Price stickers on new Prius cars?

I've been looking at new '05 hybrids. It occurred to me only yesterday
that in all my shopping I have yet to see a price list pasted in the
window of any of them. Having been quoted sales prices thousands of
dollars above the MSRP, I wonder if the stickers are being removed so
the potential customer can't detect the overage?

In particular, several online data sites report the Prius's MSRP as
$21,275 and the invoice price (the nominal cost to the dealer) as
$19,590. Quotes to me have been in the $24,000 range for the unadorned
single trim level in which the Prius is available.

I'm as happy as anyone to see free enterprise flourishing, but it
happens there's a US law against removing the price sticker until the
vehicle is sold. It's not a toothless law, either. It's a Class A
misdemeanor with a permitted $100,000 fine for an individual (twice
that for an organization) and/or up to a year in jail... per incident.

The federal law in question is the Automobile Information Disclosure
Act or more commonly the Monroney Act (after its author) or the Price
Sticker Act. A summary of its provisions can be found at
[url]http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/ocl/monograph/aida.htm[/url]

"usdoj" = United States Department of Justice
"ocl" = Office of Civil Litigation"

This is occurring in western New York state. What's the practice where
you are?

---

Brent
"Posterity is just as likely to be wrong as anyone else."
-- Heywood Brown

"Brent" <bsecombe@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:140820050103073679%bsecombe@yahoo.co.uk...[color=blue]
> I've been looking at new '05 hybrids. It occurred to me only yesterday
> that in all my shopping I have yet to see a price list pasted in the
> window of any of them. Having been quoted sales prices thousands of
> dollars above the MSRP, I wonder if the stickers are being removed so
> the potential customer can't detect the overage?
>
> In particular, several online data sites report the Prius's MSRP as
> $21,275 and the invoice price (the nominal cost to the dealer) as
> $19,590. Quotes to me have been in the $24,000 range for the unadorned
> single trim level in which the Prius is available.
>
> I'm as happy as anyone to see free enterprise flourishing, but it
> happens there's a US law against removing the price sticker until the
> vehicle is sold. It's not a toothless law, either. It's a Class A
> misdemeanor with a permitted $100,000 fine for an individual (twice
> that for an organization) and/or up to a year in jail... per incident.
>
> The federal law in question is the Automobile Information Disclosure
> Act or more commonly the Monroney Act (after its author) or the Price
> Sticker Act. A summary of its provisions can be found at
> [url]http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/ocl/monograph/aida.htm[/url]
>
> "usdoj" = United States Department of Justice
> "ocl" = Office of Civil Litigation"
>
> This is occurring in western New York state. What's the practice where
> you are?
>
> ---
>
> Brent
> "Posterity is just as likely to be wrong as anyone else."
> -- Heywood Brown[/color]

There are a few exceptions to having the Monroney Label affixed to a
vehicle. It can be removed for some demonstrators but still must be
available for examination by a customer. It can also be removed for used
(previously titled) vehicles. Other than that, the label should be affixed
somewhere on the vehicle.
--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply

> "Brent" wrote:[color=blue]
> I've been looking at new '05 hybrids. It occurred to me only yesterday
> that in all my shopping I have yet to see a price list pasted in the
> window of any of them. Having been quoted sales prices thousands of
> dollars above the MSRP, I wonder if the stickers are being removed so
> the potential customer can't detect the overage?[/color]

I can tell you that in California the dealers add to the sticker price once
the negotiations begin. I was looking at package #6 (about $26,500) and
didn't catch the price until we started the 4 square game on paper where the
price was $29,500 - a $3,000 overage due to "demand" so the dealer's
salesman says. They sell a lot of them (75 a week so he said) so people are
paying it out here. Some dealers who don't move a lot don't have the
selection so the larger dealer can sit back and get what he can. Reminds me
of Harley-Davidson's overages, although I believe that has slowed a bit
since the housing price (er, tax adjustment) boom has taken off and killed a
lot of the recreational vehicles sales.

You can negotiate with the salesman, but it still will hinge on the pit bull
at the counter if he will sell you the car at sticker or not. Good luck.

(fwiw, I got them down to $600 over but that was all).

B~

In article <140820050103073679%bsecombe@yahoo.co.uk>,
Brent <bsecombe@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
[color=blue]
> This is occurring in western New York state. What's the practice where
> you are?[/color]

You kind of confused me at first with your UK e-mail address.

Here in Californis the required sticker is always in the window (assuming
it is a new car), and since the Prius model became plentiful a few months
ago, the local dealer is willing to discount a little below the sticker
price.

However, I haven't checked since gasoline prices have hit $3 a gallon out
here. Perhaps demand is driving the Prius price back up.

Merritt