Lots of plugins on the lot ...

Someone wanted me to chime in.
First off, enough with the "omg the economy is bad" mantra.
That was SO 2008 and 2009.
It's also regional, and not an issue anymore here in the greater SoCal area.
If it is for some of you, or some of your family, I'm sorry.
It's really a non-issue in SoCal ... but what has happened is the folks who used their houses as ATM machines and bought up and up and up and had homes with values drop, their credit scores have suffered by walking away from debt and homes. If that's a way to say the economy is bad, then OK - that's a byproduct of the past poor economy. But, there's plenty of money flying about here. I believe I have sold over 800 vehicles myself this year. If it's not 800, it's quite close. And, while I sell Corolla, Yaris, and some of the more economical cars like Camrys, over 500 of those 800 are Prius ... and many are $30K+++ so... well you get my drift.
I may have already sold over $25MILLION gross in cars for Toyota singlehandedly. Before you get all excited and suggest I retire, that's GROSS retail and my personal earned percentage of that is a small fraction of that, maybe not even 1%..

My personal opinion, which counts for something since I OWN a PHEV, is that I wish it did go further on a single charge BUT at least I am back into the carpool lanes with a quality, well built car that I feel is priced at a fair point, considering the tax advantages and time saved on the freeways. That said, I am SO glad not to be sweating bullets in a Nissan LEAF worrying about having the AC on to get home in crawling traffic, or worse: a Civic CNG with stations closed, unwilling to give you enough Gas to fill up - or needing to make an emergency trip and stressed out with a low tank. I have taken enough CNG's in on trade (and heard the horror stories) to know what a pain in the nice person they are and I don't need more stress in a commute.

The PlugIN is, as they guy said in the movie with the pig Babe... "That'll do..." (for me)
For now.

 

I am seriously considering PiP, my current lease is coming to an end in Nov. The HOV sticker is very attractive, but the whole perception of paying more for the ev tech is making me take a pause. My current vehicle is 528, so if I want to get a similar feeling (comfort wise), I wonder if I should buy the advanced model. But then it pushes up the price again by 8k. One thing is Prius has held its value very well, so PiP should hold well too, but not sure if the amount paid on advanced features is going to hold. Also, with all these debates about small government and debt, there is no push to make these new techs successful. They need to incentivize or subsidize more charging stations and CNG stations, otherwise it will be very tough for the consumer to take a leap of faith! For me, if there was a charging station at work, it would've been a slam dunk decision (my commute is 20+ miles).

 

BTW: to the original poster?
The volume of PlugIns is directly related to a dealership's allocation and prior sales of everything Prius. We all have the option to turn them down on allocation if our stock grows, but I usually take MORE.

I have 191 Prius models here/arriving soon (hatchback, c, v, and PHEV), and 56 are PHEVS... and for us, that's really not a huge amount of PlugIns as compared to what we're selling right now.

I am stocking 45 base models, and 11 advanced.
They vary for color.. and I have pre-added leather to a half dozen base models because I wanted to be prepared! I may also add the Homelink mirror to a few to enhance their usefulness... but that gives my clients a very good selection, and a choice immediately.

For a large volume dealer, that's adequate... but for a smaller dealer it's scary!

 

nobody does it like you di.

 

When I first looked at the plug in prius I saw that i could get a regular prius for about $6,000 less than a plug in. and given that it only goes 11 miles on plug in it was not at all worth it... Then the toyota incentives came out and that totally changed the game. I am so glad about the incentives and feel so cool in HV mode but don't know if I would have paid the premium without the incentives. My guess is that is why there is a lot of inventory out there.

 

Don't forget some states have nice PiP incentives that help a lot.
9G, help me understand GA PiP incentives.
In GA is it $2500 tax credit? whether or not you lease or purchase PiP, plus reduced rate electric off-peak hr?
If so that would be the best state for PiP credits I have found so far (for another post..)

 

I'm convinced the price is the issue. How do you convince people to spend $8K more money for a vehicle that gets 14 miles or less of electric range, compared to an equivalent non-plug-in Prius? And personally, I believe the price is artificially high. Lets face it, the only real difference between this Prius and a regular one is the larger battery and the charger and related gear. Being the original NiMh battery is NOT included, that also removes over $1,000 of original cost. So I just don't get it. The new battery only holds, what, maybe 4x the amount of power as the original Prius battery? It isn't THAT much bigger.

I think Toyota is purposefully pushing the price very high on this model, but I'm not sure why. i doubt it is simple greed. There is probably some concern of battery longevity. And being the small battery will be cycled every time the car is driven, that is a concern. So maybe they are worried about replacing a lot of these batteries down the road, especially after seeing what has happened to Nissan. So maybe they want to keep the profits high and the volume low for the time being until they've tested the water more?

 

I tried owning a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle AND a Prius for a similar effect as a Plug in Prius (because that was the only available alternative) and it did give me much of the effect of a Plug in Hybrid. But just the added insurance cost was $5000 over a ten year period not to mention the $18,000 original additional cost. The PiP is less expensive and more fun to drive. Besides, the PiP is a whole lot more reliable and less trouble to own.

It all depends on what you use as a comparison.

All vehicles are an expense. None "saves" money. The most expensive vehicle I ever owned on a per mile basis was my NEV.

 

i think the price of the pip is quite reasonable compared to the non pip with similar options. there is a lot of new technology in this car and nothing else like it on the road. and with current incentives, it's a fabulous value.

 

Heated seats + charging + lithium 4.4 = 6500 - nickel 1.7
It's expensive and Toyota thought they could ride the tax credit to a faster return. Problem is that it's a HEV+P, rather than a PHEV like the Volt that uses the larger battery to give a better driving experience.

Low miles: hybrid is expensive
Lots of short trips but high miles due to longer trips: low EV percentage
Cold climate: lower EV percentage
Highway miles: lower EV percentage

To get good sales it either needs to be good value or make people pay for the driving experience.

 

When Comparing The Gen 3 Prius with The PIP - One Might Ask - Where's The Beef?

 

in the pip, of course! great for everyday around town and commuting in electric, world class hv when charge runs out, even better than non pip. price comparable to prius 3 1/2. thrilling driving experience, what's not to like?

 

Exactly why I would take a prius to autobeyours and have the 10kw pack put in and get upto 40 EV miles for the same $10k price tag before buying a plug in....

 

Double post

 

except pip is only $4,000.

 

10k pack vs 4k in PIP

 

exactly. who has this autobeyours 40 mile pack installed anyway? i'd like to hear from them.

 

me2......start a new thread asking that question

 

before tax incentives...

 

and there are no incentives on autobeyours.