I'm going to look at a 2005 in about an hour. After careful consideration with the inevitable price increase in the 2006's I really wouldn't save that much if I waited for the credit. At least that's my justification for going to look at the 05 Anyway, just curious if you guys think the radio's will be swappable? I wouldn't use the MP3 part of it often but it would be nice to know that I could get a new radio that has it in the future.
The price increase is about $400 from 2005 to 2006. The tax credit is about $3150. I'm thinking after careful math that I'm going to wait into 2006. I can't even overcome my $550/month fuel expense in 2 months if I were to take one now. My dealer has offered me 4 since I put in my deposit.
Right on. PLease be sure to read the fine print of the current tax deduction versus the expanded 2006 tax credit. The savings is huge if you hold out. I too have been offered a Prius since I put in my deposit.
Probably not software. The MP3 decoding will most likely be handled by a dedicated chip. This is how most dedicated MP3 players work. The dash appears to be the same for the 2005 and 2006 so swapping out radio's should work assuming the MFD software is the same. Of course the radio probably runs about $600-$1000 from Toyota so may not be worth it. My Prius came with a 6 disc changer in the slot below the radio which I will be selling and putting in a touchscreen LCD that will run my MP3's on a computer I will install.
