A Milwaukee Hybrid Group member takes the_PHEV for a drive and arrives home with it a few days later.
Rees Roberts -
CleanMPG - June 28, 2012
Tinker Bell, our 2012 Toyota Prius PHEV -- $32,000 to start, an 11-mile all-electric range (AER) and the same 50 mpgUS combined rating as its highly regarded namesake.
I am told by Wilde Toyota of Milwaukee that we may be the first Prius PHEV owners in all of Wisconsin and possibly the entire Midwest. There may be others in the "Land of Cheese" but they would have had to have surely had to have been driven in from somewhere else.
In my own Words
I was curious about the Prius PHEV and called a local dealer to ask about them. They said they actually just received one and I could take it on a short test drive.
Wow! During the test drive I said:
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"Boy, could I put a down payment on this car so when it became available I could maybe be the first one to get a plug-in from their dealership?
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The rep said he doubted that would happen because Toyota is not selling them in the Midwest but only on the East and West coasts. He did however ask after our test drive.
The manger's response:
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"If our dealership is allowed, would you buy it today?"
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14.967 nano-seconds later I said yes on condition that my wife (a unique description for those that hold the purse strings

) would say yes too.
When speaking with my wife later that day she reminded me that all she was interested in is a power seat and seat heaters. After all this is Wisconsin.
Fortunately the Prius PHEV arrives with power (driver’s side) and heated seats which quickly focused her attention. We took a test drive the next day and the deal was done after a few calls to Toyota Corporate to bless the Midwest sales transaction. This was supposed to be a dealership demo fleet program car but with < 60-miles, it was as good as good can get from my perspective
This Prius PHEV has all the “fixins”
Our Prius PHEV is equipped with the Advanced Technology Package including integrated fog lamps, LED headlamps with auto level control, auto-off feature and headlamp cleaners, Auto-dimming rearview mirror with a HomeLink universal transceiver, HDD Navigation with Entune and PHEV specific applications, SofTex-trimmed seats and steering wheel, a Heads-Up Display (HUD) and Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC).
Just awesome and we even received a fair trade for our Camry!
Thanks to Rob in new car sales for hand holding me through the purchase. And while I am not an employee of Wilde Toyota, it sure seems like I have been there a lot given we have purchased 3 new cars from them over the last 6 years.
Epilog
We are now a two Prius car family and because my wife only works 2 miles from home, this car is made for her. I know it is officially her car but I get to use it once in a while too
Cheers
Rees Roberts - Racine, WI.