I test drove a prius and they checked my car for trade in value at the local toyota dealer. They said they may give me 8 grand, but I owe 8642 on it, so I would still owe them for that car after putting 2 grand down and 672 a month in payments the past year after buying new.

Think I will be driving this car for years in that case.

 

Figure out how many gallons of gas you can buy with the price difference and figure about 5 more miles per gallon with the Prius than the xA that comes out to $666 savings in 100,000 miles of driving at $3.00 a gallon. Figuring 50mpg for the Prius (which is hard to average) and 45 mpg for the xA.

 

45mpg for the xa????????? ehhhh not so much. 35 seems like a much more realistic number.

 

Jans an expert at fuel economy. I maybe second, taking it to 5 grand before shifting is fun, but sucks your fuel. I managed 37 the past tank, I got lsot in short pump yesterday afternoon and drove hard in 5 oclock traffic to get where I need to go.

Yeah, think I will just keep my scion at that rate. I just thought they had their value better. Just shocked me I would owe toyota to trade it in for purchase of another car when I put 2 grand down at purchase, 627 a month the past year and all the aftermarket stuff that is in it and oem accessories.

 

First, NEGOTIATE!!!. usually they lowball you just to get a feel for where you are in the buying process, what research you've done, etc...
Although KBB is usually high w/ their estimates you can usually get their "Fair" value. KBB has your car (automatic) at $8,900. Worst case scenario, you can get what you owe on the car. Tell them to pay it off, if they say they cant, go to another dealer that can (Remember, you have options).

New Car Payment:
Assuming you have good credit you should be able to get a rate of 6.5% - 7.5%. Putting down $2k you should be able to get a 2008 Prius w/ package #2 (backup camera, Smart Key system, AM/FM stereo, CD player, MP3 capability, auxiliary input jack, six speakers and Vehicle Skid Control) for $22k ($24k for car minus $2k down).

At that rate, financed for 5yrs, you should be at a monthly payment of around $450.

I was a sales consultant at Acura of Boston so I'm not sure what the interest rates are like in your area. Either way, you should be no where near $700/month.... unless you have HORRIBLE credit

P.S.- All estimates (except for interest rate) was done using the area of Richmond, VA so it should be pretty accurate.

 

You may want to check with your bank for a better interest rate on the car loan.

The Prius - the 2007 I drove with less than 20k on the clock - I had to work hard to get 53mpg out of it and the gal who drives it usually gets in the mid to high 40's.
I average 38 to 40 in my xB in lousy winter short trip driving conditions, I get low 40's highway and you should be able to get better with the xA - same motor better gearing and smaller frontal area. I have not been in an xA but I am sure it has more room in it that the Prius which gave me a eye headache looking through the windshield and it was a lot noisier than my xB.

 

You don't buy an Prius For gas mileage, you buy it for less emissions, and less trips to the pump. When I was doing research for an xa and a Prius, I wasn't going to see a savings from it for more than 5 years and I commute 2 hours a day. If you are environmentally friendly, get one, if not its not worth it IMO. Most people in Cali here will get another car before that time anyways. But if you ever watch their commericals, watch closely, they never mention once about saving money on gas.

 

Never trade in!!! Why would you want to let the dealership take $ out of your pocket....sell it private...i bet you could get around $10-11000 for an Xa.


Cobb, I'm in fredericksburg...i bought my xa on craigslist for $12000 with 13000 miles from a girl in DC.....check craigslist now


http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/s...sk=max&addTwo=

the lowest one is $10,500..throw your on there for 10,000 and it'll be gone quick

shift is right...dont buy for better gas mileage...it'll take years to pay off the difference...buy a prius to save the planet

 

Ok they put out a little less what hydrocarbons? They still produce CO2 in proportion to the gas they burn and as far as environment the recycling on a Prius is a headache, wait until a million hybrid batteries have to get recycled. So if there isn't a savings on gas then there isn't a savings. They have an 11.9 gallon tank with about 10 usable so you don't make less trips to the pump. They could go longer between oil changes but the dealers want you in every 5k miles anyway to maintain warrenty.

 

Well, I just went to test drive the prius. It went from there. I told them my car wasnt clean or ready for a look over, but they could do a quick one to get a good idea.

Anyway, first offer for the prius was 30800. I said wheres my trade? The guy left and came back saying the guy was new. This time he game me to figures and asked which I liked, both seem high. After a few more trips to the office for the prius with package 2 the manager came over. He said he was doing me a favor to take my car in trade as he had xds to get rid of and I owed more than it was worth. He said he could not sell it. Last offer was 28100 for the prius. How a sticker 23500 gets to 28 beats me without any extras, warranty, gap insurance or trade and the priority dealer has waved tax and other finance charges per their sale.

I think I will write scion and the Dennis Elder guy who is in the priority commercials about this. As for my car, I can get 54mpg in 4 gear at 40mph. Not bad for a car tha twill be paid for by March next year with 13 thousand miles on it.

 

Buying a "Toyota" is not the same as buying a "Scion" . . . remember that? Yikes that Prius sounds pretty high!

 

Don't believe what they're telling you. Like I said, I worked at a dealership and use to play the same game. Edmunds has something called True Market Value which is an average of what people are paying in your area. I checked VA and it's at $24k (it does take demand into consideration).
Scions sell. It doesn't matter if xDs are out, a dealership can sell anything.

 

Definitly sell it private....you should be able to take in an easy 12K for that car in mint condition. Guaranteed that's what your dealer will be sellin it for after they buy it from you.

 

You make a very valid point!!

 

Nice points... and very true.

Dealing with a dealership, 9 times out of 10 is a losing battle, they will do everything in there power to try and come out ahead of the curve. Figure, if they offer you $8K for the xA, guarenteed they are going to go over it(make sure it is tuned up, solid) = what in the process spend probably less then $100 on that, but will make sure they get at least a $3-5K profit when selling it (thus, they will make sure they get/accept $11(minimum) - $13K ish max) , thats just how dealerships operate.

I'd recommend definitly keeping the xA, have fun with it, do your best to get upper 30's average mpg .. maybe 40-42 in the summer. Plus, there are far fewer xA's out there in the US(04-06 ... roughly a 3 year production time for us) then Prius's = which also equates to potenial higher demand for your vehicle later used / private party. Like others said, when it comes time to sell her, sell private party, show mass amounts of reciepts for everything, and you'll do fine. As long as you have a good/upper quality car, that is fuel efficient, it will ALWAYS be in demand as the years roll by. Now, those people rolling around in there V6's or V8's ... getting in the teens, to lower 20's average mpg ......... no guarentees there, in terms of being able to sell there rig, for a good/decent/fair price in the future , not to mention the more consumption of gas $$ it will eat along the way

 

Thanks, I am pretty sure I am keeping it. I may lay off the compliant filing. I went riding and found 4th gear 40 mph gave me the best at 54mpg.

Second attempt to buy a prius and they just do not seem interested in it. I understand they have to make money, but the way they told me they were doing me a favor by giving me 8 grand. Then telling me that by August it would be worth 5 since I tld them someone wanted to buy it from me this summer if I still had it.

 

Thats funny Mark.

Getting back to the Prius thing. I've heard of people, getting in the 70's mpg , but its just putt-putting around town, under 25 mph, not engaging the gas engine(same 1.5L as ours), and simply running off battery power ... but its not easy to do. If you ever need to hop on the freeway/highway, the gas engine will engage, and when ever you punch the accelerator, it will engage. More like 50-55 mpg is what most people get.

The Prius weights right about 3000 pounds, our xA's are like 2300 pounds. Put that also into the calculations. I've read out xA's drag coefficent is 0.31(decent ... could probably get into the upper 20's easily if do some simple aerodynamic mods yourself) , and I believe the Prius is 0.26 ( a Infinity G35 is also 0.26).

 

Actually as you go faster with the Prius it really starts to drop off in the mpg getting into the 30's when going over 70mph. What the car should get in mileage gets lost in the transmission and electric drive.

 

Jan,

Very informative, and crazy to think that most Prius owners probably don't even know that.
I see several Prius's motoring down HWY 101 here, easily 65+ mph.
The smart Prius owners, I've seen a couple where I live, take the back roads, where speed limit is a standard 55 mph, but it is easily do-able to kick it going 25mph, not engaging the gas engine, just using the electric drive. Does going up hills, as a load is then put on the car, then make the car engage the gas engine ??

 

I have had the 2007 model goign 55mph down hill with teh ICE off and the electric drive providing a little forward thrust but not enough to keep it moving at speed but an exit ramp was coming up anyway. It takes off very slowly on electric only and I mean even slower than I take off in my xB without giving it gas when the engine is cold and it has a high idle but the Prius is usable at that power level if no one is behind you. Nice thing is the down hills and saving the energy back into the battery but it doesn't last long when driving and doesn't do up hills too well at all. You really have to just hold your foot steady at a critical gas pedal position and leave it there or else further throttle will start the ICE up.