Prius Prime Death Spiral?

Remember, the Prime doesn't have Lane Keep Assist either, it has Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist, which by all reports is NOT the same thing at all. In fact, at least one person is complaining rather bitterly about that difference since he says LKA is way better.

 

I found the steering assist interesting but nothing to shout about. On a no traffic, two lane road, just finger tips, it swerved too much headed to the opposite side of the lane. A proper assist would "S" to the center of the lane.

Bob Wilson

 

I have a Plus, the basic model. My car appears to have all three. So it's standard on the Prime. As Lee Jay said the lane assist is a alert. I like it.

 

I can't tell by looking at the VIN per se. I can tell by running it thru my system to check options.

 

Are U.S. dealers dropping their Prime prices much from MSRP?

 

Are U.S. dealers dropping their Prime prices much from MSRP?[/QUOTE]

Doubtful since they can't keep enough in stock to meet demand...With tax incentives the cheapest one, Prius Prime Plus, runs $22,000, (or less if you have state incentives) cheaper than a regular Prius, with more features...it's cheaper than many used 2015 Prius Plug-ins, with more features....and much better specs...

 

i just got a quote on an advanced. $500. discount and $1,500. toy rebate. i could probably work him a bit.

 

There is a wide range of price difference from MSRP. The dealer in Oakbrook IL marked their first Prime Plus up around 9800 above MSRP and the 2nd Prime an advanced was marked up a little over 9100 over MSRP. I bought my Prime Plus in MD and got a 978 discount below MSRP plus a 1000 Toyota rebate. I believe some people did better than me. It depends on state tax credits also. CA has some so their cars are going for around MSRP as far as I know since the extra state incentive drives more demand for the Prime.

 

The Oakbrook dealer reduced that 44K price for their Advanced just the other day, but holy smokes, they've got balls to price it at that. That said, they ARE in Oakbrook-ish, and can get the price they are asking, because some shoppers don't care about price at all, it seems. They sold the Plus a few weeks back at 9875 over list in just a week. Someone on the forum paid something just shy of that price for that actual car. They'll sell the red Advanced too. Just simply looks arrogant in my eyes from a prospective shopper's point of view. I wonder if Toyota or the @Prius Team care about such things?

I've got a hook on one in another state, and would be happy to pay the 33,100 at this point, because the Chicago area stealerships are just insane. If they all take their cues from Oakbrook, the Chi area group will look like thieves. And my local dealer where I bought my GenIII from still doesn't want to stock them, much less take a deposit for an order.

 

Yes to the west of Oakbrook Toyota on the same Ogden Ave. are many high end dealerships: Mercedes, Porsche, Lotus, Aston Martin, Lamborgini, etc so a $9,+++ marked up Prime is very cheap in that neighborhood.

The general manager said that a person could order a Prime at MSRP, when I asked, but he could not guarantee when it would arrive, he guessed 7 months or longer and he could not guarantee if the price would change or what the rebate would be at the time of delivery, if any. He told me a regular Prius is cheaper, even with the $4502 Fed tax credit, he said do the math.

Without my questioning his huge markup, he voluntarily justified it by saying he had to pay the dealer in NY a premium to get the Prime, plus he had to pay to transport it.

I just smiled inside knowing first hand how cheap Primes can go for in MD if a person from the Midwest is just willing to take a one way plane ride and drive back thru some pretty mountains on the return trip in their new Prime !!!

 

Same exact story here in South Carolina. I went ahead and ordered it though, the Prime was just too far ahead in what I wanted -- I just hope it's at least as comfortable to drive as my 2010 Prius 5. If I don't like it, I guess I'll just have to try and sell it.

 

I hope mine finally arrives soon... Their original best guess was early March (ordered in mid-January). I'm guessing it'll take another month -- mid-April or so.

Ah, I guess I won't complain too much; it's not super-critical that we get it right away, and maybe in the meantime they'll fix up some of the annoying bugs we've heard about on this forum!


iPhone ? Pro

 

Yeah, the wait's a killer, but like you said, it might be for the best. I just ordered today, so I have a LONG wait!

 

what say you, mitch? death spiral?

 

I haven't had a 3rd gen model 5 but I have owned a 2010 and 2015 Model 2 Prius' and I think you will be very pleased with the comfort and for many other reasons of the Prime overall as compared to the 2010.

 

I was told yesterday, in my area of Florida, that you have to put down a on-refundable deposit and order the vehicle---one dealer actually PAID for one--and they sold it right away--duhhh--it helps to test drive the car!

 

a lot of people are flying to the northeast, getting $4-5,000. off, and driving home.

 

Ha! Makes sense to me!

 

"a lot of people are flying to the northeast, getting $4-5,000. off, and driving home"

Yes, I was one of them that got more than $5000 off from MSRP

 

VERY cool!