Thinking of buying a Prius

Void · #1 (**permalink**) 04-04-2005, 12:47 PM

Thinking of buying a Prius as a daily driver now that the price of gas is through the roof. Couple of questions for owners:

1. Is their a waiting list?

2. What did you pay? MSRP or more/less?

Thanks in advance.
Dave.

bob259 · #2 (**permalink**) 04-09-2005, 07:41 PM

The wife will be getting her's in a few weeks. It's in the country and awaiting transport.

The wait is getting shorter.... 6-8 weeks, or less some as soon as 3 weeks
MSRP, no deals in our area

apurazzo · #3 (**permalink**) 04-09-2005, 08:18 PM

i was getting my tundra serviced last week and they were asking 2000 over invoice,and they where selling them

EngineerBoo · #4 (**permalink**) 04-10-2005, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by apurazzo

i was getting my tundra serviced last week and they were asking 2000 over invoice,and they where selling them

And, thus, the term "stealership" is alive and well......shame on Toyota for allowing this kind of crap

LGL002 · #5 (**permalink**) 04-10-2005, 08:49 AM

The shame must be shared with the buyers willingness to pay it. I never bought Honda Accord in the eighties for that reason. Unfortunately I bought a worthless Oldsmobile instead.

Larry

Kevin7909 · #6 (**permalink**) 04-11-2005, 07:23 AM

i am curious.....your gonna spend close to $20k(maybe more?) on a car and insure it and get a tag and all the maintenance etc. for it to save money on gas over what period? it is going to take a very long time for the car to pay for itself even if u fill up the tundra 3 times a week IMO...just wondering what i am missing here if saving money is the goal...
Kevin

bob259 · #7 (**permalink**) 04-11-2005, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin7909

i am curious.....your gonna spend close to $20k(maybe more?) on a car and insure it and get a tag and all the maintenance etc. for it to save money on gas over what period? it is going to take a very long time for the car to pay for itself even if u fill up the tundra 3 times a week IMO...just wondering what i am missing here if saving money is the goal...
Kevin

IMHO, unless your already getting ready to buy a new car/vehicle anyway it's not worth it, or saving you anything to swap now because of gas prices.

My reasons way are;

Dealer price gouging and high mark ups. (Trying to make up all their losses on a few sales of high demand and limited supply vehicles)
Poor trade in on existing vehicle (We know you want this, so you'll settle for little to no trade in on your existing vehicle. We're here to help you )
Total cost gas Vs new car payments equal long payback, if you ever make the difference up

Bottom line I feel is, unless your already planning on buying a new vehicle you'll never make up the difference in gas savings alone.....

Buzzard · #8 (**permalink**) 04-11-2005, 10:07 AM

Just for grins-----ask the parts dept what a replacement battery would cost if you had to replace it. (The big orange one in the back NOT the starting battery.)---Buzz

bob259 · #9 (**permalink**) 04-11-2005, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buzzard

Just for grins-----ask the parts dept what a replacement battery would cost if you had to replace it. (The big orange one in the back NOT the starting battery.)---Buzz

Toyota and Honda both do not list that price in their parts departments. Nor will they give it on request. It's a 100,000 mile guarantee on the battery for both manufactures. For us, can't speak for others, we'll swap it for something new far before that point in time.

KLS · #10 (**permalink**) 04-11-2005, 12:33 PM

I read where used Priuses were selling for more than MSRP for new Priuses. It certainly is the right of the dealership to ask any price the want and the right of buyers to pay or walk away.

I like the hybrid concept, but wouldn't pay extra...anyone needs to pencil-out the miles driven for it to pay off.

The only time a new battery should be needed is after a crash, although I usually do own vehicles for more than 100k.

Ken

Kevin7909 · #11 (**permalink**) 04-12-2005, 12:33 AM

on the news tonight they claimed used prius' were selling for over $30k...talk about a return on an investment....Toyota supposedly stated that they would ramp production to over 100k next year....
Kevin

Quote:

Originally Posted by KLS

I read where used Priuses were selling for more than MSRP for new Priuses. It certainly is the right of the dealership to ask any price the want and the right of buyers to pay or walk away.

I like the hybrid concept, but wouldn't pay extra...anyone needs to pencil-out the miles driven for it to pay off.

The only time a new battery should be needed is after a crash, although I usually do own vehicles for more than 100k.

Ken

nucleus · #12 (**permalink**) 04-12-2005, 07:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin7909

i am curious.....your gonna spend close to $20k(maybe more?) on a car and insure it and get a tag and all the maintenance etc. for it to save money on gas over what period? it is going to take a very long time for the car to pay for itself even if u fill up the tundra 3 times a week IMO...just wondering what i am missing here if saving money is the goal...

The environmental and socio-cultural effects of gas are on both ends, before and after it's used, and range from toxic spills and smog to financing terrorism. I applaud those who buy highly efficient vehicles like the Prius.

On the other hand, I recently saw his and hers Hummers picking up their two kids from school at the same time. These are the people who should be fighting for Mobil Oil in Iraq.

bob259 · #13 (**permalink**) 04-12-2005, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nucleus

.....On the other hand, I recently saw his and hers Hummers picking up their two kids from school at the same time. These are the people who should be fighting for Mobil Oil in Iraq.

Let's be truthful, gas prices are high because the gas companies hired all ex-Enron employees

. This has been a long time coming in the US. The major oil companies have slowly bought out all the smaller refineries, shut them down and dismantled them. Now we have a demand for gas and heating oil that out paces our supply, not because of lack of oil, but because of LACK of refineries. These same big oil companies have also not built new refineries, updated their older ones and now say they will have to start taking them off line for repairs.... do you smell an Enron here. Top that with the states now looking at ADDING additional taxes to hybrids because, get this, they do not use enough gas and put the states highway taxes at jepordy.

Have you also noticed that this time when the gas prices are at thier highest you no longer hear the states mentioning lowering the gas tax because of the additional taxes they are taking in due to the higher prices, or the Fed's saying open up the reserve supplies. It's like the Saudi oil minister said, the high prices in the US are not do to lack of oil, but it's your lack of ability to refine it. Or simply put, the US has allowed Big Oil to use Enron as its business model.

As long as I'm venting.... look at big oils profits, if high gas prices were truly because of the price per barrel of oil and higher labor cost, wouldn't that also mean that thier profit would remain the same or be lower then the year earlier.... not 300-500% higher. Nice racket if you can get into it

The americam public's desire to continue to buy big and gas guzzling vehicles wil not change till the prices hit $5.00 a gallon and with the help of big oil we'll be there soon enough. My wages don't go up but my taxes and expenses do, going to a hybrid means it's another day longer I can go to work without losing money.

impulsives · #14 (**permalink**) 04-13-2005, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nucleus

The environmental and socio-cultural effects of gas are on both ends, before and after it's used, and range from toxic spills and smog to financing terrorism. I applaud those who buy highly efficient vehicles like the Prius.

On the other hand, I recently saw his and hers Hummers picking up their two kids from school at the same time. These are the people who should be fighting for Mobil Oil in Iraq.

Not alot of difference in mileage between the Hummer(12MPG) and any full size pickup, including the Tundra. Hell, my 2005 4x4 Tacoma only averages about 17-18 MPG and almost all of my mileage is highway(19,000). I don't know why everyone always brings up the Hummer. How about the current Land Cruiser? My friend averages around 14-15 MPG and has to use 93 Octane!

simon barsinister · #15 (**permalink**) 08-22-2005, 01:38 PM

Co-worker of mine owns a Prius. He's had the battery replaced under warranty at 60K (battery can only be charged so many times before they begin to degrade, they don't last forever). Cost was $3K. Warranty is for 8 yr/100K, so the possibility exists for another replacement at his cost in the future.