Prius Team: provide process, once order has been submited

[Jabber]

Originally Posted by XMAN LIVE

Okay sounds a little mean but I will let it slide, but on the other hand if I understand you correctly I should change dealer because they are not telling me anything. As far as not be a long standing member of the Prius community I own 06 Prius and did not buy it used. Not sure what you are saying. I know you have helped many people. So keep up the good work and be nice.

It was not meant to be mean at all. I almost wish there was a big, sarcastic smiley face emote. I guess :P works.

Originally Posted by DianneWhitmire

Jabber, you're partially right, but partially wrong.The cars you request on order as a custom order are a 90-120 day wait out of Japan BUT they displace any normally allocated car.I have a 2009 4Runner that's very unique ordered for a client in Texas. When his car is built and shipped, I will get that car in lieu of any 4Runner unit I am being allocated at the time. If I have none earned, they will take away a "like model" such as possibly a Highlander.That said, we could all sit and do the incessant paperwork to have all of the Prius everyone wants special ordered, but if you only earn 10 a month and you have 30 orders, you will not get 30 cars. YOu will get your 10 a month and pray to the high holy heavens that you will start to earn more. I will elaborate more on how allocations are done when I have more time, but it's not a sit-click-order at all. No way. It's far harder to get it right... and you cannot imagine the stress we all go thru at allocations for popular cars! Dianne

Maybe I wasn't clear enough on how it works. You definitely use up one of your allocations, I agree, but that isn't the full story on out of region builds though. Lets use a real example. 2009 4runner SR5. Wants the value package with the third row seating. Chicago region doesn't build it. I have to trade a vehicle (one of my allocated cars) with a region that does build it. NY region for example. The NY region has to agree to give it up AND accept one of the cars scheduled for my region. If the NY region doesn't do that, then I have to wait another month. It is basically a regional trade rather than a dealer trade. Anytime I have had a "strange" build, it has taken me at least 5-6 months to get the order filled.

So I think we are saying close to the same thing.

Originally Posted by DianneWhitmire

Jabber, why would you answer this in that fashion?
I found it combative, and I am unsure why?
PM me if you like?

As I mentioned in my post, I knew it was going to sound mean, but I, in no way, meant it as such.

Originally Posted by Midpack

I don't know Jabber, but he and every other dealer rep posting here have never been anything but helpful on this site from what I have seen. And they have invariably taken the high road despite some uncalled for shots at dealers in general. Keep up the good work guys, I am sure he did not mean it as combative...

Thanks Midpack. I guess sense of humor doesn't come through very well on typed words, huh?

[HTMLSpinnr]

Originally Posted by DianneWhitmire

Thank heavens you said LONG TIMERS and not OLD TIMERS!

We're all young at heart, right?

[ggood]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was my understanding Jabber cannot see GST or SET regional allocations, presumably because of the unique status of GST and SET, so he really doesn't know what they have or don't have in the way of information and cars. I took Jabber to be suggesting that XMAN should go talk to some other dealers. That would be the right answer in some regions, but I'm pretty sure XMAN would find that most of the GST dealers are in the dark right now.

I've posted in another thread the following info a GST rep shared last week:

"We do have other Prius on the ground at the VPC and have waited till we received 154 units to be able to distribute 1 per dealer all at once! We like all the Dealers to get the 1 per so everyone can enjoy in the excitement! It looks like some of the other regions may have released before they received the 1 per!"

"Since the allocation has not released yet, none of the other vehicles have started processing yet. The dealers will probably start receiving their units next week. The Build Your Toyota website probably won't be available until next week. They can't upload the tools until our dealers have been allocated the vehicles. The first vessels just started arriving ports around May 7th. Our first railcar of vehicles railed to the VPC on Friday, May 8th and arrived at the VPC on Friday, May 15th. The VPC and Accessory Business Development teams have been working on validating the LIO equipment before the allocation releases today. The other regions may have allocated the vehicles a little sooner than us, but they could not have wholesaled any units before last week."

That tells me (1) GST is getting its cars much slower than some other regions, and (2) the Texas dealers really have nothing in their computer systems yet (at least not as of the end of last week). All they know for sure is that they are supposed to get their 1 car sometime this week or next, if they are lucky. XMAN's dealer is probably not lying when they say they don't know anything yet. I think I took delivery from the same dealer, and they were very helpful, but knew less than I did and would have loved to have some cars to sell as part of normal sales.

Until you can see inventory on the dealer's websites, or can build a 2010 Prius on the Toyota website using a GST zip code, I would be inclined to believe a GST dealer who says they don't know anything yet. GST must know what their regional allocation is for the 2010 Prius, and how fast they will be getting cars in, but they have not necessarily given that info to their dealers yet. I have the impression it is going to take a while to build up inventory in the GST region.

I think part of XMAN's frustration was directed at Toyota for not having a distribution system that was more transparent to the general public, but that isn't how the car market developed and works here, as far as I know. Nice thought though!

[swich2mac]

I gotta be honest here. I have a Prius on order and I am VERY DISAPPOINTED in how toyota allocates and does not accept "custom" orders. When I purchased my 2007 Mercedes E320 BlueTec, I walked into the dealership, picked out ALL of the options I wanted, and the dealer put an order into the system. 10 weeks later, my car arrived JUST as I had ordered it. I have been lurking at all of the posts with regard to this topic and I must say, I am so frustrated.

In fact, I called Toyota USA in California complaining that they are totally misleading the public with their "Build your Toyota" option on their website and that they are setting a false expectation to new and/or potential Toyota customers. I strongly suggested that they needed to pull that option from the website and the rep communicated to me that it was meant to be there as an example of what options, colors, etc. would be available on the market. To me, this is total BS!

With Toyota losing billions of dollars because of the macro economic conditions around the globe, one would think that they would get their S%&# together to deliver what customers want. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!

Scott

[nineinchnail1024]

Whenever I ask a local dealer for information on the 2010 Prius, they look at me like I've just asked them for a detailed translation of all the hieroglyphics ever found in Egypt. It's frustrating, to say the least.

[Jabber]

Ggood, your post was excellent. It tells me quite a lot about how the GST region works. Thank you for that.

Swich2mac, I can understand your frustration. However, the number of Mercedes vehicles built is considerably lower than the number of Toyotas. Also, when you consider the pricing of each vehicle, that might help you to understand why Toyota does it this way. If Toyota allowed each person to custom build their vehicles, they would have to charge considerably more. They would have to carry more parts on the shelves to cover every possible build. They would have to have more people to track every single build. The Camry has gone up, what $500 (?) over the last 4 model years. Look at the difference between the 10 and 09 Prius... but the price stayed pretty much the same... That is all due to the way Toyota builds their cars.

"You can have whatever color you want as long as it was Black" Henry Ford. Allowed him to build many vehicles quickly to get them to the masses at a much cheaper cost.

[mirak]

Originally Posted by swich2mac

I gotta be honest here. I have a Prius on order and I am VERY DISAPPOINTED in how toyota allocates and does not accept "custom" orders. When I purchased my 2007 Mercedes E320 BlueTec, I walked into the dealership, picked out ALL of the options I wanted, and the dealer put an order into the system. 10 weeks later, my car arrived JUST as I had ordered it. I have been lurking at all of the posts with regard to this topic and I must say, I am so frustrated.

Fortunately, the Prius only comes in 10 different builds (not including interior/exterior colors), which is relatively few. These cars are really just starting to trickle in. Once inventory increases, you should be able to find the car you want.

I'm looking to buy a "plain" Package V without Nav or AT, which may be one of the least-produced builds, and I have certain colors in mind, too. Still, I don't expect any difficulty in getting exactly what I want this fall.

I know Toyota won't release this info now, but it would be interesting to know some day the percentage of total production for each of the 10 builds, and percentage based on color.

[claridiva]

I just talked to Toyota of Fort Worth and they said that their 1st (and only) car is expected at port on June 3rd and at the dealer a week later. The same with Toyota of Lewisville. Forth Worth was able to tell me the exact car and price while Lewisville just knows it is receiving a white car/beige interior but no other specs/price (hopefully my car, since that is what I "ordered"). So the information still doesn't seem to be spreading at an equal pace but I guess some dealers know a bit more than others.

BTW, as of 10:30 CT this morning, Toyota of Fort Worth's 1 incoming Prius II, sandy beige metallic/beige interior was still available.

Originally Posted by ggood

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was my understanding Jabber cannot see GST or SET regional allocations, presumably because of the unique status of GST and SET, so he really doesn't know what they have or don't have in the way of information and cars. I took Jabber to be suggesting that XMAN should go talk to some other dealers. That would be the right answer in some regions, but I'm pretty sure XMAN would find that most of the GST dealers are in the dark right now.

I've posted in another thread the following info a GST rep shared last week:

"We do have other Prius on the ground at the VPC and have waited till we received 154 units to be able to distribute 1 per dealer all at once! We like all the Dealers to get the 1 per so everyone can enjoy in the excitement! It looks like some of the other regions may have released before they received the 1 per!"

"Since the allocation has not released yet, none of the other vehicles have started processing yet. The dealers will probably start receiving their units next week. The Build Your Toyota website probably won't be available until next week. They can't upload the tools until our dealers have been allocated the vehicles. The first vessels just started arriving ports around May 7th. Our first railcar of vehicles railed to the VPC on Friday, May 8th and arrived at the VPC on Friday, May 15th. The VPC and Accessory Business Development teams have been working on validating the LIO equipment before the allocation releases today. The other regions may have allocated the vehicles a little sooner than us, but they could not have wholesaled any units before last week."

That tells me (1) GST is getting its cars much slower than some other regions, and (2) the Texas dealers really have nothing in their computer systems yet (at least not as of the end of last week). All they know for sure is that they are supposed to get their 1 car sometime this week or next, if they are lucky. XMAN's dealer is probably not lying when they say they don't know anything yet. I think I took delivery from the same dealer, and they were very helpful, but knew less than I did and would have loved to have some cars to sell as part of normal sales.

Until you can see inventory on the dealer's websites, or can build a 2010 Prius on the Toyota website using a GST zip code, I would be inclined to believe a GST dealer who says they don't know anything yet. GST must know what their regional allocation is for the 2010 Prius, and how fast they will be getting cars in, but they have not necessarily given that info to their dealers yet. I have the impression it is going to take a while to build up inventory in the GST region.

I think part of XMAN's frustration was directed at Toyota for not having a distribution system that was more transparent to the general public, but that isn't how the car market developed and works here, as far as I know. Nice thought though!

[Rybold]

Step 1: Call every Toyota dealer in the nation and ask if they physically have a 2010 Prius and you want to buy it. Make downpayment/reservation over phone to guarantee it is yours and have them send you digital photos of car and VIN.

Step 2: Go to priceline/travelocity/other, buy plane ticket and fly to dealer.

Step 3: Drive Prius home, getting 51+ MPG.

Step 4: Convince your spouse it was really, really worth it.

.

[DeadPhish]

Originally Posted by swich2mac

I gotta be honest here. I have a Prius on order and I am VERY DISAPPOINTED in how toyota allocates and does not accept "custom" orders. When I purchased my 2007 Mercedes E320 BlueTec, I walked into the dealership, picked out ALL of the options I wanted, and the dealer put an order into the system. 10 weeks later, my car arrived JUST as I had ordered it. I have been lurking at all of the posts with regard to this topic and I must say, I am so frustrated.

In fact, I called Toyota USA in California complaining that they are totally misleading the public with their "Build your Toyota" option on their website and that they are setting a false expectation to new and/or potential Toyota customers. I strongly suggested that they needed to pull that option from the website and the rep communicated to me that it was meant to be there as an example of what options, colors, etc. would be available on the market. To me, this is total BS!

With Toyota losing billions of dollars because of the macro economic conditions around the globe, one would think that they would get their S%&# together to deliver what customers want. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!

Scott

Scott,

This is a common issue with new buyers of Toyota's. It is however the way that Toyota and Honda doe business...Especially on vehicles from Japan.

The vehicles have very few variations and options.

This keeps manufacturing and logistical costs low, the lowest in the industry.