The Angst of the Wait

I waited 8 months. Two things got me through:

• PriusChat
• Renting a Prius from Enterprise Rentals for a weekend.

 

I've been waiting for mine for about a month now, it was supposed to come Monday or Tuesday (firm date from salesman) so I am very frustrated that now I may have another day or two .

On top of that the dealer website shows the VIN number the dealer gave me, and it has my option package, color, but the interior color is listed wrong: I ordered grey and its listed as ivory. If this isnt a typo I risk having the dealer trade for my interior and having more than 1 mile on the odometer at delivery!! ukeleft: IMO a prius is used if it has more than 10 miles on the odo

 

Great Idea hdrygas! I'm gonna brush up on Pruis before I get Mine!

Hey Spanky, where in NJ are you? I ordered about a month ago from dealer in Sussex County and was told about a 6 to 8 week wait. I told them I'd take any base model they could get.

(didn't believe it but....)

Then I got a call on 5/6 and was told my car was on the boat!! and should be in port Nwk this week.... so I figure another 7 to 10 days. but I have an I'll believe it when I see it attitude so I'm not so bad yet.

'ya can't deny that PriusChat is good Therapy for us wanna-bees!


-Al

 

I called the dealer on Thursday, he had a couple in stock, I put a deposit down over the phone and picked up on Saturday. About a 4 1/2 hour drive each way, but well worth it.

 

My dear salesperson called on a Friday and told me my car had arrived a week early. I cancelled all weekend plans, told my boss I wouldn't be in on Monday and drove 6.5 hours the following morning. I didn't trust that my car would be safe from test drives and the other sales hawks if I had waited until the following week to make the pick-up. As soon as I arrived I was handed the keys and told to take my new car for a ride. After we arrived back @ Toyota, I filled out the paperwork, sold my soul to Toyota & celebrated with Mexican for lunch. I kept in constant contact with my salesperson throughout the wait via email and phone calls. That helped a lot, too.... along with Cherry Garcia!

 

We were #150 on a wait list. Fortunately the dealer we worked with started getting large shipments and they cleared out their list very quickly. Next thing I knew, I stopped by to bring my husband some sandwiches at work and ask about my Prius and they told me I could have a black one if I wanted it. Gave me the VIN and everything, just had to wait 4 days for it to come in on the truck. Even though we ordered blue I took it! Black was my second choice and my car was about to die.

Total wait: 4 1/2 months.

 

My wife and I waited 11.5 months before our Prius came in. We've had the car almost a month now and it has been fantastic. Would we do it again? Darn tootin! As others have said, Priuschat and PriusOnline helped ease the angst. What breaks me up are those folks who complain about having to wait a few weeks! Wah! Wah! Some people have all the patience of a microwave! Don't take it personally. Just an observation on humanity. Come to think of it, how long does it take to cross the US in a covered wagon?

 

Don't shoot me!

First...I didn't have a wait, just went to a dealer, test drove, bought and went home. All of the dealers in my city had some in inventory and available. I wanted a #1 black with gray interior. Got #1 black with ivory interior. Same as old car so I could live with it. If I had wanted a specific color and package that would have been different.

Now this may be a female thing but....what about shopping? You probably can't buy seat covers if you wanted them because you may not be sure if you actually get the interior you ordered. But there's plenty of other Prius stuff you can buy.

There's Exact mats for over the Prius mats. Or if you're not buying the carpeted Prius ones you can buy some other ones for the Prius.

If you like leather you could buy a Wheelskins cover for your future steering wheel.

And a dashmat for your future dash. I have the black velour, which I like a lot. Black is best due to reflection up into the windshield.

I bought a vertical cargo net and put it in myself. Much cheaper than having the dealer do it. I also bought a horizontal net which I actually like much better.

I bought some decals here if you want to decorate the outside. Do a search. Also a little hybrid light bulb antenna topper, outside trim, parking guide and bumper protector.

I have two cargo totes for the back and use both, but you can get something at Target.

I bought a license plate frame on eBay that's chrome with "hybrid" on it. There aren't any now but I'm sure there will be. Add "prius" to your favorite searches on ebay. Try "Prius topper" to find the hybrid light bulb antenna topper when it's relisted. Or find ToothYoda on this forum and ask him for one.

I have a little trashcan with beanbags for over the hump. I also bought a little wallet for holding insurance and registration. That's $3 at Pep Boys. Today I bought a triangular hazard thingie for the window in case I have to change a tire. I'll be putting together a little first aid kit too.

If I were waiting I might start a new folder in my bookmarks for Prius stuff. Maybe more than one folder. One could be for Prius shopping with URLs to where to buy stuff. The other might be for articles and news stories on the Prius and hybrids.

Here's a few places for shopping:

Metro Toyota Prius Stuff

Toyota Parts Store

DashDesigns

Wheelskins Leather Steering Wheel Cover

Five piece leather cover set

Car Bra

Floor Mats

Owners Manual Deluxe Case

Key Ring

Bumper Protector

Mud Guards

Model Car--go "vroom vroom" while you wait.

 

Guess Im one of the lucky ones. I ordered my Pkg 3 Driftwood April 25th and it will be here "on or about May 23rd." The car arrived in the US May15th or 16th. I have been looking at and for the car since March though. I sympathize with those waiting MONTHS ! Hang in there!

 

I got mine right away, but I did pay the price for it, unwittingly, by being gouged over MSRP. I take responsibility for my part of not thoroughly going over every single figure, but I also feel I was misled as well.

Would I buy this car again? If money was no object, you bet. However, from a pure economics point of view, perhaps a classic might have been a better choice, or even a late model used 4 cyl Honda Accord. I loved my '88 Accord I bought from my former boss in '92.

 

To quote Charlie Brown AAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!

My dealer called me today and said the magic words! But I'm leaving out of town and won't be back for 5 days!!!!

Chrisus - I assume yours cam into Port Newark on the same boat as mine to fill North East US orders! Should be any day for you!!

-Al

 

AL- I'll bet you are right! I ordered mine 4/28 and it had to be already on its way as a standard shipment to the East. It takes 28 days to get here and the boat was due in 5/15 or 16. I called the delaer today and he said one of the 4 they are expecting came in so they expected the rest today, tomm or the next day. Im planning on picking it up tuesday but have a feeling Im going to poke around the lot sunday to see it!

5 DAYS OUT OF TOWN?? I hope its a pleasure trip so you have fun AND have that waiting for you instead of the dread of going back to work! :lol:

 

What I did:

Google for Toyota dealers in your area.
Many use identical Toyota website designs which allow you to check their new car inventories. Scroll to 2005 Prius. If they show Prius with vin numbers, call immediately. If they're legit, honest dealers and sell for MSRP go there and buy. The cars are either on hand or on truck or on dock and allocated to the dealer.
Max wait aboout 2 weeks.

Why did this work? The saleslady explained that high volume dealers get the large allocations based on their total Toyota sales. She (Faulkner Toyota) doesn't even have a Prius waiting list.

 

I was very particular about what I wanted. I continued to monitor the SE Toyota Dealers inventory using this method:

1) See this thread: http://www.priuschat.com/forums/how-to-fin...ons-vt1737.html

2) Follow the link shown in the thread, click on the link at the top of the page that says "Toyota of Durham has access to NNN more vehicles.

3) The screen that pops up shows all of the inventory coming into the SE for the next month or so.
----
Every morning I would look at the inventory and look for "my car." Many mornings the inventory would not change (e.g., no new cars in the last week). On one morning, I saw a car that matched. I had a dealer that was willing to "computer trade" with other dealers in the SE. I would call her up with the VIN number of the car I wanted, and she would talk to her back room trader.

First two cars I saw this way were firmly committed to someone else, but third time was a charm! They were able to trade with a dealer in Wilmington and I got the exact car I wanted. The car was still on the boat! I even had opportunity to add and delete options. All the the trading was virtual, cars were not physically moved (remember still on boat, just sort of trading around their final destination).

Car is scheduled to be at the dealer 7/7.

Total time for search on my part was 8 days. Total anticipated wait time since finding the car and have it physically in my hands: 20 days.

Best part? $500 below MSRP.

I am suffering waiting out the final 2 weeks of my delivery, and can feel your pain. I would recommend finding a high volume Toyota dealer in your area and see if they would be willing to trade behind the scenes. A little footwork on your part will get you the exact car you want in short order.

 

Hey you all., Down here is Texas they're almost free for the picking if you stay away from big towns and move quickly. Example I know a dealer who right now has 2 on the lot. One is a Blue / tan with #2 PCKGE at $23,900, other is a Dk Green /tan with everything +leather except the NAV for about $27,500. He's had them for about 2 days and it is 6/25/05, he is in Texas, does not mark up, just come on down and git you one!! E-mail me if you want [email protected], and I will direct you to Internet Sales at the dealership and a salesman. I just get a finder's fee of $50.00 your price does not change.

Regards I. Altmann

 

Come down to Nederland Tx and you can get one without wait, local dealer has 2 on lot right now email [email protected] if you are interested and I will help you coordinate w/ dealer, he has 2 right now, with coordination he will help you if you want to get one down here.

Regards I. Altmann