Prius colors by city?

nylion · 09-29-2006, 08:26 AM

Ok, this is one of those off-the-wall sounding topics, but over the last 3 months we seem to have made a disturbing discovery. It all started during the long wait for my Prius (Package 8, magnetic grey). In my area (Westchester county, NY) my wife and I became more aware of other prrius's on the road. Very surprisingly, over 75% were silver. The remaining balance were blue, one or two red, and a few that strange green. Initially we chalked it off to people liking silver better and figured Toyota made a lot more silver cars.

However, I took a trip to Boston and in that area my unscientific survey revealed about 75% blue Prius. (hum the Twilight Zone theme here). A few weeks later, we drove to Washington DC where abut 75% were red!

Since the cars are on allocation, and in many cases dealers get what they are given, could there be somone at the port saying, "send the silver ones to New York, the red ones to DC, and the blue to New England"?

I know this seems unbelievable, but that's the pattern we observed. We have only seen one other magnetic grey Prius other than ours (and it was in Connecticut). I got my car because the regional office found the one I wanted and gave it to my dealer to help him out (they accidently sold the allocated car I was promised to someone else).

Normally, I would attribute color preference to area taste...it is possible, I suppose for people to be regionally divided in car color preference, though I haven't observed it in other brands and Toyota models. Sometimes a dealer can do this. I bought a Mitsubishi Eclipse a few years ago from a dealer who stocked 7over 50% red cars -- I love bright red so it worked well for me-- and it could be assumed that what I obeserved could be attributed to dealer preference. However, the two Toyota dealers in my area do not show this preference if you look at their inventory of other models.

Has anyone else noticed this?

Bob

Michgal007 · 09-29-2006, 08:56 AM

I live in Ann Arbor, MI and I see all Prius colors here. Only yeterday I saw the first black Pri besides mine. Mag gray is a new color, so that's probably why they aren't around that much. I ordered a gray as well, but the black was available 2 months prior to my delivery, so I got it.

If you come to Ann Arbor, you can see the whole spectrum

Skwyre7 · 09-29-2006, 09:45 AM

I do see a lot of Seaside Pearls in the Richmond area. I wouldn't say it was the dominant color though. It's probably an almost even mix (except for the new 2006 colors). Seaside, silver, Driftwood, Salsa, Black, Barcelona, White, Pine Mica, Mag Grey would be my guess for colors in order of prevalence.

galaxee · 09-29-2006, 10:46 AM

there's more demand for silver vehicles, so a large percentage of them are painted silver.

what you saw isn't really a representative population in each city so you can't really base much of a conclusion on that.

Rancid13 · 09-29-2006, 11:00 AM

Like galaxee said, there are more silver Priuses made, so we see tend to more of them on the road. I think the 2nd most manufactured color is the Seaside Pearl.

sl7vk · 09-29-2006, 11:27 AM

Salt Lake City seems to be getting an unusual amount of Magnetic Gray's since they became available......

09-29-2006, 08:26 AM	#1
nylion Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Seattle WA Posts: 145 My Car: 2010 Prius Model: V Package: Adv. Technology Thanks: 4 Thanked 30 Times in 14 Posts Friends: 0	Ok, this is one of those off-the-wall sounding topics, but over the last 3 months we seem to have made a disturbing discovery. It all started during the long wait for my Prius (Package 8, magnetic grey). In my area (Westchester county, NY) my wife and I became more aware of other prrius's on the road. Very surprisingly, over 75% were silver. The remaining balance were blue, one or two red, and a few that strange green. Initially we chalked it off to people liking silver better and figured Toyota made a lot more silver cars. However, I took a trip to Boston and in that area my unscientific survey revealed about 75% blue Prius. (hum the Twilight Zone theme here). A few weeks later, we drove to Washington DC where abut 75% were red! Since the cars are on allocation, and in many cases dealers get what they are given, could there be somone at the port saying, "send the silver ones to New York, the red ones to DC, and the blue to New England"? I know this seems unbelievable, but that's the pattern we observed. We have only seen one other magnetic grey Prius other than ours (and it was in Connecticut). I got my car because the regional office found the one I wanted and gave it to my dealer to help him out (they accidently sold the allocated car I was promised to someone else). Normally, I would attribute color preference to area taste...it is possible, I suppose for people to be regionally divided in car color preference, though I haven't observed it in other brands and Toyota models. Sometimes a dealer can do this. I bought a Mitsubishi Eclipse a few years ago from a dealer who stocked 7over 50% red cars -- I love bright red so it worked well for me-- and it could be assumed that what I obeserved could be attributed to dealer preference. However, the two Toyota dealers in my area do not show this preference if you look at their inventory of other models. Has anyone else noticed this? Bob __________________ My review of my 2010 Model V AT

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09-29-2006, 08:56 AM	#2
Michgal007 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 834 My Car: 2006 Prius Model: Package: #4 Thanks: 1 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Friends: 3	I live in Ann Arbor, MI and I see all Prius colors here. Only yeterday I saw the first black Pri besides mine. Mag gray is a new color, so that's probably why they aren't around that much. I ordered a gray as well, but the black was available 2 months prior to my delivery, so I got it. If you come to Ann Arbor, you can see the whole spectrum

09-29-2006, 09:45 AM	#3
Skwyre7 What's the catch? Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Richmond, Virginia Posts: 2,332 My Car: Other Non-Hybrid Model: Package: N/A Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 1 Post Friends: 2	I do see a lot of Seaside Pearls in the Richmond area. I wouldn't say it was the dominant color though. It's probably an almost even mix (except for the new 2006 colors). Seaside, silver, Driftwood, Salsa, Black, Barcelona, White, Pine Mica, Mag Grey would be my guess for colors in order of prevalence.

09-29-2006, 10:46 AM	#4
galaxee resident lab rat Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: south of lake Michigan Posts: 9,737 My Car: 2005 Prius Model: N/A Package: #5 Thanks: 0 Thanked 130 Times in 53 Posts Friends: 26	there's more demand for silver vehicles, so a large percentage of them are painted silver. what you saw isn't really a representative population in each city so you can't really base much of a conclusion on that.

09-29-2006, 11:00 AM	#5
Rancid13 Cool Chick with a Black Prius Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Los Alamitos, Orange County, CA Posts: 2,455 My Car: 2006 Prius Model: Package: #8 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 2	Like galaxee said, there are more silver Priuses made, so we see tend to more of them on the road. I think the 2nd most manufactured color is the Seaside Pearl.

09-29-2006, 11:27 AM	#6
sl7vk Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Salt Lake City Posts: 503 My Car: 2006 Prius Model: Package: #3 Thanks: 2 Thanked 14 Times in 13 Posts Friends: 1	Salt Lake City seems to be getting an unusual amount of Magnetic Gray's since they became available......