Have you seen any Gen III's on the road?

My car pool'er (he has an '08) and I see different Gen III's prettyk regularly in so.Cal. But up here in NW Montana? First time today. Mind you, other then the package V that we let go of (and our dealer told us it was sold the same day we let it go) months ago, the dealer only received 3 others. They sold fast too. Today I saw one of the other 3 Gen III sold by Kalispell Toyota ... sitting in the Home Depot parking lot:




"she who must be obeyed" was yammering on the phone, so it gave me the chance to snap a quick picture. It was silver ... package III, I think.

 

I finally saw the first one but it wasn't near home, in MI. It was parked at Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio.

 

I've seen a couple, both winter gray metallic just like mine. One belongs to a colleague at work who, coincidentally, also had a blue 2001 1st Gen that was identical to my wife's! I saw the other one yesterday in the Trader Joe's parking lot in Hanover, MA. An elderly couple was getting into it. As I walked past them I complimented them on their excellent taste in cars and pointed to mine. The old guy jokingly called me a 'scoundrel' - it was cute!

 

Identifying the GenIII on the fly is not always easy.

Perhaps others have found additional "easy" distinctives, but here's what I find:

1. Head-on view. The GenII has fog lamps nestled in next to the lower grill. The GenIII has the fog lamps and parking lights together and separated from the grill. This is a very easy "spot."
2. Rear-view. The spoiler is the quick clue for two reasons. The first is that the spoiler in the GenIII is a bit flatter than the GenII, which has a bit of an arch to it from side to side. The second is that the spoiler in the GenII is color-coded to the car. In the GenIII the spoiler is black. This is not a fail-safe method of detection, though, because the spoiler is black on GenII and GenIII black cars.
3. Rear quarter view. The GenIII has more distinctive lines in the body, and the side line merges in the back with the point where the spoiler and taillight merge. This is a difficult "spot" unless you are both traveling in the same direction.
4. Side view. There are two distinctives. The first and easiest is the antenna. The GenIII has a much shorter antenna than the GenII. The second distinctive is the raised line in the sheet metal. Perhaps a bit more difficult to see at speed, but noticeable when you become familiar with it.

 

Today, in a parking garage on Seattle's Capitol Hill, I found the undeclared 2010 Prius Parking Zone, a two-car bay. I parked my Classic Silver next to a Blue Medallion, which happened to have the same dealer frames, and even letters on the license plate.

When leaving three hours later, the blue had changed to Barcelona Red from a different dealer.

Total Gen3 count for the day was 5. And one new Insight.

Tuesday on the highway, was a brief Hybrid Showcase. Myself included, 5 of 6 consecutive cars were different hybrids -- new Prius, Insight-II, Iconic Prius, Camry Hybrid, and Malibu Hybrid. This was my very first sighting of the Chevy, but would have preferred spotting another real hybrid such as a Fusion.

 

OK. Maybe this is getting to be old hat, but yesterday's sight was one in a million (well, maybe not QUITE that high).

I was at the old courthouse in Geneva, Illinois, and I saw my very first Prius IV with the Solar Roof. Blizzard Pearl and very attractive. We have lots of IIIs and IVs here, but I've never seen one with the Solar Roof (in the wild, that is). I was hoping to spot the owner, but I had to leave. As I pulled out of the parking lot and headed north, I had driven only one half of a block when I spotted the first car's twin. A IV with Solar -- in Blizzard Pearl!!

The only difference I could see was that the second one had specialty license plates (supporting a favorite sports team or university).

 

I finally saw one of the Sandy Beach ones today...it pulled up next to me on the road getting out of my neighborhood. Now I've managed to see all the colors at least once. Last week, I saw three different ones on my trip home (before I'd gotten mine).

From the front and rear, I look for the blue tints in the Toyota insignia. That's a clear signal that it's a genIII.

 

I saw my first Insight in my area this past weekend but still not a single Gen III here in SE MI.

 

I finally saw more in NY. I saw a blizzard pearl as I was zipping by, it was at the stop light. I also saw a barcelona red in Manhattan. I can only see the blue badge, other than that, I didn't know what they were- I know they didn't have solar.

 

Finally - they've started to multiply in my area! Driving back from VT (me on Rte 2 east bound) at the light for the bridge to Turners Falls was another Winter Grey 2010. Yesterday was a bonanza - in a 3 mile loop I saw a silver, blue, and red 2010 - plus 6 other Gen II's. Amazing.

 

Don't think I've seen any 2010s yet in the wild. I do notice Prii in general more now of course. The other day I had occasion to go to two different shopping centers containing Whole Foods stores and saw quite a few. Seems like there, Trader Joe's, etc. are good places to spot 'em - I too joked about parking in the Prius parking area.

 

Before I got my Prius I saw a "very small number" of Priis on the road. Now that I have one, I see at least 2 a day. But of all the Priis that I am now noticing, most of them are Gen II's. I think I saw a Black Gen III last night when I went to Culver's.

 

Where I park, at Grosvener-Strathmore Metro station, there are at least 4 other Gen III Prii. Two are winter grey, just like mine, one is red, and the other one I think is silver (I can't quite tell because of the lighting). However, none of them have the solar roof.

Strangely enough, I am noticing more Gen I Prii than ever before. I don't know why this is. I noticed very few when I was driving my Gen II.

 

In my drive today from Saratoga Springs NY (yes--saw the spectacular Rachel Alexandra win yet another race against the boys), I saw no fewer than 4 on the road. This is quite a change from only a few weeks ago, when there were virtually none on the road to be seen. The numbers on the road are finally becoming a critical mass. However they are scarcer than hens teeth in dealers lots here in the Northeast. I guess we have Cash for Clunkers to blame for that.

In about a week, I hope to add another one to the road myself.

 

I saw one today in the parking lot at my local Starbucks. My dealer says ours should arrive between the 15th and 18th. You'd never guess that I am anxious.....

 

You're anxious? Anxious is when you get Prius OCD and start tracking the ship that your car is on. Not only can you see the Prius Gen 3 on the road, but you can also track your own car as it makes its way slowly from Japan. Thanks to James Burke on the Car Carrier Tracking thread, I tracked the ship my car was on, and watched the ship make its way up the NJ coast and through NY harbor, all the way to the dock at Newark NJ. Truly amazing!!!

Find out what ship your car is on, and track it!

 

Saw my first on the road yesterday. It was in Oak Brook, IL and was a Blizzard Pearl V, then I noticed the plates and it was a TAXI!

 

I've only seen two gen 3's in the Toronto area. One is a dealer shuttle at Dufferin and Steeles, and the other is being test driven by a customer with the salesperson on board at Woodbine and Hwy 7. Still waiting to see one driven by an owner.

I see a gen 2 every other day or so. One gen 2 driver passed by me on the 407 (eastbound) and gave me a "v for victory" sign.

Update:

Saw three gen 3's today . The first is a blizzard pearl one going north on Woodbine from Steeles, the second is a black one turning left on Jane St towards Steeles (east bound), and the third is a blue one going eastbound on the 407. I tried to catch up to the blue one on the 407 and got a good look at the driver but he didn't notice me. The dealers must be working hard delivering cars today :rockon:.