Where in LA can I get a Prius without a ton of dealer markup?

Question

I want to get a Prius but the nearest dealer to my house said that I have to get it with $3000 special tires and that all the dealers in SoCal are charging extra money because of gas prices. Is this true? Has anyone heard of a dealership in SoCal where I can get a Prius without getting gouged by a dealer?

Answer 1

Over at http://www.priuschat.com , they got a new buyer's section in their forum where people posted their buying experiences.  There ARE honest dealers in the LA area who sells at sticker, but their waiting lists are very long.  Go check out their forum and see if you can find a few.

Good luck.

Answer 2

There is no such thing as $3000 special tires. That's dealer bull$#!+ markup. Toyota has already determined that the factory tires are good enough for all season in all parts of the country. Dealers can charge whatever they want for their inventory based on supply & demand. Many dealers are getting full price for their car & they don't have to haggle because the car sells itself.

Read the article below. Many cars are much more affordable and can be even cheaper to own than the Prius. Save the money you'd spend otherwise on dealer markup & hefty sticker price & buy a car that is more realistic. The Honda Fit & Mazda 3 are great cars. I drove them both, but ended up buying a Nissan Sentra instead. I get 37 mpg/hwy all the time. It was easily $5K cheaper then the Prius & I also got a rebate on it. G'luck!

Answer 3

Very, very difficult right now. You're looking for a car that has a very high demand (one of the highest in history).

I'd broaden your search. Check AZ and UT dealers, and then decide if it's worth either flying there or driving to pick it up. Don't be surprised, however, if they are going for over sticker there as well.

**EDIT** Eagle Keeper brings up a very good point. If you go spend $3-5000 over sticker price for a Prius, you then have to ask yourself how long it would take you to make up that overage in fuel savings. If you could get a Corolla or Yaris for thousands less, and still come somewhat close on gas mileage, then the premium for owning a Prius doesn't make much sense, does it?

Answer 4

I have shown the math in here at least a half dozen times.  Forgetting any added dealer markup for a moment.

When you compare the price of a Prius with the price of a Yaris, you will see the Yaris is a far superior buy.  Based on their fuel consumption and purchase price, you would have to drive a prius over 200,000 miles before you are saving money compared to buying a Yaris.  

Yes, the Yaris gets slighty less mpg, but the cost difference is swallowed up in the higher purchase price, and higher monthly payments on a Prius.

Save the money, get the Yaris - cheaper payment, lower insurance, and less complex.  When the batteries need replacing (out of warranty) on the Prius, you will be thanking me.