Maybe this is an exercise in futility or exhibit A for my vanity. But I suppose the sweetness of a deal is made sweeter if it actually is a good deal. Just bought a used 2013 Prius option IV (Black) with 13,800 miles on it. Single owner-clean carfax. Had all the standard options which comes with the IV plus had the illuminated door sills and the back bumper thingy which declares "PRIUS" to the world at large-I guess I am too old for such trivia . In any event, I traded in my aged Odyssey (which had run 225k & needed the transmission replaced) and after some haggling, I paid 19k (plus $50 'discounted' dealer fee) for the Prius and also had the dealer throw in (for no added cost), the 84 month/100k full warranty for CPO vehicles and the 2 year maintenance warranty given for the new ones. (Original asking price listed was $23,995. I had fixed my budget at 18-20k including the trade but after he came back with the offer of the full warranty etc (& wanted 22,500k), I compromised and added $500 to make the final to $19k but on the condition he waived the dealer fee. In the end he agreed for this plus the $50 dealer fee). It looked like a fair price to me. I was torn between getting a new 2013 option V available at another dealer & this one, but wasn’t sure if I could talk him down to 20k from the list price of 35k as he was willing on the phone to go down only to 30k plus maybe $2000 less for the trade but still would not have been close the max of 18-20k I had budgeted. That having said, the car runs well and even with the inside components like the NAV being kind of a downgrade for such an expensive and technologically advanced car, it is worth the reliability and great gas mileage. Cheers! (not sure if I posted on wrong thread. Bear with me).
It had just come into the dealership as a trade for a lease from one of their customers so they had not listed it officially as certified (the fellow said it will raise the cost $500 more to list it as certified & I had bought from them before, so when I called they said they will hold it for me to see before they labeled it certified-they did this for another Prius in the past as well for me). The warranty I got with the car was a zero deductible bumper to bumper for 84 months/100k -Toyota Platinum Plus (the sales chap called it was a 'certified cover wrap(?)' for the warranty).
Seems like a very good deal! Back in July I bought a 2010 Toyota Auris hybrid with 26,000 km from Germany for 14,200 euros. Some lady had barely driven the car all these years, and it was practically new! I felt like I stole it, especially since I didn't pay any sales tax (VAT) or any import duties in Greece (because it's a hybrid) and I will never pay any annual registration fees like the rest of the cars do (again, because it's a low emissions hybrid!). I could had paid waaay more for a nice sports car, but I am a sucker for value.
Thank you for the assurance that it was a good deal DaneH5, zebekias & Okinawa. I am actually a very bad trader. But I have a secret weapon: my wife-she is uncompromising in sticking to her price when buying vehicles. I did not have her by my side that day but having observed how she did it for the last used 4 cars we have bought, some of her skills may have rubbed off on me I think. As I am fond of saying-every man needs a wife if for no other reason but to keep him humble, and I might add-make sure he gets what he actually needs and not all that he wants-'cause the only difference, I fear, between men and boys is in the size and price of their toys! Cheers!
Well, you certainly have got a good assistant. You made the deal but my guess is that she kind of coached you along. That is what good assistants like yours (and mine) do.
Sounds good! Yeah, the nav sort of sucks -- but mainly the location of the screen makes it pretty useless in sunlight. I immediately added a Garmin 5" nav receiver with lifetime traffic and map updates for under $200. Sits on a friction mount just to the left of and sort of behind the steering wheel. Since I've always had a Garmin in previous cars, I'm now a happy camper.
Yes Okinanwa. Good assistants make all the difference indeed. Phil-I think your solution to the nav screen glare is great. I might end up doing that. I am amazed that the same problem is across all the lines-my wife's 2013 RAV 4 NAV-exact same issue! We just use a Garmin for her vehicle as well. I love Toyota but I am afraid this particular accessory is their Achilles's heel. Why they could not have recessed it into the panel a little it is beyond me. I sometimes wonder whether anyone from Toyota actually tires out the map under real life conditions to se what a glaring problem the glare of the screen is! On the RAV 4 messing with the service menu helped a bit but the only solution for the Prius was to increase the brightness and decrease the contrast. Pity...but I did not buy it for the navigation and so I tolerate it. Cheers!
I LOVE my nav! Do we have the same unit? It somewhat similar to the one on my Lexus which I consider the most usable interface I have ever used regardless of how expensive the car is.
