are charging $495.00 for them. As I am sure you know from the Toyota site the carpets/cargo are $229 and the bumper protector is $99.00. An additional $167.00 price gouge.

 

My SoCal dealer tried to tack on a $3000 premium when I was negotiating the price of my 2010 Prius last week. I got up to walk out and the $3000 premium quickly disappeared from the table.

 

Which dealer was that? I heard Keyes and N Hollywood are both adding premiums

 

Since the majority of dealers are independent business (not owned by the manufacturer) they legally can't dictate pricing, and most manufacturers look the other way regarding marking up hot/new cars.

The only exception I've found is Porsche. Even on their rarest models, you won't find a Porsche dealer selling a new car over MSRP, because if Porsche finds out they are, they reduce their allocations on desirable models.

Funny story--a few years ago when Porsche released a new version of one of their rarer models (GT2) the local dealer had one in the showroom, with a $50K mark up. I told the salesman I knew about Porsche view on marking up new cars, and he said it was being sold as a used car--they bought it from another dealer (who in turn bought the one they had). And back then, I'm sure somebody paid the mark up.

 

There are like three different recent threads on this same same subject already.

The dealers can mark the car up to any price they want. They can mark them up to $60,000 if they want. That doesn't obligate anyone to buy them at the prices the dealers stick on the window.

You can't say: "The dealer made me pay $996 over sticker and I had no choice."

Maybe if gas was $5 a gallon and they economy was booming, the dealers could "easily" get a $996 or $2995 markup or even more, but that isn't the case.

 

Toyota can't really do anything but frown upon the practice. At least not officially. One thing that they can do is withhold allocation from them.

I know the guys at Northside. Come see me if you are in the chicagoland region. We don't have anything extra added except floormats (and depending on the timing I can delete those too). I have numerous people on this site that can vouch for me.

FYI, that same paint protection package they charge $2,000 for can be had for $897 at my store. If you really want it.

 

I just bought a 2010 from a large Houston dealer this afternoon. They wanted list price plus $695 for tinting. We prefer a car that's not tinted, and they removed the $695 without too much negotiating on my part, so I paid MSRP.

I'm just glad I didn't find out that big discounts from MSRP are available. I'm usually much more deliberate in my decision-making processes, but the car was for my wife, and it was the exact color and equipment combination she was looking for. In the interest of continued conjugal bliss, I decided to do the deal today.

 

Cedar Rapids Toyota in Cedar Rapids, IA, wants $500 over MRSP. I was told that I could give them a non-refundable $500 fee to go on their list for the car I want (Prius IV, Blizzard Pearl, solar). I said no.

 

I test drove a 2010 Prius today at Antioch Toyota. They were asking $1995 over MSRP.

 

Did you try telling that dealship that you already pre-ordered the vehicle at MSRP at other dealerships and just wanted one that was in-stock at the same cost?