Disaster effect on Prius availability....

I can tell you that parts for warranty and repair services will not be delayed. I went in to get my headlight assembly replaced. The part had to be ordered. Couple days later the earthquake/tsunami happened. Great, I thought. I called the dealership the next day, worried this repair might not happen soon, but when I called they told me my headlight had already arrived at the dealership.

There must be warehouses in the US that stocks Prius parts. I doubt they come from directly from Japan.

Tpfun, busted once again.

 

Not at the 2.9% interest rate for up to five years that Toyota was offering until last week.

Bob.

 

You make a good point.
If you can earn more than 2.9% (compounded?) on your investments, then you would be better off financing at 2.9%.

 

Besides the resumption of half speed production, here's another about the reopening plant.
Toyota Restarts One Tired Old Plant. That

 

12k year or 18k/year all refer to miles and lease in all cases.

The only thing I look at with cars now is total cost of ownership over a period of time, e.g. 3 years. TCO includes insurance, gas, maintenance, depreciation, finance charges, hassle (i.e. older cars break down more and = more hassle). That last one is hard to quantify but the others can be totally quantified. One extra consideration of our Prius lease was I wasn't sure if I could keep it past 3 years so it bought me an extended test-drive, but gas was $2.80 or something and my calculations lent themselves well to it. Nowadays even more so.

I no longer care about finance vs lease vs used vs new simply from a qualitative perspective as I used to. I used to think lease = bad always, finance not as bad, cash better. New = sucks, used better, etc. but there's a lot to it.

 

There's a guy on the UK Toyota forum reporting that he has been told his new Prius will be available to collect ten days earlier than expected, despite the problems in Japan.

 

Prius Supply Low With Toyota at Half Capacity - includes some quotes from Bob Carter, head of North America sales for Toyota

 

Thanks for sharing the video in this link.

 

Toyota CEO says production not to return to normal until year end

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/23/business/global/23toyota.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Full production for Toyota not expected till year-end | Business | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
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Similar news to the above at “Enormous Delay In Delivery:â€Â Toyota Production Back To Normal – By The End of The Year | The Truth About Cars.

 

Was at Fremont Toyota this morning, their lot is 1/4 mile long .... hundreds of cars, big dealer ...

6 Pri's that I could see. They had 60 Pri's in January.

All their cars were angled instead of straight into the spaces. Reduced shipments on many models.

 

Hopefully full-size SUVs.

 

You'd have to hate yourself to buy one now anyway with gas where it is.

 

From Toyota (Toyoda? ), disruption through the very end of the year on production in general.

Toyota: Car production disrupted until Nov or Dec - Yahoo! Finance

 

Earthquakes are a natural event in the US as well. Fortunately, we have been spared a major quake for some time. The National Geographic delights is foretelling the disaster that is ever present along the west coast, and now in the center of the country.

 

Regarding Toyota vs. Toyoda, BBC News - Why is the car giant Toyota not Toyoda? explains why. When I took a tour of the (a?) Toyota Tsutsumi plant, they mentioned briefly talked about this and mentioned the 8 strokes and 8 being a lucky number. IIRC, they also mentioned they wanted a separation between the family and the company.

 

Reminds me of snopes.com: Hummer Prize

 

Toyota says that it was easier to write Toyota than Toyoda, requiring one less stroke, which is why it was chosen.

 

FWIW, what I stated about the 8 strokes and 8 being a lucky number was mentioned by the Toyota tour guides while we were on a bus to/from the factory. I'm pretty sure they even held up visual aids of how Toyota is written.

I took the tour in 2003 and that was the first time I'd personally heard the explanation of the difference.

http://www2.toyota.co.jp/en/kids/faq/entry/6062.php also has an explanation.