April's Hottest Models from Wall Street Journal MODEL DAYS ON LOT AVERAGE PRICE ----------- ---------------- ------------------ Toyota Prius 6 $25,138 Cadillac XLR** 13 $77,205 Acura MDX 14 $39,270 Toyota Sienna 14 $29,384 Honda Pilot 15 $30,725 Lexus LX 470* 16 $64,328 MINI Cooper 16 $23,106 Acura TSX 16 $26,733 Lexus LS 430 17 $58,025 Lexus GX 470 17 $48,505 Note: April 1-30, 2004. Models on sale four months or less are not included. Ratings are based on the number of days vehicles stayed in stock at dealerships around the country. Price is average actual U.S. transaction price. **Small sample size Source: Power Information Network LLC, an affiliate of J.D. Power & Associates
I think I've asked this before, but where the heck are the "6 day" Prii? If there are waiting lists of 50 at most dealerships, shouldn't the Days On Lot be, umm, zero? Or maybe one?
Its probably including delivery and sales day, plus the time to prepare for sale, give a pre delivery inspection. Also it will be an average sop could include weekends or holidays. If the dealer also registers the car that is another day I guess. From delivery of our MR2 to the delary to us taking delivery was 1 week, and we were asking almost every day when could we pic it up as we knew it was there.
I'd say a vehicle "in stock" is one available for sale, not one that's been sold and is in preparation or waiting for the owner to sign the papers. And even if it's just physically at the dealership, who are all these people waiting an average of 6 days to get their Prius? I got the call late on a Monday telling me my car was in, but that the tech guys had gone home for the night so it would probably be ready for me on the Wednesday because they'd have to charge it overnight. The next call came around mid-day on the Tuesday, saying I could pick it up, so it was on the lot for about 18 hours. Apparently the Classic needed an overnight charging, and the salesman didn't know that the '04 did not. Maybe "days on lot" above means the record length of time that one car has been on a lot somewhere. Ha ha.
if my dealer makes me wait 6 days when my prius arrives, i'm gonna have manny (bigbaldcuban) rip his toenails out...
It could be based on the number of days on their books. i.e. I was at the dealership yesterday, and the car ahead of me was already invoiced, so the dealership was paying for it, but the car did not arrive. This is only a guess, but it would account for a few days the car is in transit to the dealership, when the dealership actually owns it. Transporsts come in at all hours of the day. We've also heard how cars have been "missing" for a while, then they show up. I think the only hard numbers a dealer may have is when it is invoiced to them, which I would imagine would be before they recieve it on their lot, and when they transfer it to the customer. Just my guess.
some of them are lasting long enough to be put up on ebay as well. that indicates they are available, at least for a few days. and the difference in wait time between dealers in rural vs urban areas plus the fact that they show up on here as 'available' pretty regularly indicates that not all prii are running out the door quite immediately. obviously the system for getting cars to people who want them is good but not perfect.
My car took 8 days from the time "it was on its way" till it arrived on the lot for me to pick it up. As soon as it leaves port, it becomes part of inventory, so the 6 days make sense/
A dealer told me a car is considered to be part of their stock until all the paper work is signed and the new owner has driven it off the lot. This includes all cars, even special ordered ones that have large non-refundable deposits.
The distributor or Toyota considers it in dealer inventory when the dealer is billed for the vehicle.
