Quote:
|
Originally Posted by DTDRIVER
I dont understand the "waiting list thing"? I was at a couple of Toyota dealerships this week and they had them on the lot unsold. Of course they told me they were not discounting them.
|
In Huntsville last spring, the local Honda dealer had hybrid civics on the lot. we got the impression there wasn't much mark-down but some negotiation on options. The Toyota dealer didn't have any but they would 'put your name on the six month waiting list.'
About six weeks later, I got a call, "We have one coming in and if you give us $1,000 . . ." At the time, we did a double-take at the phone and answered, "No thanks." Was the car salesman's report of a "six month wait" real? . . . consider the source.
Fast forward to this fall and a wet street that saw our '91 Camry hyrdoplane into oblivion. No injuries and both cars drove off but Camry repair cost was $1k greater than blue book value and the insurance company invalidated the title. So from a hybrid browser, we became a hybrid shopper.
The local Prius dealer still had his six month list but now the mark-up was $4.5k on top of list. But a local anti-hybrid advocate had touted the fear of 'battery replacement'. This is the same idiot who also believes hydrogen cars are just around the corner and long list of political nonsense. Considering the source, we started looking at used Prius.
It took three weeks but we bought via Ebay, a 2003 Prius, used, with 49,000 miles for $17,300, approximately $1,000 below blue-book. But even now, we're seeing a lot of
new Prius going unsold on Ebay for MSRP + $2-4,000.
New Prius are available on Ebay but they are asking for a premium on top of the base price. Waiting months to pay a premium on a new Prius doesn't make sense just to avoid 'shipping' charges. Fly out and drive the car back!
What about Honda hybrid Ebay prices? Any markups?
For our non-hybrid trolls, what about Ebay prices for your favorite technology? Any markup?
Bob Wilson
Waiting lists, markups and trolls
