Am I just being paranoid?

NO! You are not just being paranoid. Dealers pull this kind of BULL.... all the time. That's their game. You are being lied to. Your new Prius should have no more than 5-7 miles on the odometer! They're doing something screwy and you need to go over there immediately and find out what they're up to. If you want a NEW car. Sometimes people buy a Prius and they're unhappy with the color or interior or whatever. If they push hard enough a dealer will take the car back and change it out for them. I've seen this happen when a friend ordered their Prius with one color leather and decided after a week they wanted a darker color. Like I've said in previous posts, dealers are scumbags and will lie to you. My advice? Contact the OWNER of the dealership. Not the manager or fleet manager. The OWNER of the whole thing. Tell this person you do not want to be screwed with and be firm. Otherwise, you'll be getting a used car.

 

usually retired or mature folks do the car hops for dealerships. They know not to hotrod a new car. I wouldnt worry.

what am I talking about- I worry about mine just sitting in the parking lot at work- and I keep a security camera pointed at it!

anyway, I am sure it will be perfect.:caked:

 

Good choice. Because once you call the owner you start getting what you want. All of a sudden you stop getting lied to. It actually works. Also, tell the owner about your experience so far with the dealership. Be nice but firm. Good luck!

 

How in the WORLD do you know that the dealer is doing all of this? for chrissakes, ChickenLittle, get a grip.

If one doesn't trust the dealership, simply go someplace else. Gawd, I hope there's some Librium in your town.

 

Why are they swapping it by DRIVING it?? When my dealer swapped to get mine, they sent a TOW TRUCK to carry it over.

:car:

 

all,

If they work an electronic swap on the computer, it's real easy while it's still on the boat, or even while it's in the port before it gets loaded onto the car carrier delivery truck (once it goes on board a truck it's locked in for delivery to a certain dealer). At this point a swap can still be done, but it's now a physical swap.

Either way, it still depends on the surrender'g dealer getting something he wants (& can't usually get) to replace what he's giving up (that's why you just can't go to the CT dealer to bring your car back). You'd have to take some car to him & your NJ dealer isn't insured for YOU to do that (only certain of their employees are allowed to do it).

Don't worry too much about the 200 miles because you will be getting the exact car you've been look'g for, right? April 8th was the last date dealers could order a 2008 model & they won't be taking orders for the 2009's until June [with deliveries not start'g until mid-Sept (likely only on the west coast) through the end of Oct (which is probably the earliest you could expect to get one in NJ)]. What you want is probably pretty hard to find right now, so be glad this "lying" dealer is will'g to do the swap for you (many aren't will'g).

As far as tow'g or flat bed'g, have you priced a 200 mile tow at AAA [your 1st 100 miles free if you have the upgraded membership---but I think your car has to be registered to you & be inoperable (broken down) for them to provide the road service for you]. You could always contract with your local neighborhood garage that has wrecker service, but they will probably charge you for the 400 mile round trip & I don't think their insurance will allow you to ride with the driver if that's what you were think'g [to be sure he loads & unloads it safely---some wrecker operators can be butchers (I know because I've had personal experience)].

Also, think of the poor mileage of a wrecker & the higher (than premium gas) price of diesel fuel (around $4.50 a gallon in some places). That's why your dealer is doing the driving swap instead of send'g his own wrecker [probably saving $90 or more (figuring a generous? 20 MPG for a 400-mile round trip) on diesel fuel by only spend'g about $14 (at around $3.50 per gallon?)for the gas in either Prius (at about 50 MPG for the 200-mile one way drive) assum'g he has to swap another Prius for your Prius.

Also, because of the traction control, if he is TOWING (front wheels lifted up, rear wheels down on the ground) he MUST NOT turn on any power in the car or he will damage the traction control or the transmission (I don't remember which). And because the power MUST remain OFF (due to the traction control), the car CAN'T be towed with the front drive wheels down because turn'g power off (even from neutral) engages the park'g pawl, lock'g the transmission & wheels. Just let the dealer's person do the drive from CT to NJ.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

Sounds like something a dealer would say... :lie:

FACT: Car dealerships lie. You won't get much disagreement from anyone here......Unless......They're a dealer!!

 

I think you may be acting a bit paranoid. Cars are driven in do to dealer swapping all the time. The car is under warranty for 3 years. Once it has 5000 miles on it you want even remember the 200 miles. I don't think dealers are in the business to abuse new vehicles to get even with a customer. Could it happen yes but maybe it could happen with just 7 miles on it depending what happened in the 7 miles it was driven. Relax, get your car and enjoy it.
Prius is great but it is just a car .. it will be fine.

 

I got my car the beginning of the month. The dealer didn't have what I wanted on his lot, so he did a dealer trade with a dealer that had the vehicle I wanted. They send a runner with their vehicle to the other dealer and brought mine back. Then they did the service on it and I picked it up a couple days later. When I got it, it had 202 miles on it. I'd rather have that, than to get one I don't want. In the whole scheme of things, is a couple hundred miles worth worrying about? Love the car and plan a 1500 mi trip next month. Getting 54mpg on my daily commute. Much better than the 16mpg my F250 was getting.

 

Dealers swapping vehicles is very common. And sometime it can be bizarre.
A friend's Tacoma lease came due last fall so he set out to lease another one. The local dealer said they didn't have and couldn't get the one he wanted. (In other words, they didn't want to put out any effort to hunt up a swap). A dealer 60 miles south said they could get one. The truck "came in" as a swap a week or so later. And which dealer do you suppose they got it from???? YES the local dealer who happened to get the exact truck my friend wanted on a generic delivery.

It gets better. Because it had already been 'sold' to the southern dealer, they had to come get it, drive it to their dealership to prep it, then deliver it back up here to my friend. So it took 2 more days. They couldn't even have the local dealer do the prep??? Pretty stupid.

 

I totally understand your feelings.

Mine had to be "traded" from a dealer in Ft Wayne, Indiana to my dealer in Warren, Michigan. Since my salesman tried for 2 weeks to get the blue (seaside pearl??) without any luck, then I changed to a super white --still had to wait for that one to arrive--but then I ended up with a 2008 model. I asked if I could go get it, but they raised the issue about the insurance and the fact was they had to trade TWO cars to get mine!! I requested that the driver stay under 65 mph and not smoke, drink or eat in the car.

They said that no one would smoke or eat, or go over 65 as it was their policy anyway--I guess it is all senior citizens who do this. I got my car in September and there were no problems--in fact whoever drove it got about 48 mpg!

When I picked it up, it looked perfect--it was cleaned and all the manuals and tags (there's some goofy hang tags from the MFD and stuff) were all in place. I couldn't really tell anyone had been in the car, really.

I think it is all in how much you trust your dealer/salesman. I was just so happy to have it before the tax credit deadline hit.

Good luck!

 

What dealership are you dealing with? I bought my 05 Prius at Cherry Hill Toyota -- but did research at 3 other dealerships before settling.