Of 30 dealer websites in the SF Bay Area, I found 17 that post their inventory online.

The total stock is well over 200 Highlanders, but only 25 Hybrids. Of these, nearly all are the base model.

Does anyone know why there are so few hybrids? Are there production problems we haven't heard about?

 

The Highlander Hybrid is not a car that they want to over produce and kill the market with. Having a limited production will help the car maintain value for both the seller and buyer.

By making the car more rare it will definitely help secure the pricing.

 

Or it could be there is lower consumer demand and possibly far lower profit margins for the selling dealer.

 

The dealers around here can't keep them on the lot.

 

Hi,

I just purchased my 08 Highlander and was also surprised by the lack in variety of selection. I wanted the limited model, but didn't want Nav or DVD entertainment system.

I could only find either the base model, or the very overpriced limited model with all the bells and whistles.

I found 1 dealership in the SF Bayarea that actually had the limited with the features that I wanted, and they only had 1 car that fit the bill.

The dealership told me that the base model is very popular because of it's pricing, and that the limited models sometimes take longer to sale [they think it's because once you get close to 50k, most people opt to buy the lexus 400h]. They also said that most bay area dealers are only receiving 10-15 hybrids per shipment, and that within that number, usually they only get no more than 2 or 3 of the limited models.

 

Could be that Toyota wasn't very confident in how well the public, the HYBRID buying public, would accept a larger and heavier Highlander.

 

I personally saw it as a huge selling point. We needed the extra space for my family, so anything with less than a third row wouldn't cut it, and when it came down to it, the option of being able to get a hybrid with <almost> respectable mileage was important enough to sway our decision.

Of course, I'm sure that a fair number of hybrid buyers would consider it a joke to have a car get ~25mpg.