[paulisme]

In December 2003 I walked in to my local Toyota dealer and put down a deposit on a new Prius, becoming the first person on the list. It's now April 2004 and I think I'm finally going to get a Prius on the 11th. I had requested a Black Package #9, but it looks like I'll be settling on a White Package #7. The dealer tried for months to trade with other dealers for what I had requested but to no avail. I've been wondering if they actually tried very hard, and it seems to me that if I pre-ordered in December that they could have requested one to my specifications. Instead I've had to wait each month to see what's in their allocation. Should I be upset about this or should I just be happy I'm finally getting a Prius?

Paul

 

[richard schumacher]

The length of your wait is not unusual. Mine has been six months with a week or so yet to go. Six weeks ago my dealer had one in a color that was not on my list, and I passed on it. We'll be looking at our cars for some years at least, long after the wait has faded in memory, so we should get what we really want. This is a largely discretionary purchase, after all; we could have chosen many other means of transport.

 

[Veteran]

That's amusing. I ordered a white #7 in December. I've been
told that I can get a silver #9 this month or wait. What's really
amusing is that I was told in December that the silver #9 was
the most popular configuration and had the longest waiting list.

Hopefully, they'll come through with the car this month. I expect
I'll be happy with the Nav system even if it $3000 more.

 

[miden6]

Same for us...

December?! Ha!

We put our downpayment down the first or second week of November '03 and never got our color. We finally settled for a red (rather than blue) package 9 (we were told 7 had everything we wanted...wrong) and it came in 26 March.

I love the car, but a couple of things still burn me:

1. Depreciated value...the car had 1 mile on it, but was essentially 7-8 months old in "car years" (new year starts in Aug.)

2. How does a multibillion dollar international company like Toyota not have a distribution system that tells each dealer what they'll be getting? Or even if they'll get a Prius in at all? It's not an exaggeration to say that reading Tarot cards would've been more reliable and accurate than the information our dealer had (or was willing to give). It smacks of artificial drama/hype/call it what you will and soured us on the deal, despite loving the physical vehicle.

 

[paulisme]

Hey Veteran, wanna trade?

Seriously, I wonder if our dealers would trade from California to South Carolina...

 

[paulisme]

miden, I know what you mean. When I put down my deposit in December, they told me that they'd probably get a Prius in the next allocation, and that if I told them what color and package I wanted they could get it within the month. The dealer had no idea whatsoever how rare these things were. Ever since then it's been "we're trying to track one down," "we'll have to wait until next month to see what's in the allocation," etc. What sucks is they quoted me a trade-in value for my Mustang, then told me that if I put 500 miles on it between the time they appraised it and the time the Prius came in, they'd have to re-evaluate my car; they figured I wouldn't even put 500 miles on my car by the time they got my Prius in. I've put about 3,000 miles on it since then.

 

[miden6]

paulisme -

yes, it's frustrating...my '90 Acura Integra (ahem) dropped $200 in value from $800 to $600 despite putting fewer than 100 miles on it during that time, so I forewent the trade in to opt for charitable donation or even selling it myself.

I'm trying not to get to angry about it all...at least Toyota is making a hybrid and a darn good one at that! But, if you're going to make the investment to re-engineer the car and promote it, why oh why only make 36,000 in a year?

For what it's worth, you'll cry tears of joy when you get it, so hang in there, paulsime...actually getting the car helps erase the months of waiting (also, the dealers seem just as frustrated as the buyers...i don't think toyota HQ is giving them much info)

 

[paulisme]

Well, I spent a good 2 hours calling around to different Toyota dealerships in my area and finally found one about an hour and a half away that's getting a Silver Package 6 that hadn't been pre-ordered. I asked the guy if he'd be willing to trade it to the dealership where I pre-ordered mine for the white one they have coming in this week, and he actually said yes! (I was used to being shut down immediately, so this was a pleasant surprise.) He said he doesn't care what color or package they get because they're going to mark the price up $5,000 over MSRP and will still sell it immediately anyway. So I called my Toyota dealer and had them call about it, and I guess I'll find out something tomorrow about it.

 

[paulisme]

Yay! Today I found a dealer in North Carolina that had a Black Package #7 and were willing to do a dealer trade for my dealer's White Package #7, so I called my dealer and they set up the trade! I'm so happy that I'm actually getting the color I want. They said it should be here around the 12th.