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Did you do this? Why?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by sunnysandiegan, Feb 3, 2006.

  1. sunnysandiegan

    sunnysandiegan New Member

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    Our 2006 Seaside Pearl #3 is due to arrive 2/3 - 2/6 (most recent dates) and our salesman called me today. He offered to be available tonight for us to come down to the dealer to do all the paperwork ahead of time. Then when the vehicle arrives, we would come down and do the test drive and physical inspection/training.

    I've talked to a few friends (non-Prius owners) and some, like me, had never heard of this. Those who have purchased cars more recently were aware of this.

    We are getting a rare opportunity for a date night tonight and would interrupt our plans if the vehicle actually arrives at our dealer, but we are not really interested in spending this rare opportunity without our child just to do paperwork. :p

    Also, the dealer is a 20-minute drive away. It doesn't make sense to me to drive over there and back for paperwork and then drive 20 minutes there and back for the vehicle a day or two later (total of 80 driving minutes). Kind of defeats the warm fuzzies of driving an environmentally conscious hybrid, if you ask me. :D

    Am I missing something on why this is beneficial? Has anyone done this? Why?

    Thanks!

    P.S. I briefly explained we had plans tonight and that we would cancel them if the car itself arrives (gave him my cell #), but we would not cancel them for paperwork. Same thing with two potential buyers of my current vehicle.
     
  2. tunabreath

    tunabreath New Member

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    That seems a little backwards to me -- wouldn't you normally do the physical inspection and test drive first, to determine whether or not you wanted to accept that particular car, before doing the paperwork?
     
  3. Sufferin' Prius Envy

    Sufferin' Prius Envy Platinum Member

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    It could be that the dealer wants the hard (for them) to get Prii off the books as soon as possible so they can order more.
     
  4. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    ... and what happens if the car you bought were damaged en route, on the truck in some kind of accident? you already bought it so you're screwed.

    i'd pass...
     
  5. paprius4030

    paprius4030 My first Prius

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    I'm not sure how much you did when you purchased your Prius. But maybe the salesmen wants to firm things up, Get your financing squared away and things like that. Probably wants to be sure he has a legit buyer.
     
  6. daronspicher

    daronspicher Active Member

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    He probably knows that Friday nights are slow at the dealership and wants to knock out paperwork when nothing is happening. Then, when things are hoppin, you are gone in 20 minutes and he's selling some other car..
     
  7. jbarnhart

    jbarnhart New Member

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    I got the same "invitation" from my dealer. I politely turned him down (40 min. round trip on a rainy Saturday didn't appeal to me) and there was no repurcussion. The paperwork only takes 20-30 minutes to fill out anyway. I do not know what the incentive is for them to get us in "early" but there is no obligation to do this -- or even a reason to that I know of.
     
  8. sunnysandiegan

    sunnysandiegan New Member

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    We decided it must be the Friday night lull versus the busy weekend rush thing. The salesman knows we are legit. We've purchased through them before and they have $500 of ours. He also knows we already have the cash and financing squared away. Interesting proposition, but we passed. Okay, we're off for some fun...
     
  9. Jack 06

    Jack 06 New Member

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    Haven't heard of doing that before---no real problem, though, as long as "the paperwork" does not include paying for it or signing any of the "addendums" illegally, e.g., the one stating the mileage on the Prius as delivered.

    Maybe the finance guy wants more time---if/when things are otherwise a little slow---to "work on you", e.g., sell pre-paid maintenance, ext. warranty, etc., unless you've already made your wishes on these things known.
     
  10. cowboy

    cowboy New Member

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    Nope, no similar deal here. My salesguy said eta for my 06 #8 is 2/3-6. He'll call when it's in and we'll do the deed then. I may delay a day or two while he waits for the Comfortreads to come in, but that's it.
    Since I work only 15 minutes away from the dealer, I'd have welcomed going in to get the paperwork done early - except for my signature and payment of course. Since I've got nothing in writing, I'm just a tad nervous that I can't hold the dealer to anything more than a verbal promise. Completed paperwork would give me something tangible.....
    Anyhoo, looks like we'll be getting our wheels around the same day! SOON!!!
     
  11. Rattiemama

    Rattiemama New Member

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    I did this with my Prius. I had called around and found that this dealer had the exact car I wanted comming in 3 days. So I went in and made the sale, and signed all the paper work, except the mileage thingy. They actually wanted me to sign that before seeing the car as well, and I refused. They had put 5 miles down as the mileage, and said the cars usually have three miles on them when the arrive, but I wasn't going to sign anything I couldn't verify. When the car arrived it had 3 miles on it. I also paid them most of the cost of the car that first day.

    There was nothing in the paperwork about the condition of the car, and when I raised that question to the salesman he said that you are automatically protected against any defects when the car arrives by the warranty.

    My situation was slightly different since I wan't on a waiting list, the first day I made contact with them was only 3 days before I got the car, so it made sense to just do the paper work so when I came in to get the car I could just pay the remainder, sign the mileage and go . . . however . . .

    When the car arrived it turns out they had sold me the wrong car!! They had used the wrong VIN on all the forms, so we had to sign them all over again anyway. Sigh. But on the upside, since I allways read _everything_ before I sign it, I had allready read everything so I could just glance at it, remember the form and sign it.

    So there you have it, you will have to decide for yourself if this story is pro-early paper work or not.
     
  12. sunnysandiegan

    sunnysandiegan New Member

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    Thank you everyone!

    I especially appreciate the feedback in favor of doing the early paperwork (and how that worked out), so I could better understand a different point of view.

    Cowboy ~ I haven't gotten my car yet. :( Have you???? I am hoping we get it soooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!! :D
     
  13. NoMoShocks

    NoMoShocks Electrical Engineer

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    I think that dealers just think that the more time you have invested, the less likely you would be to change your mind.

    I am very sorry to hear that the Prius is so hard to get in San Diego. On Saturday, I jsut walked into my Toyota Dealer in Portland Oregon where they are on sale for $1000 off and picked between all the colors. We got the silver pine (light green) with the #5 option package. They have 50 Prius in stock, so if anyone feels like taking a road trip, come on up to Portland.
     
  14. dougaber

    dougaber New Member

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    I had a similar situation happen at my local dealer. The dealer didn't have the color I wanted in the Touring model, so he sent a guy to pick one up at another dealer miles away. While we waited for the car to show up the dealer suggested we fill out all the paperwork ahead of time...saying I could always walk away from the deal prior to taking possession. The dealer was smart in keeping me there, filling out all the forms, and waiting for the car to arrive in a couple hours. It's certainly harder to say no when the deal is done and all you have to do is drive away.

    In retrospect it felt like the "snowball effect"...the dealer kept moving closer and closer to the sale and before I could "slow the train down"...it was done and I was driving away. I had just stopped by to take a test drive and before I knew it I was a Prius owner. I knew I wanted it days earlier....just didn't think it would happen that fast. Unfotunately I didn't have a chance to return home to check my emails from pricequote.com where I had an offer to save $1600 at a closer dealer down the street. At least the dealer I bought from offered to pay my last two payments on my Murano lease ($640), cover any existing damages ($320), throw in tinting ($100), and the car came with Lo-Jack installed from the other dealer ($700)...at no cost to me!! It's all good....I'm happy :D

    Here near LA, dealers can find anything within a 2 or 3 hour drive. My car arrived with 28 miles on it. No waiting or pre-ordering.
     
  15. cobra94563

    cobra94563 Junior Member

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    that topic is a year old.