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Any PriusChatters attending the New York Intl Auto Show?

Discussion in 'Other Cars' started by bookrats, Mar 30, 2004.

  1. bookrats

    bookrats New Member

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    It's opens next week on the 9th; lot of press conferences and introductions on the 7th-8th. (The web site is here.)

    Sounds like details of "what's different" in the 2005 Priuses (if anything is different) will be presented then. Also, the Ford Escape hybrid SUV will be debuting, and there's almost a dozen "alternative fuel" cars being presented.

    Was wondering if any PriusChat members were planning on attending; and if so, might be willing to ask some questions about the 2005 Priuses (if the information hasn't already been made public), production questions, etc.

    -----
    I'll try and keep the questions (a) few and (B) Yes/No as much as possible; at least, involving no long involved answers -- I do not want to abuse the privilge! Thank you in advance!

    2005 Prius Questions:Any significant changes to the overall 2005 Prius from the 2004? (I strongly doubt there will be, but figured we should ask.) Of course, we're curious about minor ones, too... :)
    [*]Will any of the Prius Option packages (#1-#9) be eliminated for the 2005 models? Will there be any new Options packages, or alterations to current packages?
    [*]Any new or discontinued colors for the 2005 Prius models?
    [*]Any new accessories for the 2005 models (i.e., things like the cargo net, cargo mats, etc.)? If so, can they be added onto the 2004 models as well?


    • General Prius Questions:Are there any plans to sell the Prius in the U.S. and Canada with the EV switch installed, or as an option/accessory? The EV switch is the "stealth mode"/electric-only operation switch, that comes with European, Australian and Japanese '04 Priuses, but not U.S. or Canadian Priuses.


      • Note: If any of this information is answered during the April 7-8 Press Releases/Press conferences, I'll remove them from the list.

        Thank you!
     
    #1 bookrats, Mar 30, 2004
  2. shocker

    shocker Junior Member

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    I will be attending the NY Auto Show next week. I will gladly post anything that I find out.
     
    #2 shocker, Mar 30, 2004
  3. bookrats

    bookrats New Member

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    Thank you very much -- it really is appreciated (particularly for those of us who will probably end up getting a 2005 Prius instead of a 2004, because of our place in the waiting line, and are wondering What's Changing.)

    If you felt like posing some specific questions to the Toyota folks, I've listed some in the original article, at the top of the page. I really do not want to "abuse the privilege, so I've tried to keep it to a short list, and make the questions fairly precise.

    Also, If it turns out that any of them are answered during the April 7-8th press releases/press conferences, I'll remove them from the list. (And I'll post a link in this thread to the inevitable thread that summarizes and discusses any Prius press releases from the show.)

    Looking forward to what you (and anyone else attending the show) see and hear about!
     
    #3 bookrats, Mar 31, 2004
  4. shocker

    shocker Junior Member

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    I went to the auto show yesterday and have to say I was very disappointed in Toyota’s display of the Prius. The one Prius that they had was off to the side. For a car that is “Car of the Year†they had no hype, no banners, and no one around to discuss it. Their real focus was their concept racecar and the Hybrid Highlander. I spent some time in the Toyota area and was finally able to speak to a “representativeâ€. I don’t know how reliable the information was but here are the answers to your question.

    a. No significant changes. Could not name any minor changes
    b. No packages will be eliminated or added
    c. No new or discontinued colors
    d. Forgot to ask this question. SorryL
    a. No, the EV switch will not be added to the US models.

    I know that some of this information disagrees with some of the posts on this newsgroup regarding changes, so again I will state that I do not know how reliable this “representative†was. I asked for any brochures or paper information that they may have on the 05 model and she stated that they didn’t have any but I could request it from the Toyota website.

    Sorry I couldn’t be more informative but they really were not providing any useful information on any of their cars. It was very disappointing. I can say that the one Prius they had was generating a lot of attention. It was too bad that they didn’t have a “representative†around it to answer questions.
     
    #4 shocker, Apr 11, 2004
  5. bookrats

    bookrats New Member

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    Shocker, thank you for asking those questions -- it really is appreciated!

    Actually, that tends to match up with the rumors I've been hearing so far -- basically, "no changes, period." That's certainly appears to be the info being handed to Toyota's rank and file, anyway. (And I would have been very surprised if the EV switch would be added.)

    Looking over John1701a's web logs, new colors were announced for the Prius Classic, after its first or second year, in late June or early July. So we might get more info then.

    I agree with you -- very disappointing that the Prius wasn't showcased more. You'd think Toyota would at least want to show folks what all the hoopla's about. Maybe they think the "target attendee" at the Auto Show wouldn't be interested.

    Again, thanks for taking the time to ask, and to report back!
     
    #5 bookrats, Apr 11, 2004
  6. Wolfman

    Wolfman New Member

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    Thats unfortunate. At the Dallas show, they had two Prii there, as well as the RX400h, and the Hylander, the latter two being on the "don't touch it" platforms. They had some kind of HSD kiosks, that were not functional at the time as well.

    The thing I REALLY wanted to see was the cutaway of the hybrid system that the folks in Chicago got to see. Too bad nobody took a picture of it.
     
    #6 Wolfman, Apr 12, 2004
  7. hedwig

    hedwig New Member

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    I just got back from NYC, and we spent part of a day at the show. The Prius on display was an odd grey colour - didn't really look like tideland, so I thought it might be a new colour they're introducing, but I guess not.

    It was not as prominent as I would have liked, but people were crawling ALL OVER it. I had a big grin on my face over that - two people hanging out the hatch, two more in the backseat, someone in the driver's seat, and more people milling around it.

    Also, they featured the Highlander hybrid pretty prominently, and they had some bumper sticker packages - I got a couple. I was disappointed that, while they had cool slogans, they also had "Toyota Highlander Hybrid" on them, which seemed strange to me. If the car's not on the market yet, why put out stickers that can only go to that car? Anyway, I'm sure Toyota could provide those if someone wanted to request them. It's a booklet, and here's what they have:

    I BRAKE TO SAVE ENERGY
    WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T HAVE YOUR SUV AND MPG, TOO?
    I HAVE 270 HP AND I'M NOT AFRAID TO USE IT
    FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS DRIVE SQUISHED
    BURN RUBBER CLEANLY
    ...and my favorite
    MY TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID IS SMARTER THAN YOUR HONOR STUDENT.

    Also, I'd like to point out that while Toyota/Lexus' hybrids were being mauled by the public, the Honda hybrid section (the Civic and Insight were on display) was completely barren. Not gloating...just saying.
     
    #7 hedwig, Apr 20, 2004
  8. agustafson

    agustafson New Member

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    Electric-only mode in U.S. Prius

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bookrats\";p=\"9053)</div>
    Actually, Coastal Tech in Florida offers a mod for the prius re-enabling that functionality. Their electric only mode mod is only $45 (plus S&H) but supposedly only takes 25 minutes to install. They also offer an auto door lock feature which sounds really cool. I was always bothered that the auto-lock functionality was not included. seemed like a no-brainer to me, safety-wise.
     
    #8 agustafson, Nov 21, 2004
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