An question about trying to get the car you want???

If you can travel you might consider emailing dealers in other parts of the country. You can do what I did and have a dealer order it from the factory but that takes 2 or 3 months. Ironically in the last couple of days I have seen 3 Prius IV with sun roofs, but I wanted a V with AT so I had to order it.

 

I specified the color / package / interior I wanted. One dealer wouldn't find it saying they were too popular. I went to another dealer and they waited until they had cars in allocation and then dealer traded. I guess they can look and see what has been allocated in their region and then call the dealer that has the car I want and offer to swap. They told me it costs $150 to do it but they didn't charge me for it. I'm not exactly sure how it works but the upshot is I got the exact car I wanted with very little wait. 2 weeks I think. Can any dealers confirm or correct ?

G

 

The only time it costs them money is if it's already on the ground and they have to pay someone to get it. If it's an Allocation swap, Toyota doesn't charge them anything.

 

chicago region will not dealer swap. prius is worth too much money out here for some dealers right now

 

The dealer puts in a request for a specific combination and Regional will allocate that one to the dealer on the next shipment. That is how it worked for me. They sent me an invoice telling me what ship it was on. I got the exact car I ordered. We could not be happier.

 

At my store, which is in NY (So Gulf States or Southeast Toyota stores may have different rules) we get allocation runs twice a month.

Our allocation runs roughly on the 1st and the 15th of the month and until we get our allocation, we just don't know what we'll get.

Right now one of our salespeople has an order that I'm helping with on a Tundra Crewmax Limited, I won't even know 100% that I'll get an allocation spot until allocation runs, then we'll preference the vehicle and we'll know a couple of days after that whether we'll get it for certain. There's other ways to get cars, such as on occasion they'll have extra cars at the port that our rep will offer us, but that's not something that happens very often, although I can get all the Land Cruisers I want that way (I want those like a hole in the head...)

Allocations are based on previous sales, we got lucky in that we took some extra 09 Priuses this spring which we sold last month, so that's earning us some extra 2010 Priuses. We don't sell a lot of 4Runners, so we aren't getting any allocated, OTOH, if we needed one, we could probably get one or swap one in. Meanwhile, we do great with high end Siennas, so when nobody else out there seems to have 2010 XLEs and Limiteds, we've gotten a few.

I do know that faxing signed purchase orders to our district sales manager has helped us get a few Priuses that we otherwise would not have had allocated to us, as stupid as it sounds, showing Toyota that we do have a sold order on the car helps us to get it.

 

Thanks. I kind of wondered on the $150 since they didn't try to charge me for if. Maybe they thought that I wouldn't back out if I they told me it cost them something.

G

 

Correct. We can make an educated guess, and we;ll probably be pretty accurate as to what our allocation SHOULD or MIGHT or OUGHT to be, but NO dealer out there can guarantee ANY car that they have yet to get allocated to them. I told a customer yesterday that all I could guarantee was that a solar roof Prius could be a very long wait and that they would be order #8 for a solar roof car and that they would get the 8th solar roof allocation spot. I told them not to be at all shocked if they didn't see the car until there was snow on the ground. It wasn't what they wanted to hear but I don't need someone upset at us in September when the car is just getting allocated to us and they want their new car.

Depending on the dealer, what orders they have, their allocation, I wouldn't be at all surprised if certain equipment levels can see as much as a 4-6 month wait.

What I find highly aggravating is that some of our competitors are telling people specific timeframes, that's just not possible on future allocation.

 

I went to Joe Mayers Toyota today and try to see if they are willing to acutally placing the Preference order for me. I got a very honest sales this time, but unfortuntly they don't accept Preference order for Prius right now (don't think he is BSing because he did offer my friend to preference order an Venza) and they also can't accept any deposit for any car that they don't see on the computer as what Toyota told them. Since Prius III Blizzard Pearl with SR Package is not in the computer, so they can't ask me for deposit. ( I am wondering why Fort Bend Toyota asked me to place 500 deposit and told me Preference order is avaiable) He said he should get a new allocation tomorrow, so I should hear good news from him anytime soon.

 

I placed an order for a new 2010 with a sunroof over a month ago. My dealer called last night and said they are just not getting many "higher end" 2010s. The VP of Toyota was in town, was told of the interest in the higher end models and promised to increase allocation of the higher end models. I'm not too interested in traveling out of State so I plan on waiting until the right car comes along. Tell your dealer to put out an S.O.S. to Toyota to increase allocation in your area.

 

I hope this is how it works....
I put a deposit on a V with no options, only a few accessories, 3 weeks ago and have not heard a thing....

 

There are ways that your dealership can get the specific cars you need... but they have to be a good store with high CSI and high turn and earn ... on the desired car model you need.

Man, I wish ya'll were closer.
I have some cars here/coming as you both seek. Darn geography!

 

That's true of most all dealers.
If we need a car BAD enough, I have ways to make sure we get it on the next allocation IF it's a normal build car.
Might be geography and might be relationship with the factory? Not all dealerships are "alike" in what they have the ability to do. We are all different. It's 1 part willingness, 1 part willingness to ask or bend over backwards, and 1 part LUCK!

 

Dianne,

We've never not gotten a car that we needed or had sold either, but then again, we're REAL tight with Toyota. Prez award since 00, and we just got a 407 scroe done through TFS

But, the truth is, there's no guarantee with them I suppose. Good to see you again BTW, my old ID was Brentwood....

Bill

 

Hi Brentwood Bill!!!!!!!!!!!! Great to see ya!!!