Shopping for a new or used Prius - April
Good time for a used Prius?So, the 2010 Toyota Prius, based on the third generation Hybrid Synergy Drive, is just weeks from hitting dealer showrooms. A couple of months ago, expectations for this new Prius included a significant bump in sticker prices. However, rumors have leaked out of Japan that indicate the new Prius might be priced much cheaper than originally anticipated.
Moreover, we also know that the current generation Prius will continue to be sold as an even cheaper package. How cheap? That isn't completely clear.
So, what about buying a Prius today?
For the next few weeks I'm going to be out hybrid shopping, looking for deals and bargains. This weekend, I learned that many Toyota dealers don't feel too desperate to unload their Prius hybrids yet. Certainly, there are incentives on the current Prius, about $1,000, but dealers don't seem willing to bargain too much below that price, unless fully loaded.
Pricing on used Prius hybrids, however, is more flexible. Prices have already been reduced at a dealership near my house, and my salesperson indicated he would instantly knock another $1,000 of that reduced price. That would have put a 2007 Prius with 33,000 miles at about $18.5. A similarly packaged 2009 was priced just shy of $25000.
Labels: Hybrid Vehicles, toyota prius
posted by Dahcredyns at
8:18 AM
4 Comments:
If Toyota dealers are anything like Honda dealers, they won't start unloading the gen 2's until the gen 3's arrive on the lots....
Try again the week the gen 3' arrive....
Ohhh. I'm gonna be playing around.
I haven't written about it yet, but I checked out my Honda dealer and the best deal on my local lot was an Insight hybrid versus the Civic hybrid, which really surprised me.
Thus, I really want to shop around the next few weeks because I think there might be real differences from dealership to dealership.
For instance, another Honda dealer - not that many miles from the dealership I visited - has a dealer markup on all Insights.
So, I'd really like to get a beat on what's going on. And if some dealers screw their customers more than other dealers in the area, I want to point it out.
Let's hope commentators and business experts who believe hybrid car sales are down because gas is cheap (for the moment) are wrong. I hope my fellow Americans are more forward-thinking in the major purchases than whether gas is $2.00 or $4.00/gallon. It may be just above $2.00/gallon right now. But we all know as soon as U.S. and world demand rises, pulled from the doldrums as countries come out of the recession, gas is going right back up to where it was.
unfortunately, i think hybrid sales might remain a little depressed compared to general vehicle sales, even after the new Prius is launched, but i don't think the difference will be that significant.
i still worry, however, that falling oil prices are going to eventually bring down gas prices which could stay down, relatively, for a few years lulling more and more Americans back into gas-guzzling complacency.
if this calm before the storm lasts a few years, i worry that automakers might slow their plans towards more fuel efficient vehicles. and when the storm, or inevitably higher gas prices, hits we'll be again drastically under-prepared.
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