My Hybrid car delimma

[joeprogressive]

I am in the market to purchase a 2004 Toyota Prius. However, there are none available in my state (Texas). There are 6-15 month waiting lists at most dealerships. Does anyone know how to buy one without paying way over MSRP? I think there is a conspiracy to keep these cars off the road. Thanks in advance.

[prodigal_green]

1. check e-bay

a friend recently bought a car off e-bay and is quite happy with her purchase. I've never shopped there, but they seem to have just about everything.

Somebody might even be ready to trade their "old" hybrid in already.

[still_one]

2. Come to California

You will not have to pay over MSRP. I can recommend some dealers if you are interested. It is a great car. I have both a 1st and 2nd generation prius.

You may want to wait until fall though, because they say that Honda will be releasing their accord in hybrid form

[joeprogressive]

4. good idea

I would love to visit California and drive my new prius back on two tanks. It is tempting to wait on the accord though. Thanks for the tip.

[hatrack]

3. You never know, you might get lucky

A guy my wife works with went in to put down a deposit, and was promptly offered a brand-new Prius that afflicted its first owner with buyer's remorse. He drove it off the lot with only about 40 miles already on the clock.

More practically, there's a Prius group on Yahoo you might want to check out:

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/toyota-prius/

You'll find that "For Sale" posts go up on a fairly regular basis, thought most are for the Prius 1.0.

[Mountainman]

5. Also be sure to shop different dealers

We ordered a Prius last year but didn't take it. Later I found out that other Toyota dealers were selling them more or less than we were going to have to pay and there is no negotiating price.

[never cry wolf]

6. Try these out

On line car shopping, free to the user. Just enter the specs and they will send out to dealers who will bid for your business. Got this from Consumer's Reports. I bought my lasy car this way and will never go back. The first time I saw the salesman was the day I signed the papers and picked up the car.

Auto-buying Web sites
www.autobytel.com
www.autotrader.com
www.carsdirect.com
www.autos.msn.com

[wysimdnwyg]

21. I HIGHLY recommend AutoBytel

That's how I got my current truck (don't yell, I need a truck), and I was thrilled with the whole experience. I will definitely use them again.

[never cry wolf]

22. Isn't it great!

I HATED going to dealerships car shopping, all the haggling, bait and switch, etc. It must have taken me all of an hour to make my deal on line. Received about 8 bids, a couple of phone calls to the dealer closest to me and they matched my low bid and I was done! The bids were all pretty tight too, they submit just about their best price the first time.

[librechik]

7. I'm waiting for the Escape

coming out later this year


http://www.fordvehicles.com/escapehybrid/frameset.asp

I need a 4wheel drive hybrid!

[joeprogressive]

8. I have a moral problem with the escape

Although I am glad an SUV has entered the hybrid arena, my best friend was killed in one of the ford/firestone rollovers. I vowed to never buy either product again.

[librechik]

28. yikes! n/t

no blame

[rinsd]

9. Try one of the online places....

Another poster mentioned them below.

Also are you settled on the Prius? Honda has an improved version of the Civic Hybrid

[joeprogressive]

10. not set on prius....

however it does seem to be rated very well. I think the civic is hard to get in Texas.

[rinsd]

30. Here's some more info

This is a link to Honda dealer in Texas.

http://honda.certified-used-cars.com/honda-dealers/texas.htm

Here's a review of the 03...maybe you'll be able to get a better price on leftover stock(doubtful but hope springs eterenal).

http://www.new-cars.com/2003/2003-honda-civic-hybrid.html

And here's a review of the 04

http://www.new-cars.com/2004/2004-honda-civic-hybrid.html

The new Civic hybrid has more juice with a bigger litre engine. They also have a Hydrogen car if you're interested.

[BlueEyedSon]

11. eBay

[Ilsa]

12. That's too bad.

My friends got a Toyota Prius for about $8,000 under MSRP about 18 months ago in houston. They also got the tax break for it (expired 2003, I think). Good luck finding one. BTW, they love the car.

[joeprogressive]

13. tax break still there

but it reduces $500 each year. It is $1500 in 2004. Strange that we have become so dependent on foreign oil, gas prices are at a record high and tax breaks are going away and hybrids not being produced in sufficient numbers. I'll bet I could be driving a hummer tomorrow.

[Mr.Green93]

14. get a VW turbo diesel 50+ mpg

[joeprogressive]

15. which vw would that be?

n/t

[hatrack]

17. Golf and Jetta and Beetle all available with TDI

Also, apparently VW is coming out with a diesel version of the Passat, though I don't know when.

[joeprogressive]

18. 50+ is impressive but

do the turbo diesels come close to the prius in emmisions? I think the prius is classified as very low emmision vehicle

[hatrack]

20. Still dirtier than most gasoline cars - the diesel curse!

These are cleaner than their predecessors, in that they now meet the Tier 2 EPA requirements. Further diesel cleanup is coming, though sadly not until 2007, when low-sulfur regulations kick in - American diesel fuel is basically mule piss when compared with the fuel used in Europe.

However, it's not that simple. Diesel fuel also takes about 40% less energy to refine than gasoline, so while diesel cars are inevitably dirtier than any LEV or ULEV, they're also less greenhouse-gas intensive when it comes to the process of fueling them.

Sorry for such an equivocal answer, but then, it's an equivocal world!

[Mr.Green93]

23. plus you don't need a hazmat crew

if you have a bad accident.

[MadHound]

29. A VW diesel is cleaner than a gas powered vehicle, and clean as a hybrid

If you fuel it with biodiesel. Very low on emissions, check it out

<http://www.dancingrabbit.org/biodiesel>

[RoadRunner]

16. You might consider an adjacent state.

I ordered mine last month in New Mexico and the dealer said the estimated wait is 5 months. They told me the same thing when I bought my 2001 Prius and were right on the money. Why it would be different in different states, I have no clue, but it seems to work that way. Wouldn't hurt to call a few dealers and see.

[tom_paine]

19. Does Hyundai have any plans in the works for a Hybrid?

[tabasco]

24. FWIW - I know some folks with one of the early Prius'

And they absolutely love it. They even tow a small travel trailer with it. Good for you to make a wise choice of vehicle, whatever you choose. I have decided never to buy another American vehicle because of their refusal to help the country with fuel-efficient vehicles.

[hatrack]

26. And, FWIW, I've had mine 2.5 years and it's a great car

OK, bad stuff first - I did have to have the power steering rack replaced, but under warranty, so no cost there. The car had a shudder when backing out of angle parking spaces - something to do with the steering system since fixed in 2002 models and later.

Also (not surprisingly) gas mileage will not be as high as the EPA estimates - but then, it never is for any car, since EPA runs static tests, not real world road tests. I've averaged about 46-52 mixed in the summer and 41-45 during the winter.

Other than that, it's a solid, economical and reliable car. I drove it from Missouri to Utah and back last year on vacation, and didn't have so much as a rattle or squeak. I go to the gas station about every two weeks, and the most I've ever spent for a fill-up was about $20 - and that was with $1.85 gasoline. Acceleration is good (though not spectacular), highway passing is a snap with all that torque, and it's much bigger than it looks. Admittedly, I'm 6'3" and about 2" more legroom would be nice. However, it's the only car I've drive where I didn't have to bend over to watch when the light changes.

[BGrier]

25. Extremely Happy With Honda Civic Hybrid

You could go for the Civic Hybrid. I love mine - it's a great car.

[uberotto]

27. 2004 Prius is in HIGH Demand...

that's why the wait. I got on the mailing list over a year ago, waiting for my chance to buy a new 2004 when they came out. They were originally predicting world wide sales for the 2004 Prius at 35,000 cars. They exceeded this number with just the preorders. Toyota has been ramping up production to meet the demand, and last I saw they were expecting world wide sales to come closer to around 100,000 cars. Also, because of the great demand, first buyer preference is being given to current Prius owners (i.e. People who bought the 2001-2003 version). This is why the wait is so long.

The only thing I can suggest is to start calling every Toyota dealer within a 500 mile radius, to see if any of them have any Prius for sale. Some locations have much shorter waiting times than others.

The second suggestion is to think about something other than the 2004 Prius. You can get a used, earlier model Prius at a fairly good price. Or you can do what I did and go down to your local Honda dealer and look at the Civic Hybrid. I finally got tired of waiting for the Prius and bought a 2004 Civic Hybrid. It's not as trendy or "kewl" as the Prius, but I'm driving a reliable car from a manufacturer with an excellent reputation and I'm getting 47 MPG, which is about the same as you get with the Prius.

[Gopens]

31. Just bought a used (2003) Prius and love it.

We live in the Dallas area, and a few dealerships here have used Priuses available, at least they did as of about two weeks ago.

We bought a 2003 car with 15,000 miles on it for about 17K, and we have been awfully impressed. We're having trouble getting a backup key, though. Our dealership sells used cars as is and only had one key for it. They'll copy our key for us, but it costs about $150 to do it for the Prius because of the computer chip in the keys used to activate the cars.

Other than the key snafu, we can't get enough of our Prius.

[spanone]

32. Got the Honda Civic Hybrid

Great car!! check it out!