A
short Toyota hybrid vehicle shopping trip
Monday, September 22, 2008
Customers
back in control?
Thanks to a killer headache on Friday, I decided to call
it a day early and take care of a few errands. Since those
errands took me close to a local Toyota dealership, I
decided to shop some hybrid
cars.
Back in May I made the post, $3000.00
Prius Markup: Screw the customer to describe my hybrid
shopping experience, which left me very disappointed
thanks to $3000 dealer mark ups. Yet, just a few weeks
after that post, my local Toyota dealership pushed that
markup to $5000.00 on top of the MSRP, and added about
$5,000 worth of dealer add-ons as well.
Even the Camry
hybrid included a $3000 dealer markup.
But what about today? Have things finally calmed down?
At my dealership, used Prius
hybrids now run about the same price as new Prius
hybrids. What a deal!
You can even buy a new Camry hybrid as MSRP.
As for a new Prius, this dealership is still adding an
extra $3,000 markup and several thousand in dealer
add-ons, such as alarms, maintenance plans and extended
warranties, but there is now much more wiggle room with
both dealer add-ons and markups.
For instance, after reiterating that I was going to hold
off until there were no addendums to the MSRP a few times,
my salesman told me he had seen some deals on the Prius
close to MSRP.
Of course, that was a Package 6 Prius, and from what I
could determine from my salesman, lower packages would not
be as negotiable at my dealership. Likewise, it is
uncertain as to how these deals - sold at MSRP - were
financed.
Was there a trade in, for example? Was it a fair trade in?
Thus, if you're not paying cash up front, dealers can find
plenty of ways to make you pay more than you think you are
paying. So, perhaps these deals weren't deals after all.
Nonetheless, lower gas prices, the financial crisis,
falling home values, etc. are having a major effect on
dealerships. Sales are down significantly on all vehicles.
While hybrids are still a pretty hot ticket in this area
of Southern California, demand isn't as strong and dealer
markups are declining. And, without a big jump in gas
prices, demand is certain to fall even lower
(Unfortunately, many on Wall Street believe oil has
bottomed and that new highs could be tested before the end
of the year).
Ultimately, the market is better for hybrid buyers today
than it was just a few months ago. Still, I wouldn't label
today a buyer's market.
I'll be shopping hybrid cars more in the next few weeks,
but I'd recommend that all hybrid shoppers take it slow
and refuse anything above MSRP. Play hardball and demand a
fair price, and MSRP is MORE than fair.
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