Why is it so hard to locate a car!

[gregzgurl]

Does anyone living in the southeast area know of an honest dealer who will help me locate a certain car? I found one in the right package that I want on toyotas online inventory and when I called around to local dealers, they ask for a deposit before they will even track the car, and they still are unsure if they can even trade with the other dealer once they find it. So basically they want my money to ensure I buy from them, but what if they cant get it. I called Toyota's corporate office requesting an inventory search, and they told me that they dont keep inventory! Ya, sure they don't. Arg!

They shouldn't make it this difficult to buy from them.

Do any of you nice priuschatters work for Toyota or know someone that does and can tell me where to find it if I give you the specs?

[Omi]

Give Stadium Toyota a try. They are in Tampa, FL. We have bought two Prius from them and have had fantastic luck with them! Their number is 813-872-4881.

The problem that the online site has is that it does not always show that the car you are seeing might already be allocated to a dealer for a sale. If that is so, then dealers have to "wheel and deal" with each other to try to get the car. That could be why they won't do this for you w/o a deposit. The dealers do have inventory reports though from distribution (which is in Jacksonville, FL), so they can check out that report for you, but this may also be from the deposit angle as well. As I said above, try Stadium Toyota. I have talked to most of the Toyota dealers in this area and they were the best dealer for us.

[skguh]

Did you consider that someone else may have already ordered the one you feel you deserve?
It took me 5 months to get the Prius I wanted because the entire inventory--at least the part that I was interested in--was spoken for. Supply and demand... Demanding supply doesn't seem to work all that well.
After you slide down of that high horse, consider working with a dealer to spec out the car you want from the factory. There's a REASON these cars are difficult to buy, and it's not because the dealers are out to get you.

[miscrms]

If you know where the car is, I would also consider contacting them directly. If they're willing to make a deal, why not just go get it? Plane tickets are cheap, and the drive home makes excellent Prius/Driver bonding time

Rob (who drove his Prius 1800 miles home from Indiana!)

[Codyroo]

Originally Posted by skguh

Did you consider that someone else may have already ordered the one you feel you deserve?
It took me 5 months to get the Prius I wanted because the entire inventory--at least the part that I was interested in--was spoken for. Supply and demand... Demanding supply doesn't seem to work all that well.
After you slide down of that high horse, consider working with a dealer to spec out the car you want from the factory. There's a REASON these cars are difficult to buy, and it's not because the dealers are out to get you.

Wow, you had the potential for a great post there, let me help you with editting a bit....

Originally Posted by skguh

It took me 5 months to get the Prius I wanted because the entire inventory--at least the part that I was interested in--was spoken for. Supply and demand... consider working with a dealer to spec out the car you want from the factory. There's a REASON these cars are difficult to buy, and it's not because the dealers are out to get you.

There, informative with little to no vinegar! /puts on best Julia Child voice "Bon appetite!"

Gregzgurl, I would say that you may have to put a deposit down, but if you opt not to buy from the dealer, you do get your money back (it is refundable). I'm guessing the angle is that if you want them to do the legwork, they'd like to have something "to hold onto" in the hopes that you seal the deal with them (and not another dealership). Just business, nothing more, nothing less.

I thought (in another thread....) that someone mentioned Costco as an alternative. If you have one near you, you might brave the Costco lines and see if they can give you what you want. I've not done the Costco route, but you might be able to go in and say "I want a package #2, Barcelona Red" and they can go get it from the dealer who has it.

Just a thought/another avenue to explore.

[subarutoo]

Try carsdirect.com. Enter zip code, and options you want and local dealers will notify you. I completed the process the same day I registered. Drove 50 miles, wrote the check and was outta there in less than 1 hour. Easiest car I ever bought, and that was back in '06 when supplies were tighter. My only concession was color: wanted blue, settled for white, no big deal.

[gregzgurl]

Thank you for your helpful responses. And thanks codyroo for the nice edit. I'm glad you all have had a good experience when purchasing your car. I hope this one will be for me too. I guess I'm just a little nervous about toyota b/c my last camry purchase through my local dealer was horrible....so I started looking elsewhere this time and I've already had a few dealers being dishonest (one told me there was no such thing as a touring).

I really do like Toyota cars and am in love with the prius. I do understand supply and demand and have been carless waiting for the inventory to grow to buy one. But I'm in no hurry and the right car and deal will come along....eventually.

[LiquidDonut]

This may be a stupid question, but how do you search new car inventories on toyota.com?

[rojaygator]

Life is like that sometimes. Keep a positive outlook.

[gregzgurl]

Liquiddonut,

If you go to toyota.com, click:

-prius
-build
Then enter your zip
Then select the color and options you want

you will get a list of what is available at your local dealer and also what is available in the southeast.

Hope this works for you!