Brief introduction

inkydoo · 06-16-2004, 03:02 PM

Just to get things started, I figured I'd give a quick bio / background.

I'm a native Texan (born in Houston, spent my teen years in Plano (which I'd sometimes rather not admit)) and I've been in Austin since 1992 (came for college and decided I couldn't go back to living anywhere else in Texas).

I've been interested in the Prius since they first appeared in the U.S. My wife and I test drove one that first year and while we liked it, we just didn't have the money to spend on it. Once the '04 model came out, we started looking at finances and things still looked tight, but closer. As the spring rolled around this year and gas prices started to climb, I mentioned it more and more until the day I filled our hand-me-down minivan and paid over $30. I came right home and told my wife it was time, tight finances or not. It helped that the minivan was at 75K miles and we both knew everyday increased the chances of it needing some high-dollar repair.

So, we called a few local dealers in April and got all the standard "It'll be a year" and "good luck" responses, which got us discouraged. But I started reading posts (on other boards) talking about how certain dealers just didn't seem to have as much demand as othres, and occasionally you could find someone who literally had one sitting on the lot. This got my wife motivated enough to start at the top of the list of Texas Toyota dealers and call each and every one of them in alphabetical order (there are 75 for those who are curious). The vast majority had the long waits that we expected, and some had done away with lists and were literally calling people with a "first come, first served" policy, but a very few had some short lists (1-5 people). To make a long story short, we found a dealer within 200 miles who (because others were waiting for specific colors) got us in a new Prius in less than a month. No, we didn't pay over MSRP, but we got more features than we ideally wanted (though the NAV, which adds the most cost was something I did want). Ideally, I wanted a #8, but alas we ended up with a Driftwood Pearl #9 (I'm not complaining mind you).

Needless to say, I feel very lucky to have gotten one so quickly, but I'm also enjoying it to no end. Good luck to everyone who's still looking and waiting and congratulations to those who've already got one, because this car is well worth it.

betshsu · 06-16-2004, 05:43 PM

Out of curiousity, what did the dealers around Austin tell you in April?

I am in Austin as well. I emailed dealers here and in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Most didn't respond, or had a wait list of 8-12 months. but Charles Maund in Austin told me they had a wait list of 5 people and could get me one in 3-4 months (this was in mid-May). Since then, I've heard very conflicting things from Maund regarding their wait list, though the salesman I've been working with has always been very consistent. I just don't know if some of their sales stuff is clueless or my salesman is just stringing me along (I don't know what he'd get out of that though).

pjm877 · 06-17-2004, 02:04 PM

native Texan (Andrews then San Angelo to 1979) My first prius was order off the internet and picked up by way of Chapion Toyota. I get there they drive my car around and "Worng" that is not my color.. turns out it was a droped that had what I wanted.. Take now (oct) or wait (dec 01, Jan/feb 02). bird in the hand.... Well the price was kinda high, but it did have a few extra options.. OK and off I went... turns out that the GST front-end loaded a bunch of "extra-value" stuff.. call dealer to get $$ back.. no go...

So jump ahead to 2003, get this letter from toyota: what to internet order a 2004 Prius... where do I sign up... but where to get the car.. NOT GST.. so I go 1300 miles to Carson Toyota, Ca to get the car on Nov 13 2003... This thing was a dream to drive back (even if the Nav was lost some of the times). So there was no waiting list for me.

MPG has been so-so, but much better than the 2002 but I can't complain... 45-49 mpg at 70 mph through the hill country is great.. .S-10 gets 20...

I have the front mask installed, put in the xm sat mod, and have mud flaps to install... hope to get EV someday.. and some other goodies from Costaletch (dave).

in austin also..well better git... later

Dianne · 06-17-2004, 02:11 PM

Great to hear from you! I still hug my bear and my leopard! (Now more often than ever!)

inkydoo · 06-17-2004, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Out of curiousity, what did the dealers around Austin tell you in April?

All three Austin dealers were over 6 months, more like 8, and one (I don't remember which) was estimating more like a year.

Ray Moore · 06-17-2004, 11:04 PM

I am also a native and moved to Austin from Abilene in 1980 after a semester in San Angelo. I build new technology energy efficient multi-million dollar homes with superior indoor air quality and cutting edge systems based in building science. In March I was feeling hypocritical because for all the green building techniques that I was helping to pioneer, I still drove a 15 MPG F-150 on a 60+ mile round trip commute everyday and the only thing I was hauling in that thing was a laptop and a set of plans. I did the math and figured out I was burning over 1500 gallons of gasoline a year. It makes recycling your plastic seem pretty insignificant. My fiancee' drives a 15 MPG Ford Explorer, so there is another 1500 gallons a year. Oh my God. That is so criminal. I visited Champion Toyota and became #127 on the list. They told me they get 3 to 5 a month. I missed a white #9 in WV by 8 minutes on 3-31-04. It was so frustrating I just started calling dealerships one after another. At 4:30 I found one that had just been turned down in Denver and it was just what I was looking for; a silver #9. I flew to Denver the next day and drove it home.

I actually live outside Dripping Springs and my commute is on some back roads and I have been consistently averaging 54 to 58 MPG with a little effort and one tank that I lead footed it and drove 75 mph to Houston to see what would happen. That one was 49.5 MPG. So my vanity plate is in the mail and says 56 MPG.

Forgive me for bragging but I've never been so proud of a thing before. This car represents hope to me and it's just a beginning. I will someday put solar panels on my roof and charge my electric car from them. I've fallen for the belief that technology will save us and the Prius is a pretty big step in that direction. My fiancee' and I are carpooling now so we have reduced our gas consumption from 3000 gallons a year to about 400 gallons a year.

bigtex · 06-19-2004, 03:08 AM

Inkydoo,
I too went to Plano (senior High 90') and then on to UT. I ended up teaching in Plano for 4 years and then just returned from Japan after 5 years in an international school there. I wanted a Hybrid car on my return but found out about the wait a week before I left, two weeks ago. I just bought a silver #7 topday from James Hill Toyota in central Washington. I pick it up next week. I am looking forward to seeing some Prii on the road and would be interested in meeting other owners. Enjoy your rides, I pray mine comes through as advertised this week.
Peace and Love,
Ryan

gregstoll · 09-16-2004, 04:17 PM

Hi all! I'm a native as well - grew up in Houston and went to school there, then moved to Austin in summer 2003. Started shopping around for a Prius in fall 2003, and got my name on the Champion Toyota list in November. Last weekend they called and said I was at the top of the list, so I'm now the proud owner of a Driftwood Pearl #6 and loving it!

Edit: heh, that's a #6, not a #4!

Oznoyng · 06-23-2005, 03:57 PM

Transplanted from Pennsylvania at 7. Grew up in Gerogetown. Boston for college. Mobile, AL for penance. Back to Austin to be closer to family.

I have wanted a hybrid for a long time and was on the waiting lists for Highlander and Escape for a long time before discovering the "2 year wait" on the Prius was fast becoming a myth. I called around on April 30 and found a number of "on the lot" Prii at MSRP, but not in colors or options I wanted. Several dealers told me they could get a car in 2-8 weeks, so I ordered from one of them. I got my Salsa red Package 3 (no port options) on June 4, 2005 at Toyota of Killeen after ordering on May 2, 2005. First tank was 518 miles and took 9.794 gallons to fill up.

I just got off the Highlander list (too high a pricetag for it), but my Escape should come in about 6 weeks from Leif Johnson. I actually could have gotten an Escape earlier. I ordered one, but heard that the 2006 added some features I wanted (moonroof and heated seats :P ) so I asked them to change the order. Between telling them I wanted to change and them putting the change into the computer, Ford built the Escape as originally configured. They gave me the option for the one coming in, or the "new" ordered one. I decided to wait.

Ray Moore · 06-23-2005, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Transplanted from Pennsylvania at 7. Grew up in Gerogetown. Boston for college. Mobile, AL for penance. Back to Austin to be closer to family.

I have wanted a hybrid for a long time and was on the waiting lists for Highlander and Escape for a long time before discovering the "2 year wait" on the Prius was fast becoming a myth. I called around on April 30 and found a number of "on the lot" Prii at MSRP, but not in colors or options I wanted. Several dealers told me they could get a car in 2-8 weeks, so I ordered from one of them. I got my Salsa red Package 3 (no port options) on June 4, 2005 at Toyota of Killeen after ordering on May 2, 2005. First tank was 518 miles and took 9.794 gallons to fill up.

I just got off the Highlander list (too high a pricetag for it), but my Escape should come in about 6 weeks from Leif Johnson. I actually could have gotten an Escape earlier. I ordered one, but heard that the 2006 added some features I wanted (moonroof and heated seats :P ) so I asked them to change the order. Between telling them I wanted to change and them putting the change into the computer, Ford built the Escape as originally configured. They gave me the option for the one coming in, or the "new" ordered one. I decided to wait.

Welcome- It will be great to hear the comparison between the Toyota technology and that from Ford.

06-17-2004, 02:04 PM	#3
pjm877 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: austin, tx Posts: 221 My Car: 2004 Prius Package: Pioneer #3 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	native Texan (Andrews then San Angelo to 1979) My first prius was order off the internet and picked up by way of Chapion Toyota. I get there they drive my car around and "Worng" that is not my color.. turns out it was a droped that had what I wanted.. Take now (oct) or wait (dec 01, Jan/feb 02). bird in the hand.... Well the price was kinda high, but it did have a few extra options.. OK and off I went... turns out that the GST front-end loaded a bunch of "extra-value" stuff.. call dealer to get $$ back.. no go... So jump ahead to 2003, get this letter from toyota: what to internet order a 2004 Prius... where do I sign up... but where to get the car.. NOT GST.. so I go 1300 miles to Carson Toyota, Ca to get the car on Nov 13 2003... This thing was a dream to drive back (even if the Nav was lost some of the times). So there was no waiting list for me. MPG has been so-so, but much better than the 2002 but I can't complain... 45-49 mpg at 70 mph through the hill country is great.. .S-10 gets 20... I have the front mask installed, put in the xm sat mod, and have mud flaps to install... hope to get EV someday.. and some other goodies from Costaletch (dave). in austin also..well better git... later __________________ Perry (austin, tx..Just Drive it)

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06-16-2004, 03:02 PM	#1
inkydoo Join Date: May 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 38 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	Brief introduction Just to get things started, I figured I'd give a quick bio / background. I'm a native Texan (born in Houston, spent my teen years in Plano (which I'd sometimes rather not admit)) and I've been in Austin since 1992 (came for college and decided I couldn't go back to living anywhere else in Texas). I've been interested in the Prius since they first appeared in the U.S. My wife and I test drove one that first year and while we liked it, we just didn't have the money to spend on it. Once the '04 model came out, we started looking at finances and things still looked tight, but closer. As the spring rolled around this year and gas prices started to climb, I mentioned it more and more until the day I filled our hand-me-down minivan and paid over $30. I came right home and told my wife it was time, tight finances or not. It helped that the minivan was at 75K miles and we both knew everyday increased the chances of it needing some high-dollar repair. So, we called a few local dealers in April and got all the standard "It'll be a year" and "good luck" responses, which got us discouraged. But I started reading posts (on other boards) talking about how certain dealers just didn't seem to have as much demand as othres, and occasionally you could find someone who literally had one sitting on the lot. This got my wife motivated enough to start at the top of the list of Texas Toyota dealers and call each and every one of them in alphabetical order (there are 75 for those who are curious). The vast majority had the long waits that we expected, and some had done away with lists and were literally calling people with a "first come, first served" policy, but a very few had some short lists (1-5 people). To make a long story short, we found a dealer within 200 miles who (because others were waiting for specific colors) got us in a new Prius in less than a month. No, we didn't pay over MSRP, but we got more features than we ideally wanted (though the NAV, which adds the most cost was something I did want). Ideally, I wanted a #8, but alas we ended up with a Driftwood Pearl #9 (I'm not complaining mind you). Needless to say, I feel very lucky to have gotten one so quickly, but I'm also enjoying it to no end. Good luck to everyone who's still looking and waiting and congratulations to those who've already got one, because this car is well worth it.

06-16-2004, 05:43 PM	#2
betshsu Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 299 My Car: 2006 Prius Package: #7 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	Out of curiousity, what did the dealers around Austin tell you in April? I am in Austin as well. I emailed dealers here and in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Most didn't respond, or had a wait list of 8-12 months. but Charles Maund in Austin told me they had a wait list of 5 people and could get me one in 3-4 months (this was in mid-May). Since then, I've heard very conflicting things from Maund regarding their wait list, though the salesman I've been working with has always been very consistent. I just don't know if some of their sales stuff is clueless or my salesman is just stringing me along (I don't know what he'd get out of that though).

06-17-2004, 02:11 PM	#4
Dianne Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Laguna Niguel (but I work in Carson) Posts: 484 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	Hi Perry! Great to hear from you! I still hug my bear and my leopard! (Now more often than ever!)

06-17-2004, 11:04 PM	#6
Ray Moore Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Texas Hill Country Posts: 818 My Car: 2004 Prius Package: #9 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	I am also a native and moved to Austin from Abilene in 1980 after a semester in San Angelo. I build new technology energy efficient multi-million dollar homes with superior indoor air quality and cutting edge systems based in building science. In March I was feeling hypocritical because for all the green building techniques that I was helping to pioneer, I still drove a 15 MPG F-150 on a 60+ mile round trip commute everyday and the only thing I was hauling in that thing was a laptop and a set of plans. I did the math and figured out I was burning over 1500 gallons of gasoline a year. It makes recycling your plastic seem pretty insignificant. My fiancee' drives a 15 MPG Ford Explorer, so there is another 1500 gallons a year. Oh my God. That is so criminal. I visited Champion Toyota and became #127 on the list. They told me they get 3 to 5 a month. I missed a white #9 in WV by 8 minutes on 3-31-04. It was so frustrating I just started calling dealerships one after another. At 4:30 I found one that had just been turned down in Denver and it was just what I was looking for; a silver #9. I flew to Denver the next day and drove it home. I actually live outside Dripping Springs and my commute is on some back roads and I have been consistently averaging 54 to 58 MPG with a little effort and one tank that I lead footed it and drove 75 mph to Houston to see what would happen. That one was 49.5 MPG. So my vanity plate is in the mail and says 56 MPG. Forgive me for bragging but I've never been so proud of a thing before. This car represents hope to me and it's just a beginning. I will someday put solar panels on my roof and charge my electric car from them. I've fallen for the belief that technology will save us and the Prius is a pretty big step in that direction. My fiancee' and I are carpooling now so we have reduced our gas consumption from 3000 gallons a year to about 400 gallons a year. __________________ There is only one planet earth. How many chances do you think we get with her?

06-19-2004, 03:08 AM	#7
bigtex Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Austin Posts: 27 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	new (again) to Austin Inkydoo, I too went to Plano (senior High 90') and then on to UT. I ended up teaching in Plano for 4 years and then just returned from Japan after 5 years in an international school there. I wanted a Hybrid car on my return but found out about the wait a week before I left, two weeks ago. I just bought a silver #7 topday from James Hill Toyota in central Washington. I pick it up next week. I am looking forward to seeing some Prii on the road and would be interested in meeting other owners. Enjoy your rides, I pray mine comes through as advertised this week. Peace and Love, Ryan

09-16-2004, 04:17 PM	#8
gregstoll Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 1 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	Re: Brief introduction Hi all! I'm a native as well - grew up in Houston and went to school there, then moved to Austin in summer 2003. Started shopping around for a Prius in fall 2003, and got my name on the Champion Toyota list in November. Last weekend they called and said I was at the top of the list, so I'm now the proud owner of a Driftwood Pearl #6 and loving it! Edit: heh, that's a #6, not a #4!

06-23-2005, 03:57 PM	#9
Oznoyng Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Bubbaville (South Austin) Why is Texas not listed under countries? Posts: 8 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	Re: Brief introduction Transplanted from Pennsylvania at 7. Grew up in Gerogetown. Boston for college. Mobile, AL for penance. Back to Austin to be closer to family. I have wanted a hybrid for a long time and was on the waiting lists for Highlander and Escape for a long time before discovering the "2 year wait" on the Prius was fast becoming a myth. I called around on April 30 and found a number of "on the lot" Prii at MSRP, but not in colors or options I wanted. Several dealers told me they could get a car in 2-8 weeks, so I ordered from one of them. I got my Salsa red Package 3 (no port options) on June 4, 2005 at Toyota of Killeen after ordering on May 2, 2005. First tank was 518 miles and took 9.794 gallons to fill up. I just got off the Highlander list (too high a pricetag for it), but my Escape should come in about 6 weeks from Leif Johnson. I actually could have gotten an Escape earlier. I ordered one, but heard that the 2006 added some features I wanted (moonroof and heated seats :P ) so I asked them to change the order. Between telling them I wanted to change and them putting the change into the computer, Ford built the Escape as originally configured. They gave me the option for the one coming in, or the "new" ordered one. I decided to wait.