Prius Envy

[andyman68]

Reading about people taking owner ship of their new Prii has caused me to develop a mild case of Prius Envy.

I "ordered" my 2006 Prius on September 17th from a dealer in Alton, IL that does not want a deposit. Requested a silver package #4. At the time of ordering, they said I was 17th on their list. I received a call in November offering me a 2005 Driftwood Pearl and I declined since I want the tax credit.

I called the dealer a week ago to check the status of my "order". They informed me that the package #4 was not available for their area so I requested a #5. They said it could be any day or up to 3 months. Do they really not have any idea?

At one point the build your Prius site had #4 available for this area (Chicago Area). Last week it did not and today it is available. Do the packages offered for an area change on a weekly basis?

I also told the dealer I would take a Classic Silver, Silver Pine, or Seaside Pearl. I'm hoping they will call regardless of what they have when I come up on the list. I can make a decision at that time. At this point, I'm even willing to add Driftwood Pearl to the list and package #6.

Andy

[Maytrix]

I think you should find a new dealer. I spoke to a dealer the last week in August. Sealed the deal and picked it up on the first and have driver 10k miles already!

I know it's harder to get one in some areas than others, but that's a bit ridiculous.

And to think, I thought it was hard to find an Xbox 360!

[bruceha_2000]

Originally posted by andyman68@Jan 11 2006, 09:32 AM
At one point the 'build your Prius' site had #4 available for this area (Chicago Area).  Last week it did not and today it is available.  Do the packages offered for an area change on a weekly basis?

Actually, I think they do, maybe not weekly but they change. When I was looking back in July '04 I wanted either an AM or BC - side air bags and VSC , only two packages with both. "Build a Toyota" didn't show the AM package available in the North East. "Bizarre" I think, wouldn't that be a PRIME area for VSC?? But the dealers told me they get different packages all the time. Confirmed this past Monday when I ordered an '06 for my wife. Package #6 doesn't show here but the sales woman said that what comes in changes all the time and they can get all packages given some time. She figured within 3 months but she didn't 'pinkie swear'

[andyman68]

I'm considering contacting another dealer, but I'm afraid I would be way down on the list. It's a very popular car here and the local dealer requires a deposit which I think is ridulous. They are going to sell the car anyway. However, maybe even if I am down on the list really far, it would be faster with this local dealer?

I'm in Columbia and contacted this dealer in Alton, IL which is near St. Louis. This is the same dealer that I bought my Honda so I wanted to give them another chance. I was also impressed they did not require a deposit. I think I will give them until Jan 31st.

Andy

Originally posted by Maytrix@Jan 11 2006, 10:27 AM
I think you should find a new dealer.  I spoke to a dealer the last week in August.  Sealed the deal and picked it up on the first and have driver 10k miles already!

I know it's harder to get one in some areas than others, but that's a bit ridiculous.

And to think, I thought it was hard to find an Xbox 360! 

[snapback]187718[/snapback]

[galaxee]

the whole package structure changed for the 06s... i think that when you ordered they still were using specs for the 05s. i'd give them a call and let them know you're serious- you want the car or you'll go elsewhere.

dealers get allocations of priuses sent to them, and depending on the regional distributor they may or may not know much about their shipment much ahead of time. the size of the dealer (or should i say sales volume) will determine how many they get each month. you may be able to talk them into doing a swap with another region but they seem to all be reluctant to do that for some reason.

good luck and let us know how it turns out

[Oznoyng]

Originally posted by andyman68@Jan 11 2006, 01:31 PM
I'm considering contacting another dealer, but I'm afraid I would be way down on the list.  It's a very popular car here and the local dealer requires a deposit which I think is ridulous.  They are going to sell the car anyway.  However, maybe even if I am down on the list really far, it would be faster with this local dealer?

I'm in Columbia and contacted this dealer in Alton, IL which is near St. Louis.  This is the same dealer that I bought my Honda so I wanted to give them another chance.  I was also impressed they did not require a deposit.  I think I will give them until Jan 31st.

Andy

[snapback]187777[/snapback]

You can get a Prius quickly, it just takes phone calls and a willingness to travel.

Our first Prius:
I owned a Pontiac Sunfire that was fallling apart, and was facing a large bill to keep the car in the "reliable" category ($2000 or so). I really wanted a hybrid (Prius, Highlander, or Escape) and was on waiting lists for both the Highlander and Escape. I had not bothered to get on the Prius list because the local dealer indicated that the list was "over 200" and they got perhaps 5 cars a month... However, another parent at my son's school owned one, and told me that not all dealerships had such long waiting lists.

I started calling around on Saturday, and by Monday I had placed an order for one that was projected to arrive in 6 weeks. The date was May 2, 2005. Two weeks later, the dealership called to say that my car would hit port in a week. Unfortuantely, I ran into some trouble, since my Prius was damaged at port and had to be repaired before I got it. I drove my new 2005 Salsa Red, Package 3 Prius home on June 4, 2005, one month and two days after placing the order.

Our second Prius:
On Thanksgiving day, we were headed to my brothers house for dinner. We were debating taking the Sienna (Toyota minivan) versus the Prius. If I could fit the card table, chairs, and everything else into the Prius, we would take it. The card table fit perfectly and the rest as well with room to spare. As I was loading, we were talking about Christmas presents for the kids, and I asked casually what my wife wanted for Christmas...She said "One of these, but Green". I was confused for a minute until I realized she meant her own Prius.

I spent a good part of Saturday and Monday on the phone, and ended up locating a green Prius, as requested, that would hit port the next day (November 28,2005). It arrived at the dealership, with all options as specified, on December 8th. I flew out and drove it home on December 10th (it had to sit at the dealership for two days since the dealership was about 4 hours away). Our second Prius took 12 days to get.

Lessons Learned
I continue to get phone calls from dealerships that get Prii in stock and are wondering if I am still looking for one... Getting a Prius isn't impossible, you simply have to be willing to call around. Somewhere within a day trip of you, there is an orphaned Prius, ordered by someone that gave up waiting, chose to buy something else, lost their job, had to move, or whatever. All it takes is some phone calls to locate it. I recommend you make the calls sooner rather than later.