Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Toyota Prius Prices Paid and Buying Experience
1698 messages, Last post on Oct 05, 2008 at 11:08 PM
You are in the Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum. Your Hosts are car_man & kyfdx
|
Replying to: carnaught (Jun 06, 2008 9:19 am) I used a smaller dealer outside of the metro-Atlanta area (Heyward Allen in Athens, GA) 100 miles from my home and did accept a different color than my first 2 choices. The color choice really suits me.
|
|
|
Replying to: sharon22 (Jun 06, 2008 9:47 am) Got it. You didn't "order" the car specifically built for you to your specifications. Your's was more of a wish list of things on a waiting list. |
|
|
Thanks, Bob104! I am too impatient & I paid a premium today to get what I want, but it was worth it....got a non touring package 2 but with all leather and heated seats put in at dealer, and it was just about 30K. I paid about $3,000 upcharge in the end to get the color I wanted (magnetic gray) with no wait and I am thrilled..as soon as the seats are done it will be in my driveway. Maybe tomorrow...... I would not advise anyone buying from Toyota of Glendale, even though I did, as the salesguy was intent upon hosing me even worse than I was willing to be hosed  and kept making up things which (thanks to forums like this) I knew were not true. One of those experiences where you want to take a shower afterwards- but who cares, I have the car.
|
|
|
fromage, All-- I just got off the phone with the salesman who sold me my 08Touring#6 for $28,900 OTD in CA in Oct. Note, the Touring gets 2mpg less than the regular overall, 3 mpg less on the hwy. and added $500 to my negotiated price. I recommend staying with the regularPrius, thereby saving about $20 a month in fuel and fancy, wide tire wear costs. He told me that an 08regularPrius#6 goes for $28,284 plus TTL of about $2500 for a total of just under $31,000. The hitch is a 6week-6month wait. Best if you are color-flexible. The same car in Touring would be a bit under $31,500. I was totally satisfied with my experience at this dealership. (What has happened with this world that car salesmen are to be preferred in every way over flight attendants?): Toyota of Santa Maria (CA), 3 hours north of Los Angeles,
|
|
|
|
|
Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum and am trying to decide between the Toyota Prius and the Corolla. In my opinion all the math points to the Corolla hands down. What did you factor in to make your decision in favor of the Prius? Here's what I came up with...... The cheapest Toyota Prius I can find near me is $24,000. The EPA says the combined fuel economy is 46 miles per gallon. If I drive 12,000 miles per year that would mean I am using 260.87 gallons of gas. Even at a price of $5.00 per gallon my annual fuel cost is only $1304.35. The Corolla S model with way more options than the prius is about $17,000 and the EPA says is gets a combined 29 miles per gallon. That's 413.79 gallons at my assumed $5.00 per gallon which equals $2,068.95 annual fuel cost. This is $764.60 more per year than the Prius but am I REALLY SAVING ANY MONEY??? I don't think so....here's why....... The Prius is $24,000 vs. the Corolla's $17,000. If I financed them both for 60 months at 6% interest rate, I will have spent $27,839 on the Prius and only $19,719 on the Corolla. So the Prius actually costs $8,120 more to finance. I am saving $3,823 in gas money for the entire 5 years but if you subtract the gas savings from the financing debacle you are actually IN THE HOLE -$4,297. These numbers were assuming gas was $5.00 per gallon for the whole 5 years, who's to know. Also, I was putting both cars at 6% interest even though the Corolla actually has 2.9% financing available for 60 months through Toyota. That would skew the numbers even better in the Corolla's favor. So my question is...what made you guys buy the Prius? I'm not getting it.
|
|
|
Replying to: indianajohns (Jun 07, 2008 2:32 pm) There are at least two possible answers. One is not having to visit your friendly gas station as often with the satisfaction of not supporting those belligerent oil producing nations as much. Another is that owning the Prius is more "green" friendly. |
|
|
Replying to: indianajohns (Jun 07, 2008 2:32 pm) Personally, I'm an eco-snob and downplay my Prius ownership, instead boasting of the 100 miles a week I ride my 2000 mpg power-assist bike instead of driving my car. I have a bumper sticker on my bike, "F--k Prius drivers". I do love my Prius, though. Alas, we must all learn to live with paradox (smiling). ------------ Back to your question, I've long argued the same thing, so I appreciate the mind you've put to this question. I'd love to buy a Prius with a 70 hp turbogasoline engine instead of the hybrid drivetrain for about $7,000? less. Especially since I drive long hwy stretches where the hybrid engineering (regen, Atkinson cycle, CVT, idle-stop, etc) has diminished advantage. But here are the two factors auguring toward the Prius, at least for typical 50/50 city/hwy drivers: 1) Gasoline futures: An average gasoline price of $5/gallon over the next 5 years is shockingly optimistic. Gasoline could go to any price whatever in any time whatever. $10/gallon by next summer is by no means inconceivable. They pay that in Europe--why not here? I would think there is no doubt whatever that it will hit $10 within 5 years. So I would work the numbers using a variety of gasoline price assumptions. I bet you come up with a breakeven point of about $7.50/gallon average, just on the gasoline trade-off. And I would think that that is as good a guess as any. 2) Depreciation: With gasoline going through the roof the Prius will be as good as gold in resale value. I can give a perfect example: In 2002 I bought a 19mpg 02Honda Odyssey for $33,000 OTD and a 29mpg 02Honda Civic EX for $16,000 OTD (got a bad deal on the Ody and a fantastic deal on the Civic as it was remainder. Who wanted a Civic with gasoline at $1.00/gallon?). Today the Civic is worth slightly more than the Ody, both about 10k. The difference between the Prius' 44realworld mpg and the Corolla's realworld mpg of 29-30mpg is the same proportion as the Ody to the Civic . . . . So I'd depreciate your hypothetical Corolla by 2/3-3/4 and the Prius by 1/4-1/3 over 60 months, as a trial assumption. The Corolla could lose $10-12k and the Prius might only lose $6k. That's pretty much your differential right there. Maybe worse. They may be scrapping Corollas, just like they're scrapping RVs now, who knows? BTW, for absolute spot-on real world mileage figures go to Consumer Reports. If you do a lot of smooth, steady hwy driving I'd opt for a Fit or Yaris over the Prius, unless you have your heart set on certain options not available in these models. Also, edmunds.com has a feature called TCO, True Cost to Own, for all models. You have to play with the assumptions a bit, but obviously you have the math to do so. Toyota is said to be offering the iQ in January. If they make it with their 1.0 liter, 70hp engine, it'll actually get slightly better mileage than the Prius on the highway, low 50s. I'd guess the overall mpg would be very close to Prius. Content yourself by looking up mileage figures for some Toyota models, the 1.0 liter Aygo for example, offered in England: toyota.uk.com. Remember an Imperial gallon is 1.2 times more gasoline than an American gallon. Seating 3 adults +1 child, the iQ is 2/3 the car, but about half the price of Prius, I'd guess. Eventually we'll have plug-in hybrid electrics with about a 40 mile all-electric range backed up by about a 40hp turbogasoline or turbodiesel engine good for 70-80 mph. They'll get the equivalent of 100 mpg. That'll be about the end of the line for conventional cars. By then you'll hardly ever see a car with fewer than 4 people riding in it. And there will be four bikes, some or all electric, hanging off the bike rack. Darn, I do go on. If you've read this far I appreciate your perserverance.
|
|
|
Replying to: bob104 (Jun 07, 2008 4:16 pm) http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/buying-advice/most-fuelefficien- t-cars-206/index.htm |
|
|
|
|
Replying to: bob104 (Jun 07, 2008 4:16 pm) I will retort that NADA currently lists both the 2005 Prius and 2005 Corolla at almost exactly $4,000 less than their new MSRP. Also, when the electric hybrids come out won't the gas/electric hybrids also be obsolete? When the Core2 Duo processor was introduced, did it not make the Pentium 3 as well as the Pentium 4 processors obsolete? I may wait it out. Kind of like I waited out the BlueRay vs HD DVD war. |
|
You are here:
Forums
Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Toyota Prius Prices Paid and Buying Experience
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
2009 Toyota Prius
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
