No Pkg 5s in Houston according to the builder?

Houston is a PORT for Toyota, it is home base to Gulf States Toyota, an independent Toyota distributorship, you should be able to get what you are looking for there. Prius are in short supply, but you can get one. I found one, just doing what you did, just keep clicking More, it was Available, meaning that it is in the Port or coming in to the port within a few days.

 

Houston is a major port for Toyota, but the OP is correct. There appears to many package 2, 3, and 4 in Houston, but the locator at Toyota.com could not find a package 5 or 6.

I am willing to bet a local dealer can locate one somewhere in the state and have it shipped in for you. They have more resources than we do.

Good Luck and may you enjoy your prius in Houston as much as I do.

 

Make sure that you really want OEM navigation. It is nice, but it is expensive and not as up to date and feature laden as some of the much less expensive aftermarket units. For about $600 you can get an aftermarket nav that includes real time traffic, movie times, etc. Plus, you get map updates cheaply.

The Toyota unit does not allow address input while moving and updates of the Nav DVD cost $200. Even the latest DVD has omissions. Having said all that, I like my OEM Nav.

 

If I was thinking to take delivery July 1 this summer, when should I start harassing dealers? Start about a month before you want to take delivery.

Another question I had was what is the correct order to do the following with a move from Canada...

3- Make deal for car
1- Get an address
2- Get a Texas drivers licence (will this be an in car test for me?)
4- Get Insurance arranged
5- Take posession of car
6- Get plates

In that order, you don't have to worry about plates really, after you sign all the papers, dealer files title and license papers for you, you get a paper tag good for about a month at purchase, plates usually arrive at dealer within two to three weeks.

I just worked a deal for a friend in Houston, if you need contacts there or need help with trying to work a deal, I'll be glad to pass on the info to you.

 

Texas gives only 30 days to have your registration and plates.

 

Both a freind and I recently purchased in Houston, and we both ended up waiting about 6 weeks to get the exact color/package we wanted.

I'd recommend contacting a internet sales manager at a Houston Toyota dealer, and have them on standby to reserve the Prius you want before it comes in. Hopefully the timing will workout where you and the Prius will arrive in Houston around the sametime.

A Prius is awesome in Houston since it is flat, warm, and we have plenty of traffic

 

Sterling-McCall Toyota is perhaps the main Toyota dealer, located in the Southwest corner of Houston. I bought from Fort Bend Toyota in the suburbs. FB is suffering through highway construction hiding them from sight, so they are really hungry right now and so are making some good deals. Bottom-line is don't pay over invoice in Houston, and with a little grinding you can probably do better.

And yes, Prius is perfect for Houston!

 

I live in Austin, and I just picked up my Touring package #5 yesterday. I had to order it and wait for delivery. When I ordered it, they told me it would be 6-8 weeks, unless they could locate a dealer trade. Five days later they called and said they had found one that was destined for Houston and had it sent to Austin. (Don't hate!) Three days after that, they called and said it had arrived. According to the folks at Classic Honda the package 5s are pretty rare and they sell immediately. On the bright side, you can certainly get one, if you just have a little patience. You just can't have mine. ;-)

 

Don't pay over invoice in Houston on a Prius? Interesting, in going to 6 dealerships, 3 in San Antonio and 3 in Houston, including Fort Bend, they didn't even want to discount much on the Prius, it is in high demand, hardly anyone had any on the lot. Only Corpus Christi in the final outcome, finally offered a major discount.

 

When I was searching around Houston for new and pre-owned, I ended up going all the way to Fred Haas Toyota World in Spring, TX (about 30 minutes from downtown Houston). As soon as I said I was considering certified pre-owned as well, the salesman immediately responded, "Don't get pre-owned, I'll get you the same price on a new one." I ended up looking at both on the lot and tried to deal down a new Pkg 4. Through some very friendly, but lengthy, negotiations, they went down a few hundred (to their claimed "bottom line"), but I still wanted to explore other places.

I ended up getting a very good deal from a dealer in Austin on an '06. A few weeks later, the Fred Haas salesman called me and wanted to know what he could do to that price to "get me in that Prius". Leads me to believe, they're looking to unload under MSRP from that dealer. As a side note, you may also consider certified pre-owned if you don't want the hassle of waiting or dealing with the immediate depreciation after paying MSRP. There were plenty on that lot in like-new condition, with the 7yr/100k certified warranty.

And Houston really is a good terrain for the Prius (very flat), the overly aggressive drivers are another thing however...

 

Winston,

Your are incorrect in stating the "Toyota UNIT DOES NOT ALLOW ADDRESS INPUT WHILE MOVING". You MAY input addresses verbally using the voice command system (button on steering wheel). I do it all the time in my Touring Pkg #6. You simply say "address" when it asks you what you want and you just follow the voice commands from there, verbalizing the state, city, street and finally, house number, all while moving. It's all spelled out on how to do it in the Owner's Navigation Manual. What source are you using that says it doesn't allow it???

 

Here is a link to the Toyota website that has a Navigation Demo showing how to input destination addresses, both manually, and verbally while moving, as well as registering your home site on the Nav, and many other basic functions such as adjusting the map scale, selecting the type of North arrow and map orientation you prefer, selecting a split screen or not, marking POI's, finding gas stations, restaurants, etc.

Danny, I think this link would be a good sticky for both the data knowledge catagory and the newbie forums as it explains by example the "How to" on most all of the NAV unit features and also on the cellphone Bluetooth setups. Just a thought.

Toyota Prius Features