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Did you order your first Prius Prime WITHOUT ever having seen one in person ?

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by GKL, Mar 1, 2020.

  1. GKL

    GKL Active Member

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    We ordered our 2020 Prius Prime XLE in January WITHOUT having even seen one in person, that's how confident we were based on all the research I did and all the owner reviews I read.

    We still have yet to see one in person, likely the first time will be when the one we ordered gets delivered :LOL:

    (they did have one regular non-plug-in Prius we test drove, so I guess that was somewhat close to a Prime)
     
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  2. Jon Bloom

    Jon Bloom Member

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    No, here in New England there were, and are, plenty of Prime's available to look at. Like you, I was quite sure the PP was what I wanted, but since I had the opportunity to go test drive one, I did.
     
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  3. GKL

    GKL Active Member

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    Glad they were available for your area, but unfortunately some regions just seem to avoid stocking them so a buyer has to go by what they read online :rolleyes::LOL:
     
  4. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Availability is always very important for me to consider purchasing a car. If the car has to be ordered, I lose a lot of bargaining power. Luckily, for PRIME I did not have to look too far to find a dealer who had it in stock. That being said, I had not seen any PRIME prior to my first PRIME (2017) model purchase. I went to a dealer to see it one day and bought it with a very short test drive. I was not even thinking of purchasing it at that time. I just wanted to see it how it drives. I now see PRIME in the wild every day besides my own. For my recent second PRIME (2020) purchase, I was very familiar with the car. No test drive needed. I just went to a dealer to talk to a sales person and switched my 2017 PRIME with a brand new 2020 PRIME in less than 1 hour.

    Oh, test driving regular PRIUS is just as good as real PRIME. My brand new PRIME came with a full tank of gas but was not charged. It had 70 miles on ODO when I picked it up, but looking at the Eco Log, it has never been driven EV while on the lot. This is very typical of treatment PRIME receives at any Toyota dealer.

    Screenshot 2020-03-01 at 8.29.38 PM.png
     
    #4 Salamander_King, Mar 1, 2020
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2020
  5. jamesrdorn

    jamesrdorn Junior Member

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    Location:
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    Limited
    I jumped on a plane from Dallas to Little Rock because it was the only one I could find. In this area, these cars are hard to find. Unicorns.


    iPad ?
     
  6. GKL

    GKL Active Member

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    That's good to hear where you said "test driving regular PRIUS is just as good as real PRIME" as we were very impressed with test driving the one lone Prius that huge dealership had in stock :LOL:

    Some regions like ours where Primes are not usually stocked or even advertised there seems like there might not be many Prime owners, there was one time I saw a vehicle in traffic that I noticed a "hybrid" emblem on but I think it was a regular Prius, so I'm pretty sure I have yet to see an actual Prime in person anywhere :LOL:

    Hey, at least our car should be easy to spot in a parking lot :LOL:

    The closest public charging station is over 10 miles away from where we live, but we would likely do 95% of our charging at home, the large city closest to us is about 25 miles away and they seem to have a number of charging stations there.
     
  7. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Well, we have absolutely no public charging station within 200 miles, but there are many PRIME on the road. That's the beauty of PHEV. Even without charging, it will run very efficiently on the gas engine. The dealer I just purchased PRIME from had more than 10 PRIME in stock, but they had only 1 regular PRIUS. The sales rep told me, they don't even try to sell PRIUS any more. With a $9,000 rebate and tax incentive on PRIME, it makes absolutely no sense to buy regular PRIUS in our region.

    A short time after I bought the 2017 PRIME, I was at local Walmart, I came out of the store and got to the car. I tried to open the car, but it would not open. I tried pushing the unlock button on the fob, but the car still did not respond. I looked at the car carefully, only to realize it was the same model PRIME, the same color parked two cars away from my car. In between, there was a huge SUV parked preventing me to find my own car. LOL
     
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  8. dig4dirt

    dig4dirt MoonGlow

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    The curved back window on the hatch is a dead giveaway
    along with some other fancy details
     
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  9. drash

    drash Senior Member

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    No we actually were looking for the HiHy or RAV4 Hybrid for my wife to drive when we stopped at a dealer. Long story short we ended up test driving a Prime they had just off loaded that day. We ended up buying it later we were so impressed and we got a heck of a trade-in offer on our PiP.

    The Plug-in Prius (PiP) and Prime both have the words, PLUG-IN, right above the Hybrid. The front headlights are really unique and sets it apart from all other Prii as does the rear light and the charge door on the right.

    Yeah it is rather unique.

    I’ve charged mine once other than at home. FYI: ChargePoint gave me a $10 free charge coupon when I registered the app, which I promptly used. It takes three times to use up $10. So I have a couple of more charges left.


    iPad ? Pro
     
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  10. GKL

    GKL Active Member

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    Wow, your region sells cars that can use charging stations and yet as you said "no public charging station within 200 miles" and here our region is NOT known for selling plug-in cars and I'm surprised there are as many charging stations as there are within 25 miles. Go figure !

    Amazing someone would have the same color Prime parked that close to yours, good thing that owner didn't come out at that time or they may have gotten the wrong idea :eek::LOL:
     
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  11. GKL

    GKL Active Member

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    Okay, thanks, so a non-plug-in Prius does not have the curved back glass then.

    I think I would have noticed that so it must have been a regular Prius I saw.
     
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  12. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Also the front lights and rear lights are different;).

    I see plenty of each out here:).

    Those are the main differences that make them discernible (y).
     
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  13. dig4dirt

    dig4dirt MoonGlow

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    When seeing a reg Gen4 Prius, the flatness of the spoiler spoils the look now :ROFLMAO:
     
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  14. GKL

    GKL Active Member

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    The one Prius I think I saw in traffic was very brief so didn't have time to notice all the details but I'm sure I would have noticed the curved glass if it had it so it must had been a regular Prius.

    Thanks for the info about the $10 free charge coupon, normally we'll likely do 95% (or even more) of our charging at home, but hey, if we have a chance to get $10 worth of charging free when we need to away from home, why not ?

    From what I researched the 2 closest charging stations to us (a little over 10 miles away) are free and open to the public, and some that are in the city about 25 miles from us are free but some are likely pay ones too.
     
  15. GKL

    GKL Active Member

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    Thanks, and yep, your state might have more Primes than the rest of the country put together ! :LOL:
     
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  16. GKL

    GKL Active Member

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    :LOL:
     
  17. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    You mean all EV's;).

    Always fun to see all the options:).

    Can't wait for the Rivian RT1 to make it appearance(y).
     
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  18. dig4dirt

    dig4dirt MoonGlow

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    That is probably true, but here in my neck of the woods, I see them everyday. different ones too.

    Northeast has many too
     
  19. GKL

    GKL Active Member

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    Hey, only England (overseas) might end up outdoing your state, I heard they are planning on banning ICE vehicles by 2035 I think.

    Yep, the Northeast is another area plentiful with Primes and similar cars, hard to believe the difference between some regions, Primes are very rare in our area !
     
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  20. Jon Bloom

    Jon Bloom Member

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    Well, there is region and then there is locality. I'm in the same (Toyota) region as @Salamander_King, but there are several free public charging stations within about a mile and a half of my house. Why? Because I live near Hartford, the state capital of Connecticut, which is chock-a-block with state buildings, many of which have charging stations.

    Not that charging stations a mile or so from my house do me any good; I'm not going to drive a mile and wait a couple of hours for a free dollar's worth of electricity.

    I had a similar experience at the local library when I walked out to see another Blizzard Pearl PP parked right next to mine. I did a double-take. I don't actually see that many Primes around here. I do see lots of HEV Priuses, though. Now, my PP has the OEM roof rack, which distinguishes it from any other PP I've seen and makes it easier to locate in the parking lot. :)
     
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