My dealer advised me that the next Prius will be a 2008-1/2, as Toyota is moving to 4-1/2 year styling cycle from its present 5. That certainly will complicate model designations, not to mention the year designator in the VIN.
"Oh yes, I have a 2009 Frabis." "And would that be the April or the August edition?"
Um, internally, it's that way now.
I have an '85 Corolla GTS. "What month was it made?" "April" "Oh, boy...what's the last 6 digits in the VIN?"
In April of '85 the Corolla GTS was differentiated further from the Corolla SR-5, somewhere around the 3rd week of the month. So, for Sept '84 to Sept '85, there were TOW models, even though it was the same car. Further changes were made in Sept '85, so even though the car carried through the '87 model year, there were 4 different models.
The same goes with my '85 Celica, and my '88 Supra.
I was under the impression that each styling cycle/generation was (has been) on a 4 year basis.
Cathy
That
It's been a 5-year cycle for Camry and Avalon. I can't speak about the other marques. Years 1 - 3 are essentially identical. Year 4 introduces a facelift that carries into year 5. Then a wholly new design cycle is introduced in what would have been year 6.
The Prius is settling into a 4.5 year cycle, if my dealer is correct. The first Prius spanned 2001 - 2003. Technological advances made a new design defencible, so there were no years 4 and 5 for that first generation. The current Prius came in 2004 and will survive with tweaks (no facelifts, he says) until mid-2008.
I have no inside information beyond my dealer's prating. Come to think of it, he prates for a living.
That matches my info of a few days ago. (See the thread "Dealer Courtesies": about 1 - 1.5 years from now for the next Prius.)
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