Ontario Prius Prime 2018 Rebate Shrinking To $5,000

Good for you. I was going to order one next week, went to the Toyota website last night to finalise numbers and the rebate check box was gone. One short step to the MTO website where I found the bad news. I am committed to the whole plug-in idea, but the extra $50 per month is a bridge too far.

There was talk of the Prime becoming a 5-seater at some point, if that happens a $7000 incentive will apply and I may be in the market again.

 

It sadly ironic that the lack of a 5th seat now costs $2000 extra compared to other hybrids. Also if the range would be 10km higher with a 5th seat the rebate would jump to $14000. I am hoping Toyota will do something to this end in Ontario and introduce an small incentive to offset this.

We did go to Toyota on the Park in Toronto on Saturday to make use of the previous rebate - unfortunately worst dealer experience ever: After 5 hours of waiting and wasting our time, wrong Prius for the test drive, salvage offer on a 2009 Prius, they were not able to close the deal because the finance department could not finalize papers before closing for the day. I would recommend any Prius buyer to stay away from this place!

 

I can't see that happening, Toyota make the Prime for sale in every market regardless of whether an incentive is available or not. The fact that the Ontario incentive has been reduced is probably of no concern to them.

 

In the US, there tends to be better dealer and manufacturer incentives for the Prime in the North East than in the West, where there tends to be better state incentives.

 

I just wonder about those in Ontario wanting a Prime. Isn't electricity there more expensive than gasoline? That's what the news organizations would have us believe anyway.

 

Wholeheartedly agree here, and the larger cargo and 5th seat is why I am keeping my PiP. Made a trip this weekend to Montreal bringing my mother in law, all 5 seats occupied and cargo filled to the glass. Wouldn’t have worked in the Prime, unfortunately.

I did just learn about the change in the Ontario rebate. When I saw $5k on the Toyota site the other day, I thought their site was out of date with the incorrect rebate, until I looked it up on the government website. Grrrr.

 

Im so sad I bought my prime in Ontario a week after they changed the rebate to $5,000 from $7,000

 

Imagine how you'd feel buying it in Alberta with NO incentive.

 

Up until this 2010, all I've ever given them is a personal cheque. Yeah but this latest time they want some sort of bank draft, keeps the tellers in business I guess.

Just curious: was your PIP a Canadian purchase? I got the impression it didn't sell in Canada, when I was looking for some PIP rims. Or maybe it was in some areas, back east?

 

Yes, it is a Canadian vehicle, in metric measurements. Toyota had very limited distribution of the car, I believe only in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, and sold only about 400 of them over 4 years. The price I am sure is a big factor why they didn’t sell more. Despite the small battery, I love that there were absolutely no compromises as a PHEV, aside from lack of spare, which never really concerned me (knock on wood!).

So, it is a rare breed.