Toyota dealers in the southeast US not selling Primes

I don't know why, but I can verify what you said. It's all Southeast Toyota. I was able to order my Prime, but it took months and I had to pay full MSRP for it. Toyota gives far too much power to the regional distributors on what they stock.

 

My experience in TN was the same with dealership pricing at MSRP. My sense is supply and demand, but perhaps more so Toyota financially supporting sales in CARB states and the current lower price of gas. I got ~$5k off a 2018 Prime purchased in MD ($1,500 of it from Toyota), but was told when gas was $$/gal, the same dealership was able to sell them at MSRP (supply/demand).

 

southeast toyota has special dispensation, going way back in time. toyota corporate cannot regulate them as much as most other dealers. they made a deal with the devil when the toyota brand was unknown.

lost sales are of no consequence to either entity. toyota is selling as many as they care to, and southeast is making a fortune on suv's and trucks, while not having to invest in training and equipment for prime.

 

Southeast Toyota is a drag on USA Toyota and . . . (I would have to use bad language.)

Bob Wilson

 

Southeast Toyota is an independently owned distributor that has chosen not to sell the Prime.
Toyota controls most all of the other US distributors,

 

hawaii is another, i would never go there to buy a car.

 

Toyota actually has 13 Regions that cover the U.S. They are all independent of Toyota, setting their own sales and rules within the confines of law and Toyota mandate. 12 shown are here, but add Hawaii.

 

yes, but southeast and hawaii are a different animal.

 

They are all different. You should see the push back some Regions are giving on the recent T-SB's for 2016-2018 Tacoma.

 

JM Family Enterprises is parent company of Southeast Toyota Distributors, and they have a Facebook page too.

Wiki entry on Jim Moran - check quote where he asked in 1968 "what's a Toyota?"

 

I suspect the old man would have driven a Prime and they would have been in every dealership.

Bob Wilson

 

I think the big reason is the Prime with 25-30 EV only miles isn't ideal for SE. I live in Charlotte and the city is so spread out, and there are long commutes...same as many other SE cities like Atlanta, Raleigh Jacksonville, etc. So they are not going to do any sort of volume...why jam up lots when they can sell mammoth SUV's?!

Then there is the fact there are no local incentives in NC or most of the SE. Calif and NY/NJ have tax credits and HOV decals to incentivize EV/PHEV usage. Down here, nothing. Legally I can drive my PHEV alone in a HOV lane in NC but I doubt the NCHP knows that, so I don't try! But in Calif you can breeze along the HOV lane laughing at all the slow pokes in the regular lanes!

I was lucky as I was going north for a spring road trip, so I arranged to buy one at Carmax in Laurel, MD. (Highly recommend). So I flew to BWI and picked up the car and went on my road trip. Saved a lot and had much better choice of vehicle.

So bottom line is the Prime doesn't sell as well down here as many other parts of the US, so they just don't try too hard.

"Why aren't Toyota dealers in the southeast US selling Prius Primes? I had to go from Florida to Virginia to purchase one. Our local Toyota dealer in Tallahassee said they could order one, but then never returned the phone call. Same experience has happened to others who have tried to buy one locally. A search online found no new Prius Primes at any Florida dealerships, only one Prime on a lot in Atlanta, and only 2 Primes in North Carolina. What's the reason and does this get resolved? Many lost sales opportunities here."

 

Or they aren't selling well because try aren't trying.

 

trying would help, but that would be work, compared to a tundra or land cruiser. and less profit on top of it all.

 

Especially service profit, where the real money is made.

 

Well, Toyota could have been like Ford, who is discontinuing all vehicles smaller than crossovers in the US market. The money is in the monster trucks.

 

It isn't the big trucks, it is the small SUV, the Rav4 and the like, segment that has been growing.

 

I would not say SE distributorship is all bad. When the 2nd gen Prius was available, the SE distributed the only leather seat option
Priuses in the country. I know because my 2005 had leather seats. The local dealer near me has had Prius Primes, but they do not stay on the lot long. A month ago he had 3, this week, a different one, one white advanced. I have seen them on other NC dealer lots, but typically its the bigger dealers and only 1 or 2 at a time.

 

That’s not quite correct: only Gulf States Toyota, Southeast Toyota, and Servco Pacific (in Hawaii) are independent distributors; Servco Pacific also owns and operates the retail dealerships in its territory.

In the other U.S. states, the distributor is Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., which is owned and controlled by Toyota Motor Corporation, the parent company in Japan. The managers in these regions may be granted latitude in some matters, but they still answer to the corporate offices in Plano and Toyota City.

I can only speculate whether the absence of the Prius Prime from inventory in Southeast Toyota’s sales region was a unilateral business decision or one mutually agreed with Toyota, but it’s a fact of life for now.