Silver #8, 3/18/04, Memphis, TN

Date Ordered:3/18/04
Dealer Ordered From (Incl. City/State): Performance Toyota, Memphis, TN
Timeframe given for delivery: 3-6 months
Color: silver
Option Package: #8
Your # on Dealer's Waiting List: 6

Just missed the Dealers allocation request time frame & have to wait another week for it to go in.

 

After seeing some Seaside Pearl pictures here, I dropped off a letter with my salesman to indicate both Millennium Silver and Seaside Pearl are acceptable colors (that puts it in writting).

While there he took me around to see a Silver #9 that just arrived. So some person who ordered in Feb. gets this car and I move up the list. So it is looking like 1-2 months here.

 

After the IIHS report and some of the comments here, including the 8 vs 9 thread, I gave my salesman a letter expanding my options to include both packages 8 and 9. (I expect that package 8 would be a very long wait, but would honor my original commitment.)

He took me around to look at a Silver #9 just received for a show. He indicated that he would talk to his manager as to whether this car would be available after the show and that he has a buyer if it is. (Of course there may be someone higher on the list who would take a Silver #9.) So a few days more might be all the wait that remains.

 

Got a call today. That show car is available and they are taking bids.

I quoted the sticker MSRP and was told that there were a couple of dealer addons (some surface protector and some Lojack clone I never heard of.) I could have the car to MSRP + 2K. (They would even try to work it out so I would have the car now and not wait for after the show.) I will probably let it pass. At least when mine does come in they will learn to keep their addons off unless I ask for it.

At least I finally got a test drive, and it was great. He turned on the Nav system for the drive, and when we got back brought up the MPG display. I had 27 MPG on the first 5 minutes and about 60 on the second.

 

Disaster!

I'm still waiting for the call.

A week ago my son was able to avoid an 18-wheeler running a red light but hit something in the effort. It wiped out his right front wheel and suspension. (We are waiting to see if the trucking company will come through and pay for the damage. They did send an adjuster to examine the car.) So he has been driving my wife's 1980 Corona. Last night he called on his cell phone that the transmission is shot.

I ordered the Prius with the expectation that the Corona would have an impractical repair and need to be replaced in the near future. But not this near!

 

Well not much is changed yet. I am trying to find out where I am on the wait list. If I have gotten to the top it might be practical to just wait it out. Otherwise, I will need to do something so we have a second car.

The dealer offered to sell me an Echo which I could then trade in for the Prius. They did not volunteer any commitment on the trade in value. So I would have to assume the normal initial depreciation which would probably be well above the cost of a transmission rebuild. Conventional wisdom would say such a expense on a 24 year old car woud be a foolish waste of money. In this case it would be the option with the lower net cost.

A local used parts dealer's web site has a link to their national parts network. It listed two automatic transmissions for a 1980 Corona, but no price. I also found a site with a rebuilt one for about $500. John, Jr. is taking auto mechanics and can probably do the swap at class. (Automatic transmissions is his current class.)

As for the Prius prospects, my salesman mentioned that the number of cars has slowed down due to battery supply problems.

 

Well we have the Corona back with a re-built transmission. At least I did not get "the call" from the dealer just after paying for the repair. On the other hand, I am still waiting for information on where I am on the list.

 

Well today it is 3 months since I paid my deposit. And a new Prius is now in the FedEx headquarters parking lot where I had been parking my Camry.

I got the call yesterday and drove it home. I left my Camry behind at the dealer, for its 60,000 mile service.

While driving to English Country Dancing last night my wife was very interested in how often the right hand bar hit 100 MPG! With a couple dozen miles on the car the upper 30's MPG for the salesman returning from filling the tank, was up into the upper 40's by the time we got back home.