Bait N Switch? What do I do now?

If you don't want the extras for a higher price, and the price is listed in the contract you signed, insist on the contract price.
If the price is listed in the contract and they refuse to honor it, I would say you have legal standing. They would need to either give it to you at that price, or remove the items.
Please note, I am no lawyer

 

Toyota does not build Prius's to order (to my understanding)

What they do is try to match what you want to what is coming in the dealer's allotment, or try to find one in another dealer's allotment.

Not sure why you would go "to the botom of the list" if you said you did not want this one.

I do suppose that the more you wait, the less likely you will find an "08" available.

I got my Prius in June when the wait was about 8 weeks (but got it in about 4)

But whatever you do, don't pay more than your contracted price. I suppose if you were to take this car with the add-ons, you could try to get the add-ons at cost.

 

If you have a contract listing the dealer and you, and it shows the year, make and model of the car, and it has a specific purchase price (not an estimate or something subject to change), and you have listed the specific package (options package), then you have an enforceable contract -- at least it is enforceable if both parties signed the contract and there isn't some "out" listed in the contract. Even it there is an "out" in the contract, they (or you) would have to follow the terms in order to get out of the contract.

You have two real issues:

1. How badly do you want this car? You can just take it and deal with the extras, and you'll have a great car. Yes, you'll have paid an inflated price, but then that is what you're doing anyway.
2. What kind of relationship do you want with this dealer? If you are going elsewhere for service and have other options in dealing with Toyota dealerships, then you can push this thing. If this is the case, I'd start at the level of the owner of the dealership. If you do not get an immediate response, then go up the chain to the regional manager for Toyota. Time is short, so start now.

 

I'm going to agree with this. When we signed on with our dealership it was for MSRP. The dealership would not add on but Toyota might raise the MSRP and they would follow along. After another dealership was asking for $5000 over MSRP we agreed this. In this market I haven't heard of anybody getting under that.

The options are another story. Could you get them to uninstall the first aid kit?

 

OK.

Now you've decided to fight them. The only way to get this done right is to go to a local attorney who handles commercial contracts. Get a half-hour session ASAP with the attorney and find out whether you have an enforceable contract. Find out whether the actions of the dealer constitute a breach of the contract. I know they have not failed to produce the car (they haven't even received it yet), but there is such a thing as an anticipatory breach. They've just told you they will not honor their side of the bargain. This means they are in breach. The easy solution is for them to produce the car as promised and for you to pay the contract amount. If they cannot separate the Toyota add-ons, then see if they would be willing to have you purchase them at the dealer's cost. You then could hold them, use them or sell them on eBay.

Really, though, the cost differential is not going to be worth much of a fight. Paying a lawyer for one-half of an hour may not be cheap, but it will be less than the current overcharge. Paying for a lawsuit is going to be expensive. Meanwhile, you will not have the Prius.

And don't forget this: If you accept the car and pay the money, then you will have no further claim.

 

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']I am a salesman in Paducah Ky. Did you both sign an agreement and did you give a deposit on the Prius you were interested in? A deposit (in most states ) will lock in the price unless the MSRP has risen. Still I am amazed that a dealer would offer to sell you a Prius at sticker or less. That makes no sense because in this market the Prius is a serious commodity. While Toyota dealers are making more profit on Prius, Corolla, Yaris and Matrix models, dealers are losing thousands of dollars in profits Tundras, 4-Runners and Sequois. It is the just ebb and flow of the market. [/FONT]

 

Whoa Freedom. That is not the approach most dealers will repsond to. Once a Toyota is sold, Toyota Corp will send consumers surveys to see how thier experiance was at the Dealer level. THESE SURVEYS ARE TAKEN VERY SERIOUSLY by the Dealers. If a dealer believes there is a danger in a bad survey from you, many times they will pass on selling you a car. Especially a Prius. A dealer would rather sell to someone else that will give them a good survey.
The dealer will correctly assume that someone that has called the State Attorney, Consumer Protection section and Contacted Toyota Customer Relations is someone that will definately trash the dealer on the survey if the dealer sold that someone a car.

 

Whoa, Paducah Dave! (And welcome to PriusChat, and thank you for your first two posts.)

If the dealer is so concerned, then the dealer should honor the contract.

If what Freedom has is not a binding contract, then the action of going to the Attorney General and others certainly will label Freedom as a big risk. On the other hand, if the contract is as Freedom has said, then the dealer has taken an even bigger risk by not honoring the deal. There was a time to negotiate the price, and it was before signing the deal.

What is your response to the dealer's statements that the add-ons were done by Toyota and are out of the dealer's control? If this is the case, then the dealer should have put language in the contract to cover it. After all, who wrote the contract? Believe me, such add-ons, if they are not mentioned in the contract, will not be the buyer's responsibility. If the dealer and Toyota are bound by a separate agreement, then the dealer has to live with it, not Freedom.

 

In a perfect world The Dealer would honor the agreement. Most Dealers will. We are only hearing one side of the story but it sounds like maybe this Dealer got greedy. In the Automotive business a deal is not a deal till the car crosses the curb onto the public streets with a temp registration in the name of the new owner. Up to that point the car belongs to the dealer. Many customers have changed thier minds after they signned contracts and refused to "TAKE DELIVERY" of thier new car. The dealer can do nothing but put the car back in stock and return the downpayment.

About add ons If they are added by the regional there is nothing the dealer can do about it. Different regions have different add ons. Dealer do not always know what add ons if any the region may add. Prius and all other Toyotas are not ordered by the dealer but they are allicated to the dealer. The dealer may request a color and option list from the factory and the factory will usually preferance the car toward that dealer but it is not a guarantee. It depends on how many cars the dealer is selling for toyota and believe it or not the factory / regional office looks hard at the dealers survey scores from previous customers when deciding on which dealer gets the most desired cars.

Sorry I tend to ramble I hope this answers your questions.

 

Call Toyota corporate (edit: sorry, just read that you've already done this). Tell them about the shady way this dealership is doing business. They should straighten it out. If they don't, I would demand my deposit back, and begin looking again.

Some dealerships are just thieves - sadly, there's no way around it. Feel free to drop their name here. At least someone may benefit (by staying FAR away) from your bad experience.

.... Brad

 

Its a car dealer. What do you expect? Mine was $500 over the agreed on internet price when I got there. (Added pinstripes, door and wheel moldings). How bad do you want the car? I paid the extra, drove out happy. At least you got some added value, not just a jacked price for the same car. Write the check, or walk, its your choice. I wrote the check.