Greetings.

My son just graduated from college. Simultaneously, his mint 62K Toyota Prius got totalled by someone who ran a red light. Insurance coverage is inadequate so we are kicking in some cash to help.

He is considering a used Prius C, Mazda 3 or Focus. But then drove a Scion iA (30K miles) and for some reason, the car really connected with him and he prefers it over any of the other cars in the same price range - meaning the other vehicles would be older and more miles than the Scion iA.

Then we found out that the Toyota iA has a $2K rebate plus he gets another $750 for a college grad.

So, NOT INCLUDING any $2k or $750 rebate, what is the best price one can negotiate down to in So California dealers? If we are right, the gap between a used 2016 Scion iA and a new Toyota iA is actually not that large.

Also, just off the top of your head, what is the warranty on the Toyota iA and do you guys purchase extended warranties?

Thanks in advance for any help!
UL

I bought a new Toyota IA on July 4th. I'm not sure of the $2K rebate, here where I live it was a $1500.00 rebate, but it didn't apply if you opted for the 0% Toyota financing. I chose the 0% APR.

It has the standard 3 year/36000 mile warranty, with the powertrain 5 years/60000 miles. I didn't choose any extended warranty. I'm just hoping that the Mazda quality is as good as Toyota's.

I just bought mine used with 29,000 miles on it and sprung for the platinum protection plan, which cost $1850. So I got the paperwork today, and I'm not so sure it's as good a deal as I envisioned, because you have to get even basic maintenance like oil changes done at Toyota! I mean ****, I drive a crap load of miles commuting to work (130 miles round trip, 5 days a week), and I like to do my oil changes on the severe use intervals. That's like an oil change every freaking month at stupid dealer prices! If I did the oil changes myself over a five year period, I'd save enough to almost buy another car!

By the way, the platinum plan does cover absolutely everything for 125,000 miles, so maybe I'm being overly dramatic. ��

Hey estar...

Premimum protection would make more sense on a luxury/performance vehicle where longevity is second to performance.. not this everyday car that sacrificed performance for longevity..

to be honest in my opinion you got ripped off.. cars now a days last alot longer than before.. 100,000 miles on modern cars are considered low mileage.. which means nothing should go wrong with the car anyways.. also, the major issues that are pricey to fix on modern cars such as for example the weakest component of a car is the transmission, are covered under warranty for about 100k miles...

Regardless, that's just my opinion..

It doesn't matter whether you got a good deal or not... For me, it wouldn't make sense. but for you it may...

Hope that helps

Heres the thing... Typically when a rebate is offered with 0 finance, it is an either option meaning you can pick one as they say... Here's the catch though... It doesn't mean just because you take the 0 fianncing, doesn't mean you can negotiate more $ off the car... The price of the car is always negotiable.. because you only took the 0 finance offer, you left money on the table that the dealer claimed...

As for long life.. Mazdas are not as well built as Toyotas, they aren't even close... But that doesn't mean it won't last as long... Here how I like to explain this...

If you have let's say a Toyota where you do as you please, drive it hard, careless with maintenance etc.... Most likely the car will be fine, it won't last forever,but it would be fine... but if you did that let's say to a Mazda, that will be a no no.. it will for sure die


Bottom line, treat it well. Don't race it... Take good care of it.. its not going to be a problem

Hey Ultra,

I'm in So Cal as well. After doing research on Kelly blue book, Edmunds, true car etc... A fair price for the vehicle itself should be 16,300 to 16,700 this Is for a automatic.. Of course you can still negotiate and go about 10 percent lower... Its totally doable.

It would be less for a manual transmission..

Including the sales tax titles and any other fees. that comes to a total of 18,320...
(that's a 9.5 percent sales tax, title roughly, 300)
If you can negotiate 5-10 percent lower for the car well done, it would be lower than 18.3K ...

Toyota finance is also negotiable as most vehicles have a 0 apr offer. If dealer isn't willing to give you 0 apr, see what you can get through your personal preapproved financing.... If Toyota offers a higher apr, ask them to match yours, there isn't any reason why they shouldn't...

So that's just for the price of the car with sales tax, title. dealer fees. and finance of 0 apr (You should get this)

As for used ia, after negotiation, you can get one for a 8,800 which is a fair price for the buyer and sell. (That's sales tax, title fees, and dealer fees included in price).

So when comparing the difference between new and used, 18,320 and 8,800 that a little over 9.5K difference in price. But if you include the rebates of 2k and 750 for recent grad.. that would be 18K minus 2.7K = 15.5K...

So it comes down to what you are willing to accept (note that 2016- 2018) no major changes in the car... Practically the same car, only difference is (used is used and most likely used will have a scion badge instead of Toyota)... 15.5K new or 8.8K used

Please note, you will have to negotiate to get this figures. You can get less if you have the skin to negotiate more...

Hope that helps..

Also,

I would personally avoid a used prius, they get very pricely after a while.

But if you guys wanted to look at the mazda 3, its essentially the same car, just a tiny bit bigger. (I'm sure you already know the ia is actually a mazda 2...)

My reasons for a used mazda is better aftermarket support... Getting something so little like a oil filter or cabin air filter is very difficult as its not widely available. Typically the dealers don't even have them, I ordered basic parts which took 1 month to be delivered, it wasn't a big deal... But the ia isn't a vehicle where after market parts are widely available.

Also with a used mazda 3, you can get the highest trim available GT, which give you all the bells and whistle possible. Thats leather seats, upgrades speakers, blind spot, lane departure, etc and everything the ia has. for the price of a new ia.

As long as your okay with used... The 3 is more car for the money... Only down side is its used...


As for warranty, the ia warranty is the same for any other Toyota. Toyota maintenance and basic warranty... Its 3 total visit at the dealer ship, 6 months or 7.5K which ever come first..., at no cost, 60K powertrain etc.... Its pretty basic....

As for buying a warranty, that's a no... It's pointless... By the time something goes wrong with the car, you were probably in the market for another vehicle anyways... These type of vehicle are built for reliability over power, so unless you have a high performance vehicle were parts get wearn out faster, I wouldn't purchase any warranty... Most warranty cover up to 100K miles... Modern cars with 100K are considered low mileage.

Of course that doesn't mean drive the car hard.... Take care of the car, respect it, and you should not have any transmission/engine problems....

Hope that helps....