Do (or should) Toyota dealers provide courtesy charging for Toyota Primes and Plug-ins?

two problems rolled into one: they won't suggest a hybrid, and they'll try to steer you away if you ask about one, because either way, they would be unable to answer any questions. correctly.

even sales weasels who think they understand hybrids just spout what they've heard, some right, some wrong a big mess in the final analysis.
and it is not totally their fault.

 

No, they actually want you to return to get serviced after the free 2 years expire.

 

No. It totally is their fault. They are the company representatives that present a vehicle to prospective customers. It is their job to know as much as they can absorb about everything they sell. If they don't know an answer, it is also their job to look up the answer. To do the opposite, or ignore a question and replace it with misdirection is the definition of failure.

Obviously, many aren't good at their jobs. Too bad. The salespeople that are willing to learn will succeed. Sales is not rocket science.

 

Cut throat to me implies disadvantageous to the client. I meant that pricing on the East Coast/Northeast is TOO low to be sustainable, and that dealers do need to make a profit. I certainly don't support liars or dealers who bait and switch; those guys need to be shut down by Attorneys General. When I was selling Toyotas, the CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) was the supreme word to dealers; you didn't have a great CSI, you lost allocation; this was also the case with Jaguar, which was my mainstay. A lot of what I hear here implies that dealers are becoming slipshod; of course, human nature will push people to complain about a problem before they compliment a benefit.

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

Sir, you are FIRMLY ensconced in your rocker! I suffer the same frustration relative to parks and shopping centers, both of which abound in my area, without charging stations, yet well populated by electrically motivated vehicles.

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

Perhaps someone at your work might follow you to your charge station and give you a lift to work, if it's on the way?

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

The charge button really kills my car's efficiency; I use it as a last resort to get more oomph out of my car in town.

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

Because we're trying to convert people over from ICE engines to electric power-trains; this can be a real pain to many people. Many people won't try something new unless there is a monetary advantage. Once sufficient numbers of people have moved to electric power, the incentives should be ended. Trust me (said the salesman ) it's a lot nicer following an electric powered vehicle than a smoke belching ICE powered Pig!

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

A GOOD salesrep is a professional who is/should be TRAINED by the dealership. Sadly in too many cases, neither the rep nor the dealership are professional. Salesreps need to take classes in all the products they sell, with testing of their knowledge as part of the course. Demos are the LIFEBLOOD of successful sales, with designated and PREPARED demonstrator vehicles cleaned, fueled (including charged), and ready to go. You could not bring a deal for approval by the manager unless the vehicle had been demoed, at any of the dealerships I worked at.
When I bought my Prime at Longo Toyota, the car had gasoline in it, and the battery was charged. The sales lady demonstrated most of the major options and features of the car when we went on a demo ride of about five or six miles BEFORE we talked business. She was a professional.

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I don't know the pay structure for Toyota salespeople, but I'm not inclined to think it's very good based on the high turnover I saw at the dealers near me.

These days i'm wary of any business with a "NOW HIRING" sign up. It usually means everyone there is underpaid, and therefore the people they have retained aren't likely to be the best.

If the electric model takes two hours of answering questions to produce commission X and the gasoline model takes one hour of answering questions to produce commission X, then the salesperson has no motivation to spend that extra hour.

Why aren't electric vehicle advocacy groups paying wildcat bonuses or prize bounties to car salesmen? It strikes me that if you want to apply a subsidy and get more voltburners on the highway, that would be a very effective tactic. Much cheaper and less political than installing chargers.

 

Some are, and some states have even had bonuses to dealerships or sales reps put into bills. However, I don’t know of any of these bills that made it to law.
Our local plugin group has a web page which lists sales reps that know their s#@& and have dealers that support them.

On the topic of dealers, this is a very interesting podcast on that very subject. I highly recommend it.
129 Cars - This American Life

 

'sales' and 'vehicle knowledge' often do not go hand in hand. a good salesperson can sell eskimo's to refrigerators as they say.
if toyota and the dealership don't care, why should the salesperson? they want to make as much money as possible. they are mostly not interested in what you or i think they should be doing.

 

Now, that I'd like to see.

 

Yeah I was waiting for the correction edit myself, then I realized he meant a really good salesperson.

 

When I was selling Toyotas, Toyota had a "pull" program where the sale of a truck would result in a random bonus from the factory ranging from $50 up to 250 or $300 and paid to the salesman via Factory check. These pulls were to promote new truck sales; if the factory were truly serious about selling EV powered vehicles, they could initiate such a program which incentivizes the staff. We really looked forward to these bonuses which offset the typically low commissions on trucks. For EVs, they'd promote a salesrep spending more time to make the sale. Unfortunately, I don't believe the factories are serious about EV sales; currently, it's still a niche market. Look at the TOTAL absence of ANY advertising whatsoever for the Prime in my "Monster Car Market" area!

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I guess I would never expect Toyota to further incentivize these sales- don't they still lose money on most or all Priuses? They get some juicy EPA credits they can apply to their average elsewhere, fruits of R&D and a patent war chest.

What I'm talking about is external bonuses- something paid by private advocacy groups, governments or well.. anyone else with an interest in seeing more hybrids and electrics on the street. Utility companies, techno-philanthopists, charge station networks, clubs of homeowners with rooftop solar, etc.

 

Sounds like a good idea to me; now we need someone or an institution to step up!!

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

I think those last two I mentioned are probably the most likely candidates.

Charger network operators have a do-or-die interest in increasing demand for their service. Manufacturers of home chargers too. I'd think they would be all about this, either paying per-car bonuses or doing it contest style.

Governments maybe. It's very easy to imagine California doing a scheme funded by a new charge added to the carpool sticker fee. Keeps the money going in a useful circle too.

 

Where do you get that impression? I am very curious.
By my recollection, the Prius became profitable back during the second generation.

 

Your information is better than mine.

Remember, I'm new here and I only got a hybrid by coincidence. We wanted a next-generation Yaris but we needed it this year, and our Prius c is the closest substitute we could find. Hence a lot of my Prius knowledge is whatever I picked up through my general hobby of following automotive news.

I hadn't heard that they had passed the break-even point.

But hey, that's great news! Maybe it's not enough profit to pay pickup-truck grade spiffs, but if they're in the black there is at least potential for bonuses.