The "MSRP" of not just the fr-s but all scions is a part of their pure price philosophy. They offer there whole line up with a monospec version so there are no "LE" "SE" or any other type of premium models. They do this so there is no haggling or as many headaches when purchasing one then the customer has the choice to add on accessories or TRD parts before it even leaves the lot. Toyota plans on making more of their money with accessories than the actual cars. Even as a technician at a Toyota/Scion dealership in Lawrence, KS I only got around $500 off that price when I ordered my Raven FR-S MT. When with say a Camry or Tacoma my employee pricing is only $500 above the actual cost the dealer paid the Factory. Also when buying Scion parts I don't get a discount at all. I think I do get some kind of discount on TRD parts because it's technically through Toyota not Scion.
Being an employee definitely made it easy for me to test drive one when we got our first one on May 29th. I just had a salesman see if the car was even affordable with trading in my Civic Si and then he handed me the keys. I drove our Asphalt MT FR-S around town and on the highway and put around 20 miles on it and absolutely loved it. Because it is our only FR-S at the moment we have to be able to use it for test drives but even after driving that one I personally want one that no one has actually "driven". When my ordered FR-S rolls in on the truck I will be the one to do the PDI checklist, take off all the covering plastics, and go fill it up with gas, and not to mention I am getting the exact color I want!!!
