I am getting rid of my 2003 Civic with with 167K. I rented a Prius in June to see if I would like it. I did! It was a pleasant driving experience once I got used to it. Good pickup, much better than I expected. Good power. Bigger interior than the Civic, quieter ride, and smooth driving. Does anyone know when the supply of Prius will return to normal after the Japan Tsunami? It's been several months but CarMax still does not have the Prius I want (Red or Blue Prius III With Navigation Package, Without Sunroof). Neither do other local dealers. I drove to a local dealer today and they only had one Prius on the lot.
I Live in Southern PA, Have dealt with Fitzgerald Automall for 20 better years, Gaithersburg MD is not that far from you, they have 30 in stock. Go to Fitzmall.com. Great dealer Great service, Honest prices. No I don't work for them.
Have you called Carmax to find out what they have coming in or are you just going by the web site? Carmax likely is selling most of their priuses in advance. Hence few cars show up on their web site. But if you are willing to wait - possibly you'll be able to order the exact car you want. That's what I did with the same Carmax.
Well I visited CarMax in Laurel MD. They had no Prius on the lot. The salesman did pull up the incoming cars on his computer but he said they had no blue or red Prius III with navigation package, W/O sunroof, scheduled to come in. He took my Email address and phone number and said he'd contact me when one shows up on the listings, but I have not heard anything so far. Did you order what you wanted and leave a deposit at CarMax? Was there a form you filled out?
If I remember correctly - it was about 3 1/2 years ago - I put down $500 on a specific car and there was paperwork to fill out. Although it sounds like they simply don't have what you want in the pipeline. Russell rcars.com used to have good prices. Now it seems like they are also taking advantage of the shortage. If it helps - the Prius shortage seems to be fading quickly on the west coast. Inventories have noticeably increased in just the past few weeks and prices have dropped below msrp. A guess is that more priuses will soon start showing up on the east coast
To answer the original question, they're at full production but naturally there's a backlog. Earlier in the year Toyota said 12,000 shipped to the USA in June, July and August, but that might have been hybrids. There's now additional pressure on supply from the demand, particularly in Japan for the new Prius models.
At the very least, loosening up on your color preference will improve your chances of getting into a Prius soon. D.O. for flexibility on levels/options. Our Canadian Touring model purchase, last November, happened more-or-less in one afternoon, a car that was on the lot. Obviously supply is a lot tighter now, still: being flexible will get you into a Prius much sooner.
I've been following 'cars.com' for the past three months, seeing how many new Toyota Prius model 3 cars with the solar roof are available (in all of the USA). Initially, in June, there were only 4 or 5 total. Now there are over 40. I think the shortage is over... EDIT: Of course, I was only interested in model #3 with the solar roof option, but I assume if their numbers went up so dramatically, other models and options must have as well.
I wonder why there is such a glut of Prius on the west coast but not east? Is Toyota simply bad at trafficking the cars or making sure supply is even around the country?
I checked my dealer's inventory the other day and they had 14 listed in their pipeline. I think 8 were available now and the other 6 staggered over about a week. They had 11 model Two's and 3 model Three's. No Four's or Five's yet. That is the most I have seen in their inventory since the tsunami and more than their normal inventory.
If you really want to get one .... you're gonna have to be way more flexible than your requirements above .... unless you're just plain lucky, and that could take years. REV
I had not thought of that, that the exact Prius I want may not be available for such a long time. I don't want to wait months or years I've already waited too long. I haven't bought a new car for 8 1/2 years, so I'm not real familiar with specifying options etc. Perhaps I will have to be willing to take a blue or red Prius without the navigation package, or maybe get a sunroof I don't really want. The main thing that is that I will get in a Prius, which i have wanted for a long time. Thanks for that advice I will do further research on my options.
Maybe I'm in the minority on this, but I don't think that you're being too demanding with your preferences - assuming that that you're willing to wait a few months for inventories to build back up after the pent up demand tapers off. You just happen to want a car that is (and was) in very high demand that the manufacturer was unable to meet. Clearly, Toyota is aware of this and is now doing it's best to make as many Priuses as possible. However, a fair question to ask yourself is what do you think is going to happen to the price of gas over the next few months since both the price as well as the supply of Priuses are typically closely related to the price of gas. If gas prices continue to stabilize or even fall slightly - panic Prius buying will likely taper off. If all of sudden gas prices spike upwards - then Toyota dealers will be able to charge well over MSRP for Priuses and you'll be luckly to find a Prius on any dealer lots. So, if gas prices spike - the previous comments about buying whatever Prius you can find today are likely valid. But, if gas prices don't spike while you're waiting on inventories to recover - you should be able to get exactly what you want. BTW, here's a link to a Blue Prius III with Nav using in your area using the Autotrader search. Cars for Sale: 2011 Toyota Prius in Rockville, MD 20850: Hatchback Details - 305679800 - AutoTrader.com
The shortage here is CA is well over. Most dealers have 10s in stock. I drove past a dealer today that had a bunch on the front of their lot, including 3 with the PLUS package that have been there for several weeks.
I agree that you should be able to find what you want. Go to the dealer's website and search their New Car inventory. You will be able to see not only what is allocated to them but also what is available throughout your entire area. You may be able to find one at a nearby dealer that you like. I did this during C4C and found exactly what I was looking for at a dealer 100 miles away.
