I have put out inquiries to two different Toyota dealers in the Portland area and both replied within hours they are doing me the favor of selling at straight MSRP. Being that this is going to be a popular hybrid version of Toyota's top selling car, MSRP at launch is not bad. Due to how well the Prius sells, I think it is fairly optimistic to hope for much less than MSRP.


I was wondering what other folks are hearing in their inquiries for what is destined to be a popular vehicle.

Mr Bean

Carson Toyota-a big discounter-online etc-in CA- wanted $2500 over MSRP recently.I expect that will change after the "new" of the CamryH has worn off.It would put a base Hybrid at $30,000.It is a nice car, more comfortable than a Prius, but with less carrying volume. With the run up in gas prices, it will probably be in demand, if it delivers on mpg.If it gets 2/3 Prius mpg, it will sell pretty well. I would like it more if it was a hatchback,but....Luck,Charlie

I don't know if the dealerships even know what cars/options are on their way to their respective branches. When asked what was on the way to each location, not a single one would state anything for certain in colors and options. It makes it a bit tougher to plan ahead for both the dealer and me if that is the case.

If the store is of any size then they know since last week what will arrive within 15 days. specs, pricing, etc. A big store like Carson, Longo, Carmax, etc prolly has a good variety but likely all are spoken for.

One view of this "I don't know" is that the stores generally are only getting 2 or 3 at most unless they are a mega store and a big hybrid seller in the past. The stores are not going to live on hybrid Camry's so rather than make them a big deal it's 'so what, it's only 2 vehcles out of hundreds we have to sell' . To the sales people "Don't worry about hybrids, they'll sell themselves when they get here. Sell the 4Runners and Tundras now on the lot first. Those are eating up money every they sit."

Lifetime fuel usage: 2.1 GPC ( 1.99 recent )

Now that the Camry hybrid has started arriving in SoCal, I placed a couple of orders and inquired to the fleet managers of more than 20 dealers in San Diego, Orange, Riverside, and LA counties. All but two dealers emphasized that they were charging exactly MSRP for the car, with no additional dealer fees. Impressive. One dealer said they were adding aftermarket equipment such as chrome rims, etc., to pack the price. Another dealer actually offered me a $200 discount. About half of the dealers indicated they were taking orders, and there was a wide ranging number of peope on the various dealers' lists. The other half of the dealers just planned to receive their allotments and make cars available on a first-come basis. I also thought it was interesting that the dealers who had demo Camry hybrids would only give test rides on Monday through Friday. They claimed that the large volume of people that would request rides on the weekend took too much time from their sale routines. I hope my research today can help some of you plan your buying strategies. Overall, the managers I spoke with today did NOT expect the Camry demand to be overwhelming and that cars should be available within reasonable waiting times.

Steve Villatoro
www.stevenvillatoro.com
“An enlightened guide to small business mastery.”

I too have contacted 10+ dealers around San Diego and Los Angeles and I too have heard many dealers quoting MSRP, except Carson Toyota of course with their markup crap. All San Diego dealers seem to be getting Package #2s initially, though there are some others, particularly around LA, with package #1s. So far I've heard of Barcelona Red, Magnetic Gray, Silver, and Blue Ribbons arriving around now.

Most people that are doing waiting lists have at least 10 deposits already; many have 20+. Longo Toyota has well over 100 deposits(!) and they expect to get 25 hybrids per month. Of course most dealers won't get nearly that much... Kearny Mesa Toyota, which had 15 deposits when I left mine, guessed they'd get 4-5 cars in May and maybe slightly more in June.