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Buyer interest in Prius grows. Say what?

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by Cacti, Feb 6, 2010.

  1. Cacti

    Cacti Poleikleng

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    Prius brake problems attracting buyers - Feb. 5, 2010

    NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- By now, you've heard that some 2010 Toyota Priuses have a braking problem blamed for several crashes. That sounds scary, but to some it sounds like a deal.
    A recent analysis of online car shopping shows that more people are seriously looking at a Toyota Prius than before the problematic brake news was uncovered.

    "When a car or automaker receives bad press, people sense an opportunity to pick up a bargain," noted Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl. "We saw the same reaction from consumers when Chrysler and General Motors declared bankruptcy last year."
     
  2. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    all publicity is good publicity
     
  3. Salsawonder

    Salsawonder New Member

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    I think it would be great if this whole propaganda thing blew up in the government's face and Prius sales did jump. Either way there is such owner loyalty that the impact on Toyota will be transient.
     
  4. joe1347

    joe1347 Active Member

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    Advertised prices (for 2010 Prius) are close to invoice. I wonder if it's possible to purchase a 2010 Prius for well below invoice? I'm guessing that Toyota would have to provide some sort of very large (couple thousand) dealer incentive for sub invoice pricing.
     
  5. Subversive

    Subversive New Member

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    I was wondering about that myself. I have a 2006 Prius with over 110k miles, with several years still left on my loan. If the price dips enough on a barely used 2010, and with the lower interest rates, maybe I could upgrade without increasing my payments?
     
  6. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    Nah..IMO all publicity is not good. Trust me, this has not been good publicity for Toyota. If they could magically make the reality of it go away, I'm sure they would cast that magic spell.

    The bump in interest is being gauged by potential buyers that might be looking for a bargain in the face of the recent media hysteria. While it might be valid, it's not the type of increase of interest that Toyota as a manufacturer trying to mainstream The Prius wants.

    It is indicative imo, of why if Toyota can fix the problems and move on, they can return to being a great company. I think people will forgive and forget 1 manufacturing defect, as potentially serious as it might be, interest in Toyota's will return because outside of this massive recall...and recent issues...they still have decades of history and a great reputation.
     
  7. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    In this case, I think it might prove to be advantageous. Being in the forefront, people will get educated about the technology (many people can now say "regenerative braking") because of the publicity. As people look into it and find out that the issue isn't really all that bad (no one has been hurt yet) and there is relatively simple fix (software update) their interest is peaked. Just a thought.
     
  8. DeadPhish

    DeadPhish Senior Member

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    There is another vein of truth that runs through all these threads. 99+% of the current and actual owners of all these vehicles involved with all these issues have no idea what the complaints are about. They've never experienced...
    • floormats interfering with the gas pedal
    • stuck accelerators
    • weird feeling during braking
    How can I tell...common sense and the numbers of complaints say it all:
    • anyone with a shred of common sense can see that the floormat can never touch the pedal if the mat is secured in place. Recall for idiots.
    • there are allegedly 2000+ complaints of UA in the past decade. In that time Toyota sold nearly 25 million vehicles. 2000 / 25,000,000 = ??? less than one in every 10,000 sold
    • there are just over 100 complaints of 'brake feel' in the US out of roughly 100,000 Gen 3's sold. 120 / 100,000 = ??? about 1 in 1000
    What this indicates is that for the 30 to 50 million current owners in the US it's highly unlikely that any of them have any idea what this dustup is all about. They simply have had none of these experiences. I know that my wife and I over the last 10 yrs have never had anything like the situations that these complaints portray. For the vast vast vast majority of these 30 to 50 million owners it's....'doesn't apply to me, somebody else's bad luck'. That's human nature, it's simply looking out for No 1 first and foremost.

    Caution? Certainly. But if an owner or a family has been treated well by their vehicle(s) lo these many years then there's a very high likelihood that they will 're-up' when the time comes.
     
  9. Rybold

    Rybold globally warmed member

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    In this economy, where everyone seems to be looking for deals, I can see this happening. Toyota has a great reputation, and those that view this current recall (recall = "we're doing something about this. we're taking responsibility and fixing the problem) as simply a bump in the road of Toyota's quality are likely swooping down on this one looking for fuel to negotiate a good price. I can definitely see this in today's economy.
     
  10. F512M

    F512M Member

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    Once Toyota addresses the issues, they'll do more specials to attrack new and old customers.
     
  11. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    AAA price was under invoice before the recall. Now it is further below invoice. Other cars are also under invoice. IMO they are still making them faster than they can sell them.
     
  12. Rybold

    Rybold globally warmed member

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    I don't think Toyota will need to offer a rebate/discount on the 2010 Prius. They sell them as fast as they can make them (at least here in Southern California). If you drive by a Toyota dealer, you see rows and rows of Camrys, Corollas, and other Toyotas, but not the Prius. If demand goes down slightly, you will see a few Prius on the lot (they will actually have some inventory like other Toyotas). Maybe they will sell for closer to invoice instead of MSRP, but I don't think Toyota will need to discount the 2010 Prius (especially since Toyota is planning new commercials to inform the public that new vehicles have already been fixed and do not contain the recall problems).

    http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-h...x-near-annoucement-next-week.html#post1056781
    .
     
  13. joe1347

    joe1347 Active Member

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    It's going to take more than a few commercials. Maybe not so much for the Prius - but the rest of the Toyota lineup will likely have to be heavily discounted to find buyers. Toyota has a long ways to go to work themselves out of this mess - especially now that Congress is planning on holding (very public) hearings and you can bet that there's plenty of expensive class action lawsuits being cooked up.