The Prius Waiting List Support Group.

I've not heard this - but who knows? I've read that the 2008's are the same as the 2009's, so I'm not sure what Toyota has to do to shift to the new year's models. Maybe there's more to this than I'm giving them credit for.

 

tick...tock...tick...tock..........sigh........... What's the song that went with the old ketchup commercial? Anticipation???

 

everyone is ok but yeah I need wheels soon the rental runs out. Biggest worry is how long I will have to wait

 

I'm #184 on a list at a dealer in the Bay Area, at least that's where I was a week ago when I got on the list. I put down a $500 deposit and got a written "Out the Door" price that includes all fees. In this case, it was just TTL + a $55 doc fee. The price is MSRP - $150. It took a little doing to get it all in writing. At first, they just handed me an order form with a receipt for my $500, but I didn't leave until it the final price including all fees was written down and signed. I'm not putting money down unless I got a contract.

This dealer gets about 90 Prius's a month, so that puts me about 2 months out. He did say that people were dropping off the list left and right for all sorts of reasons:

1) Peoples' finances are changing very quickly and many can suddenly no longer afford to buy their Prius.
2) Faced with long waits, those on lists have opted for alternative fuel efficient cars suchas Yaris's.
3) Those unwilling to wait are just giving into the huge dealer markups to get their Prius's now. The internet sales manager at this dealer(who claimed he was actually the district fleet sales manager) thought that the wait could be significantly shorter than 2 months.

I'm hoping not, because the quoted price is good regardless of the year and if it goes out to late August, it will be 2009's rolling in rather than 2008s.

 

Ok guys, I just got home from a long day. Went to the dealership around 1:30 and got the paperwork squared away. A few notes:

1. they will try to sell you the extended warranty HARD. My person was almost to the point of being an nice person. I politely said that I could get it cheaper elsewhere, and he said "NO YOU CANT, I work for toyota and have never heard of anywhere else." Whatever. I will be purchasing the one via prius chat's discount.

2. The car is immaculate and my salesperson did a great job of giving me tips and what to look out for.

I paid for a black, package #2, out the door including TT&L exactly 24,913 dollars. This is MSRP. I put my deposit down on May 15th (I was then #2 on the list) and received my car June 17th. Florence Toyota only receives approximately 1-2 Prius' a month.
I will be happy to answer any questions.

Now for the pics!

 

Based on this http://www.donlen.com/buildstart_toyota.html

That statement from the dealer actually sounds accurate and I've heard it from a couple of other dealers as well. Whatever 08's are out there now are it. They stopped taking orders and building the 08s and are refitting their manufacturing to the 09's. They really only start building the 09s until august so we're looking at delivery for these in september.

 

That's what I'm holding out for. I don't want to get one of the last '08s as it effects resale and we do plan to resell it in about 3 years for a PHEV or an EV.

 

yes... what is your address? i want to come steal that pretty, pretty car of yours.

we weren't actually given a timeframe for ours... just that it was "shorter than the 12-14-16 weeks [they] were telling people." ngh. although, my mom is going to have to pinch pennies to afford the prius as-is, she'll be pleased to have a few weeks without a car payment. (she just finished paying off her '03 saturn vue... UGH. now we have to try to sell it.)

 

How do you like that new car smell? Congrats!!!!!!

 

What's the first mod you are going to do to it? It is beautiful, Captain! Congrats!

 

That could be good news - or bad news - for my wife and I. We placed an "order" on 6/12/08, and the (good) dealer told us that we'd have a VIN in early August, with delivery of a 2008 by late August.

Based on that chart, it doesn't seem likely that it will happen that way. The good news part is that we'd get an '09 if it's true. The bad news is a longer wait.

I've zipped off an email to my dealer asking him what he thinks about the situation. So far, I have no reason not to trust him. If he responds with anything interesting, I'll post it here.

Rob

 

Rhanson,

what dealers are you working with? I am in Raleigh and currently working with Fred Anderson Toyota.

 

Leslie,

I have no idea what mods I would like. I am leaning toward some tint and things, but I need to get used to it first!

It is worth the wait! eace:

 

Ordered my Prius with a 1st choice Barcelona Red package #2 on 5/23 (wanted to beat the Memorial Day rush). Also listed 2-3 other color choices but I eally want a package 2. Don't need many of the extras that come with the other packages.

Dealer told me to check back in 2 weeks and they would have a delivery timeframe. Have checked back a couple of times without any news. The latest is that they should know more when they receive their 6/19 allotment tomorrow and that they expect to receive more #2's.

They did say that by 5/25 noon they stopped taking orders for 2008's since the list was longer than their expected remaining allotment for the model year and that all orders past that were for 2009s without any idea as to when delivery would come.

 

SD...

I'm in New Bern. We had been looking around in NB, Jacksonville (where I bought my Tundra), and Wilmington (they have a fantastic Sales Prevention Program in place.) At all those places, the list was very "loose", with no promises. (Wilmington wanted $2K over MSRP for out-of-county residents!)

Massey Toyota, in Kinston, had no problem at all with taking a small, refundable deposit and assuring us that we'd get the car we wanted (Spectra #5.) I landed #18 on their list. It was a positive experience, and Massey is #1 in the District for customer satisfaction, as well as #3 in the Region and #9 in the country. (I think those are the numbers. If true, that's impressive.)

They quoted - in writing - for MSRP with a couple of freebies thrown in. The Internet Sales Manager has given us lots of assurances that it would happen, which lies in stark contrast to all the hemming and hawing I've heard from other dealers.

In Raleigh, I emailed with Leith Toyota. They wanted $1,000 down, and grudgingly agreed that it could be refundable within 90 days.

Does your dealer in Raleigh have a more positive picture?

We're already looking at late August delivery, according to Massey Toyota. If these production dates are correct, it could be a couple of months later than that. Waahhhhhh. :Cry:

The way I figure it, the first dealer to come up with my car for MSRP gets my cash... I'm not overly particular about who I deal with, although lately, there are a few I'd avoid in the future.

Rob

 

Hello everyone,

Could someone fill me in on some dealer questions:

1. When and how often do they get their allocations?
2. How do you check online to find what they got or are getting?
3. How frequently should you check in with your dealer while waiting?
4. Does package #6 request help or hurt the wait?

Thanks for any and all help with these questions!

Sue

 

Our version of the wait...

Greetings all!

On 4/26 we put our $ down for a Touring Package 3 (apparently Pkg 2 in our area is very hard to come by) w/ Mag Gray, Spectra Blue, Black or White as our color choices (essentially not silver, green or tan). Were told 4-6 weeks at the time.

Approximately 3 weeks into our wait we were told that essentially no Tourings (except Pkg 6) were going to come into our region (has anyone else heard of this in their area). So we told them to stick with the same color choices, Pkg 5 first (although we don't want NAV and Pkg 4 isn't available in our area) then Pkg 3 for a Standard model. I also told them if any Tourings pop up to let us know.

Last month our dealer received no cars in the allocation list. We are currently "next in line" and the allocation list should be out today or tomorrow.

So we are at just about 2 months. When he calls tomorrow, hopefully w/ news that they got cars this month should we (depending on what comes in, they will try to trade with other dealers):

1. Stick w/ Pkg 5 (primarily to get the HIDs)

2. Drop down to a #3 or #2

3. Other suggestions (still try for a Touring, other)?

Since this process started I've seen TWO Mag Gray Tourings in my area.

Greg

 

We went to leith because they had a base model to test drive and we were going to go ahead a put a deposit to get on the list. Under no circumstances would they refund my deposit, or so they said. I asked them to please hold my check for 24 hours so I could go to Fred anderson (which is right next to my house) to make sure, by freak luck, they didn't have one coming in soon. (this was on may 23rd) They absolutely would not do it and claimed that they would not have any in stock either and would be the same price. Fred Anderson is the bigger dealer with a much larger share from Toyota than leith so I went to Fred Anderson instead. I was trying to give leith a sale just because they had a model to test drive but they blew it. It made more sense for me to go to Fred Anderson to begin with and they even helped make my case.

Fred put me on the list, 6-8 week wait, and said the deposit was completely refundable, no hassle. As of last Friday they expect to give me a delivery date Thurs 19th, or Friday 20th when the next allocation report comes in. I have been very happy with them and they claim they are going to sell at MSRP and not above.

Hope things work out for you, I know the wait is killing me.

 

SD -

Thanks for the info. I may call them, just to find out what we can expect.

Do you have any idea how deep the list is today?

Rob

 

I have no idea what it is right now, we were # 78 on the list when we started 3.5 weeks ago and we are now around #20. We are wanting a package 5 or 6 and most of the people in front of us want a package 2 so I am hoping soon! At the rate they were selling when we bought in, their list is probably quite large by now unless they stopped taking orders.