Price difference buying the stock vs ordering

OMG! the 3ATPs are nowhere to be found here in VA.

Could you let me no where in Northern VA these lots are located? And if they have any 3s with Advanced Technology Package? There are none to be found here in Eastern VA. Pleeeease and Thank You.

 

Autotrader is useful for finding new cars on dealer lots, for what it's worth. I forget if it can find ATP, though, it being an option rather than a trim level, but there's some giveaways that a car that you're looking at online, if there's photos of the actual car, has ATP. (Three (not Touring) with Softex interior? That's ATP.)

 

Go read fightingchance.com and carbargains.com -- these are services you can pay to assist you, but you can also do the research and virtual legwork yourself and get an acceptable result. You want to deal only with the dealers' Internet or Fleet departments. Never set foot on a dealer lot until you have a firm, detailed offer price, in writing. Since you communicate over the Internet only, the process works locally as well as out of state.

If you're paying cash or bringing your own financing, there's not a huge difference in- versus out-of-state. One dealer told me they wouldn't do financing for non-residents.

Sales taxes can vary by state; this is probably the biggest difference. For example, in California if you drive it off the lot you will need to pay the steep CA sales tax up to 8.25%, even if your state tax is lower. In Colorado, I was able to drive away paying no sales tax at all since I would be registering and titling the car in a different state. I will owe 6.25% use tax in lieu of sales tax (same rate) when I register the car in my home state. If I had paid tax in another state, let's say 5%, then I'd owe the difference (another 1.5%) at registration. If I had paid California their 8.25% then I wouldn't need to pay any additional tax, but there'd be no refund of the 2% higher difference. Some states offer reciprocity (collect your state's tax and forward it to them) but you have to look up these details based on where you live and where you'd be buying.

Prius is certified for emissions standards in all 50 states, so it shouldn't be a problem. However, you may be required to get the vehicle inspected in one or more ways before your home state will accept it for title and registration. I will have to get safety and emissions inspections, placing the vehicle's VIN in the state database prior to registration. It also means I have to go to my county offices to do the title and registration work, whereas the dealer would have done it for me via mail if I had bought locally.

Know what you want, but be a little flexible in what you'll accept (e.g. exterior, interior colors). Dealers know each others' inventories and you want them to see that they aren't the only one that has the car you want. Be a serious buyer, with a firm, near-term deadline. End of the month is best; I bought at the beginning but still got a decent price despite not having the best timing.

 

I had the same issue, there are limited Prius vehicles in Houston, seems there is more choices up north like Dallas. What I did was the following;
1. Middle 2015, Northern California Toyota was giving $3000 cash back on Prius
2. Went to Costco auto, got their dealer network (San Francisco)
3. Called San Francisco Toyota dealership from Costco network
4. Got car that was similar that I wanted
5. Paid Costco pricing + California Tax+doc+ transport to Texas + $3000 cash back
6. Once vehicle arrived in Texas, paid title+registration+Texas Taxes+vehicle inspection
7. After all expenses, the Costco dealer network in California total price (+ California Tax+doc+ transport to Texas + $3000 cash back) was lower than Costco dealer network in Texas sale price in Texas + Texas Taxes+ 1500 cash back+doc+title+registration.
you going to ask me what was the difference between car purchase in California vs costco price in Texas, the difference was $1954.

The above advantage was because of Costco pricing dealer in California (seems to lower than in Costco pricing dealer in Texas) and $3000 cash back.

My suggestion is to go Costco dealer network and purchase from the state you living, unless there is another $3000 cash back from another state and you are willing to do all the paper work & logistic