Hi ya'al!! I just got a TCH on Wednesday in So. Cal.! My wife and I spent about 4 hours at the dealership in negotiations and purchasing! What a serious pain to buy a car now!! We got a Jasper Pearl TCH Base w/Bisque int. and floormats/trunk-net as sole options. Exactly the way we wanted it conf'ged! Car was actually sitting on the dealer's lot for about 5 days! We test-drove it twice. Saw the car on Friday completing PDI. Test-drove on Saturday. Discussed with much angst over the possible purchase of a hybrid and compared other vehicle selections. Prepared to visit dealer on Monday night; too tired to go in. Prepared to visit dealer on Tuesday night; again too tired and stressed to come in. Thought about it again very hard that night and viewed many threads on this and other boards about TCHs.

Finally wife and I went to dealer first thing in the morning Wednesday. Green TCH still out in front with some dust on her. Met our third and final (!!) salesguy (no ladies). Test-drove again -- noted ODO had not changed since we last drove on Sat -- inspected vehicle bumper-to-bumper and made offer. Immediately sent to office of Fleet Director. Long story short... many conditions worked in our favor... odd color... no opts... right time & day of week... right approach and professional fleet manager. He commented that very few people fully understand the Camry Hybrid tech, market conditions and sales/purchase process as much as I did. Exceptionally professional manager. We didn't pay MSRP or above.

Elated about our decision and want to contribute to this board. BTW, I did a paper and presentation about alternately-fueled cars in college about 12 years ago! I hadn't considered purchasing one since the technology was never mass-mainstreamed and performance was not adequate for my needs. Time has changed. Hybrids are here to stay 10+ years. Out for now!!

 

Martin

Congratulations on your purchase of the 2007 Camry Hybrid. I am surprised you where able to pay less than MSRP. I think you got very lucky. Great job.
I hope you have fun with your new car.

 

Thanks. I feel welcome! Yeah... sometimes the stars all align for me but it's seldom. I felt like we were playing poker at the dealership... except I showed a few of my cards towards the end and nearly folded (left) twice without losing my shirt... just time. A car is just simply not worth it to blow your budget and give in to dealers who have an ego. [this car might be a lone exception!]

Out for now.

 

Congratulations! Best of luck with your new TCH...

Looks like you'll be driving it for 'months' before I get my TCH.

 

Not a single problem in the first 100 miles!!! There is a learning curve on how to use all the hi-tech stuff aboard, but that's easy. A regular Camry is a shear bore to drive -- sorry -- but this TCH is very entertaining and inviting to spin around. It's not a sports or aggressive driver's car, but that's okay! I like driving it and it's comfortable. It does, however, need more thigh and lateral support in the seats.

Neighbors don't have a clue how it works. I'm giving tutorials daily! hehehe! Some people ask me if drives over 60 MPH!! I tell them that its governor limited at about 120 MPH if not mistaken. Many people are skeptical about the vehicle and it's cost premium. I explained to them that it cost actually less than a comparably equiped V6 LE!

BTW, my INS quoted me only $56 more yearly for the TCH over the LE-V6. I've heard rumors about companies jacking up rates for hybrids and didn't believe it... so I checked. Stupid rumors. Check it out for yourself.

Out for now.