Dealer problems - can not get order processed

Sorry to hear you're having so much trouble. Seems like the "plug-in specialist" could have changed his day off to aid his customers. From everything I have read, this is pretty easy money for the dealers and salespeople, other than having to be ready to react quickly for a few hours this morning. And the sales manager sounds like an idiot. Hope you can get things straightened out. Good luck.

 

You have my condolences.
I was the weak link in my transaction, I was using a browser that would not cooperate. I wasted over 1 hour piddling around , finally I installed Google Chrome and the ordering website worked like a charm.
I was more worried of the chance my dealer (Chula Vista Toyota) might try to pull a fast one on the pre-aranged price ($750 off msrp) but he did not.
I'm pleased as punch so far.
I wish you patience and Good Luck hmc

 

Harry, please PM me so I can try to help. Sorry so late in responding, we've been a little tied up today launching and debugging the site but I can get in touch with someone to reinform the dealers re the allocation issue. I'm sorry about your experience so far but this should be easy to resolve tomorrow.

Thanks for your patience,
Erica Gartsbeyn
Prius Product Manager
Toyota USA

 

I'm having a similar issue with my dealership, Stevens Creek Toyota of San Jose, CA.

They took my deposit some time ago, and confirmed the deposit as well as priority placement on a list for a 2012 Prius Plug-in. On the 16th of Nov, last week, I received an email form them instructing me to register, and place my order online -- to which the order would be sent to them and they would confirm it. I of course was unable to register or order as registration was closed.

I called Toyota's customer service, and they're telling me I can't place an order until 2013. What??

I'm curious why there's an epic failure between Toyota and their dealerships?

You have customers who have put down money, commitment, and are being told they're going to receive a 2012 Prius Plug-in, and then Toyota is turning around and telling them differently.

I'm a potential first-time Toyota customer, coming from an Audi Q7 -- if this isn't resolved to satisfaction, I wont be a first-time Toyota customer or any of my four children. ;/

 

Either there is a major disconnect between Toyota and the dealers on how early plug-in orders are to be handled, or dealers are for some reason deliberately not wanting to participate in the early ordering process. These pre-orders are NOT part of their allocation; the dealers are simply the delivery conduit for specific cars that the customer has bought from Toyota.

 

This is a sad situation. Hopefully Erica was able to help as she offered.

Car makers who have tried to sell their own cars have not done well. Dealers, especially recently, often sell many makes and have little loyalty to a single brand. Their loyalty is to making a profit which is why they are in business.

If they do not see profit in learning the ins and outs of a sale such as this pre order, they don't try to learn and things like this happen. After all, most of the several thousand Toyota dealers will not sell any cars under this pre order system. Buyers needed to do some diligence to learn if their selected dealer has prepared. I went through three dealers to find mine.

We cannot trust a sales person to be open with information or the welfare of the customer in the quest for a sale. But that has been true since they traded in stone axes. There are exceptions, of course, but a good crook does not appear to be one.

 

i am still working with my dealer who was clueless as well. i registered on the 17th, but they have been unable to figure the process out until tonight. they finally got it done and i guess toyota let them go ahead even tho the 96 hours are up. unfortunately, the price came thru as $33. and now, they cannot figure out how to fix it.

 

I believe we spoke earlier.
The question Stevens Creek failed to ask you was:
Are you in the system for the pre-registration that was open between April 19th and August 22?

It appears they just assumed you were.
That's a shame.
They should have asked.
But, your last comment appears a little like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. It's the kind of thing my teenager might mumble under his breath when not getting his way.

One gets a lot more with hopeful outlook and positive vibes in this world than with negativity and such. You get what you give off.
You never know, a stray car somewhere might fall into your lap!

 

Bisco, if the ordcer is completed, it cannot be changed in regards to pricing.
But, the selling price at the time of delivery is all you need to worry about. If they agreed to a certain # when you placed the order then that's your deal next spring.

 

Hold them to $33 and see how far you get..haha...

SiliconDon, I would check here once in awhile, you may be able to take a car off someone's hands. I preordered but I'm still 50/50, not sure if I want to give up my Lexus HS. If that's so, just drive on up to Sac and pick up the car..haha.. it does say on the preorder form that it has to be someone in the same household but you may be my long lost cousin. But that was probably done so that they don't get a creative salesman that decides to pre-order a bunch of cars for themselves using random names of friends.

 

I still have not heard from the dealer I put down as the delivery point. I have a confirmation number. I guess I'll have to do the footwork myself.

Can the dealer be changed after the fact?

 

good news! the dealer kept working with toyota, they were able to cancel the original order. i placed a new one and they confirmed at the right price and i just confirmed and got a confirmation number. yahoo!!! my only question is: where do you get the 3-4 digit order number?

 

After all the time registering and waiting for the preorder email notice, I tried to preorder 3 different times and with two different dealers in MD. The first dealer never contacted me and after the 96 hrs was up, I switched to a dealer that is a "Certified Prius Chat dealer". I talked with them twice to get the order process cleared up and placed the preorder again. He promised to call me back, but didn't.

I have better things to do than spend days chasing after a car order, so I'm giving up on it for this year. My '06 Prius runs great anyway - 105K miles and no problems. It never breaks a promise to call me back. Too bad the preorder system doesn't run as well.

 

Biscuit, it's the last three or 4 numbers of your entire confirmation #.

 

Oh My.
The fact that a Prius Chat Certified dealer didn't do this right is alarming.
This isn't rocket science, but one does have to have all of the tools...

 

thanks princess Di! #2842 whoa, way way way down the list.

 

Wow gang, lots of stories, not necessarily all in the direction I'd like to hear them going in. Sounds like some have been resolved, while others linger.

Here's my advice: once you have submitted your order to your dealer, feel free to pester them for a response if you're not getting one. Also, you are free to change your dealer within the 96 hour timeframe as long as you stay within the state you had originally selected your first dealer in (so by all means, if you're not getting the service you deserve, take your business to another dealer). If you want to stray to a new state, you'll need to cancel your order, give up the car we're holding in that state for you, and select a new state. I highly recommend before you ever cancel an order for any reason that you check that there is still availability in the state you're considering buying in. If we sell out and you give up your spot, you could be locked out altogether.

Now, if you are one of the unfortunate stories in this thread where you just can’t seem to get things done properly, feel free to PM me and I will do my best to work with your local Toyota office to resolve your dissatisfaction. We of course want everyone’s orders to go as smooth as possible! If you PM me, please include your name and the dealership name and state. Screen names just don’t work so well when trying to intercede at the dealer levelJ

Have a great holiday weekend, I’ll check in so just PM me if there’s something that needs my attention.

Best,
Erica


Erica Gartsbeyn
Prius Product Manager
Toyota Motor Sales