Our black beauty (BC package) arrived in a month!!!

Hi folks (skip to the last para if you want to cut to the chase),

Attribute it to serendipity, karmic goodness, an extremely lucky educated guess or what you will, but our beautiful Black BC is actually parked in our garage a month or so after we ordered it!!! Well, to put things in perspective, I had been fascinated by the Prius and was contemplating buying one in 2003 before realizing that the new models were going to be on their way soon. Anyway, since we were slated to go on a long vacation late in the year, I reckoned that it wouldn't hurt (LOL) to wait until the New Year to put an order in.

Anyway, to cut long stories short, when we came back and placed our order in late Jan, we had pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that we probably wouldn't see the car until the later half of the year (and according to some dealers, it was possible that the 2005 models would arrive sooner). However, much to our astonishment (and the dealer's as well), we were informed last week that the Prius was on the way and we actually drove it home today!!!

So where does the part about the educated guess come in? We live in the Portland (OR) metro area and had a choice of three local dealers. One dealer didn't even bother to respond to our Internet request (via carsdirect.com) for a quote (they are already taking in orders for 2005), another quoted MSRP + 995 (which I found reprehensible) and one in Salem quoted MSRP (and was the only one with a car for a test drive). Anyway, after test driving the car it occurred to me that I might have better luck with the dealer just across the state boundary in Vancouver (WA).

So, there you have it folks -- there's nothing like being at the right place at the right time and choosing the right package and right color (all credit goes to my SO for the color choice -- one person who was ahead of me for the BC package and a different color is still on the wait list). Frankly, we think that car looks especially beautiful in black and I simply cannot fathom why it isn’t a popular choice (supposedly?).

We paid MSRP and had a very positive experience with the dealership. Come to think of it, we actually never met the salesperson until the day we picked up the car!!! The name of the dealership in question is Vancouver Toyota and the person to talk with is Flynn Bernardi ([email protected]; Phone: 800-466-4872 /
503-957-5216 (cell)). Also, if you do happen to talk with him, I will appreciate it if you mention my name.

Atul

 

I am really beginning to regret posting this message. My intention
was to point out that there might be places in the country where it
might be possible to get the car sooner (and believe me, we were as
surprised as anyone else), but judging from the reactions on other groups it seems to have caused heartbreak
more than anything else.

I don't know how region based allocations and all that factor
into the equation and I genuinely hope that all of you get your Prii
soon...

Atul