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2018 Prius Prime availability near Chicagoland

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by Carol109876, Dec 18, 2018.

  1. Carol109876

    Carol109876 New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2018
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    Location:
    Chicago
    Vehicle:
    2019 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    Hi all! I am new to this forum and I am shopping for a 2018 Prius Prime, but want to test drive one first. Any tips on where to locate one closest to the Chicagoland area? I've looked online Pat individual dealerships and also looked on AutoTrader. Any other guidelines people can give me? A number of dealerships have them on their website, but then they are not actually part of their inventory. Thanks in advance!
     
  2. schja01

    schja01 One of very few in Chicagoland

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2005
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    Location:
    Chicagoland
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    I test drove one in Northbrook and one in Libertyville. Neither was charged enough to give EV mode a good test. If I had to do it again I would immediately put the car in Charge Mode for 15 minutes and then switch to EV.
    I ultimately purchased one from my long time dealer in Park Ridge.
    This was all in the May ‘18 timeframe.
    Elmhurst had a Prime to test as well but I never went there.
    Bottom line is they are rather scarce and dealers are not really very knowledgeable on the Prime here.
    I love mine.
    J
     
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  3. killzone4

    killzone4 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2018
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    Location:
    Denver
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Premium
    There are much better prices available on the coasts when you are ready to buy. I'm a Chicago transplant to Denver. And was shopping for one in Denver, and then for one in Chicago for pick up over xmas. But ended up going to California due to way better price. Based on the price forms it looks like the east coast has even better pricing and would be more convenient to Chicago than California.
     
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  4. nanobozho

    nanobozho Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2017
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    Location:
    desplaines, il
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    I drove up to Madison WI (from Des Plaines IL) in June 2017 to test drive one with the advanced trim. Grossinger in Chicago had a premium, which I drove, but they didn't bother to charge it.
     
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  5. schja01

    schja01 One of very few in Chicagoland

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2005
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    Location:
    Chicagoland
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    That’s why I suggested running in “charge mode” at the beginning of the test. Don’t depend on clueless sales persons to charge the car.
    J
     
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  6. nanobozho

    nanobozho Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2017
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    Location:
    desplaines, il
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    I found that I had to specify, repeatedly, to all dealerships to pre-charge plug-in hybrids for test-drives. Agree that most dealer staffs know little or nothing about these cars.

    I drove Ford Fusion Energi's, The Chevy Volt, Hyundai Sonata Plug Ins, in addition to the Primes.
     
  7. DavidA

    DavidA Prius owner since July 2009

    Joined:
    Jul 14, 2009
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    Location:
    Chicago western burbs
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Elmhurst usually has a few. Call Justyna and ask her to have one fully charged for a test drive. Just don't expect discounts on Primes in the Chicago market. Also watch out for unnecessary dealer tricks like VinEtch or Fabric Treatment (Grossinger).
     
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  8. schja01

    schja01 One of very few in Chicagoland

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2005
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    Location:
    Chicagoland
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    I would never buy a car from Grossinger. Old School unethical dealership.
    I had a bait and switch incident.
    Thought it might be a one time thing except they did a similar thing when I gave them one more chance.
    There are a lot of Grossinger license plate frames on the road. I don’t know why people feel they need to buy from a dealer like that.
     
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