I am seriously thinking about upgrading my 2017 Prius Prime Advanced with 13.2K miles to the 2021 RAV4 Prime. From what I have been reading online, it appears that Toyota is not very serious about producing more than a token number of these cars. For this year, they will only be shipping them to CARB states. I live in a CARB state, and I just contacted my local Toyota dealer. They say that they will not be getting any of them this year. Has anyone looked into this upgrade and gotten the same runaround?
Toyota Suspends Orders For RAV4 Prime Three Weeks After Launch If you want one, pre-order the next model year if you can. I'd rather wait until there's juicy discounts because they have too many on the lot. I was able to get my '19 Advanced for about $7k under MSRP before all the government credits/rebates (another $8.8k). It sounds like you don't drive that many miles though, might be cheaper to get a non-hybrid or get a lease. Charge!!!
some dealers are asking 10k over asking price. i suspect there will be a shortage for awhile. but if you like being the first in, i'm sure you'll find one somewhere
Before I would pay 10K over asking price, I would seriously consider a Tesla Model Y. They start about 10K over the price of the top model of the RAV4 Prime. When I was interested in the Prius Prime in early 2017, my local dealer told me the same story. They didn't have any and didn't expect to get any. Went online and found just the model and color I wanted at a dealer in Renton, about 50 miles away. They had trucked it in from Portland, Oregon for a customer who backed out on his deal.
So far, RAV4 Prime is similar to what Subaru Crosstrex PHV when they came out last year. A lot of talk, but no inventory. Yeah, when they are plentiful in a local lot, I will test drive and see what kind of deal I can get, but from the sticker price Toyota put on the RAV4 PRIME, I don't think it is going to be anywhere as economical as my $18K 2020 PRIME LE. I will wait bit longer.
Do you have to have it in the 2020 calendar year? Cause production will ramp up for next year (back to the original 20,000 units for US).
No, I can live very well without it this calendar year. They are giving me a lot of time to look at what else will be on the market by then. I just noticed that the 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV will be a similar vehicle coming out later this year. My goal is to thin the herd by replacing the Prime and a 4Runner with a single vehicle that does it all, including driving in snow.
The 2021 Outlander PHEV will get the upgrades that the rest of the world got for 2019. (More efficient 2.4 litre engine, tweaks to elec. motors and batteries). I think the full redesign is coming for 2022.
Washington was long merely a partial-CARB state, not full CARB. In another thread, we heard that the RAV4 Primes were initially going only to ZEV states. Washington became a ZEV state only last month. Specifically, June 11. Toyota USA's marketing department likely hasn't yet had time to catch up. Official RAV4 Prime Review Thread | Page 2 | PriusChat
Thanks for the link to the RAV4 Prime thread. If I had known it was there I wouldn't have started this one.
That's what I'm doing... if they don't come out with it soon then I'll be buying the Tesla Y. I have contacted my local guy and they said they would order the XSE with the Premium package for me. We shall see. My GF's lease on her Bolt is coming up in October. She bought the Prius Prime from me, so at that time I'll be without a car. (Not really, but I don't want my Tundra to be a daily driver again) I'm spoiled with Toyota for my lifetime. But I won't go back to an ICE vehicle. The Rav4 Prime would be ideal for me, but I won't wait till next year at this point. Then Tesla will get my money.
