No Hybrids in Showroom?

Solscud007, I live in Scott so we were neighbors. Anyway one thing about Pittsburgh is there is no shortage of Priuses on the road. I must pass five or six at the minimum everyday.

Both dealers I go to Rohrich and Day I have never seen one on their show room floor. Now they may have had them there before and after but not once have I seen one when visiting the dealership.

With Cash4Clunkers and Pa.'s $500 Hybrid rebate including sales tax and all other transfer fees my Prius III cost me $20,000. I'm now saving close to $1,000 a year just in fuel over my old 87 Volvo turbo wagon. The maintenance schedule on these new third generations are an absolute joke. There isn't a car sold other than maybe a BEV that has the absolute minimum maintenance costs this car has.

 

I thought I was at the Bellagio!!

Most of the dealers here in Minneapolis are BIG stores with
BIG showrooms I think have have just about one of every model
Even a Yaris!! These places have marble floors,
The bathrooms look like the ones at Bellagio Las Vegas.
I wonder how they do it!!They alway tell me there not making any money
on the cars I buy,Ha.. ha!
This dealer in Florida offers Teeth whitening,Salon,Game room,
Gym,
Lexus of North Miami is a Miami Lexus dealer and a new car and used car Miami Florida Lexus dealership.

 

Our local dealer does not even have a showroom but they had 47 Prius outside when I went to look for one. I'm not surprised that there are none in the showroom, not like they are a new idea, expensive, or rare.

I bet the new generation with the plug will be in the showrooms.

If you compare your car at 18mpg city to the Prius 47 mpg and $3 a gallon (12,000 miles a year); you save $1,234 a year in gas cost. This pays for 1/3 of my car payment and I get to drive a new car instead of a 2003 Venture mini-van.

TED

 

When I was actively looking at Prius and Hybrids I found that they weren't on showroom floors.

My guess is that dealers, salesmen are intimidated by them. It's shameful how little most of the salesmen know about Prius. Most of the dealerships had a "Hybrid" expert or guy that was suppose to be the specialist...."sure".

At one dealership I waited for "Bob" who was communicated to me as being the Prius "Guy". When he finally got around to show me a Prius that of course was outside and NOT in the showroom, he couldn't even get it started.

Having been in Prius Chat I knew some questions to ask. He either had no answer, or gave me the wrong answer.

So in anycase, I think a big weakness is a lot of salesmen are woefully unprepared or unknowledgeable about Prius, so my Guess is having one on the showroom floor would just mean the potential of more people asking questions they are embarrassingly unprepared to answer.

It shouldn't be this way, and I'm sure it isn't everywhere...but IMO a Hybrid or Prius SHOULD be represented in every Toyota showroom. Also I think Toyota needs to improve the knowledge base about Prius, throughout their dealership system.

 

I went to the local Toyota/Honda/Subaru dealer in Fairbanks Alaska to test drive and with the intent to lease an Insight. There was a "Blizzard Pearl" Prius in the showroom. The next day that vehicle was in my driveway.

 

My local dealer has a very small showroom, only room for 2 cars and I haven't seen a Prius in there, but I don't think that means anything. They have a row of Prii right outside the showroom (maybe 9 or 10).

I don't know how they choose what goes in the showroom. When I bought my Prius it was a mid-trim Camry and a Tacoma they were filling for Toys for Tots.

That said, this is a rural area, and all the dealership buildings are pretty small inside, just room for 2 or 3 models under the roof.

 

There were none in the showroom when I bought mine in late 2008 in Rhode Island but there was a short wait for them. I know that both Toyota of Falmouth and Watertown - both in Mass - have had them on the showroom floor as I visited both last fall when my Dad bought his Prius.

 

Re: Prius Sales # are 40X greater in the USA than in Canada

Remember to add the 6% duty since it is not a NA car

 

When I bought my 09' PKG 5 gas was over 4 bucks a gallon?
All they had was a red demo and a 3 month wait list! Yeah, When I bought my 10' V they had 42 on hand! All colors.

 

Re: Prius Sales # are 40X greater in the USA than in Canada

That easy

Freight price is based on everyone paying the same price.

And since they sell more cars in US, their price per car is lower

 

I'm currently dealing with a dealership in Port Hawkesbury NS which has one Prius in the yard so people can demo it. I also checked with dealerships in Truro & New Glasgow and they have some in the showrooms and some in the yard, no different than the regular vehicles. Sounds like the dealer in your area of New Brunswick isn't interested in selling a Prius to anyone...??

 

....the three dealerships I've been to here in Nova Scotia, all had the solar packages, Premium models. Haven't seen any base models yet.

 

Personally....

I selected my last three vehicles with a laptop.
I don't care if they keep the actual vehicle in the showroom, on the lot, or in an empty field somewhere.
A pretty showroom with a free cup of coffee works for some people I guess, but the Toyota Iron Works Co does not seem to have any problem unloading Priuses, even in the US.

If I were to pay 30+ kilobucks for a Prius, I would not feel more insecure with my purchase decision if the local dealer decided to put Yaris' or SUV's in their showroom...but that's just me.