Prius shortage - want another one

While this is bad news for individuals looking to buy a Prius now, I think it's great news for the consumer in general. This level of demand cannot go unnoticed by auto companies. The mid-to-long term upshot is that more and better hybrids will be available, likely pushing us closer to affordable 100 mpg cars.

 

I too got a really good deal on my prius, i bought mine about two months ago.

good luck on your search, i would HIGHLY recommend that you buy a TOURING version. I wish i would have done that.

cheers

 

Somewhere nearer than Florida. Koons Toyota in Vienna Va is one of the largest Prius suppliers on the east coast. I would think you could give them a call. I bought my wife"s Prius there but did an impulse buy on mine at a dealer in Maryland. Good luck and keep the wife happy. Twofer Hanover pa york county

 

Depending on how far you're willing to go, you could try some of the dealers in NJ. Unfortunately many of their websites don't allow you to search their new inventory, so it's not easy to find out if they have any ... and if they do, how many.

I have a list of pretty much every dealer in NJ (compiled from when I was shopping) that I could PM to you if you want to call around.

 

I was talking to the dealership yesterday and out of curiousity, asked what was going on with supply. The story I got was that Toyota was having problems keeping up with demand in the area of batteries. they did not own the company that produced them so they bought the company.
Apparently, to up demand they are retooling the factory which will restrict supply for the next 6-9 months.
Take that for what it is, but I thought it was interesting.

 

There are lots in Northern California. they are everywhere.

 

Most dealers here on the west coast have any color/option on the lot for the std models, but they have a limited selection of the touring models.

 

Check here at P.C. under stuff for sale. There frequently seems to be several nice ones available.

 

Just bought mine,had to wait one week.
I went to dealer web site,picked the car I wanted.
Seems all dealers in my state have the same vehicles on line.
Also got about $1,500 web discount.

 

Maybe it was luck, but they couldn't find a standard Black Prius with dark leather, so I had to get the Touring edition. Since it wasn't what I wanted, they made up the difference in price and I ended up getting it below invoice less than 2 weeks ago.

Toyota Marin had over 50 Priuses in stock in a section of their lot called "Priusville." It seemed like everyone in there was buying a Prius that day. Definately no shortage of Priuses for us San Francisco liberals.

 

Bought mine here in Cleveland in late March. Showed up at the dealer at 8:30am on a Saturday (they open at 9:00). Crawled around the back lot where the cars that came off the truck the night before were delivered. Found three pkg #5 (what I wanted), picked the color I liked (Driftwood Pearl to hide the dirt), and when the dealership opened I told them that was the car I wanted. Since it had just been dropped off the night before it wasn't even in their system yet.

Since then, I've put on 5,500 miles on it at 50 mpg. And I'm smiling......

 

This is generally true. We had 50 available on the ground and enroute at the beginning of April...all but 2 were gone by this week. Those are now gone and all the rest are 2-5 weeks out into the future.

It's like it was in 2004 / 05 with orders being taken with a $500 deposit. A realistic leadtime except for a very very specific demand is 2-4 weeks. The OP is located in the upper NE corner of CAT. We are located in the southern-most tip of CAT. The smaller stores might actually have to wait 4-12 weeks for theirs.

 

Yesterday I got mine $500 under MSRP through the Costco program. However, the salesman said they (his dealership) were soon going to discontinue offering the Prius through that program. I was extremely blessed to get mine that way as it seems every other dealer in the state is selling at or above MSRP and some dealers that were offering a Prius through the Costco program opted out a while ago.

 

I signed today in Ottawa, Canada for $1k below MSRP. Should arrive from port of Vancouver in 12 days. Of course, things are different at different dealers and in different regions.

Thought I heard that last order date for 2008's in US was around now. Dealers here tell me they can still order for the next month or two.

Pricing and packages are rather different here though. MSRP for a base is $29,500 Canadian but I think the base here is at least somewhat like a touring (same tires, do not know about suspension) and is one of the package levels; don't know which one.

Me: I'm trying to beat the last minute rush for 2008s since tour Federal $2k rebate won't apply to 2009. My guess is the government figures gas costs are enough incentive now.

 

Check out Faulkner Toyota in Trevose. Volume dealer with large Prius allocations and a nothing-over-list-price policy. (Tell Patty Gene A. sent you.)

 

Purchased mine in mid March from a local dealer in town, State College, Pa. At that time there were about 8 on the lot with more coming in.. Now they have zero, nada and people are on a 2 to 3 month delivery cycle. They are selling Prius's without having any availabe for people to see. They are going FAST!!!

 

I'm happy I pulled the trigger in February when I was able to get my Package 6 for $150 over invoice.

 

I purchased mine last month Red Package #5 here in Minnesota. They had 30 or so to choose from. Now they are very low or out of stock. I was lucky.

 

Unfortunately for we hicks here in this part of Montana, there aren't any Prii to be had at any price, new or used, locally. Glad I got mine in December when they had a good selection.

Meanwhile, I would imagine that Toyota ships all San Francisco-bound Prii with the bisque interior to better hide the latte spills!!