2010 Prius Models and Option Packages

Hello all! I came across this site from a link in an edmunds.com forum. So a brief backstory.. my car has died ('98 Cavalier), well, it would basically cost more to fix than it's worth. I've been looking for a new car for a few weeks now and had decided on a 2009 Lexus IS250 with premium and navi. On a whim, I stopped into the Toyota dealership to see the Corolla and sat in an '09 Prius and liked it (imagine that! ), but was deterred because there was no sunroof. I heard from a dealer that there would be a sunroof in the 2010 so I decided to look it up online and was really impressed with all of the changes and new features on the 2010 Prius and I really want one. I'm absolutely set on the 2010, no chance on the 2009. I want the 2010 IV with Solar/Navi Package. Seeing as how my other car has died and I drive a lot for work visiting accounts (high visibility so feel free to add me to the preferred list to get one early Toyota, I will get you seen! ) I'm in more of a hurry than most people to find a new car, but I live in Los Angeles and sometimes we get things sooner than others. So my question is.. realistically, when is the soonest I could expect to be able to get a 2010 Prius? And when they do become available will they be more likely to be purchase only or will it be possible to lease just as quickly?? Thanks for your help!!

 

O.K., today's much anticipated "News", has been pretty anticlimatic at least up until now: noon CDST! Now when can we expect the really important info, ie. pricing? I know it keeps coming up, but after all, does Toyota want to SELL 2010 Prii or not??? Personally, albeit informative, someone else's driving impressions isn't going to sway me one way or the other. IT'S the price!!!!

 

Thank you very much!
I had been looking at the pics on the official site and am worried about me and all white? Any news on other interior colors?
I missed the announcement today?!?
What did they mean by the 3-25-09 "embargo" anyway? Internal Co. term, I presume?!?

Since it is exactly 9 months until Christmas I was hoping to open a "package" post!

 

My first car was a yellow station wagon, and I mean a WAGON, not the itty-bitty sub-compact wagons on today's streets. I liked the color and wish I could do a better job describing it. It wasn't taxi cab yellow. It was more of a warm creamy yellow. I like cheerful colors too, which is why I picked red in '07. The other colors had too much of a gray tone. Here's another vote for yellow.

 

Are regular rear (and front?) parking sensors standard, option or neither? I haven't seem them in any specs so far (European and US). This would be additional to IPA (or the other way around .

 

I would be glad to switch out my cloth seats for the leather.

 

Reading of the package content is great. I'm considering a new one myself. But it looks like the product planning for this car was done when the economy was more receptive to so many high-end features. And I can see why several companies have been forced to respond to the Insight challenge which seems like a well-planned product for this economy whether is was just luck or not.

 

Welcome Bum944.... I don't know what part of the country your in, but from where I sit people are still buying like crazy, going on cruises, upgrading their homes and spending money like the government.

The insight definitely has a market for the thrifty and pure eco folks. But most people don't really need to buy new.. they can wait and put more miles on their paid off car... especially since the last longer now. So if they do buy.... I'm betting it will be for some goodies that their present car doesn't have.

The days of buying a car for mere transportation are not here yet!

I expect that a very high percentage of those who are in the market for new, won't be skimping too much on amenities they would like to have.

There is still lots of money out there just looking for a home for those who will deliver the goods.

Not reading the market can be lethal for sure.
But assuming people are cutting back on luxuries could be bad insight for an economy that is on the way up and not down.

I think we will ride a high for a while from all this money we've spent.

The real question is what will happen when reality hits and how long will it take.

Most people live for today and have little insight... as long as they are not in pain now.. they judge everything is good... because of that mentality, I think the ugly picture of paying all these debts will hit us later.

 

Alan, you are freakin' me out with all of this insight talk.

 

I drove a $2 billion vehicle for a few years with $100 million in sonar sensors, and let me tell you, the maintenance and operation alone required 14 men, full-time. But they prevented us from a costly "bump" in the darkness of night. Thankfully, Toyota does the job with a simpler, lower-cost system!

 

Were you "driving" the space shuttle???

 

Think of the other frontier. Underwater. Silent. And nuclear powered.

The Shuttle can't use sonar, and can't carry 14 people.

 

:cheer2:
Yea!!! Thank you! I hope they're listening!

 

LOL!.. funny!... I see your point!..... I should have had more insight!


Speaking of insight.... 40 city and only 43 Hwy..... a 1.3 liter engine?
Did I miss something here?.... I thought this was a hybrid?.. where's the mpg gone...?

Sounds a bit gutless and for how much mpg?... I'm amazed their starting price is so high....

Looks almost just like a prius too... I wonder who's following who?

Why bother competing, if they can't at least make an attempt to do better?

 

Think of the wear on the towed array, dragging down the highway.

Tom

 

Hey! What did I do wrong now?
All I did was sit on the oldest jet in the Qantas fleet for 14 hours one way and a slightly newer one the other plus 3 hours here, 2 hours there on smaller jets. Bloody worth it though!!:rockon:
I also drove 700km each way on my own coin to see the Aussie version in Melbourne and will most likely drive as far or further to have a pre-release drive.

Wayne (FireEngineer) drove from Chicagoland to San Francisco for a test drive too!! That on top of his travels around North America installing engine block heaters! Some times you need to go the extra mile as an enthusiast.

 

So according to this I can't get a prius 3 with just a solar roof? I'm forced to get the nav system with it? Fail.

Suppose i'll just go with the plain Prius 3 then if it's not to much, Still don't really see why they have a whole seperate car with just an upgraded sound system and nothing else added though.

 

For folks looking to save the environment, and into being 'green', I would love to know the size of the carbon footprint involved in your viewing the new Prius. How many thousands of Kilometers will you need to drive the new Prius in order to make up for that fuel gouging? (for the record, I may have done the same thing, if I needed to in order to see it, but luckily I live in the Chicago 'Burbs', and was able to see it at the Auto Show here.