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2004-2009 Toyota Prius Prices Paid and Buying Experience

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  • jakester2jakester2 Member Posts: 4
    I have just been looking at the Prius and decided it's a "go." I visited a dealer today in the LA area where I live who was offering a package 6 for $25,744 (they said on special until Monday). I would like a low payment, think I might need 15k mileage but might go with 12k. I could buy or lease -- my credit union has a 5.49% interest rate I could get but without putting anything down the monthly payment is more than the Lexus ES 300 I'll be trading in on lease.

    What should I watch out for and expect to pay for a monthly lease for that price...and is that a good price?

    The dealer only has grey and silver at this price and I did not know if this price was something to jump on or not, given that I might want a different color.
  • carlstraubcarlstraub Member Posts: 50
    Hi,
    That seems a very good price for pkg #6. Edmunds.com invoice is $26.3K.

    There are many pkg 5 & 6 available in Southern Calif. Ask the dealer to do a dealer trade for the color you want.

    We bought 2 new pkg #2 cars at end of Feb. Had very good dealer experience in both Simi Valley and Culver City. If you want the names email me.
    Carl
    malibucarl@hotmail.com
  • tomatosaenztomatosaenz Member Posts: 29
    I was just quoted this for a Package #6 Touring in Southern California:
    Retail Price: $28,142
    Negotiated Price: $ 26,996

    For a 36 month lease at 15k miles per year, with drive off $838, they're telling me $495 a month plus tax. After tax this is about $535 a month. This sounds very high to me, what do you all think?
  • jakester2jakester2 Member Posts: 4
    Today I got a call back on a package 6 in SoCal for 25,566 PLUS tax, doc and license which they estimated at 10%...that makes this package now above 28k which does not seem like such a good deal all of a sudden. Am I missing something here?

    The lease they quoted me was $500 / month which is more than my Lexus has been costing me...with 20k miles/year (the Prius would be only 12k/year). Am I shopping for the wrong car or with the wrong people?

    What is a reasonable target price? The Edmonds numbers say 26.3 but isn't that "all in?" without tacking on taxes, etc.?
  • carlstraubcarlstraub Member Posts: 50
    Hi,
    Of course not.
    Every State and locality are different.
    IMO -- All you can do is get the deal you want considering the Invoice, MSRP, payments, etc.
    Tax is a percentage of purchase price, License is a set amount I believe.
    Carl
  • womblewomble Member Posts: 28
    Hi, the best quote I've got in socal for a package 6 (since the new incentives) is $26,017. Do you mind telling me which dealer offered you 25,566? After all my research that looks like a very good number... at invoice.
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  • carlstraubcarlstraub Member Posts: 50
    Hi,
    Check out post #622 (next to last) on Buying experiences.
    They received $25.6K quote also in So. Cal.
    Looks like you better check around some.
    Carl
  • bgk99bgk99 Member Posts: 24
    Way too much. Check the residual value (I believe its 49% for a Touring with #6). They tend to throw in advertising fees and gap financing (no!).

    Sounds much to high
  • tamaritamari Member Posts: 7
    Anyone from Colorado out there own a Prius? If so, how does it do climbing up I-70, and how does it perform in the snow?

    Thanks.
  • tamaritamari Member Posts: 7
    If anyone has within the last week or 2 purchased a 2007 Prius from a Denver-area dealer, please post the package, whether it was Touring or Standard, and the OTD price.

    Thanks!!
  • esondeenesondeen Member Posts: 1
    We recently took our LOADED DOWN Prius with four adults, camping gear, and hitch mounted Thule cargo box to Canyonlands over Eisenhower and Vail in snow.

    The car pulled well with it's Michelin ICE-X tires to 44 PSI front and 42 PSI back. Just at the tunnel approaches it slowed to about 55 MPH (last 1/2 m); otherwise it pulled at "highway speeds" (I won't elaborate).

    47 MPG over the 800 mile trip.
  • norskeymannorskeyman Member Posts: 8
    Question for recent Prius buyers: Did anyone who bought a Prius in late March (or early April) receive BOTH the $2,000 discount incentive on option packages 5 or 6 AND the low cost Toyota financing (as low as 0%)? I'm wondering if there was a short period where buyers were able to take advantage of BOTH offers. Or, was it strictly one OR the other, based on timing? Norskeyman
  • jakester2jakester2 Member Posts: 4
    So today I got a verbal agreement for a purchase of a package 6 including docs, tax, reg and tire charge for 25,845.

    I think this is what I'm going to go with....though I trust in Carl. Should I pull the trigger?

    If so, I'll confirm that this is a real deal and post here after driving the new baby home tomorrow. :)
  • womblewomble Member Posts: 28
    Does that include 8.25% sales tax???? that's an amazing deal, if so. my best offer has been 25,728 but PLUS doc fee, tax, reg fee and tire fee.
  • prius92508prius92508 Member Posts: 4
    heres what i got on 4/2/07

    prius
    25200.13 (lowest ever they even beat longo toyota)
    package6
    gray color
    extended warranty 1200 (will cancel and buy warranty online)
    gap insurance 330.00 (paid cash for it)
    0 down 2.9 financing (actually 330 gap ins)
    total month 521.00
    fleet dept crown toyota
    they had plenty of priuses in different colors
    email me for name of fleet manager
    just doing my part to help global warming...
  • 10538h10538h Member Posts: 2
    I went to Toyota of Hollywood to get a quote on a Prius. I guess I am geared to Prius package #2 with Leather Interiors as an added charge. It appears the MSRP (a new term I have just learned) was just north of $25,000 for this package with leather. I am uncertain about how much I should put down, etc...buy/lease? I was quoted trade-in (approx $2500) + $6000 down = 60 month financing at $383/month OR Trade + $2500 lease 36mnth/12k Miles/year with $350/month payment.

    This all seems very high to me. HELP?!?!?
  • aprchanaprchan Member Posts: 2
    Hi,
    I'm thinking of getting a Prius and wonder if anyone has experience driving in snow conditions. The space between the tire and fender looks small, will the Prius accept chains? Anyone with experience driving in the Sierras, especially on US80, I'd like to hear about your trip!
    Thanks!
  • acdiiacdii Member Posts: 753
    So much for global warming! It is snowing in IL in April! This morning was my first jaunt in heavy, wet, slushy, icy snow, and it handled it quite well. If you are going to do a lot of driving in snow, you may want to investigate a cheap set of rims and snow tires to fit instead of chains, otherwise, it seemed to handle this snow quite well. I have heard of others in very icy conditions not being able to go anywhere do to the traction control shutting the engine down. Only time the TC kicked in for me was when stopping on ice.
  • aprchanaprchan Member Posts: 2
    Just to clarify... there are chain controls on the Sierra highways. Chains or 4WD and Mud and Snow tires can be required at any time. I've been driving a Subaru 4WD wagon for 13 years, and have never had to put on chains... so I'm fairly spoiled. Just wondering if anyone has ever put chains on a Prius.
    -thanks
  • womblewomble Member Posts: 28
    hi, but you paid sales tax on top right?
  • carlstraubcarlstraub Member Posts: 50
    Hi,
    FORGET MSRP.
    We purchased 2--pkg#2 cars in late Feb. Paid $22K for each at different dealers. that is just below So. Cal INVOICE. Thats the # to use now.
    On various boards since then I've seen all the way down to 21.5K reported by folks.
    SOOOO pay 22K MAX, PLUS the leather, PLUS Tax/Lic/ Doc fee.
    IF you would like the sales people I dealt with(both very good) send me an email.
    Carl
    malibucarl@hotmail.com
  • wooha2000wooha2000 Member Posts: 54
    Hi,

    My best price currently out of Las Vegas 23k OTD (not including Sales Tax) for a package #2 Touring with Rear Bumper Applique and Tinted Windows. (Also is going to activate the Alarm system for free).
  • tamaritamari Member Posts: 7
    Thanks for the info, but were you satisfied with its performance on the 800-mile trip? Also, have you traveled up I-70 without it being weighed down and/or in the snow? If so, how did it perform. Thanks!
  • maddmikemaddmike Member Posts: 12
    I've had great luck negotiating over the net. I'm looking to buy a non touring with package #5 and I've got 3 dealers in SCAL that have sent me offers $500 below invoice and many other that would do it at invoice. It seems like a good time to buy. It pays to shop around.

    My question. How do you choose the best dealer. There seems to be a lot of topics about cars and how they perform, but nothing about the dealers and their service.

    From previous experience I don't care much about the purchase process, you only have to go through it once. It's the quality of service you get when you bring your ride in for maintenance and repairs that counts and always trips me up. I can never find a quality dealer run repair shop.
  • prius92508prius92508 Member Posts: 4
    my monthly payment included tax.

    you must have 720+ FICO for 0 down 2.9% 5yrs
    (was told by fleet manager)
    but i think the special financing is over....
    but the price i got for the prius was the lowest..
    NO BS i was in and out of there in 45 mins.
    best car buying experience EVER!
  • pathstar1pathstar1 Member Posts: 1,015
    Don't make the mistake of tying the sales part of a dealer to the service part. They are treated separately "on the books". Find your best deal, buy the car, THEN look for a good place to take it for service.
  • maddmikemaddmike Member Posts: 12
    I've heard comments while waiting in the service area like "They're not our customer, why should we go out of our way". Based on that I'd say that there is some consideration for getting service from where you buy it, but I'm open to hear other opinions.
  • carlstraubcarlstraub Member Posts: 50
    Hi,
    If you hear something like that LEAVE now. They get paid by somebody regardless of where you purchased the car.
    In fact that is thier MAIN income stream I've been told.
    Carl
  • cruising7388cruising7388 Member Posts: 125
    That's absurd. The service department couldn't care less where you bought the car. Their interest is not in sales but service. Indeed, the sales and service department are literally independent enterprises within the dealership. BTW, no service agency particularly likes doing waranty stuff because the factory hammers with low ball reimbursements for waranty work. As Carl correctly points out, the big income stream in a dealership is maintenance and repair. With regard to sales, the actual sales provide relatively little profit (unless they have a bunch of lucrative fleet sales contracts), and most of the income stream for the sales department is derived from their leasing and financing section.
  • acdiiacdii Member Posts: 753
    Just keep one thing in mind, where ever you take it in for service, make sure they have a certified Prius on staff and working the day you bring it in. Dont let some flunky work on it. Not all Toyota dealers have a certified Prius mechanic on staff at all times. The dealer I bought mine from has two on staff. Remember, it is a Toyota, so bringing it in for anything other than routine maintenance is rare. ;)
  • jffoleyjffoley Member Posts: 1
    Carlsbad Toyota had the best price of those I emailed. They have the advantage of being my local dealer and they had the exact car I wanted. Price for Pkg 5 was $23,980. Out the door price was $26,109. The internet dealing was fine, no pressure and helpful when I had questions. Picking up the car had some goods and bads. The salesperson took lots of time to go over the car and explain many of the features. The finance person was overbearing about the extended warranty and pushed the envelope of "truthiness" with comments like "the transmission is not covered under the Powertrain warranty", and "if you don't buy it today it will cost more later." Having followed this site for several months I knew better and said NO, but it was annoying. Thanks to all of the previous postings that made my journey to owning a Prius much easier.
  • cruising7388cruising7388 Member Posts: 125
    Your experience with the finance dept is unfortunately more the rule than the exception. The finance guys typically don't know a spark plug from a tail pipe and have been known to misrepresent details regarding financing, leasing and the extended warranty. It's an unfortunate hustle that the industry could well do without.

    Nice price on the package 5. I purchased a 2006 package 7 which has the same bells and whistles and it cost me 28,760 before T & L. Things have really changed for the better for Prius buyers.
  • olschoololschool Member Posts: 2
    Nice job. What option package did you get and what is the final 'out the door' price?
  • olschoololschool Member Posts: 2
    Based on what I have seen here I just got an average deal on a base model Prius. If I had of been willing to pay more and get the additional options I may have been able to save more, or maybe I should have negotiated harder.

    Prius with pkg #1 (backup camera, mats, smart key).

    My out the door price including all taxes etc was $24,577.
    Basic price for the car without the taxes etc was $22,500.

    I took the 0% financing deal for 24 months.

    Finished the deal in March so I will get the Federal tax rebate of $1500, on next years return.

    t
  • jakester2jakester2 Member Posts: 4
    Can you email me or post the fleet manager you were wroking with.....in So Cal I hope!

    rwj@rwjacobs.com
  • carlstraubcarlstraub Member Posts: 50
    Hi,
    Email me again. Your email was sent to junk file and I responded 5 days after you sent it before.
    We have bought 2 --pkg#2 cars at the end of Feb. Price was 22K plus tax/lic.
    2 different dealers.
    I'll send the info to you.
    Cark
    malibucarl@hotmail.com
  • wswelchwswelch Member Posts: 10
    Just spent 2 hours pouring over the numbers at the Team Toyota in Langhorne. The best I could get them down to was:

    36mo/15k on Prius w/#4

    MSRP: 26,317
    cash incentive: $600
    agreed price: 24,000
    base MSRP 22,125
    Residual: 54% - 11,947.5 + 500 bump = 12,447.5
    MF: .00275
    bank fee: 550
    other fees: 630

    459/mo inc 9% tax with 1180 drive-off

    Now a few things, they said that Toyota calculates residual based on the base MSRP not the total MSRP and that the $500 bump was for the options. The MF looks way high to me also, they said that's Toyota's MF for tier 1 credit and they can't do anything about it (though they said the same about .00285 just before) and they also said that there was an incentive MF last month but this month it's the $600 cash incentive.

    So, any thoughts or advice is very welcome. I feel like they're giving me a break on the price and rolling it into the MF. Thoughts?

    Thanks,
  • maddmikemaddmike Member Posts: 12
    Congrats jffoley! Seems like there are some nice deals out there now.

    Yesterday was able to get a basic with Pkg 5 for $23,774 ($600 under invoice). The internet/fleet sales person, Karinne Kobe at South Coast Toyota in Costa Mesa, CA was really great to work with. Every item that I got a low price on elsewhere, she matched. She matched the $990 for the 7/100K/0 extended warranty as well at the best prices I found for gap insurance ($395) and LoJack ($695). She also threw in the $300 coupon book. The finance guy that does the final paper work was really low pressure. The whole deal went smooth.

    I know that many have said the gap insurance isn't worth it, but I'm financing 100% of the deal and for $395 it's good piece of mind.
  • cruising7388cruising7388 Member Posts: 125
    You got an exceptional deal! I paid four thousand more for the equivalent package a year ago when they were as scarce as hens' teeth.

    FYI, the forum moderators are OK with mentioning a particular dealership but they prefer that we not include the name of a particular employee at the dealership.

    On a 100% finance, what interest do you end up paying and how long is the finance period?
  • 10538h10538h Member Posts: 2
    Is this a terrible idea? I love the Prius but don't know if I can spring enough to afford financing and purchasing. I have learned a lot so far but am still rather inexperienced in regards to buying/leasing in general.

    Is this not the best car to lease?

    Thank you
  • carlstraubcarlstraub Member Posts: 50
    Hi,
    I think there is a reason that dealers always want you to lease.
    Carl
  • wooha2000wooha2000 Member Posts: 54
    Firstly - OFF TOPIC but related to new car purchase.

    Does anyone know if you can still get alarm (RS3200) activated via following instructions below... supposed the Alarm system comes equiped in all of the PRIUS but is not activated. There are a couple of Toyota PDF available but I can't seem to get them. If someone has them can they PM me and forward me a .PDF copy.

    My dealer that I am buying the my 07 Touring Prius will activate my alarm for free, I am wanting to validate the instructions.

    They are absolutely wrong from a technical perspective. A poster, Kyle, who is a TOYOTA MASTER TECH has done it. Now from an ethical perspective, they could refuse, but they should state that they refuse due to ethical reasons and not hide behind false technical reasons. Doing that makes them look ignorant and incompetent to be techs.
    What do they call the TVIP V5 RS3200, chicken liver? It is part # 08586-47840 as opposed to part # 08586-47840 on the GBS install. Hey! Notice they are the same part number? Fancy that! the former was taken from w141rs32.pdf, the latter from w141gbs.pdf, both obtained from TechInfo.
    QUOTE"
    Have them humor you and follow the following steps. These steps assume GBS has NOT been installed yet. I have bolded the parts that actually enable the alarm, skipping through the dull details.
    If the GBS has been installed, then again, a yellow wire has to be removed. The installation instructions mis-labels the connector to the body ECU. I believe the correct connector number is 1K rather than 16P shown in the instructions

    H. Security Setting Procedure.
    NOTE: Check for the latest version of the
    software on Toyota Information System (TIS)
    before setting up the security system.
    NOTE: Ensure the software is the latest version
    (Production Version 10.2a. (07/18/03) or later.)
    NOTE: Download the latest software from
    Toyota Information System (TIS).
    1. Connect the scan tool connector to the
    vehicle's diagnostic connector in the lower
    dash area. (Fig. H-1)
    2. Insert the remote key or smart key (as
    appropriate) into the key slot. Press the power
    button once to select "ACC" position.
    i. Verify the shift position is in "N" position
    and LED on "P" switch is illuminated.
    3. Push the scan tool main switch "ON" and then
    press the ENTER key. (Fig. H-2)
    "SELECT VEHICLE PROCESS
    4. Select the correct vehicle application, Prius
    MY2004 .
    "SECURITY FUNCTION ON" PROCESS
    5. Verify the connection of the DLC3 Cable.
    Press the "YES" button to continue. (Fig. H-3)
    6. Select "OPTION SETUP" in the customize
    menu with the scroll key, then press the
    "ENTER" key. (Fig. H-4)
    7. Press the "ENTER" key to select "DOP
    SECURITY" in the Option Setup menu.
    (Fig. H-5)
    8. Select "ON" with the scroll key, then press the
    "ENTER" key. (Fig. H-6)
    9. Press the "YES" key. (Fig. H-7)
    10. Press the "ENTER" key. (Fig. H-8)
    END QUOTE"
  • johnsondjohnsond Member Posts: 1
    When you negotiate a price with the dealer, should the factory rebates they are currently offering on certain packages be included in the price or since this is a factory rebate, should you expect to get this in addition to the dealer price?
  • carlstraubcarlstraub Member Posts: 50
    Hi,
    They're included in your deal.
    You should VERIFY with the dealer.
    Carl
  • prius92508prius92508 Member Posts: 4
    his name is danny zendejas he his the head honcho of the fleet dept. Do not deal with anybody there but him..... also metion my name for your deal.. my names ocean whats yours?
  • cruising7388cruising7388 Member Posts: 125
    FYI, the forum moderator has no problem with us discussing a particular dealership but has requested that we not include the names of individuals involved with any sales organization.
  • treagantreagan Member Posts: 6
    Looking for a pkg.2 Prius in so cal., and yesterday got a $21600 +T/L quote online. Is this beatable or be happy and jump on it. Thanks.
  • gary41gary41 Member Posts: 6
    I am looking for a Pk#2 in SoCal also - just got a quote from the Internet dept at Toyota of Anaheim - $21,440. I'm going to jump on that. All the others in the area I contacted were higher.
  • yousofaryousofar Member Posts: 8
    Does anybody here know any good deal on 07 prius in Northwest Indiana or Chicago area?I am looking for a 07 prius with pg#2, the lowest price I can get is around 22300, plus tax, document and title,etc.
    Another concern:is Prius good for family use? my wife, and the future kid would be my main passegers. There are many snows in Midwest,so I am not sure if Prius gets good performance in icy road.
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