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Prius pricing for 2005 announced

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Dianne, Aug 19, 2004.

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  1. Dianne

    Dianne New Member

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    The 2005 model year Prius continues to be an excellent value, with a base MSRP of $20,875. The increase of $580 reflects the addition of intermittent rear wiper as standard equipment, leaving a nominal increase of only $400, or 2% of MSRP. (remember to add freight to all base pricing!)

    ___________________________________________________
    Date: August 18, 2004

    To: All Los Angeles Region Toyota Dealers

    Subject: Exclusive Offer Customer Mailing –

    $700 2005 Toyota Prius Customer Accommodation Certificate

    Program Dates: Valid through March 31, 2005

    Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. is pleased to announce a special Customer Accommodation Certificate (sample attached) to customers whose orders were taken and entered into the Customer Interest Response System (CIRS) by 3/10/04. The certificate mailing will be sent on August 20, 2004. The certificate can be used for one of three options:

    $700 toward the purchase or lease of a 2005 model year Prius
    $300 toward the purchase or lease of a 2004 model year Prius
    $700 toward the purchase or lease of any other new 2004 or 2005 Toyota vehicle

    Customers will be invited to visit their local Toyota Dealer, agree to purchase/lease terms, and then present the certificate to the Dealer. Those who take advantage of the certificate may choose to receive a check directly from Toyota or apply the certificate toward the purchase/lease of a new vehicle. This certificate can be used in conjunction with other applicable offers.

    To help ensure that our mutual customers have a positive experience (and to minimize any delays in processing), we wanted to provide you with an advance copy of the terms and conditions, as well as redemption instructions, from the certificate.

    Please take a moment to review these and the sample certificate now, so that you can contact your District Manager or Region Merchandising Manager (or the National Customer Experience Center, at 1-800-331-4331) with any questions you may have.

    Program Terms and Conditions

    Offer valid through March 31, 2005.
    Certificate valid for:
    · $300 toward any new, unused and unlicensed 2004 Toyota Prius purchased/leased from an authorized U.S. mainland or Alaskan Toyota dealership.

    · $700 toward any new, unused and unlicensed 2005 Toyota Prius or any other new, unused and unlicensed 2004 or 2005 Toyota vehicle purchased/leased from an authorized U.S. mainland or Alaskan Toyota dealership.

    Must be 18 years of age and have a valid drivers license.
    Completed certificate and required documentation must be received at Prius Customer Accommodation Certificate Headquarters by April 15, 2005.
    Offer void where prohibited.
    Only an original signed certificate will be honored; mechanical reproductions or facsimiles are not valid.
    This offer can be used in conjunction with other applicable offers.
    One certificate per customer.
    This certificate is non-negotiable and non-transferable.
    Please allow 6-8 weeks from receipt of completed certificate for processing.
    Dealers:
    · If the certificate is applied to the transaction, the customer must tender the signed certificate to the Dealer for processing.

    · All certificates are subject to audit; any rollbacks or invalid certificates will be charged to the selling/leasing dealer.

    · Send completed certificate and a copy of the bill of sale/lease agreement/retail contract to program headquarters. Note: the applicable certificate credit must be separately stated on the bill of sale/lease agreement/retail contract.

    All matters of program eligibility and qualifications will be conclusively resolved by Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.; Toyota Motor Sales reserves the right to change product specifications at any time without incurring obligations.

    Customer Redemption Instructions (check to be sent directly to Customer)

    1. Customer will select their new Toyota vehicle and agree to purchase/lease terms with any authorized U.S. mainland or Alaskan Toyota dealership.

    2. Customer will present the certificate and have the dealer validate the purchase/lease by signing where indicated.

    3. Customer will mark the appropriate box to indicate they choose to receive a check directly from Toyota

    4. Customer to send:

    Completed original certificate
    A copy of the bill of sale/lease agreement/retail contract
    Mail to:

    Prius Customer Accommodation Certificate Headquarters

    19001 S. Western Avenue
    Torrance, CA 90509
    Attn: IAG, Mail Stop G316

    5. Retail delivery must be made by March 31, 2005.

    Dealer Redemption Instructions (certificate applied toward down payment or lease obligation)

    1. Customer will select their new Toyota vehicle and agree to purchase/lease terms with any authorized U.S. mainland or Alaskan Toyota dealership.

    2. Customer will present the certificate and have the dealer validate the purchase/lease by signing where indicated.

    3. Customer will mark the appropriate box to indicate they want the certificate to be applied to their transaction by the selling dealer (applied toward the down payment or lease obligation).

    4. Customer to tender the signed certificate to the dealer for processing.

    5. Dealer to send completed original certificate with exclusive certificate number and a copy of the bill of sale/lease agreement/retail contract to:

    Prius Customer Accommodation Certificate Headquarters
    19001 S. Western Avenue
    Torrance, CA 90509

    Attn: IAG, Mail Stop G316

    6. The applicable certificate credit must be separately stated on the bill of sale/lease agreement/retail contract.

    7. All certificates are subject to audit; any rollbacks or invalid certificates will be charged to the selling/leasing dealer.

    8. Retail delivery must be made by March 31, 2005.

    9. Completed certificate and required documentation must be received at Prius Customer Accommodation Certificate Headquarters by April 15, 2005.
     
    #1 Dianne, Aug 19, 2004
  2. Kev1000000

    Kev1000000 New Member

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    wow, thank you dianne! :)
     
    #2 Kev1000000, Aug 19, 2004
  3. mikeslavis

    mikeslavis New Member

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    Will option package prices change?

    I wonder if that means that option packages which included the rear wiper will go down the $180 since the wiper is now standard and "included" in the cost of the car. Or, more realistically, the option packages will go up 2% and THEN down $180...at any rate, the Prius is still a good deal and since I'm 38 in line at my dealer which receives 3/month, I think I'll be looking at a 2005....

    Dianne, THANKS for the info!

    [email protected]
     
    #3 mikeslavis, Aug 19, 2004
  4. DanH

    DanH New Member

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    I too think I'll be looking at getting a 2005. (If the 18 month wait is right that they quoted my, possibly a 2006! I think they were quoting conservatively though.)

    Dianne, is the a price list for the 2005 options yet? I've seen the options listed but no prices yet. What it looks like now that the very minimum one will have to add is around $600 for options/packages for the 2005 year.

    Dan
     
    #4 DanH, Aug 19, 2004
  5. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
    Staff Member

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    Making this "News" since it's a pretty big announcement - thanks as always, Dianne, for your information!
     
    #5 Danny, Aug 19, 2004
  6. Tempus

    Tempus Senior Member

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    So, looks like my 2004 winds up with a $700 depreciation buffer :)

    Of course the people who get to buy 2005s at $700 off have it even better.

    Dianne posted this on one of the Yahoo Groups:

    PRIUS INFO UPDATE FOR THE 2005 MODELS.

    Pricing:

    The 2005 model year Prius continues to be an excellent value, with a base MSRP of $20,875. The increase of $580 reflects the addition of intermittent rear wiper as standard equipment, leaving a nominal increase of only $400, or 2% of MSRP.

    Package content and pricing (already up at carsontoyota.com's website order form

    1 - GY

    $650

    · Driver & front passenger seat-mounted side and front & rear side curtain airbags
    __________________________________________

    2 - AG

    $920

    · Anti-theft system
    · Auto-dimming electrochromic rearview mirror with HomeLink® universal transceiver
    · Smart Key System
    __________________________________________

    3 - BI

    $1100

    · Driver & front passenger seat-mounted side and front & rear side curtain airbags
    · Smart Key System
    __________________________________________

    4 - AM

    $2075

    · Driver & front passenger seat-mounted side and front & rear sidecurtain airbags
    · Smart Key System
    · High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps
    · Integrated fog lamps
    · Vehicle Stability Control (VSC)
    __________________________________________

    5 - AI

    $2190

    · Driver & front passenger seat-mounted side and front & rear sidecurtain airbags
    · Anti-theft system
    · Auto-dimming electrochromic rearview mirror with HomeLink®universal transceiver
    · Smart Key System
    · JBL Premium 3-in-1 AM/FM Cassette/6-disc in-dash CD changer, nine speakers
    __________________________________________

    6 - BC

    $5065

    · Driver & front passenger seat-mounted side and front & rear side curtain airbags
    · Anti-theft system
    · Auto-dimming electrochromic rearview mirror with HomeLink® universal transceiver
    · Smart Key System
    · High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps
    · Integrated fog lamps
    · Vehicle Stability Control (VSC)
    · JBL Premium 3-in-1 AM/FM Cassette/6-disc in-dash CD changer, nine speakers
    · Voice-activated DVD navigation system with hands-free phone capability via BluetoothTM technology
    __________________________________________
     
    #6 Tempus, Aug 19, 2004
  7. mikeslavis

    mikeslavis New Member

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    Cool...

    It looks like they did, indeed, knock the $180 off the option packages which previously included the rear wiper. Very cool of them!!!

    [email protected]
     
    #7 mikeslavis, Aug 19, 2004
  8. philg

    philg Junior Member

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    Missing something

    I'm trying to understand where the $400 increase is coming from. The 2005 MSRP is $20,875. The 2004 MSRP has been $20,810 for most of this year. (I realize it was increased from a lower MSRP earlier this year.) But now that the rear wiper is included, it would seem that the 2005 MSRP is actually a better deal. What am I missing? Is there a destination charge slipped in here somewhere?
     
    #8 philg, Aug 20, 2004
  9. bookrats

    bookrats New Member

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    Thank you Dianne! (All my points to you!)

    And frankly, that's a price increase I can live with, assuming I get a 2005 model instead of a 2004. (And that I get it at MSRP, as planned...)
     
    #9 bookrats, Aug 20, 2004
  10. Tempus

    Tempus Senior Member

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    Re: Missing something

    I think you're confusing MSRP with the Delivered Price with the Destination charge.

    MSRP for the 2004 is listed on Edmunds right now as $20295. (After the original $300 bump).

    However, realistically you can't get one without paying the $515 Destination charge, so your "Real" MSRP for the 04 is $20810

    So, I'm assuming the Numbers Dianne quoted don't include the destination charge.

    So, Add $580 to $20,295, and you get $20875 (New MSRP)

    Then, add the $515 Destination charge and the "Real" MSRP goes to $21390
     
    #10 Tempus, Aug 20, 2004
  11. davidbw

    davidbw Member

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    Why are all the Hawaiian residents who want a Prius discriminated against?
     
    #11 davidbw, Aug 20, 2004
  12. Dianne

    Dianne New Member

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    Because...

    Cause you get to surf at 6:30am and have all those great sunsets! :D
     
    #12 Dianne, Aug 20, 2004
  13. DanH

    DanH New Member

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    Thanks much for the package info!

    After some self whining :violin: of having no simple option less the $600, I'm now considering the package #4 (the package formally known as #7). It looks a a nice blend of safety/performance and tech features that's more close to being worth the extra expense.

    BTW, Has anyone had much experience with the VSC?

    Dan
     
    #13 DanH, Aug 20, 2004
  14. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Another kitty!

    I have the AM7 package. And we get plenty of ice here. I'm not a great driver so I always used studded snow tires in winter on my '89 Civic.

    I got my '04 Prius in early January, so drove it through half the winter, all with the OEM tires. A number of times the VSC warning beeps sounded. Nothing happened*. The car just slowed down a bit.

    * Nothing happened = The accident that probably would have happened didn't happen.

    I also had to hit the brakes hard on glare ice a couple of times and never swerved a bit. So the ABS works.

    At icy intersections everyone's tires spin and make it even slipperier, and so cars spin and swerve and won't move. I think maybe it was the traction control that kicked in on these occasions, because I could floor it and the wheels never spun, but it was as though it was getting just the tiniest bit of gas, so the car moved ever so slowly, which was still three times faster than all the other cars with the spinning wheels.

    In short, VSC, ABS, and TRAC all perform wonderfully. And I feel safer with all those air bags.

    Since I don't need NAV or Bluetooth or Homelink, and the base stereo is fantastic, the "AM" package is the perfect one for me. I can recommend it highly.
     
    #14 daniel, Aug 20, 2004
  15. deh2k

    deh2k New Member

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    What makes the customers who ordered before 3/1/04 so special that they get rebates for all the price increases? I think that the people who are on the waiting list since then but wind up having to buy a 2005 should get a $400 rebate too.
     
    #15 deh2k, Aug 20, 2004
  16. Dianne

    Dianne New Member

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    Time line

    Toyota drew a line in the proverbial sand for us as dealers to make sure all of our orders from the fall and wintertime were in a database. They wanted to have us get everyone who ordered EARLIER than March 9th, 2004 into their database as those who have waited the longest. This was never an open ended thing and I suppose they did not expect to have so many true orders vs. the problems they have been posed with panasonic re: providing enough hybrid batteries.

    There is no open-endedness to this. If you were an early order pre March 9th then you have this opportunity to have Toyota refund the MSRP difference to you or to buy a different Toyota car with the same consideration. That would exclude the folks who jumped on the bandwagon when fuel pricing got nuts.

    Dianne
     
    #16 Dianne, Aug 20, 2004
  17. deh2k

    deh2k New Member

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    Well, I frankly don't see the difference between a customer who orders a Prius on 3/04 and gets a $700 rebate on a 2005 and one that makes an order on 4/04 and gets bupkis. And if I were thinner skinned I might resent being called a bandwagon jumper because I was unable to order a Prius until after 3/04. But I realize you're just delivering the information, so thanks.
     
    #17 deh2k, Aug 20, 2004
  18. Dianne

    Dianne New Member

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    Toyota feels as if production increased enough after April 15th (hah) to start filling an awful lot of the orders after that in smaller regional areas. In some cases, there were allocations to dealers that were as small as a car or two a month. The program was designed to make peace with those folks... and a few of the folks awaiting cars at larger stores for quite a while.

    There are a lot of dealerships who would have benefitted from an online internet ordering system. It would have ceased the markups and shortened the wait time, but Toyota's upper echlon refused to do so. This is a happy medium. And, I still have folks waiting for cars from last fall, so there are plenty of people in my mind who jumped the bandwagon far later who do not deserve (sorry -- this is my own opinion) the kind of concession someone else is getting who'd waiting since Sept, October, November, etc. Those folks who ordered in March and April and beyond were undoubtedly told by their ordering dealerships that the wait was a year or close already. It was known. The folks who ordered 8-12 months ago had no clue it was such a long wait... because we dealers had no idea how bad allocations would be for so many months.

    Dianne
     
    #18 Dianne, Aug 20, 2004
  19. hdrygas

    hdrygas New Member

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    I am glad I got a 04. I don't think the price hike is excessive but every little bit makes this car more economical. I also did not want to wait till next year and take a hit from the IRS. I am glad I made the decision to look around and buy out of state.
     
    #19 hdrygas, Aug 20, 2004
  20. enerjazz

    enerjazz Energy+Jazz=EnerJazz

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    Here's a $300 Toyota refund story to top them all.

    I ordered before 3/10 and thanks to a paperwork error at either Toyota of Longview or Gulf States Toyota (distributor) they are telling me I'm not eligible for the rebate. My credit card was charged on 3/8/04 for the deposit. The dealer now says there was an error so they canceled my initial order and entered it a few days later.

    I've been on the e-mail and phone with the dealer and Toyota. Toyota says to work with the dealer. The dealer says it's not their issue.

    The dealer already hacked me off by adding a port package that I repeatedly said I didn't want and I was stuck having to take the package (under the assumption that I would at least get my $300 from Toyota) or get on another wait list.

    I took the car and I love the car, but the dealer has really made me angry. When I called today to see if they had any update the salesman told me his manager was tired of hearing about it and I can bring the car back for a refund! They won't give me the contact info for Gulf States Toyota. The Toyota help line keeps telling me to work with the dealer.

    That dealer is going to be sorry. I'm filing complaints with every agency I can find. If the manager thinks he's tired of hearing about it now he'll really be worn out in a few more weeks.

    I agree with Dianne about the distribution process. Toyota has been innovative in the design of the car - now they need to be innovative in the distribution process.

    Thanks for letting me vent,
     
    #20 enerjazz, Aug 20, 2004
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