Woo-hoo! New owner.
Sorry, I'm about to make some jealous.
My wife and I decided we needed a new car about a month ago. (She's pregnant, and we decided that neither of our two current vehicles is really 'baby-friendly'.) I've been wanting a Prius for some time, but could never really justify it. Well, this last weekend (Saturday, July 24, 2004,) we decided to get serious and really start looking.
I called every Toyota dealership in the Portland metro area. The average waiting list was 9-10 months. Some said it could be less if I was willing to accept 'anything that comes in', or a used model. But even then, it was at least 6 months. Thomason Toyota was different. No waiting list. Strictly first-come, first-served. I talked with a salesman (not the greatest, but not bad,) and he put me on his list. I wasn't expecting much.
We decided that we would really like a blue or tan package 9 ("Seaside Pearl" or "Driftwood Pearl",) with green "Tideland Pearl" slightly less, and package 7 slightly less desired. We would not take any other package. (We had been told by every dealership that the only packages currently available are 1, 5, 7, and 9.) And if push came to shove, we'd take any color but black or white. Well, on Sunday (one day after making these calls,) the Thomason sales guy calls and says they have a used one, 8,000 miles, in white, package 1. Sorry, no. He also says that he is expecting a package 9 tan on in late this week. Bingo!
So I'm expecting a call later this week, and today (Monday the 26th, two days after placing the initial call,) he calls frantically telling me that one just came in. Both were pre-ordered, but the people who placed the orders cancelled. (They used to take orders, but when their list got over 12 months, they decided to go for the first-come, first-served, after fulfilling all orders, of course.) I only got this in a voice mail, and when I went to call him back, I got his voice mail. (Tag! You're it!) So I start racing across town. (I was downtown, Thomason is in Gladstone.)
I get there, and he has not one, but TWO. A package 9 in green (tideland) and a package 7 in blue (seaside.) JACKPOT!!! Well, to cut an already long story, uh, not-quite-as-long, they added $5000 dealer markup to the MSRP, bringing the package 9 model above $30,000. I told them that $30k was my absolute, inviolate cap. They wouldn't budge. So I got the Seaside Pearl package 7. As I was signing the paperwork, they sold the other one. So I do understand why they weren't willing to budge.
So I am now the (fairly surprised) owner of a new Prius. (I was honestly expecting at least a 6 month wait, not 48 hours.)
I've had good experiences with Thomason in the past (I bought one car from Thomason Hyundai, and would have bought a second from Thomason Beaverton Hyundai if I hadn't lost my job the day I test drove the car.) And if you are willing to pay a slight premium, I'd say give Thomason a call. (They give a $100 kickback for referrals. If you use me as a referral, I'll give you half the kickback. My salesman was Duy (pronounced 'Tee', but he calls himself 'Dewey' because that's what most of us white folk pronounce it,) Dang.)
P.S. If you're willing to wait, Broadway Toyota sells them at MSRP, no markup. But you'll have to wait almost a year. The salesmen were great, and understanding about those not willing to wait.
P.P.S. I had a customer who only waited six weeks for one from Vancouver Toyota. But he got package 1 in white. Apparently both very unpopular choices. (i.e. People only buy them because they're available more quickly.)
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Ed Hurtley,
[email protected]
remember the quote from Henry Ford: "any color so long as it's black"...
