I started browsing these boards when I was thinking of buying a Prius. In case anyone else out there is doing the same I thought I'd share my recent good fortune.

I looked into three options for buying a Prius:
1) haggling with a dealer (best saving £800);
2) importing from Eire (best saving £707, excluding going to get it!);
3) online reverse auction (best saving £1934 after auction fees).

Option 3 is obviously the one I went with in the end and will get the new car around 10th December. Can't wait.

I found the reverse auction option to be easy to use and got me the savings I wanted. Basically, dealers bid lower and lower prices against each other to sell you the car you want. Very satisfying to watch! If they don't bid as low as your Reserve Price you don't pay the auctioneer anything and you don't buy the car. In the end, the best offer I got was £18,143 compared with a list price of £20,370 (ie a Tspirit with metallic sliver paint). The auction fee was £250 + vat.

I guess this forum isn't to be used for advertising, so I've put more details on my own website (see my profile for a link).

There I've posted a bit more about the importing option and alot more about the reverse auction with links to the company I used to run the auction. The auction ran for a week and I've kept a blog of what happened each day (sad, i know, but someone might be interested).

Best wishes,
Adam

not heard of that method before

well done on ur discount and thanks for the info, will browse later...

[quote name='jay dh' date='Nov 8 2005, 06:17 PM']not heard of that method before

well done on ur discount and thanks for the info, will browse later...
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Yep you save money up front but you don't get any discount cards from a main dealer for discounted servicing and parts which would save money in the longer run.

interesting method!!!!

[quote name='posing' date='Nov 8 2005, 05:51 PM']
Yep you save money up front but you don't get any discount cards from a main dealer for discounted servicing and parts which would save money in the longer run.
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I think this depends very much on who wins your auction. The auction I did had the option of excluding brokers and just going with main franchised dealers, which is what I did. I wanted the re-assurance when it came to warranties and servicing.

I'm getting the same terms as if I'd gone straight to the dealer, just a lower price. Aftersales and servicing is still something dealers compete on for cusomter loyalty. Although I live too far from the dealer I'm buying from to make using them for servicing viable, I've got at least four Toyota main dealerships near to home and I'll be trying to play them against each other to get the best deal on servicing/parts.

Rgds,
Adam

[quote name='posing' date='Nov 8 2005, 06:51 PM'][quote name='jay dh' date='Nov 8 2005, 06:17 PM']not heard of that method before

well done on ur discount and thanks for the info, will browse later...
[right][snapback]450085[/snapback][/right]
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Yep you save money up front but you don't get any discount cards from a main dealer for discounted servicing and parts which would save money in the longer run.
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Could you please tell me what these discount cards are, bought my Prius in May and have never heard of these .
Regards,
Dave.

[quote name='diverdave' date='Nov 9 2005, 10:36 AM'][quote name='posing' date='Nov 8 2005, 06:51 PM'][quote name='jay dh' date='Nov 8 2005, 06:17 PM']not heard of that method before

well done on ur discount and thanks for the info, will browse later...
[right][snapback]450085[/snapback][/right]
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Yep you save money up front but you don't get any discount cards from a main dealer for discounted servicing and parts which would save money in the longer run.
[right][snapback]450126[/snapback][/right]
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Could you please tell me what these discount cards are, bought my Prius in May and have never heard of these .
Regards,
Dave.
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ive not heard the term discount card but i assume its when u buy a car they may give you free servicing for 2 years as an incentive. the card could be given to prove this as well as putting it on the database

The salesman gave me a 10% discount card for servicing and parts. Dunno if there is an expiry date. I remember that we got a similar card for our old Corolla too. They call it Silver/Gold Privilege Card. Out of curiosity, anyone know how much a small pot of paint cost for the Prius for touch up jobs?

on that site, can you say you want a car and get the dealers to bid without actually buying that car?

if a decision bewtween 2 cars comes down to money, u dont know what ur gona pay until u start an auction...

[quote name='jay dh' date='Nov 9 2005, 04:08 PM']on that site, can you say you want a car and get the dealers to bid without actually buying that car?

if a decision bewtween 2 cars comes down to money, u dont know what ur gona pay until u start an auction...
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If you enter into thereverse auction you have to be happy to buy the car if the Reserve Price is met or bettered. You can either accept the recommended Reserve or set your own before the auction starts. Either way, you know the maximum you'll pay. If reserve not met, you don't have to buy. In my case, I paid less than the reserve.

The car HAS to meet the specification you've asked for or you can back out.

The site does offer a free option of just getting a quote for you, but I've not looked into that.