So I just would be ordering now. Do I have a chanc

I put myself on the list with a $500 deposit in the beginning of September and my car will just be arriving next week. So it may be a looong while for you.

 

Yes. Give your name/phone # to 4-5 dealers who don't want money just to get on their lists. Or, at worst, $100 refundable deposits. "Orders" will "drop", guaranteed.

 

Beginning in early December, I emailed ALL the toyota dealers within 400 miles of the Seattle, WA area. Most dealers had about 10+ people on the "list" while other more rural dealers had only 2. I opted to go with a dealer that was about 80 miles south of Portland, OR and I would be number 2 on the list. If it wasn't for my FIRM stance on my color preference, I would have a package #7 waiting for me come January 1st or 2nd. Otherwise the dealer "preferenced" my color and he stated it would be here in the middle of January.

Again, email ALL the dealers within a "reasonable" area of where you live, and you might just get a car in a matter of days or a few weeks.

 

Sure, but, it really depends on how many other people he has on his list. You could trust him to look, but it also doesn't hurt for you to send off an email.

I'm holding firm for BLACK/GRAY Package #7. He called me a few days ago with a BLACK/BEIGE, but I want BLACK GRAY. I put down a $200 refundable deposit.

Good Luck!

JL

 

I bought both of my Prii on a whim; one in April and one in December. I had planned to buy them at some point in the future, but in both cases, circumstances lead me to decide "let's go see if we can buy a car today". In both cases, I walked in and drove away 3 hours later with a new Prius.

I didn't have much in the way of a choice of cars. In both cases, exactly one was available. The first was a silver #6 '05 and the second was a silver #4 '05. Both were said to be order cancelations.

My dealer has a waiting list, but they seem to have no problem selling a car to someone waiting in the show room before calling someone on the waiting list.

So, the moral of the story is to just go in and check every once and a while. You might just drive away in a Prius.

 

er... um..., well..., one for me and one for my wifey.

It would have been nice to get another #6 and I would have bought one if they had it, but all they had was a #4. I didn't want to go on the waiting list, and we didn't really need to spend another $2500 just to get the navigation, 6-disc CD changer, and auto-dimming mirror.

It turned out for the best. My wife has an iPod, so we bought the Dension ice>Link adapter that makes the iPod look like a 6-disc CD changer to the Prius stereo. I've read it wouldn't have worked with the radio that has the 6-disc changer built in.

 

Besides a house, a car is a pretty darned big purchase. I'm an extremely patient person (especially when it comes to big purchases!) who doesn't mind waiting a few months for something I really want. I ordered in the middle of September, by the time my car arrives, which will be mid-January at the latest, only 4 months will have passed. In those 4 months I've learned/gleaned so much from the all-knowing folks here at PC and have been anxiously awaiting my car's arrival. I was also able to arrange for a test drive somewhere during month 2 to further finalize my decision to buy a Prius.

I think it's too common in our culture to have this instant gratification thing. I want it...NOW! It's great for some folks, but I was raised and taught to save/work towards something I wanted, rather than my parents just buying it for me upon demand. And I didn't *need* a car right away, like some folks do. My current car's running fine but is old and far too small for a 'family' and I've had it for over 9 years now and it was time for something new. I've done a lot of research and was actually looking at Mazdas and the Civic Hybrid when the Prius caught my eye, so I looked further into it and believe it to be the car for me.

For some, I think it's really great, fantastic actually, to be able to stop by a dealer randomly and *bam* there is an unspoken for Prius waiting for you. It might not be the package you wanted, but it's there nonetheless for the taking. But since I plan on keeping my car at minimum 8 years (preferably 10 or more, assuming no major problems/repairs needed) so I really don't mind waiting a few months for the package and color (both interior and exterior) I really have my heart set on. I will not compromise my wants/likes on anything with a price tag over $5000.

 

Not really. My wife parks in the right garage and I park in the left garage, so at home, it's not much of a problem.

If we happen to bring both cars to the mall and park next to each other, then we can just look at the antenna balls we have on the car. Our 5 year old daughter thinks antenna balls are a necessity, so we've always had them on our cars. My Prius has a Nemo antenna ball on it and my wife's car has a pink minnie mouse antenna ball. Additionally, my Prius has an XM antenna on it.

 

I think the wait really depends on your location and timing. I've heard all the stories of long waits, but I had a different experience.

I test drove a Prius at one dealer two weeks ago and could have bought almost the exact car I wanted on the spot, but I wasn't ready to buy at that point. On Dec 31 I ordered a 2006 Super White package #7 from a different dealer and it's supposed to arrive in about two weeks.

So you never know.