The Prius Waiting List Support Group.

Finally joined this list officially.

Put my deposit down for waiting list at IRA Toyota in Danvers, MA.
Package 6, non-touring... spectra blue, mag gray or silver pine mica.

Hopefully it won't be forever and a day.

 

I ordered a Touring Package 2 back in may. Does this mean I'm screwed?

 

I got an e-mail today from my dealer saying they were getting in a Prius, but it was a Pkg 2 and not a #3 like I ordered. So we passed and will continue to wait. Even asked if she could try to trade it for a #3 from another dealrship and it was a no go.

 

I am now #8 overall on my dealer's list but #2 on the list for a Package 2. He claims that they did not receive their allocation from Toyota yet, but that doesn't seem likely to me.

Anyway, I'm flexible as to exterior color, but want the dark interior (2 kids = too much dirt for the light interior) and I really don't want/need any of the extras from the higher packages. The dealer thinks they will receive at least a couple of 2's in their allocation so I should be driving my new car in July!

BTW I got on the list on May 23rd, so I expect my wait will be 6-8 weeks, exactly what I was told at the time.

 

Am I being paranoid? I contacted my sales person the other day and asked about some Pri's that I had found online. One was Black, but only a Package #2, I'm looking for 3 or 4. I also asked if he could tell me what number I was on the list.
Quote "There is no real number, you are in the list by color and package number"
It's only be a month today, but like most Americans who grew up with instant gratification I'm impatient.

Wedge

 

my impression is that dealers approach the list in different ways, some just call the top of the list on down with whatever comes in until the prius is sold, others claim to have lists for each color and package so you might get bypassed even if you are at the top of the list. most of the dealers might make a halfhearted attempt to trade an allocation to match someone on their list but with the high demand this is not a big priority.

he should be able to tell you where you are on the unique list for your color /package.

 

Just received a call from the sales manager. I made the top of the list and am getting my second choice, a White Package 2 now on a ship somewhere between the Panama Canal and Cuba. I should take ownership sometime in early July!

 

Cool! How'd you learn of the ship's location?

I'm supposedly getting my Prius in "early July" also, via the same port your Prius will come through, since we're both mid-Atlantic (would the port be Dundalk, MD? I have no idea).

 

Trying to stay optimistic and happy for those of you with good news about your Prii, but on the point of walking away and never going near another Toyota dealership. I have no patience with people who won't give a straight answer. All week my dealer has been fobbing me off with "cars on the way, you are #3 on list, we'll call."

Cars have popped up on the website of theirs again (with grossly inflated prices) and no call. Which leads me to the obvious thought that they are bypassing the list entirely and selling directly to people who walk in willing to pay several thousands over MSRP. Since I have to work all day to pay for a new car, I couldn't zoom over and take my chances! I hope that I am being a paranoid jerk.

Someone wrote in a thread here that it was a mistake going on a waiting list as it just shows you are prepared to wait. Well, I'm increasingly disinclined to wait. I don't buy the "not enough batteries" or "trucking strike" or can't expand production arguments I read on the net about why Toyota isn't making enough Prii. They could do it, they just don't choose to.

Probably unfair comparison but my other cars have been Fords, from local dealer, honest, low key salesman who answer the phone and return calls and didn't play games. A Ford LTD Country Squire station wagon, and an Explorer. Everything we wanted, no pressure, honest about pros and cons of cars, no loading on extra options, etc.

The only reason I have been ratting out an American company now (and mightily guilty about it, has been the price of gas. In four years my Explorer has not had one mechanical problem or failure of any kind, not even a flat tire, so I don't buy the "American cars are junk". But the American cars don't have the mileage I need.

I love the Prius and want to get it. But this wait list garbage is insane. I admire all of you who have stuck out long waits, or who can be philosophical. I could tolerate the wait if I was guaranteed a car in a specific time frame.

College age kid snarks "Mom, you're engaging in the fundamental attribution error" (ie: taking it personally).

The basic problem is that it's like the Wii. Except that when I refused to get my kids one of those during the days of markups and scarcity, it only cost me kid grumbling. Whereas every day that I wait for the Prius, the private seller I have for my beloved SUV lowers the price we had agreed on (I can't sell it right now or I would be without a car), I pay $4.69 a gallon for gas (13 mpg driving around suburbs in V8) and the chances of my Toyota dealer marking up the price of the Prius increase.

Also, I've been told the 2008s are almost all distributed, so if I don't get my car now, I will be forced to wait for the 2009s, which will likely arrive after the CT sales tax exemption has expired, further increasing the price.

Whine, whine, whine.....Perhaps I should just go buy that revolting Ford Focus and hate the car but at least hope that I am employing American union workers.

Husband and kids ready to smack me upside my face as normally cheerful summertime Mom grouses and waits for THE phone call, and snarls about Toyota!

 

oooh. Just heard from my dealer. I'm now #6 on their list of 34. I was #12 exactly 20 days ago. Not sure though if I'll get skipped over if they don't get the Spectra Blue Touring #2 that I really want or if they'll offer me something else when they get to my place on the list.

They originally told me there was a slight chance that I could get my car in August but more likely in September which would mean I get an '09. Psyched myself up to waiting a bit longer for the newer model. Now I'm not so sure how I'll feel if I end up getting my car sooner but the tail end of the '08's. I guess I'll take what I can get. (I'm sure if I don't someone will be more than glad to snap it up)

 

You're right TravelBliss, and it helps to know we're all in the same boat.

Sorta funny at times: carrying around the house cordless phone and cellphone :cell: into garden with barely housebroken new puppy this evening JUST IN CASE salesman actually called back when he said he would (he didn't).:rain: Pouring rain, thunderstorm, and puppy happily digging in mud, running away under fence into neighbor's yard! Catching dog covered in mud and snarlingi "SEE IF YOU EVER SEE THE INSIDE OF MY NEW PRIUS!"

Good luck getting your car! And all ray2:

 

I am really sorry that some of you have had some poor experiences with dealerships.

My dealership(Florence Toyota) was upfront, gave a fair estimate (and even beat it) and gave me checkups to let me know when I moved up on the list, and what was coming in. There are fair dealerships out there, don't destroy the orchard for a few bad apples.

 

Isn't it obvious that the problem is that the dealer has no way to predict what is coming in and therefore no accurate way to predict when your specifci car request will be found?

If you're set on a Barcelona Red Package 2 all the dealer can do is guess. If you're willing to accept a Package 5 or 6 in Grey, Silver, or either of the Blues the dealer might have a chance at predicting when you'll have a car. Certainly your wait will be shorter if you're willing to accept a wider range of colors and packages.

 

PDHenry, nothing wrong with what you say. I was told initially by dealer that while I would have to wait between 2 weeks and 3 months, I would have a car before my state sales tax exemption expires, that I could at least get exactly what I wanted since they would be ordering my car for me.

After reading this forum, I realized that I might increase my chances by being flexible on color and options. I have since told my dealer the five colors I would accept, and the range of options. Not happily, tho, as it is outrageous to have to compromise on something so expensive. Every other car I've had, I got to pick exactly the one I wanted, and what I wanted was in stock.

While you are right about the way things currently are, that doesn't mean that the way things are, is right (Punctuation?) While i may sound like King Canute and the Waves, our present dealership allocation and general sales system is dumb. We ought to be able to order our cars directly from TOYOTA, no middleman, and specify exactly which features we want, and DO NOT WANT. Lock in a price. Be guaranteed a product. I think you can do this with a Mini. But I don't want a Mini.:deadhorse:

People who get their cars and suffer buyer's remorse, could pay a small restocking fee and the cars could be available in a local Toyota lot, available to those people who ABSOLUTELY CANNOT WAIT. The impulsive, the manic, the desperate, those whose other car just fell apart, or were in an accident, could still get a car. But 90 percent of people actually know months in advance that their old clunker is dying or that their needs have changed, so could tolerate, say, a month to two month wait. In return for getting what they want, when they want, for a fair price.

i suspect that some people might miss being able to pig out on options, rationalizing them to their frugal spouse as `'all they had in the showroom, and we had to get a new car, honey!" (I found myself quite pleased to be telling salesman that we would "accept" leather if it increased our chances, after posing as frugal in front of DH and saying "fabric seats to save money"!)

Altho I do not like Windows machines,it was progress when Dell Computer gave people the chance to configure exactly the computer they wanted and not be manipulated by salesmen. Most computer companies now do this. Why not cars?

The danger for the current sales system about this wait list er lottery er mysterious opportunity for lots of extra money to change hands, is that it begs the questions: if I am being forced to wait, what benefit do I get from a middleman? Who is exactly benefitting from this process? Why should I need an advocate to cajole my car out of a big car company? I'm the consumer, spending more money on this than I do on anything except my house. Why isn't it a more transparent process? I can't even see the actual colors on the cars, or sometimes even test drive, let alone feel the differences between versions, so how does the dealership actually add value? My salesman is a nice guy, but if I want a friend I buy a dog or hang out with people I already know.....

The reasons the dealership system stays in place (I think) is that many people including myself want instant gratification, want to be able to walk in and out the same day with a shiny new car. Also salesman can entice, bully or gently nudge us to buy more car than we can afford and more options.

The Prius is a fantastic product. I praise it to the skies to sceptical coworkers who all drive conventional cars. Would I vent to total strangers at such great and tedious length if I weren't impatient to be driving one myself? But our low opinion of the current dealership system has only worsened with the Wii-ification of in-demand cars.

In my frustration, I have taken to looking into Toyota's labor practices, outsourcing, supply chains (to the extent possible) and some of what I read is not pretty. The National Labor Committee
Like Mercedes a long time ago, Toyota moved to outsourcing, parttime workers, in the quest for higher profits. One worries if the quality will go down, as Mercedes' did? Let's see, if you could have a choice between buying a car made in Japan or one outsourced to China, which do YOU think might be more reliable? My Chinese Macs' build quality has been unworthy of the design, so I may be biased. Another reason to hope one gets a Prius quickly, while most are still made in Japan.

Perhaps if I get offered my car in a few days, I will forget about all this nonsense? :flypig:


And now, irritable (you think?!), will go off to the botanical garden with my awesome Nikon and photograph American roses and try not to count Priuses on the way and jump every time the cellphone rings.

We acknowledged that we were powerless... :grouphug:

 

Are you sure you would be employing "American Union Workers"? Some of the "American" cars are built in Canada and Mexico.

I don't want to get into a discussion on the pros and cons of unions, this isn't the place. But not everyone has the same opinion on them, like everything else!

 

well.. this is my first post
So, My name is Janice, and I too am waiting for a Prius.
:target:I would like to say this is an accurate depiction of how my complete impatience is melting my insides!

I did receive a phone call yesterday about my much anticipated Pkg#2 in Spectra, White, Black, or Red and well I was informed that as I am #12 or 13 on the list and the dealership I am working with is going to be taking an allocation of approx. 25 cars that ((FINGERS CROSSED)) I am most likely going to receive my Prius :wub: in the end of July...BUT(and I always hate the but's) the price went up an additional $600 over what Toyota is asking but I guess it could be worse.. it could have gone up $2000 so I'll count myself lucky if I get it for a mere $600 extra and in the month of my birth no less.. happy birthday me! (hopefully)

 

Threeteens,

I feel your pain.
Each dealership has their own way of dealing with customers on a waiting list.

Having put a deposit on a Prius from a dealership that appeared to sell their incoming Prii to the highest bidder (instead of from the list), I've put together what I call the "The list of questions I should of asked before putting down a deposit"

1. What number of Prii with package "x" (the package and color you are looking for) does your dealership typically get in with each allocation?
It does no good to put a deposit down with a dealership for a package 4, and be #1 on the list, if the dealership doesn't typically order that package from Toyota.

2. What percentage of incoming Prii are distributed to the waiting list?

3. How are the Prii on your waiting list collected; by salesperson's name, by date deposit was taken, by package number, etc.?

4. How are the Prii on waiting list distributed?
For example: If I'm next on your list and my request is for a package 2 Prius in Black, Magnetic Gray or silver, and a Seaside blue package 2 comes in, do I get a call or do you go down the list to the first person who is on the waiting list for a Seaside blue?

5. If I put a deposit down and after 60 days, I'm still on the waiting list, will you refund my deposit?

6. I would suggest calling your dealer every allocation date, to let him/her know that you are still interested in a Prius and if your requirements have changed (maybe your now open to a different exterior or interior color).

Can anyone think of any additional questions that people should ask before going on a waiting list?

My story has a happy ending. After my first bad waiting list experience. I learned to ask the above questions and was told that a Prius in second choice color should be arriving in NJ in a week or so.