Prius order window

Context of what I said was around - requirement in CA that manufacturers start selling ZEV & PZEV vehicles starting in 2013. That is why you see announcements about a bunch of new EVs to be sold by Honda, Toyota, GM, Fiat/Chrysler etc - but only in CA.

 

Ok Prius Team, I am confused.
I got an email 11/11 that said "the order window is opening 11/17" - great. Then I got a phone call from the toyota dealer that I am registered with to come down and put in my deposit ($500) to reserve my new PiP. I went down Saturday and did that, and told them the color and trim level I wanted.

So - do I have to do the online ordering on the 17th or not? am I in line for a car or not? They assured me I was, but they were so clueless they didn't even know the MSRP for the car! so I am NOT impressed so far and don't want to lose my space in line because these jokers are jerking me around.

The FAQ on the web site says to:
1 - complete the online order on the 17th
2 - then go in and pay my deposit to my dealer
3 - then somehow confirm that I did this in 96 hours.

Well, looks like I did the #2 already and have no clue what to do about #1 and #3!

suggestions team or fellow prius smarter than me people?

thanks!

Gary
2006 Prius and hopefully 2012 PiP

 

Your answers are all here:

2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid

You will need to dig a little, but you have time. It will help to watch the video on ordering.

 

What your dealer did makes perfect sense for them to do. Essentially, by not ordering through the online pre-order, you don't have a locked in contract to buy the car. You're just in line to buy the next allocated car that they can get their hands on, which I'm sure will have about $5000 worth of rims, paint protection, scotch guard that you can't live without.

 

That seems unnecessarily cynical.

It is possible his dealer is working the pre-order system the way they are supposed to. The dealers likely got an e-mail the other day too letting them know pre-orders would be contacting them to get deposits in. If the dealer already had a list of people who had expressed interest it would make sense for them to contact em and let them know they were able to take pre-order deposits.

 

I think I'm spot on because the dealer should of said to him, now that I got your $500, go online at 9am and preorder the car and I'll approve it and you'll be set. Instead he's here asking if he still has to preorder the vehicle.

 

Dianne,

I had been working on the assumption that getting my pre-order in early meant that I could get my car in March of 2012 rather than in Sept 2012 or even into 2013. If the 2012 allocation of 15K cars went to pre-orders, non-registered individuals would have to wait until 2013 to get a PIP.

Are you saying that all 40K registrants are competing for only 5000 vehicles? Anyone who doesn't get their order confirmed within the first hour needs to wait until March 2012 or later and negoiate directly with the dealers?

 

Yep, I read what you quoted the same way you did. I'll be watching for her reply, too.

Car sales people are not crooks in my view. They have an interesting challenge. The money they want is in our pockets. They must persuade us that they are working for us AND to freely give them that money. If they can panic us into believing that we must ACT NOW or loose the chance for the product, their odds are better.

She does not know those figures she uses. Notice the "IF" at the beginning and the "possibly" just a little later. Toyota sells cars for a living. They will try really hard to fill our orders.

 

Yep. That's it.

 

dianne: 1) i thought pricing had been revealed?

2) are you saying that toyota will not be making any more pip's?

thanks,
paul.

 

i think it was your post where you said they were only making them to meet carb requirements.

 

Dianne,

I don't doubt that you probably know a lot more than most of us, but what you are saying here seems to contradict what Toyota says in the FAQ unless I misunderstand your comments. My understanding of the FAQ is that the act of submitting your order online essentially "reserves" you a car but your spot in the production queue (and thus your estimated delivery date) isn't set until the order is confirmed. And if you don't confirm it with the dealership within the 96 hours, your "reserved" car is freed up for someone else. So going purely by the FAQ, there IS a theoretical guarantee for those with a quick trigger finger at least until the 96 hour timer expires on anyone who dawdles on the confirmation process.

Quoted from the FAQ (emphasis mine):

2. Order

• Select a dealer - Pick the dealer from which you'd like to purchase and pick up your Plug-in.
• Submit an order - Send your configured order to your selected dealer via the online system. This step secures you a car, but not a place in line. After you place the order, you will have 96 hours to confirm it, or the order expires.
• Arrange your deal - Contact your dealer to agree upon a price for the vehicle you are ordering. This is a good time to ask other questions about the vehicle, financing options, and trade-in values, if applicable.
• Place a deposit - Provide your dealer with the $500 deposit.
• Confirm your order - Once the dealer has approved the order, you will receive a final vehicle order agreement. Sign the agreement online, confirm the order, and you're ready to go. Don't delay – this step gets your order in line to be fulfilled!

In any event, assuming my trigger finger is fast enough, I'm to call my dealer after I submit my order, so hopefully it will be confirmed within a couple hours instead of days. Not that I'm in any particular hurry for delivery. I don't need to be the first to get the car so long as I actually get one!

 

In my case I am one of the 40,000 who has expressed an interest in the plug in but will not be ordering because I am in one of the states that toyota is not selling in yet. OHIO Oh well, we will see what 2013 brings

 

Toyota has not announced what the quota is for each state. Perhaps the reason for that is that they may wish to modify the quotas based upon the number of pre orders which materialize. I have watched Lexus and Nissan with their pre order experience and suggest that there is good reason to believe that the total PiP pre orders will be less than 15,000. If this is so, toyota will be able to modify the quotas to fit.

The point is that the odds are that those who seriously want a PiP will be PiP owners.

 

So they have my $500. On thursday, I do the online order process, then call my dealer and tell them "ok, I did the online part, you have my deposit already" so then I have to somehow "confirm" my order?

What do I do for that to happen? do I have to wait for the dealer to do something on their end to prove I gave them a deposit?

sorry - the FAQ and video on the site doesn't really give us the full story and it appears that my dealer is mudding the waters.

I asked about pricing. He said MSRP, but gave me nothing in writing, so I guess they could do anything they like to me later. Assuming that you go with the "car dealers are all crooks" theory.

So no one else got a call from their dealer asking for deposits? I was the only one ? hmm. They told me that a handful of people had come in when they called to put their deposit down, so I can't believe I am the only one.