Hi all. I am new to this forum. The Prius I am buying should be here at the end of September. I am holding the car with my credit card at this time. Haven't signed any contract yet or talked to a salesman, did entire transaction over the phone.

My question is- when I go to sign the contract, what can I expect the salesman to throw at me? Extended warranties, prepaid maintance, insurance contracts... Should I sign up for any of these items at the dealer? I purchased extended warranites on my two previous vehicles and never used it. Do I need it for the Prius since it is such an advanced car?

Thanks for the help. I am sure I will have more questions once I get the car.

 

As for extended warranties, do not purchase one if it is too expensive. What is too expensive? Well, the Toyota Platinum 7 year/100,000 mile warranty should cost you no more than $1000. If you cannot get a good deal from the dealer, not a problem, wait. You can purcahse an extended warranty from any dealer anytime during the 3/36k standard warranty should you feel you want it. Check out the offer at Priuschat.com. There is a dealer there who is selling Toyota Platinum warranties for the Prius at very competitive prices.

As for prepaid maintenance or other insurances, avoid them at all costs. If you are financing and you are not bringing into the purchase a large downpayment you may want to consider GAP insurance. Your auto insurance company should offer GAP and it will usually be very competitively priced compared to what the dealer will offer.

You may want to discuss this with the dealer you are working with. Give them a call and let them know that you want nothing funny the day you go to complete the sale.

 

The 'push' depends on the dealer. I think they will ALL 'offer' many things, some more forcefully than others.

Maintenance on a Prius (almost none):

1. Every 5K miles - change the oil and filter, rotate tires, check brake pads
2. Every 15K miles, inspect more stuff
3. Every 25K miles - replace engine and cabin air filters - sooner if you drive in dirty air. You can do these yourself VERY easily.
4. At 100K miles - change engine and inverter coolant
5. At 120K miles - change spark plugs

So, they would have to convince you that what they will charge for these service items will cost MORE than the prepaid service agreement. I don't think they are transferrable to other dealers so if you move, or aren't happy with their service, you are out the money.

My local dealer keeps slapping a window sticker on after every oil change to remind me to come back in 3250 miles. BS. Even the Honda dealer wasn't that greedy with my '95 Odyssey - Every 3750 miles, which was the specified interval. The Prius engine is NOT running every mile the car is driven, unless you get on the interstate immediately for 99.9% of every trip. There is NO reason to change the oil at 3250 or even 3750.

If, for some reason you do go with the prepaid maintenance, find out how often they are going to change it 'for free'. Who knows, if YOU are paying for it, they might be like my dealer and suggest a number lower than 5K. If THEY are paying, I wouldn't be surprised to see the 5K number.

Also, the lady that sold us the '06 said we should bring it to Toyota for oil changes because "it is a hybrid". BS again, do it yourself if you like, keep the receipts for the filters and oil in case you need to prove you have done it. It is a regular gasoline engine. Cap where you pour the oil in, plug in the pan where you drain it out and an oil filter. Nothing special.

TURN DOWN:

1. Paint and fabric protection. Way too much money for stuff you can get at KMart.
2. Undercoating - good way to potentially trap moisture next to the frame and rust it out REALLY BAD before it is noticable. Then they are responsible for repair ONLY to the amount you paid for the rust proofing. All those shops went out of business in VT years ago. And if we don't have that sort of problem in VT, it isn't likely ANYONE will. As an anology, I once helped a friend replace an old deck. There were MANY places in the railing where water had gotten under the latex paint - which was the only thing holding the rotting wood together.
3. Extended warranty. Remember that the hybrid components are warranted for 8 years, 100K miles (more in some states) so Toyota has already given you an 'extended warranty' on the components most people might potentially be concerned about. If you are just really nervous and decide to buy it, make sure they don't charge more than the dealer on PriusChat for the same program - same number of months / miles. This is a Toyota product, not a dealer product, it CAN be used at ANY Toyota dealer. And, as Jerome stated - you can buy this ANY time before your standard 3 year warranty expires, even the day before.
4. Insurance, unless the dealer is able to give you the same or better coverage than you can get elsewhere. I have no experience in this area.

With both our Prii (different dealers), the sales person told us what the 'money person' would offer. The money person did, we turned it down

 

I would add:
"At 60K miles - drain and replace transaxle oil." (NHW20 models)


Bob Wilson

 

Watch for ad-ons that they don't mention to you at all that might be on their invoice. I had a charge for 'ETCH' added. I refused to pay it and they took it off, even though the work had been done. It was never mentioned prior to me seeing their invoice.

Aside from the typical stuff, my dealer also tried to get me to buy LoJack - I declined.

I did buy an extended warranty. If you plan to keep the car a long time, get the longest warranty available. The high-tech components are very expensive to fix when out of warranty. For just a few dollars a month, you buy a lot of piece of mind.
Good luck!

 

I suggest you negotiate the "out-the-door" price rather than the vehical price. The "out-the-door" price consists of everything they're going to charge you but doesn't include your trade-in or deposit.

I just bought a 2006 package #3 and the "out-the-door" price was $25,000. I got $1500 on my trade-in and made a $1500 deposit and financed $22,000. It was a very clean simple negotiation. When I got the contract, I didn't have to focus on all those extra charges, I just made sure the bottom line was $22K.

Of course, they tried to beat me up on the trade-in value, but I'd already been to Car Cash and knew they would pay me $1500, so I wouldn't budge.

I did get the extended warranty, 5 years/100,000 miles (I drive 30K per year), for $900. It turned out to be a gold warranty, I made a stink and they agreed to give me the platinum 6/100,000 for the same price. It may be a ripoff, but I feel more comfortable knowing that if something major goes wrong in 2 years when I've got 60K on the car, it's covered. You may not need the same assurance.

 

I don't know what area of the country you are, but my Dealer was pushing Lojack and a "Special Exterior Paint Sealant".

One, LoJack doesn't work everywhere. Besides that... when I test drove my Prius, it was the first time I actually had to be shown how to drive a car to get it off of the lot. So it makes me wonder if the typical car thief will now what to do once he/she gets in it.

Second, the "paint Sealant" is just hogwash. Besides, Toyota's warranty for rust is 5 years, 100K miles anyway.

Good luck!