Car Shoppers Look To Beat Incentive Deadline

Sioux Falls, SD

Customers are hoping to drive off the lot with a new car before factory incentives expire on Toyota vehicles early next week.

Deals like zero percent financing and rebates from Toyota end Tuesday as a result of the production problems caused by Japan's earthquake and tsunami.

A Mitchell woman saw our story Wednesday about the Toyota announcement and decided she better get to the car lot Thursday.

Deanna Bennett took a day off from work to check out the Toyotas in stock at Billion in Sioux Falls.

"When I'm serous about doing this, I'd rather come during the day, sometimes you get more of the salesman's undivided attention, they're not pulled in so many directions. And the forecast, it wasn't going to rain," Bennett said.

Bennett hopes to finalize a deal on a new car before Toyota pulls the plug on financial incentives.

"The zero percent financing is phenomenal, so it's a good time to buy," Bennett said.

Bennett has been considering purchasing a new vehicle for several weeks.

"I've been kind of pestering my husband for about two months to do this, so yeah, the clock is ticking but it's a good time, I guess I'm ready to make a decision," Bennett said.

Billion says those incentives shouldn't be your main reason for purchasing a car. But the incentives could be the tipping point for those who are on the fence about buying.

"We started getting calls already this morning. It'll just keep picking up and picking up and picking up. And hopefully a lot of people take advantage of it because it's free money from the factory," Billion Toyota General Manager Kirk Davis said.

Bennett is looking for a more fuel efficient vehicle. To her, high gas prices are as much as an incentive to buy as the factory incentives themselves.

Billion Toyota says it will be able to handle the rush of last-minute buyers expected on Monday, the final day that incentives are in effect.