Anyone willing to be interviewed?

Let's compare apples to apples. Compare the $90k+ Model S to the hundreds of thousands of pre-orders for the Model 3 at $35,000. Is the number of sales vs pre-orders the result of styling or price? Sorry comparing a 90k car to a 25K car is not simply a styling choice; it is much more likely to be a cost choice. I can afford a Prius Gen-4; but not a Model S.

 

Huh? I think you might have missed the news, but the Tesla Model S starts at $66k, not $90k. Plus the Tesla Model S qualifies for $7500 federal tax credits, and at least in California another $2500 tax rebate, dropping the price down to $56k (not quite, since you pay taxes on full price, but good enough for comparison). They are still in two different price categories, but $56k and $90k are also in different categories as well.

 

how many 66k tesla's have they sold? i know they've sold a ton of 35k model 3's. okay, not really.

 

I wasn't aware that Tesla breaks down the sales of their various models by price or battery size. Also we don't know yet as they just started selling them a few weeks ago.

 

thank you. so it wouldn't do much good to compare prius sales to 66k tesla sales at this time.

 

I was just pointing out to DonDNH that a Tesla Model S can be purchased new for significantly less than $90k. It might not be directly comparable to compare Prius sales to Tesla sales, but there definitely are plenty (not a majority) of Prius owners that splurge and get a $66k Tesla instead of a Gen 4 Prius, or decide to go with the 2nd gen Volt to get 50 miles of electric range. For the purposes of the article for this thread, it's important to mention that many prior Prius owners are indeed moving onto other vehicles (generally in the plug-in market) instead of upgrading to the gen 4 Prius.

 

It's been an interesting read so far. I have had my 2007 Prius for 9 years so far. I remember when it came out, everyone thought it was the ugliest car out there. I loved it. It has been a great car. Now I am in the market for a new one. I helped my sister buy a 2017 Hyundai Elantra and thought maybe I would look at it. It was nice, but boring. I looked at the new Prius and liked the look. It was different then anything I have seen on the road. It reminded me of when I bought the original Prius with everyone thought that it was ugly. I actually like the look. It looks futuristic. I hope to purchase the new Prius in August or September this year. I was all set on getting the four or four touring until I realized it didn't come with a spare tire. The area I live in has a lot of construction going on, plus, with my back, trying to use the patch kit would be a problem. All AAA will do is toe, not pump the air. So now the fours are out of the question. I am now looking at the three touring because I want the false leather. One of the reasons I believe it might not be selling well is because the lack of the spare on the high end model. This is the first time a non plug-in Prius doesn't have a spare. Maybe you should be asking if the spare had anything to do with it. Either way, I still want the new Prius, but I am a little unhappy that I have to settle for a lower model.


iPhone ?

 

Hey Chris
Previously owned a 2009 Prius and a 2012 Prius. Got my Prius 3 Touring on 4/5/2016. 4th fill up and getting 57 MPG and still climbing. Hand calculated. Total miles versus total Gallons of gas. Individual MPG has gotten as high as 64 MPG. Absolutely love the car. Handles well. Displays, Bluetooth, Navigation, Etc. all relatively easy to use. Anything else you want to know, please contact me.
Here she is!

 

I am happy to be interviewed, but fair warning -- I love virtually everything about this car.

I traded up from a 2006 Saab 93.

I purchased the 2016 Touring in January and now have over 15,000 miles on it. The car drives better, is more comfortable and get almost twice the gas mileage.

Relative to other Gen 4 drivers mine is low -- 55.9 mpg average for the last 10 fill ups -- which I attribute to a "spirited" driving style and a lot of highway miles. The 17" wheels have a negative impact, too. Still that is almost exactly 2x what I was getting in the Saab.

DId I say this drive better?

For context I have been driving a 2010 Prius on weekends for the past 5 or 6 years (it's the family car -- meaning my wife's) and that is still running fine and looking fine.

But as good as that car was (and is) my 2016 is special.

The other cars I gave serious consideration to were a new Mazda 3 and a low mileage 2015 BMW 328.

I am sure I would have been happy with either, but I sincerely doubt that one of those would still be putting a smile on my face 5 months and 15000 miles down the road.

 

While I am sure the writer is familiar with the Prius sales figures she will be using for her story, if anyone is not already familiar with Cleanmpg.com, they publish them monthly:

Toyota May 2016 Sales Down 9.6% with 219,339 Vehicles Sold | CleanMPG

What's particularly good about this site, is that you can see figures for one model in the context of others within the same company, same class, or all cars out there.

 

Here are two screen shots from that link (first chart show month and YTD, second chart is just for 1 Month)

 

I feel bad that I outed Christie. She must tire, dealing with the testosterone drenched car enthusiasts who view Jeeps and Mustangs as sensible commuting vehicles. The ones who are bewildered by that fact we need less than 150 HP to get to work.

Folks who accept interviews, please do not hit on Christie. I feel confident she gets all the advances she wants from Challenger and Camaro owners. (Or, if you must hit on Christie, do so in a Prius sort of way, like this:

Christie, have I ever told you just how much cheesecake you can have in a Prius v?)

 

My Prius is a work car that won me over to being a Prius fan over 5 years and 100,000 miles.
HOWEVER....
During that 5 years Prius competitors haven't been idle, and if I had to replace a car right now, I would have to lean away from the G4 for practical reasons as well as styling. I really like the 2016 Volt for example, and the tax kickbacks put it close enough in price to the new Prius for styling to become a far less trivial issue.

 

I don't think sales are so slow in comparison to car sales and hybrid sales. Toyotas share of hybrid market is up almost to 75% combining Gen4 and RAV4 hybrid new offerings. Also in Japan they earthquake and factory fire so I have no way of knowing if the shipments to all over America are as fast as hoped. Also each month sales are UP. So I really do not buy the hypothesis.

 

what day will june sales figures be published?

 

Well since she outed herself at post 8, and you did at post 17? I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Hello Chris. I have the previous generation Prius Plug In, which I love. Would I buy a Generation 4, which I have test driven, depends on:

If I needed a car between now and 1 year, absolutely yes. I hate the looks, but love the practicality, rear seat space, trunk space, mileage, reliability, improved road feel and handling, and long term overall cost of ownership. If it weren't for my rear seat and trunk space needs, I'd easily get a Volt instead because of the EV range and tax credits that I could take advantage of - making it cheaper than a Gen 4 Prius.

If I needed a car one year from now, I'd be looking at a Bolt or next generation Leaf to serve my daily needs depending on its interior packaging.