My husband and I found a 2005 Prius with 34000 miles on it. We are in the process of buying it. We have to wait till our tax refund arrives but the dealer is holding it with a deposit. We are paying 21995, is that about the right price? I am having second thoughts. They figured our payments out to be $402/month, which isn't too bad. We are also paying an additional auto loan of $353/month. I am hoping we can manage both. I think we should get it. Does anyone else get nervous when buying a vehicle?

Keep in mind that MSRP on a new Prius is $21,725. Of course options can increast that by more than 7k, what options does it have?


Everyone gets nervous when making a big purchase like a car. Make sure that the price you are negotiating is the final purchase price, not the monthly payments. Good Luck

Hi,

I bought my 2003 Prius in October of 2005 and shared your concerns:
Back in October 2005, I bought a 2003 Prius for $17,300 but I knew the Blue Book value and had been following Ebay completed listings. I was actually looking at 2003 Prius in Florida so when mine showed up in Texas for a good price. I bought it and flew out to pick it up.

Doug, a frequent poster in the Yahoo Group, Prius Technical Stuff, has been tracking used prices car prices in Ebay. I used his data to plot my purchase:

BTW, Doug has a formula that approximates Prius prices as a function of gas prices.

My payments came in at $307/mo. and it hurts but fortunately, we had our other car paid off. You'll have to work out your own budget. However, our Prius has been saving nearly two car payments per year:

http://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/m.../car/1506.html

I didn't achieve this type of mileage right off the bat. It took me to January to learn how to drive the car to achieve hypermileage status. But we've put together a FAQ on how to drive the Prius efficiently and hopefully it will help you too . . . if you get the car.

Buyer remorse and budgets are things we all deal with. All I can share is it is possible to get excellent MPG from a Prius but not everyone achieves EPA mileage. This forum is one of the best Prius schools around that can help you succeed.

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

Well I guess we are going to pick it up today. I just checked my bank account and my tax money is here.
The prius has some sort of keyless remote thing and a six disc cd changer. I am not sure what other fancy features it has. The prius honestly feels like some sort of cool space ship.

Crystal

It really does. I bought mine in January (new '06) and I am amazed every day at how much I still LOVE it. I have never loved a car before... I really LIKED my FEH a lot, and still do, but the Prius is, somehow, *different*. I think it's that space ship thing. I feel like I've finally gotten my "flying car" they promised us when we were kids, even though it doesn't really fly...

Hope you have the same great feeling. I've not been sorry for one minute that I bought mine, even though I am now paying for TWO hybrid cars, and the payments ain't cheap. In fact, they're pretty high. And I haven't been able to sell my V6 Escape, which I was counting on, and don't think my chances are getting any better now that gas prices are rising. But every day when I get into my Prius I feel that it was worth every penny. (p.s. - I'm getting 56 mpg so far on this tank! So glad spring is finally here...)

Re: "flying car" -- I completely feel the same way. Although in my case it's more mental than visual, since I'm in the Ford Escape Hybrid and not the Prius (which, I agree completely, looks wonderfully spaceship like, especially the "cockpit" )

- Shannon (Geeky, Wild Texan)