[hergertr]

I spent a month trying to find an option #9 Prius searching many dealers in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, amoung others. One local dealer suggested Minnesota, Indiana, Tennessee, and Florida were good places to look for good deals. I also contacted several private party offerings. Dealers had different ways of handling their sales with some offering waiting lists with varying deposits and ultimate selling prices. Others sold them as they came in and got inflated prices. One private party had gotten on at least three waiting lists, bought three at MSRP, and then sold two of them at a profit. I looked at many eBay auctions and most were not getting the reserve price although I did see a few sell at or near MSRP. I finally found a dealer willing to sell at MSRP because they had to get rid of it before the end of the month. It was in an area where demand is not quite so high so there was some flexibility. They initially offered the Prius to me at $2000 over MSRP firm. Most dealers I dealt with, when I said I would pay no more than MSRP, said good luck and I never heard from them again. What this is all about is the simple economic concept of supply and demand. From my perspective the market is beginning to loosen up as production increases and other hybrids come on the market. The fact is resale prices for the Prius will come down as economics change. Look at the history of other hot cars when they are introduced, the Subaru WRX comes to mind.

 

[hergertr]

I guess the reply from the Toyota dealer that won't say which dealer he works for was partially directed at my previous post. I was merely sharing my experiences and talking about all the different types of dealers I encountered. Some were very good and as helpful as they could be. Others were obviously out to make as much profit as they could. Even the private party I mentioned was trying to make money. I made every effort to to find a Prius at MSRP and after considerable effort I found one, albeit 300 miles from where I live. What its all about is supply and demand. If someone is willing to pay $5000 over MSRP then that becomes the market for that area. If dealers are willing to sell at MSRP or less then so be it.