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DAYTONA BEACH -- Joseph Farmarco is desperate for a Toyota Prius, but the hybrid car has become scarce since gas prices topped $2 a gallon.
The 71-year-old military retiree originally placed his order in December, but recently got a rejection reminiscent of the "No soup for you" episode on "Seinfeld."
Farmarco said the sales manager at DeLand Toyota "thinks he's the god of vehicles."
Jeff Sladek, the general sales manager at DeLand Toyota, 1701 S. Woodland Blvd., said Farmarco was calling the dealership almost daily to check on his Prius. "It almost got to the point of harassment," Sladek said.
The dealership and Farmarco parted ways, but many other car buyers are willing to wait a very long time for a car that gets 60 miles per gallon in the city and 51 miles on the highway.
Dealers in the Southeast reportedly have a backlog of 20,000 orders.
The hybrid cars are so hard to get DeLand Toyota has another customer who has been waiting since October.
Sladek said Toyota has resorted to a lottery-style system of allocating the hybrid cars to the dealerships. Because the dealers cannot make reservations, the waiting period can be indefinitely long.
The wait may also depend on what kinds of features the consumer wants with his car.
A sales manager at another dealership, who asked not to be identified, said consumers can shorten their waiting time by paying $5,000 above the list price.
The base price for a Prius is $20,860, but the median price is more like $25,000, dealers said.
Tom Turner, a RE/MAX agent in New Smryna Beach, got his Prius after a relatively short, two-month wait, he said. "They just happened to have the one I wanted."
Turner traded in a Lexus sports utility vehicle that was averaging about 19 miles to the gallon.
Driving home to home is part of the real estate agent's daily grind.
"We're trying to figure all the ways we can to cut expenses," Turner said.
The Prius has become a public relations boon because his real estate customers love it, he said.
Hybrids impress the environmentally savvy because they have small gasoline engines and electric motors and batteries, making their fuel economy superior to the traditional gasoline car.
Like Toyota, Honda also produces a hybrid Civic. They sell for around $20,300 to $21,400, said Pat Boyle, a sales representative for Jon Hall Honda, 300 N. Nova Road.
They get between 49 to 55 miles per gallon.
Unlike the Prius, the Civic is not as hard to find. As of Wednesday, the dealership still had one available.
While the demand is strong, they continue "to trickle in" from the manufacturer, Boyle said. "We can usually get one no problem."
Farmarco, who lives in Putnam County, is still shopping around for a Prius. He has visited Toyota dealers in Daytona Beach and Jacksonville.
They all say the same thing, he said. "It's going to be a while."
Thanks Richard Donovan
Rogers and Rogers Toyota
760-353-9300