The other day in SF, I noticed a pretty Spectra Blue Prius on 101, looked just like mine except it was much cleaner, and happened to have those little yellow HOV stickers on his bumpers. Hmm. Not five minutes later, I was right behind another very nice Prius, this one was Silver. Also had those little HOV stickers. Then I noticed his license plate # started with "6" ... :yo:
California HOV stickers for hyrbrids were no longer issued around the beginning of 2007. A Spectra Mica Blue Prius was first available on a 2008 model year prius, which came out well after Feb 2007 which is when all the stickers were allocated. A shiny prius with a license plate beginning with the number "6" would (likely) be a 2007-2008 issued plate. The 5 series plates came out in/around 2003 and were in the W's by Dec 2006 (6WLB123 for example). It would be mid to late 2007 when the plates "switched" to the 6 series. While the person MAY have had a plate replaced with a new plate (for instance, loss of a plate, replacement of a personalized plate, etc) there have been instances of people counterfeiting and doing other sorts of Fraud to get the HOV stickers. These stickers often add $2k or more to the sticker value of the car (especially in southern CA where the freeways are god awful crowded and the HOV lanes run 24/7). http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/0...tickers-left-for-hybrid-owners-in-california/
I think we can safely lump the whole Bay Area together here. You can't drive anywhere in the area without seeing multiple Prii. San Francisco for sure. I'd hazard to guess that there are more of them in SF than in Berkeley. But there are tons of them everywhere in the area.
It is possible that an older Prius that had been legitimately issued CA carpool stickers received 6xxxxxx license plates if the old plates were stolen or damaged.
Maybe the previous owner had some cutsy personalized plate and wanted to keep them, i.e., new owner got new plates. The possibilities are endless, including photoshopped stickers. Don't think about it too much, or you'll get a headache.
LOL...likely true....it seems like everytime I go home I see more and more, my parents tell me that the block they live on now has six.
There are so many Prii here in the SF Bay Area! One day, I had counted 123, but after that, I got tired of that . Not that uncommon to see alot of Prii, around here .
Well, I'll be up there tomorrow night around 4 until Sunday night. Goin up to see some friends at UC Berkeley and also because its my dad's alma mater so we're goin to the UCB UCLA game. If anyone sees a white Prius so clean you could eat off of it with a UC Berkeley and ASU sticker/license plate frame and a PriusclubSD sticker along with limo tinted windows and rear black bumper pad in the Oakland/Berkeley area that would be me.
In 2000 and 2001, I lived in the East Bay (Richmond) and worked in SF. I never saw a Prius, but wasn't really looking. In early 2002, I moved to Reno and bought a classic Prius. I was basically one of the first dozen people to buy one in Reno. (Presumably some people managed to get 2000s/2001s from other areas, but IIRC the sales guy said they got no 2000s, about 6 '01s, and "only a couple" '02s before I got my '02.) For the next few years it was like a little club. You'd occasionally see other Prius owners on the road or in parking lots, and you'd wave at each other. Then, after the 2nd gen, sales just exploded. Now I see them everywhere, and I do miss my Classic (heh, this as I literally today took delivery of my 3rd Prius, an '09). Anyway, I was in Berkeley late last year, and was just floored by the number of Prius sightings. I mean, there are a lot (and pretty visible) everywhere now, but this was ridiculus. Entire blocks of parking by the university would be filled with them. At one point I actually reverted back to "Classic" mode, where I only paid attention if it was a Classic Prius, since they've become "rare" again due to the limited numbers manufactured. Still, I saw 2 or 3, as opposed to the literally hundreds of 2nd gen Priuses I saw.
Is it possible the area is finally becoming "saturated"? I am looking for a Prius in Wisconsin and there have been 3 or 4 available on Craigslist for MSRP in SF the past week (even 1 touring package 6!). If I could get the price lower I'd consider shipping, but it's almost $1k to do so. I don't have enough vacation left to fly out and drive home, though that sounds like fun to me! Enjoy, Shana
It appears the "log jam" is ending in So. Cal. as well. Longo Toyota has 10+ on the lot per the web site. they used to have 70-90 this time last year. The charged MSRP even on waiting list.. Other dealers had them on the web site as well.................................l 10 year Batt guarantee on cars sold in Calif. Carl PS just checked Longo, they have 19 on site
Just last night,parked next to Peoples Park. Mine and 3 other 2nd gens on that side of the street and across were 2 2nd gens and 1 first gen. :rockon: Then again, i lost count at 15 while walking around, and that was pretty easy considering each one had its own assortment of bumper stickers to differentiate it. Cant wait to transfer up here.
The entire Bay Area is filthy with them Prius cars are every where. The other day I was driving through Crow Canyon Road and we were six in a row! I was number 4 in the parade. All but two had the HOV stickers.
He-he, what is Pistachio Metallic? Is this a new 2009 color? (I saw this on the Longo toyota website)
