Prime buyers misled by dealers

love it. and what he doesn't state is, why is there no formal ordering system for dealers, so they can place customer orders and get eta updates, even if they don't plan to stock them?

when i was in the distribution business, we had an annual meeting with manufacturers, part of which was to be education about new products. and during the year, factory reps would travel the country with more education and updates. hard to believe this isn't sop with toyota.

please see my post #18 in the thread, 'help, is my dealer lying to me'. now we know the answer.

 

I was told by all the dealers I contacted in Colorado that it would be available in Colorado, but that we hadn't received an allocation yet.

I was told Monday that the initial allocation was 15 vehicles among 72 dealers but that based on demand that number had been increased to 40 vehicles, still among 72 dealers. However, I was also told that they expect to get bi-monthly allocations after that for the rest of the model year.

My point is, there's truth in what the dealers are telling people. While they are technically for sale in all 50 states, the initial allocations didn't include most of those 50 states. So is a car you can order but can't receive for sale or not?

I would argue that a car with exactly zero allocation is not actually for sale in that state. However, if they can take orders, then there's a promise that it will be for sale later.

 

Bi-monthly is one of those trick words. It can mean either twice a month or every other month. Any idea which the person intended?

 

Sorry, that was my word, not hers. She said twice a month.

 

,,,if man bites dog, that's news!
The most important thing is the huge vote of confidence Voelcker gives to Prime, saying its one of the best PHEV's.

 

Should your dealer prove clueless, you could always buy from Carson Toyota and have it shipped.

Internet/Fleet - Carson Toyota

 

The comments have the usual splattering of non-Prius fan-boy snark. Guess I should have taken a happy pill this morning:

• Tom D • 2 hours ago
  The joke is, only 20 miles of electric range. That's a little more than a third of Chevy Volt's electric range.
  
  
  • 
    Bob Wilson Tom D • 11 minutes ago
    If you like that joke, the Chevy Volt's electric range, 53 miles, is barely half of the BMW i3-REx. Worse, it is less than 3/4ths of my 2014 BMW i3-REx.
    
    BTW, just sold my 2010 Prius, Gen-3, and next week picking up a Prius Prime Plus from Rhode Island and driving it home, 1,000 miles. With the standard, dynamic cruise control (not found in the local Volt) and getting an extra 10 miles for every gallon, it will be an easy and cheap road trip.
    
    We're keeping both the 2014 BMW i3-REx and the 2017 Prius Prime Plus because the Volt is inferior in the City to the BMW i3-REx and on the Highway to the Prius Prime.
    

​

Over the top?

Bob Wilson

• 
  

 

The last time I checked 25 is about half of 53, not 1/3.

 

and last time I checked today with a temperature of 31 F my ranges was 27 miles, so 27 x 2 = 54 miles

 

FYI - The sales manager at the dealership I purchased my car from told us the day we purchased that they weren't really much aware of the product other than that it was arriving. He said that they were having a visit from a Prime representative from Toyota corporate in 3 days to train them on the new vehicle. I laughed when he said that saying how were they going to get trained if they sold me their last one, he told me they had another one in stock that had just arrived and wouldn't be available for sale for a couple days. Apparently when they pull vehicles off the truck they have to let them sit for a couple days to acclimate or some such before they even pull the wrap off them.

 

that's funny, because I got mine the same day it jumped off the truck

 

Must be Common Core.

 

Like gold fish in the plastic bag/bowl?

 

If you do not know a lot more than the dealer when you shop for a Prius, then I fear you are buying the wrong car, especially the Prime. Saying they are lying when, in fact, they are just ignorant is pretty hard core. That being said, you can buy it and just drive it and get pretty good mileage, but where is the fun in that?

 

CC is just a willingness to give a failing grade.

But we don't want that, do we ?

 

My out of state dealer in NM placed my order with Toyota back in December, and I was told to expect delivery sometime in February. The general idea was that I would be one of the first to receive a car from the regional shipments with the caveat that Toyota may not choose to manufacture my trim and color choices early on.

Salespeople are just not informed about cars they do not have on the lot, are en-route, or a close swap away. I get that, and always went through the internet person at each dealership I contacted and had no problem discussing an order without a delivery schedule. A little understanding of how the system works will go a long way towards reducing angst amongst the pre-early-adopters.

Parenthetically, I have to wonder how many people want to put down a deposit for a car without a delivery schedule, since Toyota will indeed serve their most active markets first. I'm just happy to avoid the possibility of 'market adjustments' to price when I pick up the car in the next month or three.

 

Restrained.

 

The salesman in Littleton ma Toyota, explained to me that all Primes they had had sold. They also explained that the cars allocated to them were sold. A asked about cars in other dealerships. He explained, that getting cars from other dealers involved a swap. Since most of the dealers had nothing (no primes) for swapping, nobody was swapping. Then we sat down and he show me a list of cars that we on a boat that just left the panama canal and were on their way to NJ. From what I glean looking at the tube, many were allocated. So went went through the list of cars that were not reserved, I found one advanced that looked good to me. I put down a deposit, and the car was tagged as being allocated..

I guess that when cars are basically being allocated (sorta of advanced selling) before they arrive on shore, puts Toyota in a special place.
I'm sure that they are trying to fill as many boats as possible.

 

so there is a system, but most dealers don't know about it.