Too bad I already got my car ordered through Toyota Honolulu and pick it up next week when I get out to the island. It's already sitting there!

Probably all on Oahu, too.

"Touring" model? Exactly where do they think the locals will be "touring"?

It'll be interesting to see what high-end fully-loaded retail goes for...

Someone will probably buy it on Oahu then put it on Ebay and ship it back to the mainland for a decent proffit. Especially with the current high demand for the Prius.

I will hold out for the Texas Limited Edition. They come with a trailer hitch, a gun rack and steer horns mounted on the hood

I don't get it, what really is different? Can't you buy a regular base prius and "pimp it up" with fancy stuff as well?

Maybe it comes with an amphibious mode so you can drive between islands!

er, and brass balls hanging underneath the hitch

Wonder how much Servco Hawaii will give me for my '08 SBM with about 6K miles in trade? Maybe the ad will be in this Friday's paper.

I would love to have a Blizzard White Pearl

Just came back from a week in Kauai. Was surprised to see so many Prii around, considering how hilly the place is. On the other hand, with speed limits averaging only 35mph -- 50mph max on "highways" and in most cases 25mph around towns, it seems the ideal place to drive a Prius. Especially in a warm, subtropical environment with gasoline over $4.50/gal (and rising.)

The other surprise was that none of the Prii I saw had tinted windows.

More questions:

Hawaii being closer to Japan, shouldn't the Prius be less expensive there than on mainland US?

And does the Hawaiian Prius have anything different from their mainland counterparts? (e.g. adjustable seat height)

Toyotas in Hawaii are sold exclusively by Servco Hawaii. If you've noticed, there are no Toyota dealerships listed for Hawaii when you do a search for dealers on the USA Toyota.com site. Toyotas sold in Hawaii are treated like an International market although they match USA specs. Even if there were a pricing difference because of the shipping, Servco can easily pad that price due to the monopoly they have here in Hawaii. Priuses sold by Servco do not include Navigation nor is it an option..... There is no word on whether the limited edition ones will have NAV. As far as I know, all other specs and features are identical to the continental US models.

What is Servco Hawaii??

Would it then be just as costly to import directly from Japan?

No, I'm sure not much is different. It's just the local Toyota monopoly wants to offer a "feel good" model that makes a Hawaiian buyer less angry over paying normally inflated Island prices.


They do some similar marketing tricks here in Canada where our most basic Prius MSRP is $29.5k.

Well, gosh, that costs us at least $5 extra on the annual vehicle inspections.

I haven't gotten around to it yet, but then it's only June. I might feel differently in September.

Don't know. If the car is made in Japan then the fuel surcharge would be less to here than to LA. But Servco is effectively the state's only Toyota dealer and pretty much gets to charge whatever they want... the "Paradise Tax".

If the Prius is made in Kentucky or Mississippi or some other Mainland state, then it's at least $1000 retail to ship it here (plus fuel surcharges).

No adjustable seat heights, and no other differences that that I can tell.

I haven't read much about the various features but you guys all have the standard Corinthian leather interiors, 40-gallon gas tanks, rear-seat frosty-beverage cooler, and integrated surfboard racks too, right?

The state's 800-pound gorilla of Toyota sales. It's a bit difficult to cross state lines for a better deal, too. It might be possible to beat their price through a Mainland dealer, but then it'd have to be shipped over here. We bought used from a guy who got it at a Wisconsin CarMax, shipped it to Maui, and then brought it over to Oahu (probably on the SuperFerry).

Last year I used to see a couple used-Prius ads every week, including a guy who was dealing on Craigslist. Around April this year that all went away and we're lucky to see one a week. Buying new is probably at least as painful.

I have yet to find a Prius mechanic around here, either (other than Servco). Going through our local mechanic doesn't seem to be part of the network. HH, if you have any recommendations you care to share then I'm all eyes.

As a retail shipper (from wherever), probably more expensive.

Nords, sounds like Hawaii really needs some competition in Prius dealerships.

Anyways, what kind of MPG do you get? Is it pretty hilly on Oahu? (I've never been there so I don't know). How does the Prius handle the slopes? Do you ever need to use the B mode when going downhill?

So what's with Toyota and the monopoly middlemen in some regions of the US?

When I ordered my Prius through Servco, Nav was an option, I just didn't want it. I have a aftermarket GPS already.

I was told that NAV is not an option in Hawaii because it wouldn't work anyways. Who was your salesperson? I would like to inquire whether it really is or isn't an option. Thanks