I was looking for a base plug-in in L.A. and have been trying to find incentives and cash back, To see if I can get out the door for around 30,000 or 31,000. The best price I've found here is 31,300, as well. (plus taxes, reg. and fees) I think NY and MA maybe still have generous $5,000 - 6,500 factory cash backs, but I'm not finding anything like that out here. I guess you can buyit there and have it sent out or drive across country, if that works for you. I think I may just wait patiently the next few months to a year, and see if they have some great incentive again at the end of the year, like I have heard there was in November in CA... $5,000 factory cash back. If that doesn't pan out, can anyone weigh in on this? If I get a regular Prius for now and save up for a plug in conversion in 2 years, would that work? I know I lose the rebates/incentives (although maybe they help with the kits), but I can afford a regular Prius now, help the environment and gas economy, and then in two years convert to plug in when I can buy the kit. Any help thinking through it would be appreciated. Sending you peace.
Unless you are pretty savvy and handy with tools, I would forgo the idea of a kit. My thought would be to just buy a Prius now (they have a 0% financing) + pretty good prices. Save your money and see what's out there in 2 years. I don't know what your driving now but I'll give you the example of my experience. I went from a V6 Solara convertible to the Prius two years ago. I'm averaging 45mpg with the Prius versus 20 mpg with the Solara. Figuring $4 gas (I'm in California) and having driven 28,000 miles I've saved a little over 3 thousand dollars so far......hope this helps in your decision making.
First, I don't believe an individual is going to be able to do the conversion than Toyota can build it. They buy wholesale. You pay retail. Historically, the conversion's battery pack doesn't have the same functionality as the OEM in that it does not recharge from the ICE. Second, be careful of the fine print in the regional offers. "Must be a resident of the region" may be lurking. Third, if your goal is to save money, do the math. A couple thousand dollars buys an awful lot of gas.
Do not buy a regular Prius thinking you will put a conversion kit in later! Dollar wise it does not make sense. Save up for a Plug-in Prius.
I don't know is any of the conversion companies are still in business or if a Gen III kit was ever marketed.
why not buy a used prius now, and when you can afford it, buy a pip and sell the old one? that way, you won't take the big hit of depreciation on a car that's only a few years old.
See the thread Price Paid on PiP We've had quite a few people buy cars on East coast and ship or drive to CA or other states. Best deal was somewhere around $25.5K before credits and before taxes and fees (2012 model). Best deals tend to be towards 4th quarter, but who knows if this year will be the same as last year.
There is also the factory warranty to consider when modifying the car- some coverage might be compromised.
Aftermarket plug in conversion kits for the Prius is not mature enough yet. There are only a handful of success stories. Your best bet is to come back in September and ask your question again. That's when the crazy rebates for the PiP appeared last year. It's anybody's guess whether it comes back but judging by the increased competiton by BEV's I think the rebates that brought a base PiP into my garage for the price of a Prius Three will be back. And I didn't have to go to the east coast to get it.
BISCO is right, for example, you could buy my 2012 Advanced 1 year old PiP with 11,300 miles on it for less than your new Base PiP I have a post in the for sale section, was asking $27-28K, but I am open to offers. I have moved on to a Tesla Model S. the Advanced model has the heads up display, leather seats, larger navigation screen, remote access via entune etc.
