Cubs tickets or Prius

Which will come first, getting through for Cubs tickets or getting the call that my BC silver is in? I've been in an on-line virtual internet waiting room on 2 computers and have been calling on 2 phone lines since 10 AM today trying to get Cubs tickets for games this season - nada, zilch, zippo. More and more games are getting on the sold out list so it doesn't look good. Both my sons wanted to go for their birthdays - oh well. So, for a diversion I called my salesman about my BC silver. 2 weeks ago, he said one week. Then, admitted he screwed up. My car was in Portland, OR on the 18th, not in Elmhurst, IL. He promised me (yeah, I should know better by now), that it would be one week more at the most. Guess what? No car. No more deliveries today. Not much hope for tomorrow Maybe the Bartman curse has been transferred to my Prius. The guy that auctioned off the baseball (Bartman didn't get it) for $100K was one of my students 20 years ago. Hope there's no connection. If anyone out there gets Cubs tickets, let me know. I might consider trading my flashing Prius pen (thanks Dianne) for 4 box seat tickets.

 

Aargh! I finally got through on the website a few minutes ago, clicked on the seats I wnated and got the message "no tickets available." So, I clicked on the schedule like the instructions said to do and was sent back to the virtual waiting room, which wasn't supposed to happen. Did the Cubs hire some Toyota people to handle these sales? Sure sounds like my Prius experience.

 

Finally! Last night I did get through for Cubs tickets (no box seats left, only reserved grandstand, but we'll take 'em) AND got THE CALL this morning - after 128 days, my BC Silver is in! :clap: I'm leaving in 30 min - wish me luck. I'll post the dealer/salesman experience later.

 

Well, it took 128 days, but my silver BC is finally home safely. All went well at the dealer (Elmhurst Toyota), except for a few minor annoyances. They didn't have the owners manual (picking it up on Monday - didn't really understand why they didn't have it), but I have a copy on my computer to look over for now. There were no floor mats as I had ordered - picking them up Monday as well. The weird one was a release we had to sign saying we would accept an impartial arbitrator's decision (meaning we wouldn't sue the dealer) for any modifications we asked for beyond Toyota's specs . We didn't ask for and they didn't make any modifications, so I questioned why I had to sign such an agreement. They said it stemmed from a local Ford dealer who had, at the request of a customer, replaced some stock tires on a vehicle with others not OK'd by Ford, and then when the tires failed and caused a serious accident, both Ford and the dealer were sued for millions. The customer won, and the dealer went bankrupt as a result. Hmm...wonder if that story was true. Anyway, it does not prohibit us from participating in a class action lawsuit or from suing Toyota for any defects that might cause harm. Anyway, we had to read that one over very carefully. Anyone else hear of such a thing?

No high pressure for the rustproofing, and the trade in allowance was decent (better than the estimates I had from 2 other dealers, and much better than Car Max). After much deliberation, I decided to go for the extended warranty, and the finance guy, with no quibbling, gave us the lowest price quoted from the list of dealers nationwide who have been quoted here for extended warrany options. (Thanks Priuschat!) I signed all the paperwork with my lighted Prius pen (thanks Dianne).

All in all it turned out to be a positive experience. I knew a little more about the car than the salesman did. He couldn't find the jumper connections for the 12 V battery - I had to show him those, and he tried to get me on the towing eye-hook, but as he handed it to me asking if I knew what it was, I took it to the front, pointed out the small circular patch and explained what it was for and how to attach it - thanks Priuschat, again!.

The ride home was great. We took our 15 year old son with, and as we neared home, he spied some of his friends out playing basketball in the alley. He insisted we sneak up on them. We "stealthed" up to them, and there were double takes all around as we silently crept up on them, with my 15-year old yelling out the window, "This is such an awesome car!" Hey, to see my 15-year old son get excited about anything his parents do made it all worth it! At least I have until September before he starts drivers ed.

Again, thanks to all you Priuschat contributors out there - it made today an easy and enjoyable experience.