Just got off the phone with my dealer (Virginia Beach, VA) He let me know that my wait time is going to go up In April he said that Toyota was making 80% of all cars with package #9 In May, he said that the EPA got involved, and made Toyota cut the #9 production to 39% So... my wait time goes up.... great (not) What does the EPA have to do with anything? Chris
You got me man. If that's true, (I can't see how). I wonder what is environmentally dangerous about a Prius? :Wth:
That makes absolutely no sense to me. Absolutely none. What would the EPA have to do with which type of package is made?
I could possibly believe that some group out there was giving toyota a hard time to make more of the lower end vehicles so people were not forced to buy the high end model, if they wanted a Prius. Maybe a consumer group, but not the EPA. A fair practices group, maybe. shona
I could believe it if it was the FTC or something like that, rather than the EPA. Has your salesperson undergone a recent IQ test? When I bought, I was shown specific figures on how many units Toyota would be making available this year, before I made my purchase decision. It's possible that Toyota was prevented from deviating sharply from those promised numbers, effectively harming people who relied on them when choosing to buy a particular non-BC Prius.
It's possible, but basically, anyone that doesn't like it could get another car from any number of auto makers (leaving more for me - tee hee hee). They don't even have a monopoly on hybrids. If they wanted to make nothing but #9's until they had them sitting on the lot it might not be nice, but its certainly not illegal. Did I mention that I'm waiting for a #9? 8)
The dealer seemed very knowledgeable Definately said EPA, not FTC A different dealer told be last month that the #9s account for 80% so I have had that from two sources Only this one dealer today though told me about a drop in production for #9s Chris
:crazyeyes: :Wth: :cussing: Ok, I've got to put in my 2 cents. Why may I ask, that everytime that a representative for a Dealer speaks it becomes Gospel? I'am going to make it short. The EPA does not tell Toyota that it can't make cars! Here is the clue: When they (Dealer representative/s) start telling you that there is a shortage because of something else other than simple demand for the car its :cussing: BS! And I'm not saying that all Dealer representatives are this way! My last word is this, Remember that Toyota is making PRII (not just the USA) from one assembly plant. It would be nice if the USA were the only ones getting these cars then the shortage wouldn't be so bad. :computer: :clap: :wave: Sorry to be on my soapbox today!
I'll tell you what it sounds like - a dealer's piss-poor excuse for why their allottment went down one month compared to the past month's for the same package.
gee, i wonder... actually, i just clicked on the 'view more emoticons' link and saw where all the rest of them come from... quite a collection
jasond wrote: So, how exactly did you earn that "Emoticon abuser" tag? :roll: :roll: :multi: :evillaugh: :lolup: Oh come on do ya really need to ask something so obvious :?: It's like asking when your car will be here :!: :lol: :computer: :wave:
You know, after being on the internet for over 20 years, I've always been impressed with how information can become garbled -- or simply spun out of thin air. However, hats off to (some) Toyota dealers and their "grapevine" -- they're pushing the envelope to new heights. The EPA? Gee, why not the Treasury Department or the Secret Service?
The EPA limits many things. They limit the HID headlamps, the side airbags, the side/curtain airbags, and NAV systems etc ... I guess we could all sit here and wonder why or just accept that it's true -- which it is -- or Toyota's be producing 100% NAV cars. That's the largest demand. Dianne
It may be due to a paperwork conflict. During EPA certification, the manufacturer has to project what quantity of vehicle types are delivered per model to satisfy the CAFE standard. While there is probably no mileage difference between the nine Prius models, the reported production of 80% No. 9 may have skewed the paperwork enough to suggest TILT to the bureaucrats. Don't know for sure, but it seems that the EPA is likely to have such roadblocks in place to catch routine manufacturer chicanery which is ussually associated with relatively poor efficiency vehicles. Alas, the poor Prius may have rolled into this morass (dragging me along with it...).
I can see maybe limiting the HID for Mercury (which is the reason that's always given). I've also heard they limit the NAV for Mercury, which doesn't make sense to me, because the screen is there regardless of whether the Nav Box is or isn't. But the Airbags really puzzle me. Do they limit the number of Domestic cars that can have side airbags? What about cars that have them standard? That one really seems like a terrible example of beaurocracy gone wrong, to limit a major safety feature. Maybe we can arrange a Steel Cage Death Match between the EPA and the NHTSA to resolve it. I'd watch on Pay Per View and they could recoup some costs.
I believe it's the HID mercury, the NAV (all cars have screens, but the NAV has a gyroscopic deal which may be based on mercury movement?). I'm not sure what else would require protections.
Hmm, did a little searching on HID Headlights and Mercury First, there's a Minnesota Report http://www.moea.state.mn.us/publications/p...ation2002-3.pdf It mentions Mercury in HID and NAV Displays. Interesting Points, if you look at the sources of Mercury, Coal is by far number one. Flourescent Lights alone account for 1% HIDs and NAV aren't big enough to make the pie chart. But, this one from Georgia really caught my eye http://www.ganet.org/dnr/p2ad/mercury.html A note on fluorescent and HID lights Even though these lights contain mercury, the energy savings they deliver over incandescent bulbs saves tons of mercury air pollution that would be released from coal in coal burning power plants. Buying them is a good thing; just purchase lamps with green caps (indicating low-mercury) if possible and recycle the light at the end of its useful life. Another with the same opinion http://www.pprc.org/pprc/pubs/newslets/news0303.html Just be sure to recycle