Limited Color Availabilty?

I just ordered a package IV and every dealership in the Los Angeles area was telling me that Black is the hardest to get followed by Winter Grey Metallic. I have seen a few here and there mostly the regular silver and white. Oh I also see a lot of the red ones.

 

well if CARB has it's way there won't be any black cars in Kaliforna

 

Alright, really I don't know the specifics of "availability" but isn't it funny how dealers tend to tell you how easy everything is going to be as you are writing them a check, but then only later tell you how impossible it's going to be?

Ultimately, I'd stick to my guns. Get what you want. I don't care what the national statistics are on availability, it's up to the dealer to find you the car you want, if it's only 2%...then you want one of those 2%.

Is your deposit refundable? If this dealer continues to not provide and simply tell you what you want isn't obtainable...on any timeline...then I'd want my deposit back.

I do give dealers some slack. Cash for Clunkers decimated inventories, but they should be able to get you the automobile you want, on some honest timeline. It may not be soon, you might have to wait, but it should be doable.

 

From what I heard talking to several dealerships, blizzard pearl and silver are the priority colors and the others are the low priorities. In other words, you can kind of count on seeing 4-6 out of every 10 being blizzard pearl or silver with the other colors split between the the rest. In the allotment (12-15 cars, something like that) I saw on screen at the dealership coming in the next month (I think it was a month) most were indeed the "lighter" colors, then two red, sandy beach, and a couple grays. No blues.

 

All deposits are refundable, refuse the charge on credit card if you have to.

Blizzard Pearl, they want to bang those out so you have to pay $500 for the paint!

 

cossie1600,

I'm pretty sure the Blizzard Pearl is only $220 extra on Toyota's build your own car page, NOT $500 more. Is $500 extra what the dealers in your neighborhood are asking you to pay for the special paint color? Shame on them if they are. Where in CT are you anyway?

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

I don't know how the mix is right now, but here are some statistics from the June allocation for Gulf States Toyota (the distributor for the 143 dealers in Gulf states sales region):

Total cars: 1500
Blizzard Pearl: 436 (29%)
Classic Silver Metallic: 377 (25%)
Black: 150 (10%)
Barcelona Red Metallic: 151 (10%)
Sandy Beach Metallic: 242 (16%)
Blue Ribbon Metallic: 72 (5%)
- Prius II: 38
- Prius III: 4
- Prius IV: 28
- Prius V: 2
Winter Gray Metallic: 72 (5%)

So, back in June, approximately 5% of the Prii imported by Gulf States Toyota (GST) were Blue Ribbon Metallic.

These figures are only for one sales region. The other regions may have a totally different mix. Also, the mix may have changed drastically since June. Your dealer may be telling the truth that in your sales region there are only 2% Blue Ribbon Metallics being imported. He could also be correct that Toyota is only making 2% in that color.

The most popular colors were, and apparently still are, Blizzard Pearl and Classic Silver Metallic.

With all of this in mind, you just have to be lucky to get the combination you want. I had a Prius V in Blue Ribbon Metallic on order. When I saw the above report I figured I would have to wait several more months until I got the car I wanted. The following Friday I got a call from the dealer that my car would be arriving in two weeks! Apparently, they snagged the only car in the GST allocation which matched my request.

Just be patient. I would also check with other nearby dealers and see if they tell you the same story. If you get frustrated enough, you can check some of the other dealers around the country, several of who are very active on this forum. It may be easier to get the combination you want from out of your sales region, since each region imports a different mix from Toyota.

Good luck.

 

You're all crazy. Everyone knows Barcelona Red is the fastest color...DUH!

 

Blue Ribbon Metalic was very hard to find in the pacific NW even if you have no interior preference. I wanted a III with NO Nav AND dark gray interior. I found a few IIIs with NAV and many had lighter gray. I came across one or two IIs as I searched over 50 dealers in OR, WA, and ID. So hopefully, it will work out for you but probably should have taken the III. That said, I love the color but it is high maint to take care of (as is black - my CRV). If I had it to do over again, I would seriously consider silver or pearl (though it looks white to me so silver) Good luck!

 

Having had a silver car in the past, I would say the only bad thing about that color is that it is a very hard color to match if you have to have body work done. I believe it fades slightly very early in life. You don't notice it on the car until a body panel has to be re-painted.
An yeah, I have a pearl and anything more than five feet away and it is white.

 

I am in Southington.

I was just going off the top of my head, I guess Toyota options are cheaper than Nissan's yellow paint on the Z.

At my dealer, I saw a lot of the blizzard pearl and the grey. I am surprised to see the grey being this rare.

So does it mean I can resell my car now for $2000 extra since mine is blue Mine has a really low serial number, so I just hope the car won't have a lot of problems.