Manger of Toyota of Kirkland, WA told me next year's Prius would jump from $20K to $28K ... Toyota is "giving the car away right now to grab some market."<br>Should I stay or should I go now?<br>Thanks!

**Manger of Toyota of Kirkland, WA told me next year's Prius would jump from $20K to $28K ... Toyota is "giving the car away right now to grab some market."<br>Should I stay or should I go now?<br>Thanks!**<br><br>No way. I'm no marketing guru, but jacking up the MSRP by 40% is no way to retain a market share. It takes a bit more than one year to establish any type of rapport with consumers. <br><br>If that is the case, then I have one thing to say to Toyota: Gee, have fun trying to sell these. I think people would not buy them at that price, and it would allow other manufacturers to get in there at lower prices and grab that important market share.<br><br>I just don't think so, and I am fairly confident that dealers have not been told any pricing information yet.<br><br>Preston<br>Still waiting for 2002s with the hope of only a modest increase in MSRP

I'm sure he's referring to what he intends to bump them up to. (over MSRP)

"IMBTTFADBWKIAOTTFLS" (It might be time to find another dealer, but who knows: It ain't over 'till the fat lady sings.)<br><br>This dealer may be:<br><br>- Blowing smoke.<br>- Or: Wistfully dreaming of how much _over_ MSRP they hope to sell the 2002 US Prius for.<br>- Or: Estimating the _total_ cost of a "loaded" 2002 US Prius by adding the MSRP of the 2001 US Prius plus an estimated cost for all the likely 2002 US Prius options.<br>- Or: Checking out your facial reaction to a large dollar amount. If you don't flinch (actually, in this case, your slapping him one may be a more appropriate reaction), he knows he's got a rube.<br>- Or: He's telling the gospell truth and Toyota really did raise the price for a base 2002 US Prius to a point which pretty much only Hollywood movie stars and dot-com millionaires will pay, thus probably killing the product's success -- oh, and having done this, Toyota then let this particular dealer in on the big secret, and _then_ the dealer spilled the beans to you. Uh huh. Or, maybe it _is_ the truth and many of us are screwed.<br>- Or: You're actually a plant from Honda Motor Co. trying to get us to buy over-stocked Insights instead of waiting for the 2002 US Prius. ;-)<br><br>IOW (in other words), nobody knows what Toyota or a particular dealer will do until official announcements are made "soon". However, I'd recommend watching this dealer's actions closely, and be sure to keep your "Crap Dectector" device trained on him all the while. Oh, and also keep one eye on the dealership door so you can make a quick exit if necessary. ;-)<br><br>- Peter<br>(Prius: Fortunes told or fortunes lost? Only the Priusman knows for sure! Stay tuned until next week [?] for another thrilling installment of: The 2002 US Prius Mystery!!!)

Could this be the new MSRP with all the new options? I know GPS by itself is a few thousand. <br><br>Like many others in the group I've been holding off for the MY2002, but I'll be looking elsewhere if the MSRP jumps any more than $1,000.