I went in to local Toyota dealer in So Cal back in march and received a lease quote of around $465. I still had 2 months left on my current car and was simply gathering information. Now 2 months later, I just went in and the price they are giving me has come up to $576!!! They said that things have drastically changed in the last 2 months --- their allocations are really small and they don't have the cars they did. Is anyone else getting the same info??? For this price, getting this car just does not make financial sense. Help! I was so excited about getting this car....but not at this price. Thanks for any input and advice.... Cathy
If you can't afford it, don't buy it. There are lots of car choices out there, but how many get 50 mpgs? If you lease, you must be a low mileage driver, and the increase in mpgs may not offset whatever more the Prius costs. I drive over 25,000 miles a year, and leasing was out of the question. The less you drive, the longer it takes to make up fuel savings over a cheaper lease. At double the mpgs my previous car got, for me it is a no-brainer at the mileage that I roll up. Also, any other car I would have picked would have cost about the same, so the deciding factor was gas mileage, and known Toyota quality. Happy shopping.
With gas hitting $5 a gallon, or so they predict by sometime this summer, don't hold your breath on Prius prices. I just read an interesting story on CNN today about people snapping up 17-year-old Geo Metros for just a couple of thousand less than the things sold for new in 1991, all because they get better than 40 mpg. So, Prius prices are probably only going to go higher...here's a link to the CNN story: Gas prices drive Geos from clunkers to chic - CNN.com
I'd imagine the price will come back down a bit when the '09's start rolling out. The demand for the Prius has steadily been increasing while the supplies are dwindling because dealers can no longer get any more '08's.
You need to be careful when looking at leasing. What went up? Purchase price? Money factor? Residual? Just talking lease payment is playing into the dealers hand.
I just bought my '08 Saturday at $23,710 MSRP. I'm told a lot of dealers are charging as much as $5,000 over MSRP. Be careful, there are still good dealers to but from though... I would look for another dealer.
