List of dealers with bad inventory list

I have emailed a few dealers in So Cal with a Prius (with VIN) listed on their website and every single one came back with the same sorry response that the vehicle is not available. This is pretty shady way of getting us to call. Here is the list so far:

Toyota Carlsbad - 11 Listed, Non Available
Puente Hills Toyota - 6 Listed, Non Available
Toyota of Pasadena - 17 Listed, Non Available
Toyota of Santa Monica - 178 Listed, Non Available

Wondries Toyota - WL, Over MSRP
Poway Toyota - WL, MSPR
Escondido Toyota - WL, MSRP

I'm not sure that is the fault of the dealership...the list may be their allocated inventory that they have people already on a wait list for. If you want a Prius then you should probably do what everyone else has had to do...get on the wait list yourself.

I don't know if I would call it shady, I think I would call it lazy. Many dealerships have people who input the vehicles on the website. They probably didn't have them remove them. With the way the Prius is selling, I would not even bother checking the dealerships website, its never going to be as accurate as calling them yourself. The dealership I bought my car from isn't even listing the Prius on their website.

I think there's some sort of automated process driving this. I've gotten a few from Poway Toyota. By the time I look, it's gone, or disappears soon. I know they don't have any that aren't for someone on a list. I think they appear automatically when the ship hits the port, and have to be deleted manually, or something like that.

That's how the salesman at my dealership under SET said it works. He said almost every Prius you see as being available have already been reserved.

Mine arrived at the dealer June 9. It was one of seven allocated. By the time I arrived Wednesday afternoon, mine was the only one left on the lot. Internet salesman said he felt like putting a fence around it with guard dogs, because everyone wanted to drive it or get in it. BTW, dealer is saying 14 weeks for delivery and $3,000 over MSRP.

I've been following the online inventory at a couple of local dealers for about a month now - I figured it would be a good way to track how fast their waiting lists are moving. Anyway, it looks like the cars remain on the list for about a week before they disappear - I'm guessing it's the period between the dealer knowing the specific VIN for the cars they're receiving and the buyer actually taking possession. I have verified with both dealers that the cars are spoken for long before they ever arrive on the lot.

You're right. Dealers know the VINs when the ship leaves Japan or China. Dealers may be remiss in immediate notification to buyers, maybe due to relationship with specific individuals (nothing evil, just the way people are). But it takes about a week to reach U.S. ports, and 3-7 days to transport to dealers (truckers won't move until the carrier is full).

I will have a HUGE list of yay and nay dealers, names included - but not until I get my car.

Sit tight folks...

But I will say this now. Something to be very cautious of. We have found - told by a fleet manager at a dealership - that common practice of dealerships is that they tell you over the phone or via email that they are not charging over MSRP just to get you in the door. And then once you are there, they give you an "oh, by the way" or "oh, I made a mistake" or "oh, the market has changed since we talked the other day." This was told to us not by a dealer who was trying to make other dealers look bad, this was told to us by a dealer who was doing it himself (and we called him on it, in addition to telling us that the car was on the lot and we get there and oops, we made a mistake...no car)

They will do anything to get you in the door, including flat out lying. Don't believe anything you hear over the phone or via e-mail - believe only what you have in writing. Just a word of caution.

Toyota of Hollywood has a great line- "Everyone else charges over MSRP- we just ask that you choose three things to add to your new Prius."

They are selling at 5K plus over MSRP. The guy tried to get me in a non-touring #6 for over 36K.

When looking for mine I kept a close eye on Auto Trader. Ressler Motors of Bozeman, MT had a couple that were newly listed and when I called they said they hadn't had any for weeks but that I could get on their waiting list. I think it speaks volumes when a dealership is advertising cars they don't have.

G