Put down my deposit! Now how do I handle my dealer?

No price guarantee? Has the market gotten so nutso that dealers won't guarantee the price when you pay a deposit?

They're waiting for something to turn up.

 

my dealer told me the wait is 18 weeks as of last friday and the deposit is refundable and they will only sell them at MSRP.. and they "guarantee" they will not put a premium on them... well u never know if they're gonna put useless accessories in the car that costs thousands... and they're not certain what they're getting either... is ur deposit refundable?

 

Don't fall into the trap of focusing on the monthly lease payment--dealers love that. You need to negotiate a purchase price first--do it as a discount from MSRP in case you end up waiting for an '09 (where pricing isn't know yet). Then you need to understand the money factor, residual, acquisition fee, registration, etc. If you just focus on the monthly payment, it's easy for it to turn into a shell game.

 

^^^^
My situation EXACTLY.
I think the demand is so high now, that we're pretty much at the mercy of the supplier....

^^^^^
Yes, it is nutso out there now....

^^^^
18 weeks? Where is THIS ??

 

When I put down my $500 deposit back in April, the dealer told me that they would look for the type of car in the region they are located, usually around 150 miles. If they can trade with another dealership they will do so, after about 2 weeks or so of not finding it that way they usually will "order" the car. They don't actually order it from Toyota, they pretty much are just requesting that they get the vehicle they want.

 

Dealers want your money and they want to sell/lease you the car. However dealer "allottments" vary and sometimes they receive vehicles on time and sometimes they do not. My wife is a salesperson for a local dealership and she is telling people it could easily be two months before they can receive their vehicle, perhaps longer... It is out of her control.

As far as getting a lower than list price, with gas prices inflating rapidly, anything that is getting above average gas mileage is selling at premium prices.

 

Our deposit went down last week. They wanted a $1000 non-refundable deposit - I refused and they made it refundable.

It is straight MSRP - certainly made it easier with no haggling. But I found another dealer (dozens of locations with almost every car brand made) with a $400 coupon for any car. Called up my dealer and asked them to match. They totally refused and said I'd likely be continually bumped down on the list if I used that on a Prius. (or pressured to buy the less popular colors that come in and continually told my popular color choice isn't available when its really going to non-coupon buyers). Yes total BS talk by the sales manager to keep me...but not inconceivable. If I switch to the other dealer now its another week later in the long order cue everyone has
(that may be hundreds of people at the current crazy rate)....so I staying put.

Toyota's are not really ordered. They come into your region and your dealer gets a bunch. What will happen for me in Mass. is once I start getting up in the list in many months, I will get calls as they go down the list saying they have color x, package y, interior Z - do I want it? No - they call the next in line.

 

in the chicagoland area... i think he was bs-ing...