Toyota facing the scale down of 06 Prius

You're welcome. You will love it.

 

Just off the phone with my fleet guy. Says that this is ALL about a new port. They used to come into San Diego, and now they'll come into Oakland. At least he says that's his official info. He's taken lots of phone calls today from guys like me who think they know something, but it does not correspond with what Toyota is telling him. He says 15-28 day delay, and then there will be more Prii than we know what to do with. As far as he's concerned as soon as the flood gates re-open (when the new port passes inspection) that backorders will be filled quickly. The truth, as usual, is likely somewhere in the middle. He has asked me to forward him a copy of this "letter" that we're all talking about, as he hasn't a clue what it was.

 

Well now, that is interesting. I live in San Diego and I have spoken with every Toyota dealer in this county today. I didn't ask about this so-called shortage,though. I was inquiring about what they had on the lot at this exact moment. However, ports came up a few times and they've all told me the Prius comes into Long Beach. One guy also mentioned "or Freemont"...or at least it sounded like "Freemont". Isn't that in the Bay Area near Oakland???

The Hondas come into San Diego...

 

Sorry if this has already been covered, but make sure you do your homework with DMV before buying a new car out of state. I think Prius does not require smog certificates in any situation, but DMV does have some rules to discourage buying new out of state - one being requiring a certain odometer value before you can register. Not sure what applies to Prius - just do your homework if you haven't already in this area.

 

Well, big surprise... we don't have a clue what's going on. The only thing we seem to know for sure is that there aren't ANY coming in for the next month or so.

 

That's why the people who need them asap should be calling around for them. Get them while you can for now!

 

This must be a holdup that is region specific (Northern CA). In the Chicagoland area, they are coming in.

 

Maybe they are today but what about tomorrow or 2 weeks from now?

 

Thanks for digging that out, Steve. Mr. Hirose will have egg on his face---but he's high-volume, and a month shortage will pinch him a bit.

Looks like I owe Darell and Joe lunch, too. My pleasure. We're all obviously quiet types.

 

Hey Tracy!

I don't think there will be significant holdups overall. I'm getting several calls from dealers of cars coming in, Toyota is saying they are increasing production, and if there are port changes which can temporarily hang things, my sense is it will be region-specific. I've been quite impressed with prospective buyers willing to fly east or west of the Mississippi to get a Prius, but I am notexperiencing anything like that in Chicago. In fact, I was recently in Orlando, and noticed several Prius pouring in.

I just hope people stop freaking out about a Prius shortage.

-S

 

Yeah hopefully everything will be ok and anyone that wants a Prius will get one. I'm sure some aren't even in a hurry since they have a good car to drive yet.

I did have to go to Milwaukee to get mine. It was ok though because I already had to make a trip there.

 

Excellent. I'm almost always hungry... and usually at a loss for things to discuss.

 

Well, now I'm really doubtful. For sure, well documented in many places, Northern California region Prius have been coming from Long Beach, not San Diego. I did find a link to an article saying Toyota was going to "import and process select Toyota vehicles through Benicia by the fall of 2006". They'll be shifted from the Port of Long Beach, "where Toyota's rail-yard lease expires at the end of 2006". Benicia is in the SF Bay Area; maybe it's being moved up from fall to now. If so, according to the article, it may affect "distribution throughout Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas and parts of California". http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2005/07/15/137598.html

I'm not sure I'm ready to discount Rickey Hirose's post on PriusOnline; he's been posting there for at least a couple of years, and has shared apparently-accurate inside information before. As for calls to Toyota with them denying any cutbacks in Prius production, that might be easily explained: they are looking at increased production for the year, but we're only asking about a short-term event over the next few weeks. The two aren't necessarily inconsistent.

It wouldn't surprise me to learn there's no villain here at all, just some poor communication from Toyota corporate to the regional office(s) and further twisting of the tale as it's been passed down into the dealer network. It's also possible a couple of unrelated events are coinciding, just adding to the confusion.

Joe

 

Benicia is in my back yard! I'm what? 40 miles from Benicia? Be great for my NEXT purchase, but it seems to be a bummer on this one. Man, the more we hear, the more we realize that there's no consistency! It has just become an interesting thing for me to watch at this point. Crazy.

 

I'm on the list for #4 in Iowa and a #5 in IL. Dealer in IA says they mostly get #4s.

Andy

 

That's awesome, Steve! Thanks for calling.

Andy

 

So is this port, the port where all Prii enter the US?

Andy

 

Good digging---and good logic, too. Bottom line: it's at least going to hurt US for a month or so, Camry components, changing ports or the vapors.

I won't wait another month. After my search of about 35 dealers in the last 30 hours, I have a small handle on just how thin the "Prius margin" is now, at least in the West; it's about what we all expected for January. And my Capital 1 loan "blank check" expires in a few weeks, requiring re-application and paying a higher rate.

 

Since the three biggest US Prius markets are SoCal, Bay Area and Portland-Seattle, I can't see Toyota ever vacating Long Beach. They'd have to truck all those SoCal cars 400-600 miles south. But it does make sense to have a third port.

 

Just thought I would add some fuel to the speculation on Prius production.

The Hawaii distributorship had their Prius allocation reduced by 30 in January and 30 in February. And they knew it back in December.
I don't know their total allocation, but I suspect it was a good percentage.

I have no idea what this really means beyond a two month reduction. I originally thought the allocation got snagged by So. California, but now......??