I dropped by the local dealer on Monday to ensure that nothing had fallen through the cracks and Boy, was I at the right place at the right time!!!! The next Prius on its way is a full-blown 2005 Tideland, due in the end of this week. The four souls ahead of me on the list turned it down because of price and the manager was beginning to get antsy. He offered it to me at MSRP and agreed to drop the $1K add-on, in writing yet! I'll let y'all know if all turns out OK, or if the tooth fairy does a number on me. Keep your fingers crossed, Hank
Good Luck! I was #18 on my dealer's list, when I got the call, 9:30 pm. I am now the owner of a 2005,Tideland Pearl, delivery number 50001. It's well worth the wait......Jeff.
So, if I understand you correctly, the dealer couldn't find anybody to eat the mark-up, so he took it off? I'm not sure how to feel about this. I'm pleased that people voting with their pocketbooks forced a change for the better in the marketplace. I'm amused that you get the car for a lesser price because the dealer doesn't want to go back to #1-#4 with his tail between his legs. I'm concerned that this is a sign that an increasing, but still very limited, Prius supply is already starting to match its demand. And congrats! Brad
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(karmavore\";p=\"43682)</div> I suspect that #1-#4 indicated they would not accept any car with all options installed regardless of markup. The general trend in this region is to buy based solely on price without regard to quality or content. But then that's their choice, so I get the car. Hank
Ah, well, that makes sense. Thanks for the clarification. Where I got mine, the dealer kept a separate list for each option package, so I'm used to thinking about distribution that way. So, when I got mine as the #3 on the BC list, it was because two people didn't want Tideland. Go figure. Brad
I got my car much earlier than expected because no one above me that would take a Driftwood wanted to pay for a BC (MSRP). I don't know if my dealer keeps a color list or a package list or a spreadsheet with all possible intersections. I THINK they went based on color and didn't call the 'BC' people who had not said Driftwood was acceptable. deh2k apparently being one of them.
Well, my (hoped for) Prius is off the ship and on the ground in the USA. However, the "ground" is the ship unloading yard in Long Beach, CA. The car must now be accepted by Customs, loaded onto one of many railcars, and transferred via Union Pacific RR (along with 524 other new Toyotas) to the Toyota distribution yard in Houston, TX. In Houston it will be cleaned up, have the US-installed options and accessories installed and tested, and finally entered into the new car distribution database. Then, and only then will it be loaded onto an auto transport and carried (gently, I hope) to beautiful downtown Gulfport, MS and into my waiting arms. These steps are guesstimated to require between 2 and 3 weeks. Check back around the 28th of this month...I hope. The above info was provided courtesy of "Kevin", the General Manager of Allen Toyota, Gulfport, who finally took notice that his salesman was continuously saying "By the end of the week, easy", and that the customer (me) was saying "OK, it IS the end of the week...now what?" Funny what can be obtained by one phone call to ToyotaUSA HQ, and access to the Corporate new car database.... :roll:
