2010 Prius-III prices on the rise

[xcel]

Toyota Prius-I feature set announced!

Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - Sept. 25, 2009

50-mpg rated 2010 Toyota Prius-III - Adjustment adds $400.

Toyota today announced a new manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSRP) today for the all-new 2010 Prius-III HEV. The base MSRP on 2010 Prius models II, III, IV and V will be adjusted to reflect an increase of $400, or an average of 1.6 percent. Base prices for the Prius will range from $22,400 for the Prius II to $27,670 for the Prius V. The new Prius MSRPs will take effect with all US port arrivals on or after October 18, 2009 or basically any Prius currently in route to local dealerships nationwide.

Although it has yet to be seen, pricing for the Prius-III (-I) model, which will now be made available in limited quantities to fleet buyers, will remain unchanged at $21,000. The Prius-III (-I) will come equipped with all of the standard features of Prius II minus Cruise Control, Touch Tracer Display, Smart Key, EV mode, a rear wiper, rear tonneau cover, heated side mirrors, satellite radio antenna and satellite capable radio, rear armrest with two cup holders, two rear-door speakers, rear heater duct, passenger-seatback pocket, foldable rear headrests and underbody spoilers and spats.

Toyota MSRPs do not include a delivery, processing and handling (DPH) fee of $750. An even higher DPH fee for vehicles distributed by Southeast Toyota (SET) and Gulf States Toyota (GST) may vary.

[wokwithm]

Toyota Declares victory over other Hybrids and raise their Prices. "We know you want one and will pay more for it."

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

And we know it's already profitable and won't pay the increase price...

[SlowHand]

Now it would be nice for them to start making them in the U.S. Maybe that would at least justify this small increase.

[phoebeisis]

No cruise control on a $21000 car? How much does CC cost Toyota?? I've eyeballed some fleet vans as replacement for my FSP and the ones with no CC are deal breakers.

Gotta admit $21000 is pretty cheap for that much car.

Charlie

[Mendel Leisk]

There's a cruise control with radar option, I believe, but not cheap.

My 2 cents: unless you're more-or-less alone on the road, cruise control without some sort of radar (to pace the car in front of you) is not that useful.

Another 2 cents: cruise control is counter to hands-on improvement of your mileage. We've got it, but never use it. Maybe they took a poll of Prius owners?

[brick]

Lack of CC is just that stripped-down version. Every other Prius has it, and taking it away is just to differentiate the "bargain basement" version from the normal packages that Toyota would rather have you buy.

I do use CC to give my right foot a break on the I-95 suicide runs that I make a few times a year. I don't need a radar system when setting CC at the speed limit because I'm guaranteed to be one of the slowest cars on the road. There's nobody to get in the way!

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Originally Posted by Mendel Leisk

There's a cruise control with radar option, I believe, but not cheap.

My 2 cents: unless you're more-or-less alone on the road, cruise control without some sort of radar (to pace the car in front of you) is not that useful.

Another 2 cents: cruise control is counter to hands-on improvement of your mileage. We've got it, but never use it. Maybe they took a poll of Prius owners?

My 2 cents on your 2 cents: it very much depends on your definition of alone,it depends on your definition of useful, it depends on your local terrain, it depends on how well your can maintain consistent speed in hilly terrain, it depends how much you care about inconvenience to drivers behind you.

I'm in Maine and the majority of my driving is commuting on the rolling hills of 2-lane I95. I am bad at maintaining speed on hilly terrain. I do not drive above the PSL (65mph). I don't care about inconvenience to speeding drivers but I do care about safety and any inconvenience to drivers driving at or below the speed limit.

Cruise control quite obviously makes driving easier:
You don't have to keep your foot on the gas pedal. (Also allowing you to put your foot over the brake pedal in anticipation of braking.)
You don't have to keep making adjustments to maintain speed.
As long as the car in front maintains consistent speed you can easily judge overtaking.
If you can't overtake you can easily adjust speed.
It's easy to resume speed after having to make an adjustment.

Another 2 cents on your other 2 cents:
Yes, you can improve the economy by not using cruise control if you can drive better than it, but first you need to be able to beat it and secondly you need to be in a situation where DWL won't inconvenience following traffic. Also, if your reason for improving fuel economy is altruistic you have to make sure that your driving won't be causing the leadfeet behind you to lose more than you gain.

I see enough Prius drivers fly by me on the interstate to know that a lot of them don't care about maximizing their mileage. They drive as they always did but in a more economical car. I see this model as serving a few purposes: allow them to advertise "from $21000", selling to more price sensitive markets, selling to drivers who don't want the trimmings but do want a specific option.

For example, I'd just get the Prius II, but would be rather tempted by a Prius I with AT.

[phoebeisis]

My 4 cents-CC is great for long trips.We do a 3000 mile trip-maybe once a year depending on $$-spending 6 days at a La Quinta(allows animals-free breakfast and coffee) in Flagsstaff AZ.The actual driving time is 26+ hours. Without CC it would be really hard on my back/leg etc.
When the speed limit is 70 I just set it at 64; 75 just set it at 68. I'm not planning to fall asleep,so I don't need radar control to maintain distance.

One trick I use , especially at night, I'll find a truck going roughly my speed. I'll get maybe 200-400 yards behind him-at his speed- and let him light the way and act as an early warming system. Sometimes I follow him for an hour or more until one of us stops for gas/bathroom/dog walk.

I use cc constantly on city expressways also. I d/c it for overpasses, and drop maybe 6 mph. For the vast majority of drivers-99.9%-the CC saves fuel. Just watch how many drivers are constantly lighting up their brake lights on more or less uncrowded expressways.If they would just choose a speed and hold it-no brakes, no brake lights. The wand cc allows you to vary speed without touching the brakes.It is much better than most folks' right foot.

Charlie

[WriConsult]

Personally, I don't give a rip about CC. Having a foot on one of those pedals helps me stay awake. If the drive is long enough that CC would make it more "comfortable" it's probably also long enough that I want to not use it so that I remain engaged with my driving. But that's just me.

So what I noticed about the Level I model was the lack of seatback pockets and rear-seat heating ducts. Those items (along with CC) are pretty much expected in this class of car, but I understand Toyota's trying to go after the Insight here and it's not like the Insight has those things on their LX model.

Besides, if this level 1 Prius is like last year's, it will probably exist mostly just on paper. I'm not aware that any actually arrived at any dealerships around here.