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Dealers restricted from selling new Primes?

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by Washingtonian, Nov 17, 2022.

  1. Washingtonian

    Washingtonian Senior Member

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    I visited my local Toyota dealer in Bremerton, WA where I received a free Veteran's Day special oil change. I was impressed with the free service with no attempt at an upsell. It also included a free appraisal of my car which came out to be $27,841 if I were to upgrade it to a new Toyota. Told them I would be interested in the 2023 Prius Prime. I was told that they are not allowed to sell new Prius Primes, only used ones. Same for the Rav4 Prime. Also said that some customers had gone to Oregon to buy a Prime, but at present Oregon dealers will only sell to Oregon residents. Does this make sense? Are and will the Primes only be available in some states and not others?
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    generally, carb states only. they originally said gen4 prime would roll out to 50 states, but it never happened.

    maybe, if they are really popular, and they can make enough, things might change
     
  3. Washingtonian

    Washingtonian Senior Member

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    Washington is a carb state.
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    that is surprising then, i can't think of another reason
     
  5. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    The 2023 Prime isn't expected out until the spring, and production has stopped for the 2022. I don't think any dealer will have a new one in the short term.
     
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    agreed, but 'not allowed to sell them' is different, i think
     
  7. MalachyNG

    MalachyNG Active Member

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    If that even is a thing it's probably a weird policy at just that one dealership or maybe it applies only to that one salesman. Or that's the upsell for your "free" service - offer you a good trade but only for used cars they've got on the lot today and are trying to unload.

    I'd bet the truth is closer to what Trollbait said - they don't expect to get any more 2022s and there's no timeline yet for the 2023s. The press release said something about more details to come first half of 2023. That could be anywhere from January to June next year.
     
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  8. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    A statement from a dealer to a potential customer asking about a car they don't have.:sneaky:
     
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  9. Washingtonian

    Washingtonian Senior Member

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    The point is that they have never had a Prius Prime or Rav4 Prime in stock. I do get emails from the dealer I bought mine from in Renton saying that I can upgrade to this or last year's Prime. I am thinking that maybe dealers have to install infrastructure like charging stations before Toyota will ship Primes to them.
     
  10. huskers

    huskers Senior Member

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    We are back to ordering one and waiting 3+ months.
     
  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i think toyota does require a charger. hard to believe no dealers are willing to do that in the whole state. but maybe it's just that dealer?

    then again, why would people go to oregon? confusing
     
  12. Washingtonian

    Washingtonian Senior Member

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    I have no idea why corporate Toyota does what it does. For example, they were offering huge bonuses for Primes on the East Coast a year or two ago when we couldn't buy them here. When I bought mine in 2017 of course the local dealer was clueless about them. I went online and found that the Renton dealer had one shipped up from Oregon for a customer who then backed out of the deal. I bought it on sight, as it was the color and model I wanted.
     
  13. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    there's a lot hidden from the public in manufacturers and dealers decisions, but it's almost always about money
     
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  14. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    There is a charger requirement for many brands with dealers. Then some dealers simply want nothing to do with EVs.

    Does your state have EV incentives? The East Coast discounts were to compensate for the lack of big incentives in California and Colorado. If Oregon has better incentives than Washington, I can see many buyers traveling there for a car purchase. Which would leave little incentive for local dealers to even stock the car.
     
  15. PT Guy

    PT Guy Senior Member

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    I think it has to do with (a) the states that have adopted the zero emission vehicle program, and (b) the limited number of these cars currently available. Oregon adopted the ZEV standard in 2009, so they get these ZEV cars sooner. Washington adopts the program in 2025, so they don't get the cars until there is an adequate number of the cars for all states. The same thing happened in late 2016 when we traveled from Washington to Oregon to get our 2017 Prime.
    https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2022-05/%C2%A7177_states_05132022_NADA_sales_r2_ac.pdf
     
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  16. Gokhan

    Gokhan Senior Member

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    Currently, there are 131 new Prius Primes for sale within 20 miles of me.

    If I increase the radius to 50 miles, the number becomes ~ 200.

    There is not a single blue Limited though, and there are only four blue XLEs and and a blue LE.

    Toyota inventory | New-Toyota inventory search
     
  17. Washingtonian

    Washingtonian Senior Member

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    Thanks, I think you have nailed it.
     
  18. renoblueprius

    renoblueprius Junior Member

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    I recently moved to Olympia Washington and was told by the local dealer that they are not allowed to sell new PEHVs
     
  19. primeobjective

    primeobjective Junior Member

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    The Oregon electrified vehicle rebate program requires applicants to register their vehicle in the state of Oregon for at least two years.

    As for dealers only selling to customers in their "zones", I ran into that during our initial search for a RAV4 Prime: Portland dealers hesitated or refused to work with me and we live all of about 15 miles to the west in the next city over. That wasn't an issue when we sought our Prius Prime. I ended up getting it from a dealer in east Portland after five months of checking during their allocations every two weeks.

     
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  20. PT Guy

    PT Guy Senior Member

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    Buyers from nearby states can buy the car but don't expect to get an Oregon rebate.

    I wonder what the state attorney general would say about businesses that divvie up their customer base. It sounds anti competitive to me.