Experiences when purchasing Prius wanted...

I got my car last April - I needed it immediately because my old car was totalled, and calling around my area, I was able to find 3 available 'on the lot' at 3 different dealers in packages 3 through 6, any color but sliver (was hit by a silver car, so I wouldn't get one <g>). It was a total of 6 days from my first visit to a dealer to driving home in my Super White package 5.

There ARE available ones, especially if you're willing to travel. I hear that there are a lot of them in NorthernVirginia - maybe an 8 hour drive from MA. The Toyota web site has a place where you choose colors and options and then they'll put out a query to dealers for available stock that meets your specifications - that's how I found one of the three/

 

Check this thread:

Priuschatter on buying his car.

I wouldn't have been as patient as you or waited as long.

Decide how far you're willing to drive back. Then call every dealer within that radius. Let them know that the first one that has your color and package at MSRP with no port or dealer add ons gets your money.

Don't buy etching, lowjack or any of that other stuff unless for some reason you want it. Don't get the extended warranty unless you want it and they can beat Troy's price. Don't mention Priuschat.

When you're not doing the above, start reading Priuschat. There is a lot of information here.

If you do the work yourself, you'll get the exact car you want sooner. If you wait for the dealers, you'll wait and wait and wait. Eventually you may get your car. But they'll also try to get you to settle for a color or package you don't want.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(steviet @ Jul 13 2006, 05:51 PM) [snapback]285859[/snapback]</div>

I went to a high volume dealer in my area, and approached the GM who I fortunately knew. I asked her what her alotment per month was, what her backlog was, and what does she have coming in that is not yet spoken for. I told her I was interested in a package 5, 6, or 7. I was told that I could have a black pkg 7 in 8 weeks. I got it in exactly that time frame.

Perhaps you should do the same? Go to a high volume dealer and put your dibs down on one. Tell them in advance that you want the VIN# once it gets in country. You will probably have a shorter waiting period for the particular vehicle you want by going to a high alotment dealer. I believe that Toyota has alotted more loaded vehicles than the economical ones, which the dealers really enjoy.

BTW, I do like the HID headlights (pkg 6), have yet to use the mp3/wma features, the JBL sound system is nice, Blue tooth is great for answering the phone, voice command dialing is a pain, especially when trying to listen to a route. Voice activated DVD is super WOW, but I doubt I will really use that. I'd dearly love an accurate barametric altimeter.

 

steviet:

What needs to be shared with you is what dealers don't want you to know. The dealers have little or no control over what they receive in the way of color and options. They ALL are on an allocation system. It is based on previous sale levels. If a dealer does well, their allocation will grow. But it all comes down to one thing. The dealer will get what Toyota gives them NOT WHAT IS ORDERED. That goes to explain why a certain color comes in with another set of options. Yes, the dealer can sell whatever comes in with regard to the Prius. So, the bottom line with the consumer is "can you accept the color and options they give you?"

Hope that goes to better explain your situation steviet.

 

I picked up my Prius (pkg #6) on Tuesday, from Kearny Mesa Toyota.
Overall, it was a very positive experience, with one minor annoyance, which I'll get to later.
Basically, we test-drove a Prius at Toyota San Diego on 7/4. They had an unassigned, white, pkg #7 available, which is the one I drove. I liked it pretty well, but the price of the whippy dippy nav system was absolutely OBSCENE. $1,900? That's just too hard to swallow. That car was exactly the one I wanted, if I could have it without paying for the nav system.
Got home from the test drive, and went to the Toyota web site. Configured a pkg #6 Prius and requested quotes from all the San Diego area dealers. Nearly all of them responded that pkg #6 is no longer allocated to California dealers, you have to take pkg #7 -- I guess Toyota has decided that demand for the Prius is high enough in California that they can get customers to swallow hard and cough up the ridiculous price for that nav system.

I did get an email from "Crystal" at KM Toyota, saying that they somehow had an as-yet-unsold Seaside Pearl pkg #6 Prius allocated for the end of July. We immediately put down a deposit on it.

Monday night, they call us to say that the car has just been delivered!

Tuesday, we show up and, sure enough, there she is. Package 6. Blue. Ready to go.

I pays the money and away I go in my very cool new machine -- a MUCH fancier car than I've ever driven before, much less owned!

The annoyance I mentioned? I was providing my own financing. Kearny Mesa Toyota apparently requires ALL customers to fill out a credit application, regardless of whether they are applying for a loan. This really irks me. There is absolutely NO need for them to obtain my personal information when I am paying cash, so far as they are concerned. A dealer can trivially "hammer" a check, to verify funds availability.

And an irony: As it happened, a few days earlier, I had won tickets to see a preview of the movie, "Who Killed The Electric Car?" The movie was the evening of the same day I got the Prius. Not too surprisingly, the theater parking lot was well stocked with RAV4 EVs, Insights, and Priuses (Prii?).

A very good movie -- but it occurs to me that they totally got the answer wrong. (Go see the movie for their answer.)

The "Electric Car" is not dead. It's on its way back in the form of the PHEV -- an electric car with a backup gasoline generator, built-in. Conversion kits available/coming soon. Production cars coming in a year or two.

P.S. Yes, you got that right: I got the Prius I wanted (although, not the color I wanted) in exactly one week! Just a matter of luck, and some flexibility on my part (accepted a blue car instead of white).

 

Here in Ct i put a $500 depoisit down in early june 06!They said a 2 to 3 month wait,maybe sooner if i was flexable.Well!! about a month later i just happen to be doing some local shopping,passed a different dealership and saw 2 on the lot.One was not taken due to a cancellation( maybe true maybe not) and i took it home the next day.I dont have alot of trust in the waiting list system anymore.Sure some honest ones are out there,but ive heard alot of cases where the prius is bought right off the lot like i did.Drive around,call around!if you dont wish to wait to long you can get a prius without the waiting list.Good Luck!!

 

You realize, I hope, that you are not ordering a car in the sense of the dealer sends your "order" to the factory, which then "fills" the order and sends it back to you.

Simply: you express an interest in a particular color/package and plunk your deposit down to get on the waiting list, and then you wait. The more specific you are as to your choices, the longer the wait is likely to be.

As someone else on this thread said, it's all in dealer allocations. So contacting a number of dealers might help you to find the package and color you want in a much shorter time.

 

And actually, it isn't TOYOTA, but rather, their contracted "middlemen". Local Toyota dealer told me about them and I did some research on them.

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2001/1008/118_print.html

Based on everything I've read, it seems that Toyota needed some help to get into the US market back then (60s). Now they can't get out of the contracts. I read that Toyota WANTS to go to the factory-dealer route....

(I'm guessing that the contracts are similar to South Coast Plaza Mall in Orange County, CA. Sears was approached when it was being built, and wasn't upscale yet. The owners got Sears to become an anchor by signing a 99 year lease for $1 a year, and Sears has full subleasing rights. Fast forward to the future, and this mall, home to Nordstrom, Tiffany & Co, Porsche Design, Armani, etc. etc etc. would love to get rid of their lowest scale tenant, but can't)

 

My wife has been telling me since last year that it my turn to get a new car. While at work one day on a Wed, I called her and told her I was going to our local Toyota dealer to look at new cars. When I arrived, I was told a 2006 Prius just hit the parking lot. The salesman let me take it for test drive and when I arrived back at the dealership there were 8 more people lined up wanting to take a test drive. I told the saleman I wanted it and he let me drive it home. I brought them a check the next day to pay for the car. When I took the car to the tint shop, the owner could not believe how I 'lucked' into getting this car. Well, I guess I was finally due some good luck

 

I don't have a whole lot to add, except that you should feel free to look around because you can probably get something within a couple weeks if you're flexible and somewhat willing to travel. What happened to the original poster - calling and expecting to hear 1-2 weeks and instead hearing that it'll be a lot longer - also happened to me. If you want to read the whole story, check here and there is a little more here also.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(russthetechnogeek @ Jul 13 2006, 06:46 PM) [snapback]285907[/snapback]</div>

I bought mine from Howard Sheehy, the internet manager at Kearny Mesa Toyota. Very nice except for what you've mentioned. Yes, you have to fill out the financial applications in case anything happens. The only exception is if you pay cash. Not cashier's check because even those have been forged.

And yes, no #6 in San Diego. Don't know how they got one. Maybe traded for it and then the deal fell through. When I bought mine last year they only had 1, 3 and 6. (The old 6 is now the new 7/8) I had no need for the nav, HID, etc either. I got the black #1 I wanted but ended up with ivory instead of gray interior. My next Prius will have a gray interior. (And hopefully be dark blue.)

I was at the movie Tuesday night too. KPBS ticket giveaway? Landmark in La Jolla? My Black Prius has a yellow lightbulb on the antenna with "hybrid" on it. I saw an Insight on the freeway on the way there but not in the parking lot. Saw some Prii though.

I think the answer was right for the point the movie was making. But you're right. The technology that produced those cars is not dead, nor is the idea. Both will return when the plug in Prius becomes an option. Possibly 2009. From there....better batteries, better consumer awareness and demand. (And more photovoltaics on the roof. That market is going to advance too, fed by the plug in car.)

All we need is $5 a gallon gas. Car makers will eventually figure out that they can't sell what the consumer doesn't want so they better start building what *will* sell. Notice in the movie Toyota figured that out sooner than the others...and changed direction. Did you see all of the RAV4EVs left after they crushed all of the EV1s?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Three60guy @ Jul 13 2006, 04:41 PM) [snapback]285903[/snapback]</div>

Yep. My first salesman, who is a friend of the family, told me the same. They send corporate a wish list, but whatever comes in, comes in. They do not special order any Prii. Which is why I instead of selecting a color, I told the dealership anything but White.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(russthetechnogeek @ Jul 13 2006, 04:46 PM) [snapback]285907[/snapback]</div>

In 2005 there were six models, but only the lowest (#1), middle (#3) and top (#6) were available in So Cal. I tried to get a #5 and it got harder and harder to find one. I tried going to Nevada and the dealer said they could get me a #5. The day I mailed the deposit, they called and said tht #5 wasn't available and if I didn't want a #6 there were 10 people behind me that did. I bit the bullet and got a #6 in So Cal. Yeah I have the NAV system, but there were other things that came with it that made the choice worth while.

 

I feel a little guilty. I decided to seriously look into a Prius June 1. Test drove one in Davis, CA and loved it, but I wanted more. I rented a white #7 (never rented before & <300 Miles) in Vacaville, CA. (I wanted to rent in Davis, but they wouldn't let me take it out of state.) I also put a deposit down at the Vacaville dealer. Drove to Reno, NV to give the Prius a road test on a long weekend. On the way home I stopped at a Roseville dealer to see what they had and found the right package (#6) on the lot, but wrong colors. Put my name down on a silver #6 coming a week or 2 later(no deposit requested).

Returned the white Prius the next to the Vacaville dealer and while there passed on another wrong color Prius. Then got the idea to call around to other dealers. I talked to salespeople not the fleet buyer (most dealers I contacted routed Prius sales through them). I got my name in with several dealers. I also started checking dealer websites (usually outdated info) to see who had inventory. Contacted a salesperson at Folsom Lake Toyota (west of Sacramento, CA), he was doubtful that they had any, but would check and get back to me. When he did, he had one 1st choice exterior (red), interior (grey), and pkg #6. I drove home June 27th with my Prius (face frozen like this every time I drive).

I had left the salespeople 3 exterior choices, but fixed on the interior color and package. Before I had a chance to contact the salespeople and take my name off their lists, I received 4 offers that meet my criteria and 2 that were my 1st choice.

To summarize, be persistent if you live in an area that has many Toyota dealerships. Call and talk to salespeople, leave your name and choices. Also ask how long their waiting lists are. If they are long don't wait for them (Davis had 40 people and Vacaville had 20). You can usually get by without leaving a deposit.
Salespeople want to make a sale so, they'll keep an eye out for you.

Stan

 

When we went on a test drive and really, really liked the car, we checked with the salesman to see what was coming into the dealership that was not already sold. He could tell us then that the Prius we wanted would be available within 2-3 weeks. We put down a deposit, and the car was there in 17 days.

So we didn't really "order" the car - we simply selected one that was already allocated to that dealership.

It's a long haul from Mass, but the dealer is Miller Toyota in Manassas, VA. I just checked their website, and they have 11 Prii listed, and that's the most I've ever seen on their website. There are no gray models, or package #4 on the list - they have some 3s, and lot of 6s, a 7, and a couple of 8s in various colors.

link

One reason they may have this number on the lot is the recent change in I-95 HOV access for hybrids. If people wanted to use their hybrid in the I-95 HOV lanes without 3 people in the car, they had to have registered the car prior to this July 1st. So there was a big push to get a hybrid prior to that date, and I've seen ALL the different types of hybrids - including a Chevy Silverado - in the HOV lanes recently.

People may have slowed down a bit after July 1st in buying hybrids in Northern Virginia, and that may account for the high number of Prii available at Miller.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rlongenbach @ Jul 13 2006, 05:40 PM) [snapback]285947[/snapback]</div>

Good thing too. While I do use Nordstroms, I've made a heck of a lot more purchases at their nice Sears than I've ever done at the other stores you mention. Sears got this mall going and now name-conscious yuppies don't want to see its low-class logo within a mile of pretentious over-priced money pits that, for the most part, offer things that most of us can do very well without. It's not like Sears looks like a flea market: they tend to offer some balance to the other here-today, gone-tomorrow stores of the moment that keep South Coast in a constant state of rebuilding. Sears is always pretty busy; Gucci is lucky to have any customers visible. They used to have a couple of good, unique book stores, but the high rents drove them out and I find myself not going to South Coast as much as I did 25 years ago. There's room for both kinds of stores and the "exclusive" shops might consider that it is Sears that got many local people to visit SCP in the first place.

(Not much to do with cars here, but it struck a nerve.)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stan57 @ Jul 14 2006, 02:06 AM) [snapback]286102[/snapback]</div>

Exactly how I approached buying. Rent first. Got my name in the hat with 3 dealers. Got my car in 5 weeks. Received calls from the two others a week before mine arrived saying that they had unsold units that just hit the lot.