Toyota RAV4 Prime - Plug-In Hybrid

[zinfamous]

Strollers and car seats are huge...but usually midsize sedan accommodates car seats better because there is more space between the front and rear seat backs.

sure, that's a good point. we just had lap belts and mom's right arm.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Got another call that my RAV4 Prime made it to port. Now just a matter of logistics of getting it sorted out and shipped on down to the dealer.

I honestly must have gotten really lucky - because from what I've heard they were really only targeting ZEV states.

 

[skyking]

That is really attractive. Locking the price in at MSRP is really smart too.
My wife and I looked at 2019 Rav4 hybrids, and got semi-serious about those. Then Covid and working from home happened. We are now contemplating selling her 2013 diesel Beetle, because she only drives it to appointments now. It gets mid-high 30's mpg.
This would be a pretty good retirement vehicle for us.

 

[foghorn67]

That is really attractive. Locking the price in at MSRP is really smart too.
My wife and I looked at 2019 Rav4 hybrids, and got semi-serious about those. Then Covid and working from home happened. We are now contemplating selling her 2013 diesel Beetle, because she only drives it to appointments now. It gets mid-high 30's mpg.
This would be a pretty good retirement vehicle for us.

There are some gremlins with the non-prime hybrid I want sorted out first. The big one is the 12v battery dying if the car's not turned on for a couple of days. The 12v powers the cooling fans for the hybrid battery packs to the point where the battery falls dangerously low for repeated jumpstarts, killing the battery. That seems to me like a huge oversight. If they are too lazy to have the hybrid packs cool themselves, at least ship them with deep cycle batteries. Geesh.
I want the RAV4 hybrid more than any vehicle in its class but I haven't decided yet. Next up are the Mazda CX-5, Subaru Outback or the Forester if gets a turbo or hybrid next year, but I'll hold out until things look more clear.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Whelp... time for an update.

Went to the dealership today and picked up mah RAV4 Prime.

Everything went as smooth as butter - which I was really pessimistically thinking wasn't going to happen. I paid MSRP (which is what I expected). There have been NUMEROUS stories across the US of dealerships trying to charge people over MSRP because this vehicle is so rare. I believe they are only producing 5000 of these this year. They didn't try to screw me over on anything.


On top of that - I came in with a trade-in. There is also a sales-tax advantage here in Texas, where your trade-in basically knocks the trade-in amount off your purchase price, and thus you don't pay sales tax on the amount being traded in. It's always worth considering/calculating that part.

I came in armed with a few offers - one from CarMax, and one from another popular online VIN-based used-car buyer. The dealer actually beat both of them so I didn't even have to bust those out to argue. Nice.



Love the Prime. Premium package with the XSE makes it really damn nice. Awesome quality, great pickup, etc..... My wife names all the vehicles so it only seems logical to go something like Optimus Prime.

 

[zinfamous]

Whelp... time for an update.

Went to the dealership today and picked up mah RAV4 Prime.

Everything went as smooth as butter - which I was really pessimistically thinking wasn't going to happen. I paid MSRP (which is what I expected). There have been NUMEROUS stories across the US of dealerships trying to charge people over MSRP because this vehicle is so rare. I believe they are only producing 5000 of these this year. They didn't try to screw me over on anything.


On top of that - I came in with a trade-in. There is also a sales-tax advantage here in Texas, where your trade-in basically knocks the trade-in amount off your purchase price, and thus you don't pay sales tax on the amount being traded in. It's always worth considering/calculating that part.

I came in armed with a few offers - one from CarMax, and one from another popular online VIN-based used-car buyer. The dealer actually beat both of them so I didn't even have to bust those out to argue. Nice.



Love the Prime. Premium package with the XSE makes it really damn nice. Awesome quality, great pickup, etc..... My wife names all the vehicles so it only seems logical to go something like Optimus Prime.

all I'm saying is...you saved what, 12% max tax on your dealership trade in that would have actually been worth 30-60...70% more if you actually just sold it private party?

...never trade in, that's the rule. It is universal.

Anyhoo!

grats on the new ride. pimping it out for a few months with the exclusive Toyota shocky thingy.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

all I'm saying is...you saved what, 12% max tax on your dealership trade in that would have actually been worth 30-60...70% more if you actually just sold it private party?

...never trade in, that's the rule. It is universal.

Anyhoo!

grats on the new ride. pimping it out for a few months with the exclusive Toyota shocky thingy.

Overall saved me about $600 or so with the tax advantage.

But yeah normally I don't do trade ins. This particular car though... Was a BMW i3. It's fully electric. The range.... However... Was a meager 60 miles or so. During winter it actually gets lower to about 50 miles.

Where we live in Texas - cities are so built out and far apart that it's often you have to go far to certain stores, doctor offices, etc.... Overall there are few people I would think that would want to buy that car in our area. Majority of texas is all about their gas guzzling hurr durr truckin'

I didn't want to have to go through that shit which there are probably just veeeeery few buyers in our area. I've sold all our previous cars, and while slightly annoying with stuff like Craigslist, I didn't have an issue with it.