2006's on Carson Toyotas Inventory

Dianne Whitmire, their Internet sales manager used to be a frequent contributor here. She has not posted lately. she is probably embarrassed due to the gazillion dollars that Carson Toyota charges over MSRP for the Prius.

 

I just looked at the inventory page. They have photos, taken on their lot, of all the 05 models. Most of the 06 listings to not have photos attached and the three that do use generic photos, as opposed to images of the actual cars being offered for sale.

My hunch is that they are listing their next allocation as opposed to actual in stock inventory.

 

I can't imagine they have them on the lot yet. Logistically I'm guessing they just got their latest allocation and entered it into their inventory system. Could explain the lack of pictures for any of th 2006's. It is encouraging that there must be 06's on the next ship to arrive

 

I purchased through Carson and had a good experience. I initially would not go above MSRP, and was on the waiting list of other dealers charging MSRP, but there was significant uncertainty when I would get delivery. And I often got conflicting information.

At Carson, it is first come, first served - if you are concerned about getting an HOV sticker, that might be a factor.

By the way, the above MSRP versus at MSRP is not a moral issue, it is business. I bet you could go into Carson and get a Land Cruiser significantly below MSRP.

I purchased through Greg and have also talked with Dianne on a few occasions, and have only positive things to say.

John

 

I strongly disagree. I was one of many who ordered a 2004 early from Carson (and left a $500 deposit check for the under-MSRP agreed upon price) then waited many months while Carson sold car after car to people who walked in off the street and paid over MSRP.

Eventually my below-MSRP order was cancelled by Dianne when I didn't respond to a "I'm cancelling your order unless you reconfirm your order now" email. Even though I had told Dianne that I was going to be out of town and wouldn't be able to respond to email.

What was sad about the whole thing was that she never came clean and just said "Sorry we made a mistake in agreeing to sell that car under MSRP. It's not going to happen". Then everyone could have moved on and placed orders elsewhere. She violated the trust of many people.

 

Too bad.

I was one of those that "walked in off the street" (actually called on the phone) and paid (without deposit) MSRP. Of course that was back in April.

 

You are right.

It is a two-way street, though. That is why many of us who dealt with Dianne and regularly engaged in discussions with her on PriusChat took our business elsewhere.

 

I was referring to how things are now. I don't think they maintain a list today. I do recall some discussions where there were issues with the list - that is probably why they did away with it.

 

She posted yesterday on a Yahoo Prius group---to state how low SoCal's first allocation is.

 

Rancid 13 - I am on the waiting list at Longo Toyota. Please tell me about your purchase experience. Any problems, tips. things that may surprise me during the transaction. Would you buy from Longo again?/ How much did they want for the extended warranty ?... etc.
Thanks ,
Owl 20

 

Rancid, could you put the dancing guy back up every night before you go to bed, and take him down in the morning? Helps keep me awake during my 3 am postings. I hate it when I wake up with my face mashed into the keyboard.