Just Heard from My Local Dealer...

I just got a call on Friday 4/10 /. He told me to pick a package and a color and the car should be in by the end of May. Somebody seems to be misinformed. (I mean one of the dealers). I imagine for awhile we are going to hear conflicting info. In the mean time , I hope that late May is the correct time frame. PS- I was first on the waiting list. Are you on a waiting list? If so, it would depend on where you are on that list.

 

I think it has to do with where you live. My dealer said they anticipate arrival of the first 2010s in June.

 

I never go by what a dealer said, just a couple of days ago (about a week), I go to a ford dealership to see if they got a fusion hybrid in, 3 different salesmen told me that it would be like 2 months before they came in, I left my name & number and behold I get a call 2 days ago saying they got the hybrid in. so take what a dealer says with a grain of salt.

 

Yes in the beginning it's very much a regional situation dictated by logistics. The WC will likely seem the new vehicles first. Then some days or weeks later the Mid Atlantic, then probably the Gulf area and then the MidWest ( railed in from Portland, OR I believe ).

It all depends. Patience.

 

There will be regional variation of up to a month. Most of the country SHOULD see units arrive between third week of May and second week of June.

And don't think there will be rhyme or reason to where they show up first. For completely boring logistics reasons, it's very possible someone in the middle of Kansas may be the very first owner!

Doug Coleman
Prius Product Manager
Toyota Motor Sales, USA

 

How about us Canadians? Are we going to be a month behind the US release date as Honda has done with the Insight? My dealer is telling me I won't see my Prius until June. Either way, I'm glad I live in Vancouver as we're the closest to Japan in Canada, first dibs!

 

Thanks for the info! Now if you could only tell us the price, I promise not to annoy you anymore. ( Well almost anymore)

 

Castle Toyota of Laurel MD had one in the front row of cars. $32k.
It didn't say sold on it!
Also had a new 2010 Mustang. First time either of the 2010's.

 

32k?!!! OUCH!!!
Guess someone wants to pay to say "I got it first!!"
I'm willing to give up the "Safety Connect" which won't be in the first set of 2010s but no way would I pay that inflated of a price! Geesh!

 

I believe he was talking about the FFH, not the 2010 Hybrid, Lauren. In the same breath, though, I hazard to say that some of the first of the 2010s (of the Prius variety, I mean, not Fusion Hybrid) also may be in the same price range. These would be the fully-loaded IVs and Vs.

 

Fully-loaded with tech system or solar roof makes sense.
And I misread his post and was thinking Honda Insight. Don't know why. Ford Fusion hy wouldn't be overpriced then. My bad!

 

Is time frame the same for Prius connection priority orders? (I'd bet money on it, but I can dream, can't I? )

Thanks,
Dave

 

Just out of interest, how many 2010 prius cars will be transported on the first container ship to arrive on the U.S. West Coast? Is one ship dedicated to Prius cars only? Or do they contain a mix of various manufacturers vehicles?

 

Generally, as the shipping containers (full of Prius, insights, or new TVs) arrive at the docks, their longshoremen (dock workers) and their software do a remarkable job of load balancing the entire ship with all sorts of various loads. Even if they ship 4,000 Prius all the same day, in 400 different containers (not sure how many fit per container), they will squeeze them in between the other containers in order to ensure a weight balanced load on the ship. Some of those may wait for the next ship, as there are several LARGE (some hold as many as 15,000 containers at once) leaving per day from the largest docks. So no - No ship will be dedicated to our Prius Only... (I wish).

If you have ever seen the loading / unloading process, it is amazing that all the cargo makes it to the right locations. They are usually moving cargo with several cranes at once, and never fully empty the ship. They move some off, place more on, and re-balance the rest each time they leave port. Some ports will take more than others.

I do not think that Toyota (or other car makers) have their own ships to facilitate this. But I could be wrong.

 

Cars shipped from manufacturers' factories are transported on RORO (roll-on/roll-off) ships, meaning the cars are driven on and off--so there are no containers (which would only hold a few cars each and be very inefficient).

Am I missing something?