Your friend who owns a bike shop, he's quoting HIS price. I've never haggled for a bike, and in the last 10 years, there's really not much haggling for a car either.
Scott IS a good brand of bike, but gosh, you need to be trying bikes out, not just worrying about prices.. I think you should steer clear of the bike snob sellers and find someone who treats you decently; someone who has your best in mind, they will not sell you a bike that does not fit.

A large percentage of women fit best on women's geometry bikes, and so do some men. It's because we have longer legs compared to our arms and torsos. Some of us have gone custom just because we couldn't get the fit we wanted.

a lot of us "started" late too. Ignore those jerks!
and i think you're on the right track when you don't want to buy a 20 year old bike. For one thing, in the last 4 years they've finally been making bikes with women's sizes in mind.

good luck. Try out lots of bikes.