If you are waiting on delivery of a 2020 Prius Prime from Japan.......

Just Southeast and Gulf. If they don't want to support a model, it gets hard to get. From things posted here, it seems best to make the effort to get a Toyota you want from outside those regions. In the case of the Prime, discounts in the Northeast can more than make up for the plane trip and drive home.

 

Yup. I like to confirm the build date when checking the VIN on delivery - just to be sure.

 

I think it is more about dealer pushback against the new with the Prime. It may have been happening when the Prius first came out.

 

Yes, I hope you get yours, too. So far, I’m loving it - although still a lot to learn. I actually asked the dealer at the pick up if they found my car at another dealer and he said no. I’m wondering now if ordering the Limited with no extra options is the reason.

 

Many dealers don't want to give plug ins a chance. They are afraid of changing away for a business model that relies on ICE service. It is why Tesla went with direct sales, and many dealer associations fought to get Tesla stores banned in their states.

 

I think the dealers throw out a long estimate like this to keep eager beaver buyers off their back. Some dealers give blow by blow info on when they know what the VIN is, when the build date is and where it was built, etc. and the name of the ship. Most don't.

Keep in mind the 2017 was the first year for the Prime series which may skew the numbers, but I ordered mine June 30-2017, and It arrived in OKC Sept 14, 2017. It was on the "Athens Highway" car carrier running full bore around Key West to Houston right in front of Hurricane Irma. No stress there at all.

Timeline: Ordered June 30, Arrived @ Houston VPC Sept 10, arrived at dealer Sept 13th. Was told by Gulf States Toyota distribution analyst that production would be in September with delivery Oct/Nov. They obviously stepped up production.

(Read that whole 30 page Midwest Availability thread. It's an eye opener)

 

Here is better info fo my Prius Prime Limited order:
Test drove a prime and ordered one on 1/21/2020.
Took delivery on 2/24/2020 - at least a month sooner than expected.
I just checked the manufacture date inside the door and all it says is 01/2020 - no date. This suggests it was probably not sitting on another dealership’s lot, but was probably just produced and ready to be shipped very close to when I ordered it.... possibly a little before.

 

What a different "business model" from a decade back: we found our 2010 Touring sitting at the back of a shed, covered in dust, where it'd been apparently sitting, for well over a year lol. With a dead bird lying beside it. Had them extricate it, clean it up, we test drove it, bought it.

 

I am just going to mention that the Dealers are wrong, by the way.

Do Hybrids and PHEVs need less maintenance? Yes.

However, dealers get a bigger percentage of less. Shade tree mechanics are scared of Hybrids. If they knew what a PHEV was, they would be scared to work on them, as well.

I sincerely believe that a poll of Prius owners and Mustang owners would find a larger percentage of dealer serviced Prius.

 

So it is generally the case that if you live in the Gulf or Southeast region, that your only practical way to get a Prime is to privately deal with a dealership in another region, travel to that dealership, and drive it home? We hear a lot about the Southeast region not wanted to deal with these new-fangled electric vehicles (the $$$ is in the big trucks and SUVs). Is the same true of the Gulf region?

 

Shed is accurate, but misleading. It was sort of a showroom/shed. But pretty full, and we found this gem, boxed in, waaaay at the back. 12 volt battery dead-as-a-doornail (and they tried to mask that...), but it cleaned up good. Our baby, still inside the "shed":

 

It may be simply a case of not wanting to have cars on the lot that won't move taking up space that could be occupied by, say, Tundras or Tacomas.

This thread has been very educational. I had no idea such regional differences exist. Just for grins, I went on AutoTrader and did a search using my Connecticut ZIP, a SC ZIP, and a couple of other places as well. Man, you aren't kidding when you say they don't sell Primes down there! There weren't even many HEV Prius vehicles shown. One area I looked at even had more Land Cruisers listed than Primes. Make of that what you will.

Not to add to your concerns, but if I were in your shoes I think I'd be a little worried that the dealership's mechanics don't have much experience with Primes, or possibly even Prius in general. I'd like to think there is at least one person in the shop that knows the car model well when I bring it in for warranty service.