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That argument just doesn't make sense. I've had an STS with HIDs and my Lexus RX330 has HIDs. Both have DRLs.
The way DRLs are implemented on the Lexus line is to run the high beams(non-HID) at half-power by installing a resistor in the circuit. This does not affect the low beam HID lights. The cost is not $300. Probably $10 cost. All other Toyotas including the Corolla have DRLs in the US. If was an apparent oversight in the Prius. The only reasons I can think of for not adding are (1) additional power draw and (2) current wiring harness won't accommodate without redesign.
So, does the Lexus have only Non-HID High Beams? Or do they run both the HID and extra bulb when running on High? For a car designed to conserve energy (Prius) I can understand why the wouldn't want to run two bulbs simultaneously.
Also, iteresting are the studies on wethers or not DRLs are obnoxious or save lives. There are statistics and reports stronging proving both hyptothesis; the true test of "How to Lie with Statistics".
The Lexus has two bulbs and on "high beam" both the HID and Halogen are on. The HIDs when turned on goes through a self leveling check each time. I wonder how the Pirus accomplishes this and also how the cutoff really allow effective high beams because the dispersion pattern need to be both higher and wider on high beams and it seems that doing that with a single bulb would not provide enough light. Very interesting though! The Acural TL has a simlar HID concept of having both low and high beam HIDs by refocusing, while others like BMW and Mercedes have two separate HID beams; but then again you pay the $$$
YMMV,
MidCow
P.S. I personally like DRLs, but then again I also like standard shift transmissions.
HID is best; it brightens the night to day. Once you go HID you'll never go back!.
The Prius is available with Halogen OR HID Headlights in the US.
It is available with ONLY Halogen in Canada, presumably because they are required by law to have DRL.
Talked to a very good and reliable friend who is a Toyota Master Mechanic who just got trained and certified on the Prius. Before the training he was not impressed with the Prius , but after the training he is now fully supportive of the Prius.
One of the items they did in their training was to diassemble and reassemble the Prius CVT Planetary gear CVT transmission. He said it was a very simple design with no solenoids or valves to fail. It took only an hour to fully reassemble; extremely short time!
However, did anyone realize the Prius has a fail-safe clutch. It should never fail because it is always engaged. It is a shear point in case there is lockup in the wheels while the engine is running , visa-versa.
Anyway, the bottom line is that the Toyota CVT transmission is very simple, very strong and will be extremely reliable. When John Farganat said the Prius transmission will never fail, he apparently was right.
YMMV,
MidCow
I think GM came to the rescue. The Chevy Malibu I rented in Hawaii last month had a separate position on the light switch to turn off the DRLs. Very decent little car, and it got 26 MPG mostly around town driving.
Finally, he fessed up that "customers are paying it, so we're charging it". That's nice. I won't. End of story.
I find it most fishy that they hide this charge until most customers are signing papers. They realize most people have been waiting months and aren't going to forfeit the car over $690. But greedy hands do get bitten...eventually.
Looks like I'll just have to find another car. Love free markets.
-hooligan
I bought mine from Miller Toyota in Manassas. I had visited Lustine in March and was all but ignored by the sharks outside (actually had a sales guy start talking to me and then walk away without so much as a word). I can't swear that everyone at Miller is easy to work with, but my salesperson was. If you go over there, I'd recommend walking straight in to the counter; they'll page a salesperson.
Now if only the DMV would hurry up and get me my "clean fuel" plates...
Just about every car I have bought from a "dealer" this has happened. The buyer is at a distinct disadvantage because the sales staff is trained in "psychological warfare" to extract whatever money is possible from you.
You can save a lot of money by "talking with your feet".
Remember...this dealer is not the only one where this car is available. Shop around and let them know that you are doing it.
I'm not so sure. I saw a news report in which a Toyota spokesman said that they forbid their dealers from marking up the cars past MSRP. I suspect that the dealers risk their franchise if they are discovered going above MSRP, and this dealer didn't want to risk the facts getting out.
I anyone out there is being charged excess above MSRP (as a straight mark up, not disguised as a fee), tell Toyota corporate!
Toyota HAS actually discouraged dealers from overcharging past MRP, but I'm not sure what sort of enforcement they have in that regard....
Is the factory actually doing build-to-order cars now? The salesman seemed to think so, but that doesn't seem to jibe with what I've been told about the way that Toyota builds and ships their cars. He also said that it used to be that 50% of the Prius' that were sold in the US went to rental car companies, but now 100% of the cars that come here will be sold directly to consumers. My BS detector lit up on both of those statements. He may have been saying it to a) explain why it will take a while to get the car of my choice, and b) why supplies have been tight.
For those in the Bay Area of California, I ordered my Prius from Melody Toyota in San Bruno. We've dealt with them before (bought a 2004 Sienna XLE Limited back in March) and found them pleasant to work with for the most part. And friends of ours recently got a Prius from them and seemed happy with their treatment. The proof, of course, will be when I actually go to pick the car up.
http://www.abetterearth.org/subcategory.php?id=211
The europeans, Porsche, etc, use a specially designed 5 watt halogen bulb running at full voltage and mounted within the headlamp assembly such that it gives the same forward "coverage" as the high beams.
Sounds like a scam, I thought the 2005 topped out at option 6. The Prius is over priced at MSRP..
A 2005 Prius with package #9 would be quite a bargain at 36k since it would be the only one in existence. Plus how do you call a vehicle that has sold zero units popular?
There is no 2005 Prius with package #9, at ANY price.
I'm just amazed that a dealer in rural Kansas would be bumping up the price, when dealers 5 hours east of them in KC are selling for MSRP. I don't know how big of a demand there is for a Prius in a farming community...I didn't think they carried that much hay...but this dealer struck me as sleazy from the start (part of why I didn't order thru them)...they wanted a $1,000 deposit while other dealers I checked, including metro Kansas City, only asked $500. And other dealers (including metro KC) aren't bumping up the price. I really like the Prius, but if the manufacturer says it's worth "X" dollars, then I won't pay more for one.
I noticed on window sticker from Toyota following add-on's
floor mats 184.00
rear bumper applique 65.00
cargo net 49.00
wheel locks 59.00
these were originally printed on window sticker right from factory. I wonder if the dealer orders their cars this way from Toyota? they are usually dealer add-ons I thought ?
I got ripped off in other ways with trade -in, etc but I like the car. Took a while to figure the navigation out , 2 days to find out my area was set to wrong area in US !! lol
There are only 6 packages for the 2005 starting with "GY" which was the old pkg.3 without the rear window wiper which is now standard. Package #6 is the old pkg. #9 which includes everything. It has an MSRP of $5,065.00
I could *maybe* see *some* markup for frivolous stuff like undercoating/fabric protection/etc and other high-profit services, but 5 grand worth? And the "That's what the Internet charges" argument is bogus as well. Yer a dealer, yer not supposed to be selling new-cars on E-bay for more than MSRP. That's just plain dishonest to me. Sure, yer entitled to make a profit, but to put a high-demand car up on E-bay and try to sell it like you are a private owner is just plain wrong. I guess this is the price we pay for a free market. I'm just sorry for the folks who don't think to do some research ahead of time and find out that they got taken. The phrase Buyer Beware comes to mind in these cases.
Dunno if it's worth reporting this dealer to Toyota, but might be worth it so the next person who goes to that dealer doesn't get taken...
Calm down people. It's a car. If no one will pay more than MSRP for the Prius, then everyone will start selling them for whatever they will sell for.
I agree with you about the pricing. It is a pure matter of economics: supply and demand. If Toyota can sell cars for more than MSRP and people are willing to buy a car at higher than MSRP then so be it. No one is forcing them to buy.
And the Naivete of some threaders, that they can tattle to "big Toyota Corporate in the sky" and they will slap the hand of the dealer is say "N0-NO" is so ridiculious. Wake up folks we aren't in day-care or kindergarten anymore, this is the real-world of Business and the goal is to make money!!! I don't see anyone complaining when Toyota dealers offer thousands off MSRP and 0% financing on the slow selling SUV gas hogs such as the Sequoia and 4-Runner.
YMMV,
MidCow
From a Toyota website:
Are dealers charging a premium over MSRP for the Prius?
Reports of significant markups over MSRP are isolated and not typical. Although the Prius is in high demand, and some buyers are willing to offer more to get faster delivery, our dealers have been respectful of their customers. The MSRP for the Prius runs from the low $20,000s to about $26,000. Our information indicates that the average transaction price for a Prius is about $24,000. In a survey on Yahoo, 7 percent of the owners reported paying more than MSRP and 68 percent paid no more than MSRP. Additionally, only 2 percent of the customers calling Toyota regarding the Prius reported complained about dealer mark ups of the car.
So although Toyota might not "slap the hand" of the dealers, I can assure you they think it is bad business to charge more than MSRP, and all other car makers feel that way too. This quote actually states that Toyota thinks charging more than MSRP "disrespects" the customer. Remember also that Toyota corporate gets ZERO of that overcharge - the dealer pays the same amount for the car either way.
The car maker, not the dealers, are the ones who set MSRP by definition, so any dealer charging more is like a clerk at the grocery store telling you "I know the price marked on that gallon of milk is $2.99, but because demand is high today I'm going to charge you $5.99 instead."
The milk maker might not want to slap the hand of the clerk, but I can assure you that SOME of the buyers of that milk will come away with a bad taste in their mouth (no pun intended) about that store and that milk manufacturer - which in the car business, which relies on service and repeat customers to make tons of money, is a Big No-No....
It might be a VERY SMALL number, but I'd bet at least SOME of the Prius shoppers who were hit with higher than MSRP numbers in an attempt to buy a Prius went to another car maker (Honda probably) to shop. Toyota corporate DOES NOT WANT THAT obviously.
So, is it a MAJOR CRIME to charge higher than MSRP numbers? No, but I can assure you that there are some people at Toyota who have perfectly good reasons to NOT WANT THAT TO HAPPEN.
Even though the Prius demographic is those making over $100,000, indicating good performers who are smart and well educated, EVERYBODY likes getting a good deal and everybody DISLIKES getting jobbed.
I just pulled up the TMV for various dealers from San Diego to Rochester, NY and a 2005 Prius package # 6 is selling at $28,466. That is $2011 over MSRP. Does that mean it is condoned by Toyota? Or is Edmund's TMV less than accurate?
I'm with those that refuse to buy any car above MSRP. It may seem fine now. Wait till you go to sell or trade. That premium you paid went out the door before the ink dried on the contract.
The fact still remains, you don't hear anyone saying "Why doesn't Toyota Corp. do something about these dealers selling Camrys and Corollas for thousands under MSRP? They should be mad!"
Why don't people comprehend the meaning of the word "SUGGESTED"?
Worse yet, why do people pay more than MSRP and then complain about it. I don't get it.
Actually I see more complaints about added charges that are not on the window sticker yet show up on the contract.
Of the 20 some odd new vehicles I have bought in my life I have never paid MSRP or above. To me retail is the highest price you should pay for anything. Wholesale is the least you should expect to pay. Somewhere in the middle is the negotiated price. Being a free market society if some one is a fool and is willing to pay more than retail, that's what Freedom is all about. IT is money down the toilet.
I have tracked on eBay, 19 Toyota 2004 Prius over the last 9 weeks. Only two sold, the rest did not get minimum bids or recieved no bids at all. They were all on Toyota dealers lots. The two that sold were package # 9s, one went for $27,500 the other for $28,739. That is right in the $28,466 TMV shown on eBay.
My point is they are sitting on dealers lots all over the country waiting for a sucker willing to pay over MSRP. Only one of the 19 was pulled early from the eBay listing to be sold locally.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&cate- gory=43925&item=2493677396&rd=1
Some people....:)
Read my lips: Just because one car is for sale on Ebay (a terrible way to buy or sell a car by the way) below average resale does NOT indicate anything at all about resale values of Prius cars overall. There is a resale value thread right here:
Sylvia "Hybrid resale values - will they hold?" Sep 14, 2004 9:39pm
And I can assure you that Gen 1 Priuses are definitely holding their value as well as any other 2002 car in it's class and better than most.
Let's take this to the resale thread and I can prove my point AGAIN like I already proved this specific point a couple of weeks ago....
That dealer is willing to sell for $1000 under book value. That book value takes into account the 59k miles and no warranty. Edmund's book shows $14k trade-in value and $18k dealer retail. I will watch to see if it sells.
You did not show any substantiating proof to your high resale claims. You showed ASKING prices. Of course we went through this a few weeks ago and the prices are falling even faster now. If anyone is fool enough to pay over MSRP it is not because they were not warned.
Show me the facts on SOLD used Prius, not asking prices. Oh and on the Bonneville article they did not sell 100,000 Prius the first year.