06 Prius "In production"

I'm in the same boat, being told the same thing. My car's supposed to ship next Tues. the 17th; then "about 20 days after that" to the dealer.

 

I also signed up for a 06 pkg#5 seaside mid aug05.
got called Dec 15 that they are getting seaside pkg#7. I said no thanks didn't you order my car? They said yes it was on order.

got called jan 3 they had a pkg#5 driftwood. I said no thanks didn't you order my car? They said yes it was on order.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE !!!

 

I'm getting the same thing. The original dealer has passed me up on one car while I was out of town, and they say mine should be in around the 21st of this month. But they can't give me a VIN or stock number.

Other salespeople are telling me that they can see the VIN or at least a portion of it on the "Tag" that they print out every day. They can see if its on a ship, in the port, or out of the port (and on the way to the dealer).

I've been jerked around by two dealers now, including one "Internet Sales Department" that assured me they sell at MSRP, and told me to come down as they had three Package 3's in stock. When I got there today, after driving 100 miles in LA traffic on a Friday afternoon, they all three had wheels ($1,995) and non-factory leather seats ... another $1,995. $4,000 over MSRP, but they insisted they weren't marking up MSRP ... ALL of thier customers demanded the wheels and leather! Needless to say I walked out on them, and told them how crummy I thought they were. I'll be sending an email to the "Internet Sales Manager" (Julie Derby at Puente Hills Toyota) letting her know that I don't appreciate the old stale "slick car salesman" game they are playing.

 

I'm told they do not have VIN numbers till they hit port. But they can tell when their allotment is coming while still in Japan... they just don't always have a clear picture as to what they are getting..
I don't know if its because some are better at navigating the web to access thier privy info, but some seem to be able to tell what is coming before it hits port and others cannot.

They seem to be able to "mask" or hide the details until the last minute.
They don't want other dealers to be able to see exactly what is out there, then # of cars, and the colors and options, because then dealers will try to intercept if possible. Dealers "do not have" to release any of thier allotment if they don't want to.

But by keeping all the info secret, it removes the internet power to reveal who is the lowest bidder etc. It could become quite a circus. Who would want thier car from dealer X if we could all see in advance that dealer Y has it cheaper?