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Interested in a Plug in Prius, but I live in Wisconsin

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by Ashlem, Aug 18, 2014.

  1. Ashlem

    Ashlem Senior Member

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    So the thread title says it all. WI is unfortunately not one of the states that Toyota sells plug in priuses.

    That said, I am interested in getting one, but was wondering if it requires any special maintenance beyond the typical prius due to the different battery and plug-in that may require specialized tools/training at said Toyota dealership.

    And if I can buy one, if shipping costs too much, I think I'm better off just flying to the dealership and driving it back home. A road trip wouldn't hurt I suppose, just hope I have some vacation days leftover lol.

    Any advice/thoughts on this? Or am I just better off getting a regular prius?
     
  2. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    Check with Diane Whitmire at Carson Toyota, she is a frequent poster here and a straight shooter.
     
  3. Ashlem

    Ashlem Senior Member

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    Thanks, I'll ask her. But if anyone lives outside the states Toyota sells PiP's in, and bought one anyway, I'd like to hear about your experiences with them.
     
  4. markabele

    markabele owner of PiP, then Leaf, then Model 3

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    I live in Nebraska, which obviously doesn't sell them either. I flew to New Jersey, then drove it back. You would obviously be a little closer to NJ so you would have to probably get quite a bit better deal from a Cali dealer.
     
  5. Ashlem

    Ashlem Senior Member

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    Were you able to negotiate the price at all, or did you pretty much have to pay the MSRP? And did you pay cash or finance it? Any funny issues/looks from the techs when you took it in for maintenance?
     
  6. crewdog

    crewdog Acting Ensign Prius Prime

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    I live in Georgia, and local Toyota dealer has had no problems servicing or maintaining Pip. In my conversation with service advisor I have worked with for several years, he did say that they could call Toyota Technical Support and get assistance from technician if scope of problem was beyond local capability.

    But I think I would caution that not all dealer service depts are created equal......

    I wish they'd get a level 2 EVSE though.

    Good luck
     
  7. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    It's just like buying any other vehicle out of state including from what I've read, the tax kickback paperwork.

    If I lived in up in the Badger State (or...America's Dairyland) I would look to the Right Coast instead of SOCAL for a Pip for a few reasons:

    1. The "Summer of Recovery" (v 5.0) still hasn't taken root on the right coast as much as on the left, and the dealers are a little hungrier. When I was doing a mathematical "what-if" I found many dealers with new sub-30's Pips.
    2. There are fewer areas where people use Pips to get around the HOV lane restrictions so demand is lower.
    3. You're closer to the right coast. ;)

    You should be able to negotiate with a dealership on-line up to the "sign-here" stage, and after that it's simply an airplane ride to pick up the car. :D

    At the risk of being me labeled a heretic for bringing it up or you being thusly slandered for considering it, you may want to also look at a Volt.
    The federal kick-back for the Volt is bigger than the difference in price, and depending on your driving habits and your fanaticism for Toyota or GM (either way) the smaller car may make more sense for you.




    Good Luck!
     
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  8. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    What about warranty work on the EV system?
     
  9. 9G-man

    9G-man Senior Member

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    I too live in GA, not a plug-in sales state. I've had a Pip for over 2 years and never had a problem at the dealer
    They really don't seem to notice for the most part.
    Mechanically speaking, it's no different than any other Gen3 Prius.

    Is it worth getting? Depends. Will you gain HOV/HOT lane access, or will you do enough short range driving to benefit from the plug in range?
    If yes to either one of those then go for it.
     
  10. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    We've had quite a lot of out-of-state purchase activity since 2012.
    At first many out-of-staters went to Maryland, NJ,NY to get CARB warranty and prices were originally lower in Northeast.
    Now CA prices are low (maybe lowest). You do not need to worry about CARB warranty since it does not matter for those us in non-CARB states. So that opens up Virginia for you too as a purchase state.

    There is a long thread "Price Paid on PiP" which gives some stories going back to 2012.
    The 15 PiP rollout states (caution by memory) are CA, AZ, OR, WA, VA, NY, NJ, MD, VT, ME, MA, RI, NH, CT
     
  11. Ashlem

    Ashlem Senior Member

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    Hmm interesting, I hadn't thought of looking at the east coast.

    A local dealership has some 2012 ones, but they're priced in the $23-25k range, and I'm guessing aren't eligible for the $2.5k tax credit. Unless they radically drop the price, I might as well buy a new one. I wonder if I could have them special order one for me, though I wonder if I lose haggling power due to the "we're doing you a favor ordering this not-readily available car in this area" too. I suppose it wouldn't kill me to ask them.

    Regarding the Volt, I probably would be able to get to work and back on the electric power alone. I also get a slight discount with Chevy's due to where I work, so I may have to consider it. On the other hand, 37 mpg on gas sucks compared to the prius's 50 (and I'm managing 60 on my little prius c right now), and I'm a little skeptical with Chevy's reputation and quality as well. I know, don't believe everything you hear on the internet, but it's still a hard stigma to overlook.

    Haha, hard decisions to make now...
     
  12. Zythryn

    Zythryn Senior Member

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    There are some dealers that are not in states that the PiP has been rolled out to, that still sell them.
    John, on this forum, bought one in Minneapolis at a Toyota dealer in Bloomington, MN.
    Check around, you may find one nearby.

    Or, if you aren't in a hurry, check out some local national drive electric week events in your area in September.
     
  13. pwp1943

    pwp1943 PHEV Afficionado

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    You are correct about the tax credit. If you lease the car the dealer takes the credit. If you buy the car you can take the credit. The price of used plug in hybrids have taken this into account. I checked on Consumer Reports and found the average price for a 2012 Volt is about $22,000. The sticker on this was about $20,000 more, so there has been significant depreciation with this model. Consumers also says this model year Volt has an average reliability.
     
  14. iluvmacs

    iluvmacs Member

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    You can buy one at Smart Motors in Madison. They sell them "unofficially" but you can get them. They will cost more than getting one in one of the "approved" states because they have regional incentives and they can't offer those here. The good news, however, is that Smart is certified to work on the PiP, and they are very Prius-savvy, so you can rely on them for service in any case.

    I live in Madison but bought my PiP from a dealer in NJ. Saved a lot of money, even with the transport costs (it was cheaper to ship it on a truck than for me to fly out and drive back).
     
  15. Ashlem

    Ashlem Senior Member

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    Just got back from the local dealership that had some 2012 plug ins. They didn't seem to want to budge on the price, which I can understand due to the plug in availability being very limited. The sales guy couldn't find any advanced ones for sale in the region when I asked, and ordering a base one was 31,000 with a $500 discount. Guess I'll look around, or maybe just settle for a regular liftback and get the incentives that are going on for them this month, since the plug ins don't have any incentives, in this area anyway. Couldn't test the ev stuff because it wasn't plugged in and the car said the battery was too low, so it drove like a regular liftback.

    When I asked why Toyota didn't have them for sale in the Midwest (officially anyway), the sales guy told me Toyota feels we lack the infrastructure to plug in to recharge, say when eating out at a restaurant. I then jokingly mentioned that didn't seem to be a problem for the Volt and C-Max energi I see in the Chevy/Ford lots, and we jokingly agreed that Toyota must not want the plug-in to succeed.

    On the plus side, I averaged 74.3 miles per gallon to the dealership and back in my c :)
     
  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    check with the dealer here in mass where danny is having togob4 this fall, they are excellent, that's why he's having it there. as far as service, think of it this way: if i were driving cross country and broke down in wisconsin, do you think toyota would tell me i have to have it towed to a state where they sell them? you'll be fine, all the best!(y)
     
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  17. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    The PiP has been reliable and particularly the Lithium HV battery system...I cannot think of a single PiP-battery-specific warranty problem report here in US. Everything else in the PiP is same as Gen3.
     
  18. iluvmacs

    iluvmacs Member

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    They would if you had a RAV4 EV... :rolleyes:o_O
     
  19. iluvmacs

    iluvmacs Member

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    I take it you went to Don Jacobs in the Milwaukee area. Last summer they had two used ones on their lot for a while that I went to check out. They also would not budge on price then. I also visited one in Chicago with even worse results (atrocious customer service). The advanced models are indeed extremely limited in supply -- I wanted to get one as well, but the few I found for sale were out of my price range. Be careful with online listings too -- quite a lot of them that are listed as Advanced are actually the Basic, and the only way I would ever believe the listing is by looking at the photos of it. I was only looking for PiP (had a second-gen Prius previously), not regular third-gen model. Settled on buying the dealer demo unit from this dealership in NJ with great success and have been glad of it ever since!

    It is total BS that we don't have the infrastructure. Madison has over 30 public charging stations! I use them all the time, mostly for the Leaf, but sometimes the PiP.
     
  20. retired4999

    retired4999 Prius driver since 2005

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    I wanted to road trip toward the west coast, so bought mine in Spokane, Washington. 1453 miles if I remember right. My local dealer had told me that they had already had thier technician's take the courses needed to work on the plug-ins (early 2012). I bought mine April 2, 2012. No problems so far, love the car.

    Good luck on what ever you decide. :)