Well, one choice you have is to make a deal with Fitzmall and fly up to pickup you new car. It won't cost you anymore than the shipping and you get to see the car before you drive off the lot.

You also may be able to use Fitzmall pricing to get a better deal closer to home even if it is a state or 2 away.

Welcome and good luck

 

If you like to drive, I'd suggest that you follow BOFH's suggestion. It is a quick flight from Houston to the DC area on Southwest. Fitmall folks will pick you up at the Airport. there was no hassle there at all.

See my earlier posts in this thread about the timing and process. My salesman was great and reassuring. You might ask for him when you call.

I'm sure shipping would be OK. However, you do run the possibility of a serious case of "he said- she said" if your car arrives with a problem. I'd suggest that that the shipper document that the car was in "new" condition upon pickup.

Realistically, I didn't do much more than a 1 minute walk-around when I bought mine. My only "test drive" was from DC to Austin! I used the navigation system in the TCH to guide me out of DC and get me home.

Have fun and keep us posted!

 

My 07 has disappeared from the CarMax site.

Did it sell (<$1000 less than they paid me for it)? Did it go to the wholesale auction? Will it re-appear at another CarMax site? We may never know. However, even with the lower prices now offered on new TCHs, I did really well well on my deal.

 

Good news/bad news. I ended up going with a local dealer for a new 2009 Toyota Camry Hybrid. It had a couple more bells and whistles than I really wanted, but I was eventually able to rationalize the price (don't ask how). I'm convinced a left a $400 to $500 on the table, but overall I'm satisfied with the price.

I drove the car home last night from the dealer (left between 10:30 and 11:00). I really enjoyed the drive home, and assuming the system's calculations can be trusted, I averaged 38.3 MPG.

Now for the bad news. The car was dead this morning when I was ready to leave for work. It was dead at the dealership, too, and they had to jump it. They said hybrids will die if they sit for two weeks or longer without being recharged. I was assured that my drive home would sufficiently charge the battery, but it obviously didn't. I'm curious to see what the dealer says when I take it back today for it's prep (it was too late last night).

I'm curious, though. Is this a common problem with hybrid batteries, or should I be concerned that there may be a more significant problem?

 

Edit: For clarification, the accessories run off the 12V battery, and this battery is charged by the hybrid batteries/hybrid system. The 12V battery only needs enough charge to fire up the ECU and other controls, and then once the hybrid system comes online, the hybrid system will output the necessary 12V (or slightly more) power to supply charging power to the 12V system.

How long was the drive home? It is possible that the 12V battery is just bad (if the car really was discharged for a long period of time).

My car has been allowed to sit for at least a week without the battery going flat. Two weeks, in my opinion, wouldn't be enough to kill the battery, unless the ignition was left on or was left in accessory mode. If this was the case, and the error wasn't found until later, leaving the 12V battery completely dead for a long period of time could cause it to go bad.

Just my $0.02...

 

Thanks for the information. My drive home last night was approximately 40 miles. The dealer replaced the battery earlier today when I took the car in to be detailed. The service rep said the battery was bad. One of the visor lights had been left on when I was first shown the car yesterday. I'm guessing that's what drained the battery in the first place, and hopefully what caused it to go bad.

I'm so impressed by the technology. It's truly amazing. I hope it keeps performing the way it has so far. Now I've got some homework to do to learn the ins and outs of operating the car efficiently.

Thanks again for the info.

 

Good for them not sending you out again with a bad battery!

Have fun with your car!

 

Congrats and Enjoy!!

 

CarMax (SE region - NC) offered me $16,500 for my '07 TCH (fully loaded, leather, navigation, sunroof, dual heated seats, etc.) with about 50,000 miles and very clean exterior & interior. Wow, I bought it new for around $31,500 before tax and after 3 years and 50k miles has lost about 50% of its value. Anyways, anyone on this forum that has experience with Subaru (especially the new 2010 Subaru Outback), let me know, as I am not sure of Subaru reliability compared to Toyota.

 

I am in the same boat - trying to trade in same model as you, but for a less expensive car (trying to lower or eliminate my car payment).

I got offers of 13500 and 15200 from a local Ford dealer and I walked out. Honda dealer offered $17000 (a bit more reasonable), but I am trying to sell it on my own now - just to see what happens. My car is at about 41k miles, magnetic gray, and very clean too. I am asking $21000 obo for it on Craigslist in the West Michigan area. Got one email that was spam, and another that looked like a lead, but haven't heard back yet.

I can't find any loaded (with leather/nav) TCHs on the lots around here or through the internet, so I can't get a good sense of what the dealers are selling them for. But they have a lot of 07 models (possibly base), in the $20-23k range! I think $21k would be a good deal if someone wanted Nav.