What exactly does having a VIN mean?

It means that Toyota has assigned a serial number to the car. If you have a copy of the VIN number there are ways to ascertain if it is validly constructed; too bad I cannot tell you of hand how to do that just by reading the number. If so, then it makes sense that the car is real, however the car might not be in the states yet. The dealer should have a report or manifest which indicates the VIN numbers of the vehicles which are schedueled for delievery from port to them. That is probably the first place you want to start looking to determine if the vehicle has been shipped form port or not.

 

Vin=Vehicle Identification Number

A VIN will have 17 digits and in your case begin with a J. All the VIN means is the Vehicle has been built. In reality it could be anywhere between Japan and your dealership. Also in todays world they can find out where it is just like fedex can track your packages.

 

The two ports which Toyota uses on the West Coast are Portland, OR, and Long Beach, CA. The ship stops first in Portland before continuing to Long Beach. Perhaps they offloaded your car at the wrong port.

This is the route map:

North America Routes / Route 2

This is the sailing schedule:

Sailing Schedule February-March 2006.

 

From the sailing schedule, it would appear that a stop has been added in the San Francisco Bay area.

[Broken External Image]:http://www.beniciachamber.com/images/benicia-areamap.gif

 

Wow. Who are they? I wish I could track my car myself, that would be cool. Is there a website for that?

Yes I am suffering from Prius Anticipation Syndrome.

 

Yes, Benicia has been added, and is real. That's where my cars are coming in for Sacramento. Two days from port to dealership now instead of five. But still no cars...

 

I'd guess it means that the car is at least on the boat heading toward you.

I was told they do the assignments with the list of cars that's on the boat... meaning they had a few silver pine mica's on the boat and my dealer requested one, so they assigned it to them.

Once it's off the boat, it's already assigned to a date to meet a (train, truck?). After a train ride, it ends up at some depot outside Chicagoland where it gets on a truck that takes it to my dealer.

All of that could be a month or so. Either my dealer really doesn't know when my car is showing up, or they like to leave it loose. They told me 8th - 27th as a range. I've had my VIN for a week or two.

In today's modern shipping/tracking thing, you'd expect that they'd know where the car is(within feet) at all times and have a system that gets it to the dealer on a fairly well defined schedule. I guess not, seems a little relaxed.

 

In my case, I'm told that there's a car with my requirements on the boat due in port on the 16th (pending weather, pirates, what have you). The dealer only has a "partial VIN." This I simply do not understand. If the car exists, why would the dealer NOT have the VIN? It just doesn't leave me feeling very confident in the whole proceedure!

This process just seems so vague and random. If it drives the customer nuts, just imagine what it must be like for the dealer!

 

Yes here in Benicia, I can see all your Prius" lined up on the waterfront ready to be adopted. Sure is a beautiful sight!

 

When I got my Prius, I was given a VIN but told it could change. I was thinking that was odd, either you have a VIN for a car or you don't. They explained that sometimes the last part of the VIN might be different do to someone not paying attention. It happened that mine did not change when it came in.

Ken

 

Really!? Could you go down and write all the VINs down?

Seriously though... there are really cars on the ground in Benicia now? I was told that one of mine would arrive at the Benicia port on the 10th. Maybe it is already there? I'm sure they're busy adding all that "port added" crap that I'll be forced to pay for since the dealers' hands are just tied on that stuff....

 

Man. I just do NOT understand this. Can any of the dealer members comment on this? The "partial VIN" thing just doesn't make sense. "Not paying attention?" Well, that could happen at any time of course. Is policy built around that assumption? Yikes.

 

So I considered that there has been a spotting of new Priuses' in Benicia on Feb 9 (was that when they arrived there Agile Pagile?) and the fact that my dealer told me that my car would be arriving in Long Beach on Feb. 11, and that the Toyofuji ships on the schedule linked above take two days to get from Benicia to Long Beach. Well I think it all adds up.

Looking at the schedule again, and extrapolating back one sailing, it seems perfectly reasonable that the New Century 2 would be in Long Beach today because it looks like it leaves Japan 14 days after it arrives in Long Beach.

So does anyone live in downtown Long Beach? Wanna go over to the Port of Long Beach, Pier B, and see if there is a car carrier docked there right now?

My Prius Anticipation syndrome is getting more serious by the day.

 

The only way your VIN could change is if the dealer sells the vehicle to someone else.