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Question for those who had their Prime ordered from Japan.......

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by GKL, Mar 9, 2020.

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  1. GKL

    GKL Active Member

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    When you had your local dealer order your Prime from Japan did they offer any confirmation the order went thru and was sent to Japan ?

    The reason I ask is because the local dealership we ordered our Prime thru said they forward the order to the regional Toyota headquarters and they in turn send it to the factory in Japan, and they said the only thing they could confirm is that they sent it to the regional Toyota headquarters but they had no way of confirming if and when the regional headquarters sent the order to Japan or if Japan received the order.

    Maybe I am being overly concerned, but I told the salesman over the phone that I simply wanted to avoid any scenario where 90-120 days go by and then we find out my order never made it to Japan :eek::D but he said the only confirmation they were able to offer was that they sent it to the regional headquarters.

    It's now been close to about 45 days since the order was sent the regional headquarters, so given the 90-120 days before expected delivery, I would think it could possibly be as long as 45 more days before a VIN is generated, and they said when the VIN is generated that is the first indication they receive of my order being processed and they would let me know when they received the VIN.

    I'd be understandably frustrated if 120 days go by and still no VIN :rolleyes::LOL:

    Again, I'm likely being very overly concerned, but it's because of not wanting the long wait to be any longer than necessary :LOL:
     
  2. schja01

    schja01 One of very few in Chicagoland

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    Curious what made your car special that required a special order?
    For my Primes I built an exact laundry list of what I wanted and my dealer on both cases found and exact match on the high seas and had the car assigned to me. Once that was done I got a printout from the dealer’s internal tracking system each week with a status update. They still took 30 days but that sure beats 120 days.
    Of course since you’re in the SE district none of the above probably applies. The Moran family has a lock on things there.
     
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  3. GKL

    GKL Active Member

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    Well, being in the non-carb southeast region when we went to find a 2020 Prius Prime XLE in Magnetism Blue with black interior the dealer did a region-wide search and at that time there was only ONE 2020 Prime XLE in the entire southeast region and it was not in the color we wanted so the dealer said the only option was to do a special order from Japan.

    Maybe your region has more flexibility in being able to search cars on the high seas already in transit, but since the southeast region rarely stocks Primes it was very likely none might have been heading to the southeast port anyhow. Though a more recent search does now show two 2020 Prime XLEs in the southeast region, but both still not in our color choice.

    The 90-120 days in itself was not a big concern since we originally was going to wait till about May to buy anyhow as by then we'd have a bill paid off and also be able to put a much larger down payment. My concern is that I really don't want it to go longer than 90-120 days and even 90 days would be just about right :D
     
  4. Mark57

    Mark57 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD

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    Yes. I was told the part about sending the order to the regional HQ and once they approved, it would be official. I WAS told when it was approved by Gulf States Toyota and was given a date range for delivery. It came in faster than that.

    If you're talking to your dealership more than once a month, they are probably tired of hearing from you. Sad, but true and not the way it should be. Everything you've relayed about what they've told you sounds like "go away, you bother me" and I'm only going to tell you the minimum. Not good for repeat business.

    I ordered mine face to face from the Internet sales manager because I'd talked to him many times on the showroom floor over several years and knew he was not an idiot newby salesman. While he was not gushing with info, he did tell me some things to keep me satisfied early on. I took his time estimates as good and didn't talk to him more than twice after the order was placed. I didn't want to be that kid laying under the Christmas tree every day for a month wishing and whining it was the 25th.;)
     
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  5. GKL

    GKL Active Member

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    Thanks for sharing your experience, maybe your region is somewhat more Prime-friendly, from bits and pieces I've read here and there I get the impression the southeast Toyota region is somewhat more resistant towards plug-in hybrids, and I'm fairly sure local dealerships would much rather unload a car already on their lot rather than do a special order. But at least my salesman did offer doing a special order as an option, I guess they could have just simply said they could not help me.

    As far as staying in contact with the dealership about our order, it was actually the salesman that told me he would call me about once a month just to stay in touch whether there was anything new to report or not, of course I was told there would likely not be anything new to report until the VIN was generated. I had my second phone call recently and the only thing he could offer was something like "I guess no news is good news" meaning if there was anything that was delaying my order he would have heard something.

    While back when I was first inquiring about a Prime online it was their internet representatives that was my point of contact both online and by phone, but when we actually went there in person the internet representative met us at first but it was just to hand us off to a salesman, so I guess they only let their internet reps do initial contact just to get the buyer to come in but can't do the actual sale.

    It would have been nice to have at least gotten confirmation that the southeast Toyota regional office received my order and approved it, but the salesman said the best they could do was confirm that the order was sent to the regional office, he even doubled checked with his sales manager who confirmed he sent it to the regional office.

    I guess their SOP (standard operating procedure) is to figure IF the order was not approved by the regional office that they would have heard it was not approved so since they have not heard anything from the regional office we have to assume the order was approved and sent on to Japan. We do have $1000 deposit paid so it's not like they don't know we are serious about buying.

    It's been close to about 45 days since the order was sent to the regional office, so since the time frame for actual delivery was said by the dealership to be about 90-120 days, and I guess it takes roughly about 30 days once the car is built for it to travel from Japan to the U.S. and I am guessing the VIN is generated at least by the actual day the car is assembled, then I figure I might hear about the VIN within roughly about 45 days, does that sound about right ?

    ….and yeah, I do kinda feel like a kid waiting for Christmas :LOL: but the wait would be somewhat easier if I at least knew for sure the order was approved and sent to Japan :rolleyes::LOL:
     
  6. Mark57

    Mark57 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD

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    I was never told what the VIN was or when it was created. I only heard about the approximate arrival time in Houston. From that, I found the ship it was on, etc. The next I heard was they had it and was cleaning it up. Honestly, your region sounds no different than Gulf states. It's all up to what the dealer is willing to check and tell you. The info is there, if they will ask. I never pushed them to ask.

    The whole order process is a PITA, mostly due to how much the dealership is willing to pass on info. They really don't want you to order. It's been that way for a long, long time. Some dealers will give you blow, by blow info. Others, absolutely nothing. Give them honest open feedback at the end of the process when you get the survey. They want 10 out of 10 and will ask for it, but I don't know of many 10's except for my gorgeous wife.:D
     
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  7. GKL

    GKL Active Member

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    I guess when they realized we were absolutely set on a plug-in hybrid and would not settle for a regular Prius (they had ONE regular Prius in stock) maybe they figured at least they still earn a profit from the ordered car even though I'm sure they preferred to sell one off their lot.

    I've seen other posts on this forum where people waiting on delivery was notified when their VIN was generated so I assumed it was a normal part of the process, when I asked about it at the dealership they said they would let me know when they got the VIN number.

    I'm sure the dealership realizes they can likely lose some potential sales from those who research customer reviews online and they read too many negative reviews, I prefer not having to give a negative review, but I will give an honest review either way, and I agree about the "10's" with the only 10 I know is my lovely AND patient wife, she is not bothered by the wait for the Prime, she likes the idea that after the wait we'll be in a better position financially with a bill paid off and also having a much larger down payment by then :D
     
  8. Mark57

    Mark57 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD

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    Those are far and few between.

    Me neither, but they flat out told me a 9 of 10 was a negative review in the view of the region. Perhaps, but my job evals were also job and pier review graded and I never begged for a grade once. Begging for grades seems to be the norm now.

    Wives seem to enjoy watching husbands spin, turn, and bounce off the walls. It's a wife thing.:p
     
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  9. GKL

    GKL Active Member

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    I guess I should be glad my salesman said they would notify me when the VIN was generated, since it is not the norm then, hey at least getting the VIN notification would help make the rest of the wait more durable at least knowing it would soon be on it's way :LOL:

    They consider 9 out of 10 a negative ? :rolleyes: They must not buy much on Amazon, on Amazon the extremely rare times you might see a 5 out of 5 rating is because the review count is still very low like even 10 reviews or less, most things on Amazon you feel if you find anything above 4 stars out of 5 that is pretty good.

    Yeah, my wife helps balance out my occasional impatience :LOL:
     
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  10. mr88cet

    mr88cet Senior Member

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    Back in 2017, ordering through Round Rock (TX) Toyota, I at least didn’t hear much detail on how our order proceeded. It sounded like the sales rep placed our order details on a Toyota-internal system, and then checked up on it periodically.
     
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  11. GKL

    GKL Active Member

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    Interesting, our dealership (South Carolina) sounded like they just forward the order to the southeast regional office and wait till the regional office notifies them a VIN has been generated. Maybe each region does things a little differently ? You would think there would be a way to keep a more detailed track of the order progress on such a major purchase. :rolleyes::LOL:
     
  12. mr88cet

    mr88cet Senior Member

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    So, yes, that’s pretty much how our order proceeded: Post the order and wait for it to come in.
     
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