Seaside pearl, #5 and #7, 6/09/06, Chicago area

Hers:
Date ordered: 6/09/06
Dealer ordered from: Fox Lake Toyota, Fox Lake IL
Timeframe: on the lot, come get it
Color: seaside pearl
Option package: #5
Your # on dealer's waiting list: Apparently first

His:
Date ordered: 06/09/06
Dealer ordered from: Elmhurst Toyota, Elmhurst IL
Timeframe: days... he walked outside to see if it was here
Color: seaside pearl
Option package: #7
Your # on dealer's waiting list: Apparently near the top

Just to preface this -- I never thought that in the process of car shopping, we'd put down deposits at four dealers. But then again, worthwhile things in life often aren't easy. Here's our tale.

In mid-May, my wife decided she was sick of her CR-V and was looking at various VW cars. I had heard of the prius, did a little research, found this site among others, and was impressed. I convinced her to try it out, so we went for a test drive at one of the two dealers in Madison (Smart motors). They had only a 2004 as their demo car, but we were told everything was similar. We did give them a workout, including putting our one-year-old's carseat into the back seat and taking a test drive. When we got back, we were told the news: 6-9 months. Sorry, this is the case at every dealer. Forget the tax credit. Ouch!

We called the other Toyota dealer in Madison -- Jon Lancaster -- (and some others within a half hour drive) and asked about availability. Lancaster had a magnetic gray #5 coming "sometime in June" and although it was not our first choice of color, we put down the deposit and proceeded to get excited, and do a lot of reading. I was a little wary that they wouldn't even give me a guesstimate as to the value of the trade -- kept telling me they couldn't give me anything until the new car was here. And, they were pushing their own financing very hard, and refusing to accept various other financing that I'd found.

Less than a week later, I decided I was sick of my car too, and I didn't want to let my wife have a better car than I, so I did some calling around. Nothing in Madison. Nothing in Milwaukee. Nothing in Green Bay. So, I figured, I'd start calling Illinois dealers. I started with Fox Lake Toyota, as they are the closest to us mileage-wise. They said they are one of the biggest sellers in the region, and 4-6 weeks would be the expected wait. I continued calling around, and eventually found a red #5 from Elgin Toyota. I put a deposit on it. Timeframe was week of 6/19.

Fast forward a couple weeks to yesterday. I called the dealer in Elgin and was told that the salesperson with whom I had been working no longer worked for them. I was put through to the manager. (I was dismayed that I didn't get a call saying " I'm Fred [or whatever] and since Todd is no longer with us, I am handling your sale now.") Manager informed me that the car was probably still being built in Japan or maybe on a boat (and told me all about boats, trains, trucks, etc.), but there was no way it would be there in June... probably more like the middle of July. Ouch! Disappointed, I started searching the internet again, looking for dealers with web sites that listed inventory, and upon finding any that might be acceptable, sending off an e-mail asking if that car was actually in stock. (Hint: many links from Toyota website are bad - I googled the dealer's name to find the correct website in many occasions.) I e-mailed 8 dealers in Wisconsin and Illinois based on inventory I saw in their list. Anyone listing a Prius in inventory that I might be interested in received a simple copy-and-paste note from a Yahoo account where I get all my spam.

I received the first call at 10:00 AM today from one in Milwaukee, saying the car on the inventory list was their demo car and it was not for sale. Received a call from Elmhurst Toyota (IL) saying they had a blue #7 and a silver #6 coming within the next week -- yes these were shown on the site and were available. I told them I'm probably interested, confirmed with the wife that the blue #7 would be cool, called them back, and put down a deposit. Ha ha, I said to the wife, my car is going to get here before yours!

Literally 10 minutes later, I got a call from Curt at Fox Lake Toyota asking if I'd be interested in a red #5 coming in within the next couple weeks. I talked it over with my wife and we decided no, since this was essentially equal to the one in Madison. I e-mailed him back and said no. He called me about an hour later, and hadn't received the e-mail, and asked me about the red one. I said, some people might put down a deposit just for insurance against another deal falling through, but I didn't want to because I don't think there's much chance I would buy it, so let someone else who really wants one have it. He said that he appreciated the honesty, but how would I like to drive down tomorrow and pick up the blue #5 he has on the lot? (Apparently the person who originally ordered it wanted a #8.) After a quick thought about whether we wanted "his" to be virtually indistinguishable from "hers" she said OK, and I made the arrangements. Ha ha, the wife said to me, her car is going to get here before mine!

So, after her hair appointment (sigh) tomorrow morning, we're going down to Illinois to pick up the car. Possibly stopping off in Lake Geneva (our favorite vacation spot, right on the way) for some Kilwin's fudge as the salesman brought it up and said it might help things along... perhaps that will convince the wife that we should stop for fudge for me, I mean him, I mean her new Prius.

Status of cars on order for us:
Grey #5 - Jon Lancaster (Madison, WI) ordered 5/20 - 6/12 or 6/19 - will likely cancel
Red #5 - Elgin (Elgin, IL) ordered 5/23 - July or later - will certainly cancel
Blue #5 - Fox Lake (Fox Lake, IL) - tomorrow - yay!
Blue #7 - Elmhurst (Elmhurst, IL) - within days - yay!

I'll post final impressions of the dealers when cars arrive, and hopefully pictures of our new prius, tomorrow night!

 

Update - we have completed the purchase of the Prius (Blue #5) from Fox Lake Toyota. Everything went exactly as promised, the car was there waiting for us with just 5 miles on it. Although we did indeed bring fudge to make sure the transaction went smoothly, props still are due to my sales guy, Curt, for making this day go well. As implied in my previous post, I told him right up front that I just wanted everything to be straightforward with no crap, and he delivered a hassle-free transaction. The finance department really pushed the extended warranty, and with their grand opening discount it was already very close to the one discussed on this website. I said that I wanted to look around because I might be able to get a better deal through another dealer I've read about online, the next offer was right in line. Although we had printed out all the guides, john1107a's manual, and so on, it was nice to have a knowledgable salesman who explained all of the features and accompanied us for a test drive. Our current status is waiting for the second car to come in at Elmhurst, although Fox Lake really wants to get the business for the second car. I really know nothing about Elmhurst other than my conversations with the sales guy, who seems knowledgable and nice, but I do know that Fox Lake has treated us very well too.

We took a slightly longer way home to Madison, back roads instead of the interstate, to play with the hybrid system a little more. We got the average on the tank up to 48.1 (started out in single digits no doubt due to the car having fun with the other cars at the dealer's lot) and accomplished "stealth" mode on several occasions slowing down for small towns.

By the way, for those of you in Chicagoland - they had a whiteboard up with their current prii that were in stock or arriving soon. When I was there they had a white #7 on the lot (they offered it to me but I didn't want white) and 5-6 others with status "A" and some "F" (whatever those mean) without buyers. So, it might be worth giving them a call if you want one in the near future- tell Curt that "Taco Mel" with the fudge from Madison sent you.

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Got the call today from Rob at Elmhurst Toyota - our #7 seaside pearl arrived today and we're headed down tomorrow to pick it up. Hopefully by tomorrow night I can post a picture of our two blue prii side-by-side (and finally cancel those remaining orders).

 

The #7 was picked up from Elmhurst Toyota yesterday. From arrival to
drive-off it was only a couple hours at the most. They said they would
do their best to get us on our way before rush hour and they did. We
are very satisfied with that experience. The only thing was that the
finance guy put our warranty options out there, the cheapest of which
was $1100 for the 7/75k warranty. It went all the way up to $2000 for
the 7/75k, plus roadside assistance and prepaid maintenance. Without
batting an eyelid, I simply told him that I wanted the 7/100k warranty
and that on Saturday I bought it for $980, so that was my price. If
he didn't feel comfortable accepting it, that's fine, I understand,
but I wouldn't pay more or buy anything else. Needless to say they
accepted.

I had also posted under "Dealers and pricing" topic a more in depth
summary about our experience with getting refunds, which is today's
update to our saga. More detail is in the other thread (the one
advising people in southern Wisconsin to look to Illinois) and here
is a summary of why I provide such ridiculous (to a die-hard Badger/Packer)
advice.

Elgin Toyota was no problem. I called them up, asked for the sales
manager, and said that I had a Prius order to cancel. He asked for my
name and how I had paid. I said credit card, he asked for the number,
and the credit should be on its way. After processing the refund he
asked me, optionally, to tell why I canceled the purchase. I was happy
to do so because he was accommodating and professional, and I hope that
my suggestions will help them improve their business. I'd have no
qualms about purchasing from them in the future, although they do need
to do a better job of informing their customers if a different salesman
is taking over their account.

Jon Lancaster in Madison was the opposite of helpful. I couldn't reach
them last night because they close early on Tuesday and Wednesday
compared to the Illinois dealers. This morning, I spoke with my
salesman, and told him that we had purchased a Prius already and
therefore need to cancel the order. The tone immediately changed to
more of a grumbling one. I asked about the deposit, and he said it
was non-refundable. I reminded him that he had told us when we paid
that he had said, because he'd have no problem selling the car to
someone else if we didn't want it, it would be fully refundable if we
changed our minds. His response to this was that "contracts are
binding" and that a sales manager might follow up with me for
"further action" and then hung up the phone. Needless to say, it
looks like this deposit (paid by check a month ago) is now added to
the dealer's bottom line instead of back to my account.

Final status is that we have our matching blue prii, and are very
happy with the cars and grateful to the posters on this forum who
provide great advice. I heartily recommend both Fox Lake Toyota and
Elmhurst Toyota (salesmen were, respectively, Curt H. and Rob S.) and
would advise anyone in southern Wisconin to consider looking at the
dealers in northern Illinois (and certainly not Jon Lancaster).

I'll post a picture of the two cars together later, if it stops
raining long enough for me to snap one.

 

As predicted, "his" #7 has now become "hers" and vice versa on the #5. It only took two days. In all fairness though, we wanted to keep the carseat in the car we drive most often, and we figure that when we go out at night, we want the better headlights. And, in all honesty, Mrs. Taco needs the navigation system much more than I do. :lol:

I'm still working on what to do with Jon Lancaster Toyota regarding the deposit they're holding hostage, and there's a thread going on over here about that. That's been the only bummer about the whole experience so far and the only thing that's unresolved.

The funny part of the night came tonight when we went over to the Honda dealer to cancel our extended warranties on our trade-ins. A sales guy was out there with the HCH that was on the lot, explaining it to potential buyers. (We had test driven this HCH so we knew which one it was, as it has a reserved parking spot in the lot.) As we stealthed by in our shiny new Prius, the buyers turned their heads and stared and the sales guy had to wave his arms to get their attention back. As we waited inside, we saw the same couple ogleing our new car, going in for a closer look. We have nothing against Hondas or this dealership and no desire to divert their business, but their guest parking is between their sample cars and the front door -- what can we do? The salesperson who had sold us our last few cars there was as friendly as ever, and although she was of course disappointed that we chose the Toyota, she appeared happy for us. Zimbrick Honda is still a class act and had us out in 20 minutes with warranty cancellation requests in hand.

I'll try to get the picture taken of the two seaside pearl Prii together tomorrow.