2009 Prius--What do we REALLY know?

[efusco]

Had a co-worker today tell me he had heard 'for sure' that the '09 was going to have the new 1.8L ICE and a body style change, but the "old" NiMH battery.

I reviewed a bunch of old threads and some sounded fairly confident about the 1.8, others suggested that that doesn't make sense. I seem to remember someone posting a spec sheet with colors and such suggesting that the '09 would be the same as the '08.

Has anyone congeled the facts and sorted out the rumors? What do we really know? Please post links when possible.

[Vincent]

Evan,

It seems fairly certain that, other than the $500 price increase announced yesterday, the 2009 Prius will be the same as the 2008. The 2010 Prius III is due to be officially announced at the 2009 NAIAS show that will take place Jan. 11 - 25, 2009 at Cobo Center in Detroit. The 2010 seems to be headed for the showrooms around May 2009.

Only a new body style and solar panels for the high end model have been discussed by Toyota. The 1.8L ICE and everyone's wish list will be the stuff of much speculation during the months ahead.

My personal speculation includes a new 8" "premium" navigation system with real-time traffic monitoring and On-Star type features. This is based on just receiving the second half-hour survey from Toyota in six-months. Both surveys were very detailed. Six months ago the survey focused on a wide range of navigation features. Last weeks survey seemed to have narrowed the choices down to a standard 6" navigation system and an 8" premium system with emphasis on initial installation cost for each system and on-going annual service fees for the "available" traffic monitoring and On-Star type features.

Gone are the days of charging $2,000 for an inferior navigation system and Toyota appears ready to finally offer interactive features. I HOPE THE LAWYERS DON'T FORCE THE "LOCKOUT WHILE MOVING" FEATURE AGAIN

[fcc]

i had to get a tire patched due to a nail and i was looking at the 09 prius book.
everything was pretty much the same and i do not remember a change in the
ICE.... seems i would have noticed that in the specs in the back.

[jelloslug]

The '09 is a carryover of the '08.

[Stefx]

The brochure for the 09 was scanned and posted in another thread on this forum. Confirmed carry over from the '08 as said above.

[DeadPhish]

Originally Posted by efusco

Had a co-worker today tell me he had heard 'for sure' that the '09 was going to have the new 1.8L ICE and a body style change, but the "old" NiMH battery.

I reviewed a bunch of old threads and some sounded fairly confident about the 1.8, others suggested that that doesn't make sense. I seem to remember someone posting a spec sheet with colors and such suggesting that the '09 would be the same as the '08.

Has anyone congeled the facts and sorted out the rumors? What do we really know? Please post links when possible.

We received the 2009 brochures 2 weeks ago. There are no changes in them at all. Toyota on Friday announced a $500 price increase on the new '09s arriving in Sept.

Typo? Did you mean to write 2010's? If so the only official word is that nothing is known for certain until the CEO speaks in January. But Toyota is doing a good marketing job of leaking good solid hints all around the world in anticipation of that announcement. It keeps the hype elevated and pressure to buy pumped up.

[efusco]

No, I meant '09. There's been quite a lot of speculation in the auto mags suggesting the 1.8L and body changes would be in the '09. I remember seeing the PDF (wish I'd have saved it now) a few months ago with the specs unchanged. I didn't think there were any changes, but wanted to see what we really 'knew', not just what was speculated.

Can someone who has an '09 brochure scan and post it?

[fcc]

I think the auto mags speculate for the sheer pleasure of making money off curious
folks. if they were held to some standard of reporting of the facts... they would not
be as exciting and glamorous to read ;-)

[priusincc]

Somebody must know, they probably have been gearing up the 2009 model for some weeks, to get them in the US for the September release.

[rigormortis]

it wont attach because of a priuschat error about a security token and to notify the administrator. i need someone to send me site info to where it can be uploaded

the place where it was (filemonster.net) seems to be down

its 15 megabytes