Prius I, and Other News

Quite possibly...All the added features of the II vs the I also give value to the cost difference.

I really think it is important to look to see if the dealer cost is changing. If they are not, I'd try my best to not let these MSRP increases change what I pay..

"Toyota dealers at a meeting with Toyota executives in Las Vegas this week were told that the automaker would adjust pricing on new Toyota models by widening dealer margins to give sales representatives more leeway to close deals with car shoppers.....By widening that dealer profit margin, Toyota is giving its dealers a better return on new car sales and making it easier for them to offer car shoppers a higher price on a used-car trade-in, dealers who attended the meeting said. The changes to the vehicle pricing will vary model-by-model, dealers said."

from: Toyota plans marketing blitz to reverse U.S. slide | Reuters

 

I'm very happy that I used C4C and didn't wait on a I. All the deleted stuff is easily worth $1000 to me. Heck, I'd probably pay $1000 just for smart key/cruise/rear speakers/wiper/tonneau cover.

 

I have to say, this is incredibly stupid of Toyota. It may not tip me in the direction of the Insight (I haven't driven it yet, but I don't know that it's lower quality interior could be put up with for the long term) but it may tip me toward other non-Toyota cars, or just not buying anything at all. It may "only" be $400, but it's $400 on top of the other $450 for the useless USB/safety connect I don't want or need, making that $850 of extra price I don't want to pay. I'm looking to SAVE money here with the Prius, not spend MORE! Man, add in the ridiculous, expensive fiasco that are the oil changes, and the Prius starts to look pretty unattractive. This is not good.

 

I think to be fair to Toyota you have to admit that across the entire spectrum of potential Prius buyers there are people at every price point where, if you add ~$400 that will be the last straw. If this $400 increase is your last straw, then that is (maybe sadly) too bad for you and maybe for Toyota.

But as a car maker that is trying to not become the next GM it is good for Toyota to try and find how far they can raise they price and net the most profit based on margins times the sales volume.
Based on the fact that overall car sales are way down year over year and yet the Prius is selling so well, and especially that so many are willing to pay for lots of expensive and almost frivolous options... I'd say that raising the price is a good move for Toyota and their shareholders. Not good for consumers, especially those that want specific colors in low end packages.

I'm not saying this because I've got mine and who cares about anyone else. Some of us bought earlier and took a risk as well. For example 6-12 months after introduction who knows whether demand could be low and dealers would start having them pile up and $500-$1000 discounts might have been common. Or the opposite. In any case, buying a new car is a big deal.

3PriusMike

 

Actually all of that makes sense to me if they're going to sell mostly to fleets.

If by fleets you mean rental car companies, then no touch tracer and no EV makes sense. People who don't know how EV works will get worse gas mileage by trying to use it, and I think those touch tracer pads are too sensitive to put up with rental car nonsense.

If by fleets you mean governments, it makes sense to take out rear-seat options, as a lot of pool cars are driven by a single driver.

However, I don't see where it makes sense to provide it in grey only. For cities and counties, the most popular color for pool cars is white. Perhaps the Prius Team will consider a fleet-only non-metallic white option.

 

The interior is Dark Gray only. No word on exterior. I would assume that a fleet could order any color it wants.

 

That makes a little more sense, thanks. I do think that Toyota would be wise to include a flat-white option (as opposed to the pearl paint) for Prius I.

 

A while back, in another post, I gave my opinion that Toyota is the new GM. The Prius packages are full of manipulative marketing such as requiring nav to get a backup camera while in Canada the do not. There are many other examples. To me, they have become arrogant.

Of course, there is no car yet that truly competes with the Prius, so they can get away with it. For now.

I have no problem with their raising the base price. My guess is that they initially priced it lower than they wanted to because they were afraid of competition from the Insight which has turned out to not be taking many sales away from Prius.

 

They are not going after car rental sales if they took off Cruise Control.

 

Rumor has it that to save more (translate to more profit) Toyota may remove the brakes and the "s" in Prius to save even more. Cut me a break, all I can say is How cheap can you get?

 

Toyota has ALWAYS packaged pricing like this...this is nothing new. As a corporate policy they just don't like stand alone options, its not efficient.

Its a fleet car, what do you expect and why do you even care? Its the same as them selling Chevy vans with no interior trim or windows.

 

So are we repeating history. The original 2004 Gen II in it's most basic model had no rear wiper and no side air bags. The next year the rear wiper was on all models and the next year after that side air bags were standard. So if you want a Prius I (if you could get one) but would like some things put back on, they will probably be there next model year.

Wayne

 

$400 more and we still don't know when to change the oil? I've been to four or five dealers and they don't know anything about the car. Before raising the price, how about knowing the product first?
I'm buying the car to save money on gas. The more they raise the cost the more I'll look at a regular car. If it goes high enough I'll buy a Ford Fusion Hybrid.

 

Dude...chill out LOL. $400 is a very common mid-model year price increase.

As far as dealers...the dealers are all independently owned. When do you change the oil? Every 5,000 miles just like any other Toyota product. The car comes with a very complete maintenance schedule...again...like every other Toyota product.

If you are just buying the Prius to save money...don't buy a Prius. Go buy a Toyota Yaris or something like that.

 

Do you know if there will be a similar price increase in Canada?

 

Bingo. It seems some of the complainers haven't been paying attention to the exchange rate of the Yen vs. the dollar.

Here are some news stories on this for example:
Why the Yen Is Killing Japan Inc. - TIME
Japan exporter shares skid as yen surges - MarketWatch

Go to USD/JPY Currency Conversion Chart - Yahoo! Finance and click on Max to see where the Yen's been vs. now.

But yes, I'd imagine part of it that the Insight has turned to be very little of a threat despite it having a lower price. The Prius is decimating the Insight + HCH combined in US sales.

 

Fleet vehicles without the desireable "consumer" features will make these "fleet" vehicles be much less of a used-market impact (in 2 or so years) on the new-Prius consumer sales.

 

This helped us make a buy decision.

The 16 user reports of Insight mileage are coming in at 50-51 MPG, a good 5 MPG higher than the Honda Civic hybrid. Curiously, the diesel advocates at Edmunds are still trying to gain traction in the Prius forums ... strange OCD.

Bob Wilson