I have seen many interesting postings about the Prius lately and tonight saw the 2010 Prius exhibited in the opening of the car show. The 2010 version will get p to 130 MPG's according to the news report. It will be available in Japan next year. I saw a posting from a sales manager in Toyota who stated that the Prius, in today's market, is selling for more money than what they were purchased for and as much money as a new Prius, in some cases, due to availability versus being placed on a list. My question given the current Prius market: Would Toyota gives us, current Prius owners, higher priority to purchase the 2010 model if we agreed to trade-in our current Prius fir the 2010 model? In my area, the cost of selling my car on the free market versus trade-in has severe tax implications. My Toyota dealership has always been fair-handed in trade-ins.
Ain't gonna get 130 mpg, unless they're talking about the plug-in version which will only be available to fleets at first, and then only under conditions that allow it to use battery power for half its power. However, the new model will get 10 to 20 percent better FE than the current one. If you are getting 45 mpg now, the new model will probably get you 50 to 55 mpg. If you're getting 60, now, you might get 70 with the new model. When the 2004 was close to release, owners of the 2001 to 2003 Prius were given a chance to be first on the list for a 2004. It is indeed possible that they'll do something similar again.
