[Arthur]

Has anyone noticed the Niro PHEV Inventory is drying up? What is going on?

 

[brandent]

None within 200 miles

My local dealer seems to just pretend no such model exists. I want to buy a PHEV version but they'd rather sell me the regular hybrid sitting on their lot (obviously). Wondering if anyone else has ordered one and what kind of wait time they are looking at.

 

[Alex]

Always best to be patient with new models like this. I always use my own rule of thumb which is to wait about 6 months after the original release to then start thinking about ordering one. That might as well be the case here.

 

[jmurphEV]

It might also depend on where you are and what trim level you are looking for. Here around Washington DC there are ~40 PHEV Niros (mostly LXs with a few EXs thrown in, no Premiums) within 100 miles.

If you are looking specifically for an EX Premium then yeah, those are evidently made of unobtanium. When I found mine it was the only one in the Mid-Atlantic.

Probably best to be patient like Alex said, it seems like the PHEVs are rolling out slowly and a bit unevenly.

 

[npaladin2000]

It might also depend on where you are and what trim level you are looking for. Here around Washington DC there are ~40 PHEV Niros (mostly LXs with a few EXs thrown in, no Premiums) within 100 miles.

If you are looking specifically for an EX Premium then yeah, those are evidently made of unobtanium. When I found mine it was the only one in the Mid-Atlantic.

Probably best to be patient like Alex said, it seems like the PHEVs are rolling out slowly and a bit unevenly.

Right now they're delivering a lot of LX models, and a few EX models. The EX Premiums don't seem to be making it here, I noticed a couple delivered in Colorado and Texas but they're not making it any further East than that. I'm still waiting for one.

Part of the problem is the math: an EX Premium with the nationwide $4500 tax rebate actually nets out to be cheaper than the regular Hybrid EX model with the Premium package (by about $3000 I think). And you arguably get better equiment (LED headlights, better dash, larger electric motor).

 

[jmurphEV]

Part of the problem is the math: an EX Premium with the nationwide $4500 tax rebate actually nets out to be cheaper than the regular Hybrid EX model with the Premium package (by about $3000 I think). And you arguably get better equiment (LED headlights, better dash, larger electric motor).

Yep, that was my reasoning for wanting the Premium as well. Its a nicer car with more featues including obviously the PHEV part for the same money. I was lucky enough to find one nearby and jumped on it. Even better, we used the Costco car buying service and got additional $2300 off MSRP. >

 

[cookrd1]

I am from Central Florida and currently in the St Louis area visiting relatives. I had been doing a lot of research on a replacement vehicle for my NSX and took a day to visit various dealers on the Illinois side of the river. Every dealer told me that they never had a customer request a Niro PHEV. Had plenty of Niro hybrids on the lot. So, I did a search and found that a few dealers within 150 miles had PHEV's but no EX Premium, except for one dealer in Chesterfield, MO that had two. Needless to say, I bought one. I called my dealers in the Daytona Beach-Orlando FL area and they had none. In fact, nationally, there were only 8 available! When I made the deal for mine, a guy from NC purchased the other one at the dealer in Chesterfield.

I really would have preferred to wait and get one from my local dealer when we get back, but my closest dealer advised that they ordered two back in January and still have no idea when they will be built. Another dealer in Orlando told me I had better buy one if I could find one I like. The Kia dealer in Miami had a few PHEV's but no EX Premium.

No dealer was able to tell me why the shortage. I found it very unusual that the majority of the dealers I contacted locally had no plans to stock any model of the PHEV. Several dealers said they had a Optima PHEV, but I was not interested, and from my online browsing, none of them were the top line model anyway.

I suspect that many dealers are afraid to stock any PHEV or BEV because of the rapidly-changing landscape, both in terms of technology and new competitors coming online. Finding a top of the line Nissan Leaf is also difficult and Nissan is in a bad position with their newest model still not having active cooling.

-Bob

 

[npaladin2000]

I actually tried to buy one from a dealer that was pretty far away (Framingham, jmurph was going to talk to them too) but they weren't interested in selling to someone as far away as I was. Plus there's a slight hitch: I'm in NY state, and there's an $1100 additional rebate on the PHEV...but only if I buy from a NYS dealer, since it's a point-of-sale rebate.