Help! Dealers are denying existence of Prius C 1 or 2 in NorCal

There are a couple on Bay Area Craigslist -->

2012 Prius C Package two

2012 Prius C Package two - $20531


Date: 2012-07-12, 9:33AM PDT
Reply to: [email protected] [Errors when replying to ads?]


I have a moonglow one coming in soon that is available. Includes floor mats and rear bumper applique.

Call if you would like to place a deposit on this one?

Call Cory at 415 424 6824
or email me directly by replying to this ad

 

I have no affiliation to Costco, but I do have a membership which I would like to ad, saved me some money on my prius purchase. On there website under, Services, they have an auto program. You customize your new car and they email you and their closest dealer to you. I only pay $250 over invoice and all options are at invoice price. I took a quick peek at his Costco list, and some vehicles showed up 1,000 & 2,000 under invoice. Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for my car to come in. Here in NJ, through several internet searches, many dealerships do have the C1, 2 & 3 in stock. I'm holding out for a Summer Rain C3 with moonroof. My dealer didn't even know the Summer Rain color existed due to regional allotment. The whole system doesn't make any sense to me, but what do I know. I called over a week after placing my order to let him know I am open to buying the 4 if it becomes available either through the allotment or by trade with other dealership. He proceeded to tell me, the C4 is even rarer here in any color. They did get an absolutely red that met my specs, but he said that they still weren't able to find the car in the area to trade with. I'm supposed to call later today when they have an updated allotment available to check to see if it on the boat heading to port. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and wearing blue today (Friday the 13th, always been lucky for me) that its on its way. I haven't seen the moon glow, but I'm thinking of calling them and asking to see their C1 just so I can see the color. After a few internet searches, Moonglow is a popular color around here and I noticed a few dealers having it in the C3 with my specs. I would like to know how to contact the people in charge who decide what region and what trim goes where so I can give them a piece of my mind.

 

justalilbatty,

I believe it's just the dealers themselves who decide what they think will sell best for them in their region & then they tell the regional brass what they want the region to order from Toyota. I agree that it's a very bizarre system to use for selling cars. It doesn't matter what the customer wants, but sure helps the dealers to force higher level models (for more profit) onto people who are trying to afford getting into a hybrid & may not ever use some of the options in a fully loaded car that they really can't afford.

I experienced some of this back in 2005 when I ordered my option #4 (out of 6 available option levels). The Boston region was allowed the 4's in their allotments, and you'd think that region would include all 6 New England states, but they excluded Connecticut & put it in the NY region. The NY region was only allowed to order Pkg's 3, 5, & 6, but all the dealers would only take orders for the most fully loaded 5's & 6's & they refused to accept orders for any 3's. Also they claimed that the Pkg 0 (no option base unit for $19,995) was only available for fleets & businesses & not for sale to the public. I got from most of the Ct. dealers : "The car you want isn't even built by Toyota" & no Ct. dealer was even willing to try a swap with a dealer in neighboring Massachusetts to get me a Pkg #4. Over 6 months I only got 3 calls from the first dealer I did order from (Gale Toyota in Enfield, Ct) telling me : "The car you ordered just came in". Each of the 3 phone call scenarios was the same---(Me) : "Is it a white with gray interior?", (Dealer) : "No", (Me) : "Is it an option pkg #4?", (Dealer) : "No", (Me) : "Then it's NOT the car I ordered. Give me my deposit back & I'll get one elsewhere.", (Dealer) : "But you don't understand. The car you want doesn't exist anywhere. So take this 3rd car we offered you or we'll take you off our waiting list.", (Me) : "Go ahead & take me off".

So I went up to W. Springfield, MA (Balise Toyota) & the salesman I got just happened to be their inventory manager & he told me I could have my pick of 6 options [1, 3, 4, 5, 6, & even the 0 (zero) he could sell me]. The only one he couldn't get for some reason was the #2. So I again placed an order for a #4, white with a gray interior. He didn't even ask me for a deposit because he knew I still had $500 tied up at Gale Toyota & he knew I was serious about buying a Prius from him. He had pending swaps (through phone calls & e-mails) at 11 different dealers for my requested car from their allotments (while the cars were still on the boats). In 6 WEEKS time (NOT 6 months) a swap was arranged with another dealer before my car hit the port (in NJ) & the Balise guy made sure my car wasn't going to get loaded up with any force-installed PIO (Port Installed Options). He only allowed the ones I asked for because he & that dealership didn't care about any extra profit. And they were one of the few dealers around that was only charging MSRP when most others tacked on a $3,000 to $5,000 mark-up above MSRP.

The day I got the call that my EXACT car was swapped & locked into Balise's delivery schedule, I called the original dealer I had ordered from (because I still hadn't gotten my deposit returned to me yet). I guess they hadn't taken me seriously & maybe planned to try to use their threat tactics again, because they still had me on their waiting list & still hadn't cut the check to refund my deposit [they had use of my money (they cashed my original deposit check immediately upon receipt) & the interest it earned for them for over 7 months. I told him to cut the check & cut the B/S, because my car was coming in at the end of June. All of a sudden Gale's salesman asks in panic : "Where's it coming in on that date, to a dealership or to the port?". (Me) : "I don't know.", (Him) : "Let me call you back in 5 minutes. Don't do ANYTHING until then." When the phone rings 5 minutes later, he asks : "Is it coming from...(at which he rattles off about 6 or 7 state's names)", followed by an "I don't know" from me after each of them. All of a sudden he decided to actually use the computer to locate the car (he said they didn't even make) for me so he wouldn't lose the sale (too little, too late). I told him "You could have done this months ago, but you couldn't be bothered, so you lose. Now again, cut the B/S & cut the check." The check arrived a couple of days later & I cashed it right away, fearing it might not clear & I might have to go back there & fight them for the money (& any bounced check fee to be reimbursed).

Everything went O.K. & the next time I was in the vicinity of that dealer in Enfield, I brought that snooty salesman outside to show him my car "that doesn't even exist". Ah, payback. If he had played his cards right in the beginning, he could have had a nice commission on that sale. When I had told my Balise salesman/inventory manager (back when I placed my 2nd order with him), that the people at Gale didn't even want to bother using the computer to work out a swap, he couldn't believe it. Well, because my Balise guy did what anybody before him could easily have done but decided not to, he got a nice cash bonus at delivery. Back when he was there, he was the "go to" guy for all things Prius & he really cared deeply about all his customers, & never any sort of B/S from him. A really great guy who has since retired. I miss talking to him. I may just call him up soon & chat, since he gave me his personal cell phone #.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

veryblueprius,

You weren't looking at the link you posted very carefully, because out of all 46 cars only one is a c1. For any of the ones not specifically identified by a number after the letter c, just look at the prices & that should tell you what pkg # that price range most closely matches.

 

Looking4Prius, New2Here, & SquallLHeart,

If you feel like wading through my post #23 above you can read about some of the same tactics that were used on me by the first dealer I ordered with 7 years ago & I guess they're still using the same B/S now. I guess if you really still want a c1 now, your best bet is to go down to southern Calif & see Dianne Whitmire, because as SquallLHeart suggests (& New2Here questions) the period that the factory accepts orders/preferences from the dealers has likely ended.

There have been other posts in the past that show for all Toyota products the order ending months, new order starting months , & first shipping dates (with approximate first arrival on the west coast & one month to 6 weeks later on the east coast), but I can't find one of those posts now (if I do later, I'll post back again with a link).

For the Prius, the last orders are usually taken up until some time in June, & the final deliveries to the USA are shipped in the month of July. The factory then resumes taking orders/preferences from the dealers in August & then starts shipping cars across the ocean in September (to arrive in late September on the west coast & late October/early November on the east coast. Also, the prices on the new 2013's will likely be a few hundred $ higher once they start to arrive.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

I'm not sure if things run differently.. but even on the Scion side that the dealership I'm at is having trouble with..

it's true that a dealership can indeed make requests.... however, ultimately, what Toyota/Scion ships to to the dealership... is still their decision.

I talk to the guy who works with the allocations/requests that go out.. and yeah.. here and there they do what they can to fulfill them.. but it's not always the case... the tactics are pretty much there... but if it's the dealership or Toyota that's really doing it.... could be either... or even both.

but i can tell you that it's definitely been awhile since i've seen a C1 or C2 on my lot

 

Looks like Capitol has one C2 in stock, Summer Rain.
Wrabbit.

 

Rare Brand new 2012 Prius C package one

Rare Brand new 2012 Prius C package one - $19710


Date: 2012-07-19, 6:05AM PDT
Reply to: [email protected] [Errors when replying to ads?]


I have a white Prius C one in stock and ready to go. This is a very rare car right now. Base model, no options

Call if you would like to purchase it?

Call Cory at 415 424 6824
or email me directly by replying to this ad

• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 3137741983

 

Below was my experience with trying to purchase a Summer Rain Metallic Prius c Two in No. Cal.

I attempted to purchase a Prius c in Apr 2012 but was told by the Sunnyvale, CA dealership that it would be a 4-8 week wait before the car I wanted would be available. After waiting the 4-8 weeks the dealership told me that the car was unavailable because Toyota Japan was no longer shipping Prius c Ones or Twos to CA. I was never able to obtain the reason from the Sunnyvale dealership as to why Toyota Japan had made this decision, but other dealerships in my area confirmed what the Sunnyvale dealership was telling me. Also, the Summer Rain Metallic color was next impossible to find in the Prius c Three or Four models in the No. Cal area.

I began looking out of state and eventually the car I wanted was located in Las Vegas, NV by a CA dealership. The South Lake Tahoe, CA dealership, which is very close to the NV border, was able to trade one of their cars for the one in Las Vegas. I was able to drive to South Lake Tahoe, CA (about 4 hours away from Sunnyvale, CA) and trade my Prius 2010 for the new Summer Rain Metallic Prius c Two.

Read more: http://priuschat.com/threads/prius-c-is-one-of-the-hardest-to-find-cars.111872/#ixzz21IWiuccw