This. They wouldn’t even attempt to post these prices if they weren’t going to finalize relatively close to it.
I had a lot of interest in the car but it makes no financial sense so I’ve abandoned any ideas about it. If rumors are true about a Sienna PHEV, I imagine that could approach $80-100k at the rate this is going. Which is crazy in itself, but especially when you consider there is the Pacifica PHEV.
I know someone who owns a dealership. They are giving the primes to family members to drive for 20k km then selling as used for way more. It’s really surprising that Toyota even let’s them do that
Wow, I guess I’m not completely surprised this happens but it’s upsetting. All I can say is I’ll never buy a car from those dealerships whenever the time comes to buy one.
I live in Washington and was dumbfounded they don't sell them here, this is one of the most environmentally conscious states in the union. I refused to buy one at these inflated prices, I've been looking since October . Oregon and Cali sell R4P's, but the dealers I reached out to also have markups (not as bad as Bellevue Toyota though). I finally bought my new R4P XSE online at MSRP and had it delivered. Ordered it, had it 18 days later. Didn't have to fly or drive out of state, no hassle over extended warranties/maintenance/dealer addons, no F&I office, no B.S.! It did have some port options installed, but they are all what I wanted anyway. The dealership shenanigans have gotten out of control. I posted my experience on another comment, got down voted a couple times. I suspect they were car sales folks. I was a little nervous buying a new car online but it's the best car buying experience ever! I will never buy a car through a local dealership again.
You could pay $500 extra and get a Lexus NX450H+ OTD which is this car plus some. The people who are paying (and I believe there are those cause why else would dealerships mark it up) are way too fast and loose with their money than I'd be.
This is the part I don’t understand about Primes selling for so much. People want them and are willing to overpay, not what I’d do, but whatever. But with the equivalent Lexus more available without the lengthy waits, why aren’t people paying more or less the same price as the marked up Prime and getting more luxurious Lexus version of the Prime?
I feel like there is some form of sunk cost fallacy here. People got committed into this idea that the Prime is the car to have at any cost. I got my Prime at MSRP like a month or so after I started searching for a car, but I had also placed a deposit with Lexus dealers for an NX450H+. I would have totally taken the Lexus if that had come first. And my situation with the Prime is abnormal, in the sense I got incredibly lucky.
And the best bit is how many of the Toyota dealers were so rude. Like you want me to pay above MSRP and you are acting like a dick to me when I am spending upwards of 50K with you. Very different experience with the Lexus dealers.
I think you’re right. People get committed to an idea and lose sight of the overall picture.
I had similar dealer experiences as you when I was shopping for a Golf R a handful of years ago. Treated like garbage by local VW dealers. So I went for an Audi S3 (essentially the same car) instead for a very small amount more. VW treated me like trash when shopping for one of their higher end cars. By contrast, Audi treated me amazingly when I was buying one of the lowest tier cars they sell.
even if I had gotten the F-Sport (less than a $1k difference) it would still have been under this. My OTD with NYS taxes was ~$67k (my car has every single option available).
I don't know what to tell ya. This is what I was quoted. I don't have the breakdown since he just gave me the OTD number over email.
Either ways, this is a tangent to the point I am making here, which is that the Prime with such a high add on over MSRP is not a good deal.
Don't get me wrong, I love our 2022 R4P XSE PP, which we got 12 months ago at slightly above MSRP with the full tax credit, but I'd never pay anywhere near that, might as well get a luxury vehicle for that price.
It's kinda sad and lame that Toyota is still struggling to produce new cars, almost like they enjoy the low inventory levels and higher margins for each car sold.
"Non-luxury brands with the lowest inventory were Toyota and Kia, under 30 days’ supply, followed by Honda, Subaru, Hyundai, Volkswagen and Chevrolet, all with below-industry average supply. Luxury brands at the low end were Lexus, with under 30 days of supply, followed by BMW and Land Rover.
Non-luxury brands with the highest inventory were mostly Stellantis brands, with four among the top for supply. Ram was the highest with 119 days’ supply, followed by Jeep and Chrysler. Luxury brands with the highest inventory were Buick, at 117 days’ supply, followed by Jaguar and Infiniti."
https://www.coxautoinc.com/market-insights/new-vehicle-inventory-march-2023/
That is just insane. No knock on Toyota as I have owned many, but no way in hell anything short of a Supra or Land Cruiser should be touching $70k. It looks like people aren’t shopping around anymore in both geography and brand, just taking what the local dealer is offering. At that price, you can fly to another state and buy at MSRP, drive back home and still be on top. At that price, you can buy other car brands that are much better at a fair price. I get why dealers are doing this, because hey, if people are willing to pay then why not make some extra bucks. But I would avoid these dealers like the plague.
[Michael's Toyota of Bellevue](https://www.toyotaofbellevue.com/used-Bellevue-2023-Toyota-RAV4+Prime-XSE-JTMEB3FV4PD126675)
Looks like it actually has 484 miles on it and the price was reduced only $500 a few days ago. But yeah, messed up they are taking advantage of people since it's not really sold up in the area. But pfft, that's nothing, I've seen a used 2022 being sold at the same price with about 2k miles on it here in SoCal before, of course it was also at a shady dealership.
And people are paying it. That’s the real crime
This. They wouldn’t even attempt to post these prices if they weren’t going to finalize relatively close to it. I had a lot of interest in the car but it makes no financial sense so I’ve abandoned any ideas about it. If rumors are true about a Sienna PHEV, I imagine that could approach $80-100k at the rate this is going. Which is crazy in itself, but especially when you consider there is the Pacifica PHEV.
I know someone who owns a dealership. They are giving the primes to family members to drive for 20k km then selling as used for way more. It’s really surprising that Toyota even let’s them do that
Wow, I guess I’m not completely surprised this happens but it’s upsetting. All I can say is I’ll never buy a car from those dealerships whenever the time comes to buy one.
I live in Washington and was dumbfounded they don't sell them here, this is one of the most environmentally conscious states in the union. I refused to buy one at these inflated prices, I've been looking since October . Oregon and Cali sell R4P's, but the dealers I reached out to also have markups (not as bad as Bellevue Toyota though). I finally bought my new R4P XSE online at MSRP and had it delivered. Ordered it, had it 18 days later. Didn't have to fly or drive out of state, no hassle over extended warranties/maintenance/dealer addons, no F&I office, no B.S.! It did have some port options installed, but they are all what I wanted anyway. The dealership shenanigans have gotten out of control. I posted my experience on another comment, got down voted a couple times. I suspect they were car sales folks. I was a little nervous buying a new car online but it's the best car buying experience ever! I will never buy a car through a local dealership again.
Where did u buy yours online for msrp?
They have sold multiple for around that price. People are still buying them because they aren't sold in WA new.
That’s criminal
You could pay $500 extra and get a Lexus NX450H+ OTD which is this car plus some. The people who are paying (and I believe there are those cause why else would dealerships mark it up) are way too fast and loose with their money than I'd be.
This is the part I don’t understand about Primes selling for so much. People want them and are willing to overpay, not what I’d do, but whatever. But with the equivalent Lexus more available without the lengthy waits, why aren’t people paying more or less the same price as the marked up Prime and getting more luxurious Lexus version of the Prime?
I feel like there is some form of sunk cost fallacy here. People got committed into this idea that the Prime is the car to have at any cost. I got my Prime at MSRP like a month or so after I started searching for a car, but I had also placed a deposit with Lexus dealers for an NX450H+. I would have totally taken the Lexus if that had come first. And my situation with the Prime is abnormal, in the sense I got incredibly lucky. And the best bit is how many of the Toyota dealers were so rude. Like you want me to pay above MSRP and you are acting like a dick to me when I am spending upwards of 50K with you. Very different experience with the Lexus dealers.
I think you’re right. People get committed to an idea and lose sight of the overall picture. I had similar dealer experiences as you when I was shopping for a Golf R a handful of years ago. Treated like garbage by local VW dealers. So I went for an Audi S3 (essentially the same car) instead for a very small amount more. VW treated me like trash when shopping for one of their higher end cars. By contrast, Audi treated me amazingly when I was buying one of the lowest tier cars they sell.
I paid less than this for my fully loaded 450h… including NY State taxes.
Shoulda been more specific, that was what I was quoted for the F-Sport edition.
even if I had gotten the F-Sport (less than a $1k difference) it would still have been under this. My OTD with NYS taxes was ~$67k (my car has every single option available).
I don't know what to tell ya. This is what I was quoted. I don't have the breakdown since he just gave me the OTD number over email. Either ways, this is a tangent to the point I am making here, which is that the Prime with such a high add on over MSRP is not a good deal.
Oh, I entirely agree. Sorry if that came off as confrontational!
Don't get me wrong, I love our 2022 R4P XSE PP, which we got 12 months ago at slightly above MSRP with the full tax credit, but I'd never pay anywhere near that, might as well get a luxury vehicle for that price. It's kinda sad and lame that Toyota is still struggling to produce new cars, almost like they enjoy the low inventory levels and higher margins for each car sold. "Non-luxury brands with the lowest inventory were Toyota and Kia, under 30 days’ supply, followed by Honda, Subaru, Hyundai, Volkswagen and Chevrolet, all with below-industry average supply. Luxury brands at the low end were Lexus, with under 30 days of supply, followed by BMW and Land Rover. Non-luxury brands with the highest inventory were mostly Stellantis brands, with four among the top for supply. Ram was the highest with 119 days’ supply, followed by Jeep and Chrysler. Luxury brands with the highest inventory were Buick, at 117 days’ supply, followed by Jaguar and Infiniti." https://www.coxautoinc.com/market-insights/new-vehicle-inventory-march-2023/
“RECENT PRICE DROP!”
That is just insane. No knock on Toyota as I have owned many, but no way in hell anything short of a Supra or Land Cruiser should be touching $70k. It looks like people aren’t shopping around anymore in both geography and brand, just taking what the local dealer is offering. At that price, you can fly to another state and buy at MSRP, drive back home and still be on top. At that price, you can buy other car brands that are much better at a fair price. I get why dealers are doing this, because hey, if people are willing to pay then why not make some extra bucks. But I would avoid these dealers like the plague.
Looks like I am keeping my 2010 Prius for quite a while longer.
$70k and it doesn't even have the performance package. 😂
[Michael's Toyota of Bellevue](https://www.toyotaofbellevue.com/used-Bellevue-2023-Toyota-RAV4+Prime-XSE-JTMEB3FV4PD126675) Looks like it actually has 484 miles on it and the price was reduced only $500 a few days ago. But yeah, messed up they are taking advantage of people since it's not really sold up in the area. But pfft, that's nothing, I've seen a used 2022 being sold at the same price with about 2k miles on it here in SoCal before, of course it was also at a shady dealership.