Does anyone know what the approximate wait time is for a package #6 Prius in the San Francisco Bay area? I'd like to get one, but I'm hoping the wait time isn't too outrageous. The dealers are saying about a month, but I don't trust their estimates.
I think that it's a matter of color choice. I wanted Tideland Pearl and was told the wait could be up to 4-6 weeks at one dealership while another told me it could be 2+ months for certain color/packages. Luckily for those of us opting a #6, the supply is pretty good. Last week I tested the waters by calling a dealership and I was offered a Silver#6 with a one week waiting period (June 6th is the due date). My advice would be to call all of the local dealerships and talk with an internet sales manager or fleet manager if you are ready to buy. I'd also recommend not paying MSRP. I mistakenly went to Fremont Toyota with the idea that I might find a deal. What I found was a $6999.00 markup for a Black/Black 05' with leather. Beautiful car...but 7k for leather? Yikes!
I went to Toyota 101 and they said if you want to order a very specific model and color it was 4-8 weeks. Actually, at the time I went to the lot, they didn't have a #6 available but had a #4 that a customer had decided they didn't want at the last minute, so I bought that instead since the #6 was out of my budget range anyway.
San Francisco must have quite a few Toyota Dealerships. This is to your advantage. Go to someplace like cars.com and contact all of the internet managers of all of the dealers in your area. You can specify color and package but if you say you're flexible you might have a car in a day or two. It's the very end of the month and they'll probably be getting a shipment in very soon. Do be specific and say you will not pay a market adjustment fee. If they get you to come for a test drive and then try to pull one on you leave. There are plenty of dealerships and there are plenty of cars if you give the impression you'll go elsewhere and you'll wait. Read up on trade-ins. You'll get more if you sell your car yourself. Get your financing in order before you go. Usually it's good for 30 days and you'll find a car way before then. Unless they can meet the price of the extended warranties here, don't buy one from them. Lojack is a rip-off. Do a search and read the thread on it. You'll never get back the expense of lojack with the savings from your insurance. Other than that it's pretty useless. You can scotchguard the car yourself. I like the mats, the cargo cover and the nets, but you can purchase those for less elsewhere as well. If you're flexible on color and packages and willing to go to a different dealership and wait you'll be in a better position to negotiate. BTW when I contacted all of the local dealers this way I had 4 e-mails within an hour all with cars. They weren't necessarily the color and packages I specified but they were out there. I did get the color and package I wanted, however I got ivory interior instead of gray. That's OK. My next Prius will have a gray interior.
Thanks for your help everybody. It sounds like the wait time is definitely better than it used to be. Looks like I'll be buying a Prius soon! Thanks!
Try Piercey Toyota at 1st st and Brokaw (near San Jose airport). Call for Mr. Tak Lam. He is THE feet manager. I got mine from him in Dec, 2004 (Tideland #6) for MSRP-$100. The wait was 7 weeks. I am sure it is even shorter now. He won't be happy that I put this on the web because he is super busy with the Prius order. Good luck.
I only had to wait 2 weeks at Tracy Toyota. When I was looking, the east bay dealers seemed to have better availability then the peninsula dealers. You might want to check Dublin and Tracy out.
