2009 Prius arrival date, anyone ?

[AttaBoy]

What's the best guess right now about the arrival date for the 2009 Prius in dealership showrooms? THX !

[sorka]

If the schedule hasn't slipped, production started yesterday with estimated port arrival on 9/16. Add a few days to a week extra to hit dealer lots.

[rich_farkas]

I have been on the waiting list for a Prius for a while, knowing that if it took long enough, I would actually get a 2009 Prius. Well, a week or so ago I received notice from my dealer that my 2009 Prius has been unloaded in Portland and is now on the train from Portland to Chicago. From there it will be transported to the dealership in Michigan by truck. Based on the dealership estimates and the data from Toyota, the car shoud be at the dealership any day now. The dealership did provide a VIN number and the digit designating year is shown as a 9 indicating that this is a 2009 car. The description and option list provided by the dealership also designates this as a 2009 Prius and it shows this to be almost identical, if not completely identical to the 2008 model, except for a $ 500 increase of course. But the engine size is the same, there is no mention of any solar panel on this option 6 car and everything I could see looked the same as the 2008 model. Of course I don't know if any features changed or any interior or exterior details changed yet. The dealership says they have no brochures yet for the 2009 model and that this is typical of Toyota. They evidently get new model year coars before the cars are formally announced or before brochures are made available.

Anyway, I hope this clears up the question as to 2009 model year status,

Rich

[mem]

Originally Posted by rich_farkas

I have been on the waiting list for a Prius for a while, knowing that if it took long enough, I would actually get a 2009 Prius. Well, a week or so ago I received notice from my dealer that my 2009 Prius has been unloaded in Portland and is now on the train from Portland to Chicago. From there it will be transported to the dealership in Michigan by truck. Based on the dealership estimates and the data from Toyota, the car shoud be at the dealership any day now. The dealership did provide a VIN number and the digit designating year is shown as a 9 indicating that this is a 2009 car. The description and option list provided by the dealership also designates this as a 2009 Prius and it shows this to be almost identical, if not completely identical to the 2008 model, except for a $ 500 increase of course. But the engine size is the same, there is no mention of any solar panel on this option 6 car and everything I could see looked the same as the 2008 model. Of course I don't know if any features changed or any interior or exterior details changed yet. The dealership says they have no brochures yet for the 2009 model and that this is typical of Toyota. They evidently get new model year coars before the cars are formally announced or before brochures are made available.

Anyway, I hope this clears up the question as to 2009 model year status,

Rich

Rich,
We have 2009 brochures here in Portland, OR and someone posted a copy a while back.

As of today, the Toyota website now shows 2009 for the Prius rather than 2008 both in the "build your own" part and in the downloadable ebrochures.

It looks like they are trying to go with just two choices: Touring and not rather than the 2008 three choices: Touring, Prius with packages, Prius without packages.

Unfortunately they have really goobered up both the brochure and the web site.
The "build your own" only allows you to pick packages if you choose Touring.
The brochure is a poorly cloned version of last year's with some parts changed and others not.

No doubt the package choices on non-Touring are really the same as last year.

I didn't try to compare today's downloadable brochure to anything, but I did compare the paper copies of 2008 and 2009 and found no differences except the Bisque interior had changed from light gray to tan. I noticed on the website and brochure today Bisque is back to light gray so who knows what it really will be.

[smsprague]

According to the 2009 Brochure, Toyota may be offering some kind of iPod interface. Check out the accessories sections.

[rfruth]

gonna need more than a MP3 (iPod) interface to compete with Honda & co. or is Toyota willing to give up market share for a year or so ?

[cycledrum]

Hmmmm, the toyota.com Prius build your own looks quite goofeyed up right now. It shows only
Prius - the bare bones stripped version and
Touring with packages - the fully loaded version with leather, Nav

I hope they fix this soon as it must be disconcerting to those waiting to get theirs.

My 2009 is a Prius, non-touring with package 5, just like the 2008 version.

[rigormortis]

toyota started selling the ipod interface like 9 months ago or something, they just do not go out of their way to advertise that it is available.

if you want to select all the models and option packages, do not generate a ebrochure for your area or tell it your zip code. makes and option packages are hidden in a zip code basis

[Neohybrid]

Originally Posted by rigormortis

toyota started selling the ipod interface like 9 months ago or something, they just do not go out of their way to advertise that it is available.

if you want to select all the models and option packages, do not generate a ebrochure for your area or tell it your zip code. makes and option packages are hidden in a zip code basis

I wasn't able to move forward without the zip code so I entered zip codes from major cities on each coast. Looks like most of us on the east coast can get a basic Prius -- no touring. West coast has both listed. I would thing Toyota would do a better job with the website before launching.

[DLHDMRH]

Originally Posted by rich_farkas

I have been on the waiting list for a Prius for a while, knowing that if it took long enough, I would actually get a 2009 Prius. Well, a week or so ago I received notice from my dealer that my 2009 Prius has been unloaded in Portland and is now on the train from Portland to Chicago. From there it will be transported to the dealership in Michigan by truck. Based on the dealership estimates and the data from Toyota, the car shoud be at the dealership any day now. The dealership did provide a VIN number and the digit designating year is shown as a 9 indicating that this is a 2009 car. The description and option list provided by the dealership also designates this as a 2009 Prius and it shows this to be almost identical, if not completely identical to the 2008 model, except for a $ 500 increase of course. But the engine size is the same, there is no mention of any solar panel on this option 6 car and everything I could see looked the same as the 2008 model. Of course I don't know if any features changed or any interior or exterior details changed yet. The dealership says they have no brochures yet for the 2009 model and that this is typical of Toyota. They evidently get new model year coars before the cars are formally announced or before brochures are made available.

Anyway, I hope this clears up the question as to 2009 model year status,

Rich

We ordered ours on June the 9th and we ordered a 09 w/package #2. It is going on 3 months and at that time the salesman said it would take 4 to 6 months.
We ordered ours from the dealer in Lansing, Michigan. Where did you order yours and when? And have you heard anymore on your delivery date?
Dan