definately, I know that trading in for the TCH will definately not save me money, if I wanted to save money, I would have went for the HCH cheaper and more MPG, but the TCH is something I want.

also I have decided that I will trade, but only if I get a decent amount for the trade in, probably going to many dealers before hand to see the best price quoted. So the trade in value is a deal breaker for me, we'll see what happen around next month.

Thanks for all your advising guys/gals, I seriously appreciate the help, concerns and comments. I'll keep you all posted once I make my visit. Once summer class is over, I'm going to look for it.

 

Just to give you a ball park figure for a trade in value, I got 14500 for my 2004 LE.

 

awesome, thanks for the heads up

 

I called a dealer up where I left an online quote at, She called me back and I told her I was looking for a super white TCH fully loaded, she told me that they didn't have any instock but there was a super white TCH base, when I asked how much she said 26k because it was sitting in the lot for a pretty long while. I asked her how much was the fully loaded they had previously, she told me that they were selling 5k over the sticker price (29k). 26k sounds like a good deal, but I'm wondering if I should get it or wait until I find one that is fully loaded (Nav, leather seats, w/ moon roof), and pay the extra amount of money. At the dealer, they can put in a moon roof there themselves, which is around 900. But what I want to know is, do toyota sell the navigation system separately or can I buy it from some where that will sync with the car? because I don't want an ugly after market parts. Then I would be able to add it to my car any other time after I purchase the car. So is it possible to get the navigation system later?

Do you guys think I should jump at the opportunity and get the 26k? I told her that I'll go take a look this weekend, because I asked her if there were any special deals for the 4th of July weekend.

Thanks.

 

26k is about how much the base model cost anywhere. I would wait for a fully loaded one if that is what you want. The nav is built right into the car so any after market nav system will not look the same or interact the same with the car itself.

 

I've heard some horror stories about non-factory moonroof installation, even at dealers. If it were me and I absolutely had to have a moonroof, I would wait for a car with factory installation.

 

Wait for a TCH with a factory moonroof. No way you ever want to think about trying to get a dealer to swap out the non-Nav for the Nav equipment. Also, you are talking dollar numbers and not plus or minus off the window sticker (which is what the pricing is based on for the moment on TCH's). Try and talk about MSRP here so you can be understood.

Personally speaking, I think your dealer is spinning you a line about the white TCH sitting lonely at the dealership - that's just not happening anywhere in the US at the moment.

 

OzarkGolfer,

I actually found a Miami dealership with a mag gray base TCH that sat unclaimed for over a week! When I called, they told me I could have it if I wanted it and they would ship it to me. (I am in D.C.) This was the 3rd week of May, so maybe Memorial Day drew away some buyers? In any event, I think there are isolated cases of TCHs that are unclaimed and sitting, if you're willing to compromise. (I didn't take the one from Miami because I THOUGHT I had a car to trade, but that's a story for another thread!)

 

Omigosh!! A whole week? Were they being honest and selling it locally at MSRP or did it have a 'market adjustment'?

 

IIRC, they said it was at MSRP, but because I had a trade, I never really got to any substantive talks of pricing. Believe me, though, I was fully prepared to do an extensive search if my closest dealership hadn't come through. I gave them extra chances because I hope to build a service relationship with them. I do suggest that you use the Toyota web site to find dealers near you and then start expending your search radius. You might get lucky and find a smaller dealership in a rural area where people aren't hybrid-aware.

An example I'll give (from memory, so the numbers are surely off some) is from early this year. In the 2 Maryland counties that border D.C., there were several thousand Priuses registered. In all of the Western half of Maryland, there were 2 registered!

Surely, there are some dealers in rural Arkansas that could be called?

(P.S. I didn't look back to see if you already had a TCH, but your member profile makes it look like you do. Anyway, I'd say the same would apply to anyone looking to find a TCH needle in the dealership haystack!)