Toyota dealers are at it again. They’re placing gigantic markups on the mainstream Prius and it’s putting the supposedly ‘affordable’ hybrid out of reach for most buyers.
Before getting to the actual markups we’ve heard of, let’s talk about what makes a car “affordable” to begin with. A recent study confirmed that the Prius Prime was one of six new cars that is officially “unaffordable” for the average buyer based on monthly payment price and people’s median income. It’s not that Toyota has jacked up the price on the Prime though, it’s that dealers are adding more to the purchase price to line their pockets.
One Reddit poster named u/GalacticKitty recently shared the offer they received from a Toyota dealership in Los Angeles. According to the offer, the car had an MSRP of $39,370, but when you factor in all the additional charges from the dealer and a $5,000 “market adjustment,” the grand total reaches $48,641. This represents a staggering 23% increase in the total price.
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This isn’t the only case of Prius markups we’ve uncovered. Markups.org is a website where users can aggregate markup data to assist other prospective buyers in avoiding greedy dealers. For the Prius Prime, members have reported markups ranging from $4,173 to as high as $10,000 in recent weeks. This represents nearly a third of the total MSRP ($32,675) that Toyota advertises on its own website for the base model. Stack an extra 33% on top of any purchase price and it’s a lot less appetizing for customers.
In the case of the Reddit poster, they expressed the likelihood of having to settle for a lesser model due to the high price. Many commenters suggested that they explore alternatives from different brands or types of cars that could offer more value for the $48,641 that the Toyota dealer was asking. That doesn’t sound like the kind of thing that Toyota would want.
Part of the problem is that Toyota allows its dealers to be completely opaque about their pricing. Go onto most dealership websites and you’ll see “SRP” instead of “MSRP”. Even dealers who do show the actual MSRP rarely announce the real sale price of the car. Potential customers report having to call numerous times or being required to visit the dealership before they can get a straight answer on the price of the car.
That kind of service alone is utter trash. Stack on top of that telling a customer that no, the price that Toyota told you the car should be isn’t anywhere near the actual price. It’s a bad look with no end in sight until buyers uniformly reject greedy dealer markups.
