Autoblog got a response from Toyota Corp:

*UPDATE: Toyota gave Autoblog the following statement on the matter: "While Toyota Motor Sales does not advocate mark ups beyond the MSRP, the dealers are independent business operations and though we advise against raising prices beyond suggested retail, ultimately the final price is determined in the negotiations between a dealer and the customer."

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/21/m...ce-of-prius-c/

My comment: Dealer would do anything they can get away with to make a buck, that's just how it is.

 

That's 1750 Gallon of gas!!

 

With that gas, I can travel 31,500 miles in my gas guzzling LS430.

 

Yep Yep!!!!

 

Good answer by Toyota. Let it be!

In truth, the fact that the Pruis C was marked up this high is actually good publicity for Toyota. Remember, Toyota wants/desires their cars to sell as close to MSRP as possible. This example is higher, which is good for Toyota in the long run and bad for Toyota shoppers at this particular dealer short term.

 

I don't consider it shame on the dealer. I consider it shame on the people walking through the door willing to pay the mark-up. If the dealer can sell it for that price I don't see an issue with it. I think the issue is with the idiots agreeing to accept the premium and driving that "market adjustment".

 

most dealers are not doing that, you can find Prius c at less than MSRP easily.

For 7k extra you can buy very nice Prius G3.

 

I think the business owner can charge whatever price they want but as SMART shoppers we just DON'T buy from them.

 

I agree. This type of thing has been going on forever. PT Cruiser, New Beetle etc., etc. As demand goes down at this dealership so will the price. Dealerships like this don't get embarrased easily.

 

I hope consumers do their research and find out they can get waaay better deals that are not too far away. that is crazy!

 

Let me chime in a few thoughts here being that i worked for Toyota for almost 9 years in sales, finance and sales manager.

When the previous generation Prius had come out to the market, there were mark-ups. But in our case, youd pay a markup but actually get a product that your essentially overpaying for.

For example, they would tack on a $3995 markup BUT in return, the base prius would have Leather installed in it. It would cost the dealership approx $600 so they would make a $3200 instant profit. They were selling like hot-cakes. But this case, $7000 mark-up is absurd with nothing in return.

 

It's call supply and demand. Yes it suck but if no one buy it at the mark-up, it will drop down to it's original price soon.

 

pretty cool idea if you ask me.... A customer would probably not buy the car at this price, so the dealer could say "hey, you're a nice guy so we'll give you a $3,000 discount". At this point it may seem like a good deal to some, but in reality customers still end up overpaying

 

Yes textbook sales tactics.

 

It would have been better if they just added X dollars of dealer installed accessories and made the extra money from there. At least then, it's not highway robbery.