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Comments
lMore Alaska new-car buyers are choosing to go easy on the gas (Anchorage Daily News)
By your post I doubt that you actually do own one. If you do own one I promise that I can take YOUR vehicle and show you how to immediately get 48 mpg in YOUR Prius for as long as you want me to drive it.
Well the RAV4 isn't produced here, and if they are going to keep on shipping those over I think they would do the same with all the Lexus models and the Land Cruiser, which sell at much bigger profits than the RAV4 does.
OTOH, I would think they could stop shipping the Prius immediately, thereby avoiding the exchange rate losses they may be incurring and giving the bloated inventory already on U.S. shores a chance to sell out gradually until the new model is ready in 6 months' time. This is an old model now, and it's less competitive than it was without even considering that gas at $1.70/gallon gives people a lot less incentive to seek them out.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I don’t think they can cut off shipment that quickly. Industry, even Toyota, is a bit more like a ship or a train once it starts moving. The rise in gas prices was slow and steady and they ramped up production based on an idea that people would flock to cars like the Prius as long as both gas prices and the economy held together. The fall was so quick and drastic they almost couldn’t stop in time to have an effect of production. I would say if a person wanted a Prius it would be best to hold off for six months and let the overflow lots stack up with the current model. If things work out anything like the retail industry has this Christmas those old Prii should sell at a huge discount pretty soon. Maybe if we wait long enough Big Lots will buy the excess stock and we can get a Prius at Kia prices?
Even I would consider a Prius at 10K but at 25K there are plenty of other cars to look at that won’t make me put a paper bag on my head to drive to a place where people know me. Not at $1.65 a gallon.
Sure it is link.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
i remember when my sister first got her prius. when she came back to ct for a visit, it was cold. the computer read 35 mpg avg, including highway miles.
driving up my street, the readout was 8 mpg, until my bil shut it off.
overall, she averages 40+ mpg, but 30 is very possible.
our winter gas usually costs 10-15% of normal gas mileage.
I'm from upstate NY originally so I understand about winter conditions and yes in slick, windy, bitter weather no vehicle will do well. But that has nothing to do with the vehicle. These conditions are covered by YMMV.
this summer and fall. Due to winter driving, it is around 34.5 MPG with the
same local-highway driving mix. I paid about $ 9,000 less for the Corolla
than I would have if I had bought a comparable used Prius.
A Prius would make financial sense if gas stays at over $ 4 a gallon
for a prolonged period, especially if the owner does a lot of in-town
driving or was switching from a large SUV.
A better place to ask is in the Toyota Prius Forum. Try one of these:
New Prius Owners: Give Us Your Report
Toyota Prius MPG-Real World Numbers
MODERATOR
Need help getting around? claires@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
Tell everyone about your buying experience: Write a Dealer Review
The other benefit is that it is not a sedan. It's a hatchback with all the flexibility and conveniences of a hatch but with far better fuel economy than a sedan.
It's hard to argue with the flexibility, comfort, safety, reliability and fuel economy.
To top it off the resale values are ridiculously high and the vehicle requires less maintenance than a traditional vehicle.
Lexus Prius spied
Oh well, it'll have more of a point than the current Lexus hybrids.
My own personal theory is that within the next few years they will replace all the lowest engines for each Lexus model with an HSD powertrain instead, so that the volume models will all make at least 30 mpg combined and some will contribute to meeting the magical 35 mpg standard.....
I think they should also plan a performance hybrid trim for the IS line - something that goes for about the price of a base GS or a little less but which is faster than a base GS, using a 28 mpg hybrid/V-6 powertrain instead of a 20 mpg V-8.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Their hybrid strategy right now is strange and pointless...I'd expect a revamp too.
A. There simply isn't enough battery capacity in the world right now to meet the demand of the various hybrid makers; c.f. limitations on the new Fusion hybrid.
B. When gas went out of sight Lexus was screaming that they had nothing to offer to the upscale fuel-conscious buyer.
Point A. will change in the next 2-4 yrs with more capacity coming on stream but for now the options are what they are. There is little or no room for additional models on a grand scale.
To top it off the resale values are ridiculously high and the vehicle requires less maintenance than a traditional vehicle.
I wish you would stop spreading these truthes. If you carry on like this more people will buy Prius and the prices will never drop.
One dealer in my area has like 10 or 12 or something at $19,995.
I agree fin, Toyota's hybrid strategy is very haphazard. I don't think giving the 4500-pound Sienna a hybrid powertrain is going to help fuel economy all that much, but I am waiting for Toyota to prove me wrong. Certainly the HL hybrid is only good for high 20s. Which is better than low 20s of course.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Ya know, I've never actually considered a Toyota before, outside of a Lexus but man does the Venza look really good on the road. It has a certain European upscale look to me, like a Volvo or a Saab. I really think this model is going to take off... Don't know if it'll canabalize sales of the RAV4 or the Highlander, but heck those two are pretty much the official vehicles of Massachusetts right now, they are everywhere. But the Venza is better looking than both of them IMO, so maybe the tastes will change.
On a side note, got to check out my neighbors new Highlander over the Christmas holiday. Loaded, Ltd, Leather, Navigation, rear seat ent. the thing is loaded to the gills. The wife replaced a 97 Sienna that needed work at 221k miles so they traded up instead. I didn't drive it, but a friend of mine let me drive his wifes 4WD sport a few month back and I came away pretty impressed then. But in Limited trim, the thing is a Lexus without the badge. :shades:
What makes it any harder than any other car. Person is at a light or pulls into a parking lot, perp opens the door places a 9mm up to the drivers ear and tells them to get out. Drives off with the car. But then they would have to want the car so there you have a point. :sick:
I know, I know, I spend too much time watching cop shows.
But it is harder to just flat out steal one the old fashioned way.
they post about a problem and never return.
scroll to last post
I have been googling and searched this site for the answer. I'd be very surprised if Toyota employees didn't give us a helpful heads-up.
Thanks for any help ladies and gents.
In June, Toyota said it would build a new 150,000 units-a-year diesel engine factory in Thailand, which would raise its annual diesel engine output capacity to 350,000 units in 2010 and create about 700 jobs.
But Japan's top automaker would suspend the plan because of slumping global auto demand, the Sankei said.
In St. Petersburg, Russia, Toyota began building cars at a new 50,000-units-a-year factory in December 2007.
But it will now freeze plans to build a secondary factory at the location as production at the existing factory fell short of its forecast, the newspaper added.
First the new plant in the U.S., now other plants around the world. I am glad that they are targeting production expansion for cost-cutting, rather than future product.
http://www.autonews.com/article/20090105/ANE02/901050297/1198
(registration link)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Predictive TMV can give you an idea of which way prices are heading for the make/model you are shopping.
Toyota idles plants for extra 11 days (CNN)
BTW, I have now witnessed the backed-up Toyotas at the port firsthand in Benicia: the largest number of new Highlanders I have ever seen in one place, just row after row stretching off into the distance, easily hundreds and hundreds of them, maybe thousands. There were pick-ups and Sienna vans too. I guess maybe the back-up is more in the big vehicles than in the cars. Or maybe all the excess Corollas and Priuses are in Long Beach. ;-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Prius as Emergency Generator Saved Bacon, and Eggs, When Lights Went Out
I would say Toyota will have some serious problems with all the hybrids sitting for months unsold. NiMH batteries do not like being discharged or being cold soaked. One dealer I checked in San Diego has 106 Prius listed. That is unreal. Someone in Japan needs to turn off the spigot until sales catch up with supply. Toyota usually has a better handle on supply and demand. They had to know how fickle Hybrid people are. They are all waiting for the latest and greatest 2010 models. The 2009 is not much different than the 2004. Best bet is to pull the batteries and what ever other components that will be re-used in the next gen and crush the 2009s for the recycle bin. Or they could have a GENUINE GM type Red Tag sale. Heck I might buy a Prius for $15k loaded.
No doubt Toyota will be in touch with you shortly.