They should market these cars better....

Lonely in Prius love land these days. I think Gen4 looks cool.
We went with RAV4HV, but might have gone Prius v, which we do not have but you may still have there.

 

i'm not convinced that toyota has ever wanted to sell these cars in quantity. they have had a seriously bad advertising/market company for over 20 years.
their other cars/trucks seem to sell themselves by word of mouth, so maybe they are just spoiled.
but yeah, cheap gas has a lot to do with it. some people buy pri when they have to, others have moved on to rav4 or bev

 

In Seattle, Prii are everywhere. I actually didn’t want the AWD-e, but the lease rates on an XLE variety — $289/mo — were too good to pass up last fall. Would’ve preferred the slightly bigger trunk and not have the small hit to mpg. But I do like the better turning radius as compared to the non-AWD-e XLE.

 

I'm with you on the preferring an NON AWD model - in any vehicle.

Sure, they have their place, but paved roads and normal driving conditions isn't that place.

Extra drag, more components to wear out, more weight, etc - KISS.

I'm actually surprised that there are so many Prii here in rural East Texas. "Look! There's another one!" has become a happy cry. Here in the land of F-150's, Round-Up, 4wd, beer cans littering the roadside, and being happy when oil prices go up (oil industry) it's rare to find someone who actually gives a damn about the environment.

As for the "Marketing" - if these cars pretty much sell themselves and have lots of loyal buyers - is a better marketing effort even needed? I understand that some folks are still paying over sticker for their Prii.....

 

I haven't seen too many AWD-e around Seattle, although lots of other Gen 4s. The blue shade is almost as good as my Prime's.

I don't know how my turning radius is compared to other Gen 4s; it's still pretty damn tight although nothing compared to my '03 which was insane, lol.

 

This review helped me decide to upgrade from my '03, when he talked about how the car doesn't float around like earlier models and that the double-wishbone suspension provides for a better ride. My '03 indeed floated like a butterfly if I took a turn too fast.

I've driven my '03 to Canada and Idaho so some pretty damn long road-trips esp. with a weak A.C.....

 

Took a 400 mile round trip to go backpacking with a friend recently, who is the very proud owner of a modded Jeep (rescue kit, whole nine yards for off-roading). He insisted I drive due to gas approaching $4/gal. He was very awed by the MPG and seemed to find the car comfortable, although he is bigger than I am. He talked a lot about wanting to buy an electric Jeep.

I'm thrilled. I think the Prius has served its job, which is to help introduce people to hybrid / electric / etc. cars, even if they don't think a Prius is cool enough to drive. Yeah, I don't want a truck and wouldn't want to have to struggle for street parking anymore than I already do. But if crazy gas prices and the F-150 Lightning gets people away from sub-12 mpg vehicles? Good.

 

Perhaps things have changed - or are different North of the border.

The few people I've actually talked to personally about buying a Prius or Prius Prime was that they either were on a waiting list - or were told "that's the price" when they tried to negotiate.

I'd be willing to bet that the selling price of vehicles that fall at extreme ends of the MPG ratings fluctuate with oil prices. When gas costs $4 a gallon, cars like Prius (and other high MPG ICE cars) can command a higher price due to demand. When gas prices fall - like they did a few months ago - to less than $2 a gallon - you can't give them away. The opposite is true for the gas-guzzlers.

I've seen a surprisingly large number of Prii here in rural East Texas where Oil is king and gas-guzzling is a badge of honor. It's nice to see that there actually ARE some enlightened folks in the area.

 

I think it's funny that the "proud owner" (of the gas-guzzler) insisted that YOU drive.

I'm generally an optimistic person, but I'll be pleasantly surprised when Ford, GM, or Chrysler (or whatever they're called these days) actually has a hybrid or EV that is a major part of their fleet rather than a token offering. Between them being (still) stuck in the 1960's-70's, and many car buyers being wary about giving up the old, familiar gas burner, I don't see the switch to alternative fuels coming as fast as predicted. People may not "need" a 300+ mile range, but that's gonna be a negative selling point regardless. Another big factor is that the infrastructure isn't there and people won't want to buy a car they can't charge rapidly. For city dwellers without garages or ways to plug in their vehicles at home, the problem is even more of a deterrent to switching from gas to all-electric.

 

You really can't lump the Prius and Prius Prime together.
The Prius Prime is very uncommon in some areas of the country and difficult to find at dealers. While the Prius is pretty ubiquitous almost everywhere.

 

Only "lumping" because I've heard those comments about both models.

 

Toyota simply doesn't send the Prime or encourage their dealers in non-carb/ZEV states to carry them.
I have met a number of people in MN with a prime who got them out of state. A few dealers have made 'swaps' with dealers in other states to get them.

Why this is the case is largely speculation.
To me, it seems Toyota primarily sells the Prime in the USA to get ZEV credits.
Thus, why put effort into selling the Prime in states that don't get you any ZEV credits?

I'm hoping Toyota will ramp up production of the RAV4 Prime as that should sell well across the country.

 

Frankly, here in the USA, we're spoiled by low gasoline prices and have been for as long as I can remember. Which is why cars in Europe - where fuel has always been much higher - get SO much better gas mileage than US cars.

I took a trip to the UK two years ago and rented a Skoda that got 60+ MPG - full ICE, no hybrid, just a small, efficient engine with stop/start. Car was very roomy and pretty quiet with a lot of great features. I don't think the cars in the USA that got the very best mileage could touch that. Maybe 50 mpg on a Civic?

The 95 octane to run the Skoda cost 1.95 Euro per litre. That was about $2.53 USD per litre or about $10 US a gallon.

People here in the US scream bloody murder when "Regular unleaded" (87 octane) gas hits $4 a gallon.

The "Super" unleaded you can get in the States is about 93 octane and costs about $3.50 a gallon. (YMMV - varies wildly with state and region)

 

I just had a client pull up in a 2008 Prius, lol. I showed them my 2019. All of us are happy with the fuel savings. He bought his for $1,400(!).