Silver #9 on 4/19/04 Elko

Date Ordered: 4/19/04
Dealer Ordered From (Incl. City/State): Dale White Toyota, Elko NV
Timeframe given for delivery: June - July
Color: #1 Choice Silver
Option Package: 9
Your # on Dealer's Waiting List: 3

In March I stopped by a Toyota dealer in Salt Lake City to see what a Prius looked like. There wasn't one in the dealership, but the salesman said he would put us on a list if we wished. We would be #45. We decided we would like to see one prior to purchase!

We called all over Las Vegas and discovered the back up situation was real. Only 2 dealers had on their lot to show us and one dealer rented them for demo rides at $50 a day!

We went to Fletcher Toyota to see the car and ordered it 5 minutes later.
We originally ordered our Prius on April 3. The salesman for our original order was very personable and enthusiastic about the transaction - a genuinely nice guy. He told us that because they are the biggest dealer around, they would get our car sooner than anyone else (8 - 12 months, which translates to 2005) We were disappointed in the time frame but thought it was the only game in town. We were #81.

After reading the forums, we decided to look around a bit more at the smaller markets. We went to Utah again and could have been #20 or so with a 4 month wait but a $2500 non-refundable deposit was required. Since they originally said it was $1000, that was not a reasonable request.
They really blew that deal because the $1000 check was already in the hands of the salesman!

I made a dealer list from the Toyota website with a 500 mile radius. Dale White in Elko Nevada was my very next call. They said we would be #3 or #4 on the [/quote]Sacred Prius List

 

Just a short update on my Prius wait. I went to Fletcher Toyota in Las Vegas to take our name off their list but both the very cool salesman, Spike, and the sales manager suggested that we leave our name on the list. They seem confident that our wait there at "not in the top 50" would get us a Prius sooner than a #3 standing in Elko. I don't think they meant that they were going to beat the June-July date! They say that if the Elko Prius does come up first they will gladly refund the $500 deposit. I said that would be fine.

The news articles about the Prius are beginning to make me nervous. Some are quoting as much as an 18 - 24 month wait! I'm hoping we were on the lists early enough! Of course reading the boards at least twice a day can make a person a bit anxious also. (Need a "worry" emoticon here - hands wringing.)

We are going to the Bay Area (San Francisco) for the week-end, so I will surely see Prii in the wild! So far only 1 sighted on the highway here in Southern NV. If you're on the road in your Prius in the San Francisco area and some crazy blond woman waves her arms like a lunatic, wave back...its me!

See ya' all next week.

 

Latest update for our Prius. We are currently #2 with the new #1 holding out for a "simplier" model, ie. basic model. That makes us feel as if we are #1.5 ! Chances are good that we may be up for the June allocation if the basic car is not available for the real #1 (and our dealer continues to receive 1 car a month).

Who knows what color and package will actually come. Apparently the dealer has minimal control. They ask for a match to their the list, and then accept what they get. I think Dale White Motors is a good resource for a serious Prius buyer; however, I know that they are not particularly interested in being one of a dozen dealers where a person adds a name. I can understand that. I think it might create more problems for small dealerships than large ones.