Prius Prime won't be available in FL ?

Outstanding recommendations, Mr. Crewdog. Ya gotta practice "Boy Scout" readiness when you deal with Slobovians!!.
The thing that is a saving grace, is that Prime is such an intriguing piece of engineering, a really GOOD automobile, that you can justify the extra effort to get, and keep it!. If I lived in Slobovia, I would still own one if possible.


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Ah, a Lil' Abner fan too.

I was more intimidated by the passing characters in the Bottomless Pit.

 

I just texted Sarasota Toyota, had a conversation with some guy named John C., requesting a Titanium Glow Advanced for my sister (who lives in Coral Gable), and another Prime for a friend (thinking of the OP here). He said would agree to check with dealer staff to locate 2 Primes. I insisted that we were only interested in Primes, and that my sister didn't wish to speak to them herself because of bad experiences with dealers. I'm still waiting to hear back from my sister. I'll post the updates to my adventure. Hopefully, someone will be able to get a Prime in Florida!

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Sad, sad, sad. The dealer principal does NOT care what vehicle you want. He will drive his sales staff to CONVERT you to his way of thinking, hoping that you, like most clients, can be bullied to do what HE wants: buy a car from INVENTORY.
I ran into this time after time, as a car enthusiast, trying to sell cars to clients.
I was consistently a top salesrep at the 3 dealers where I worked, for some 23 years. My bosses were frequently puzzled by my performance; how was I consistently doing so well. I told them, you give the customer what THEY want, you listen to them, and help them with KNOWLEDGE about the benefits of the products you're selling. The price takes care of itself, in a lot of cases, particularly when dealing with fairly expensive vehicles. I always remembered how much I HATED salesmen, and how I was treated. I put myself in the client's shoes, and that seems to be a rarity in today's marketplace.

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Hear, hear! I never thought I'd buy a car from a dealership again until I dealt with the gentleman I worked with when buying my Gen 4.

After having a truly abysmal experience with Bob Rohrman's Schaumburg Honda in Schaumburg, IL. I would never recommend anyone buy a car from any Rohrman dealership unless they're masochists. It was a generic charcoal gray metallic Accord that I always lost in parking lots because it was so damn boring drove me into a Toyota for multiple reasons. I bought my next 2 cars (Camry V6 LE and my Gen 2 Prius) from a great auto broker in Centennial, CO, who has since retired.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I was responding to pilotgirl with a 6 paragraph tome on the troubles with Chicago dealers, but this forum just deleted the entire post!

 

Look at it this way. If you were Toyota, would you allow a dealership with your name on it to refuse to honor the warranty on a car with your name on it?

Then again, if I was Toyota, there's no way I'd allow a distributor with my name on them to do what SE Toyota does. I would buy them out and take over my own distribution or farm it out to someone else.

 

That's one of the reasons I keep going back to Towne Toyota here in NJ. When I bought my Prime they had 2 plus's and 3 Premium's and one advanced in a different color than I wanted. They actually pulled a plus in the exterior color I wanted (Titanium) and a premium in the interior color (black, vs the moonstone in the titanium) so I could decide on color, then they went out, found the color I wanted somewhere else, and had it at their dealership by the end of the day. Never tried to convert me to anything, just went out and found what I wanted, and I still got money off the list price of the car. They did a similar thing with my Gen 3 and (long ago) my MR2 Turbo (I wanted signal yellow and they managed to find one). I wish more dealerships were like them.

And although it took 3 times to fully diagnose the problem (clogged egr and manifold issue on the Gen 3), they finally found and fixed my engine start at low rpm problem (would stutter and idle roughly)). The only reason it took them 3 tries was their hybrid guys were all out of town at school, and their regular techs kept trying but to no avail.

I wish more dealerships were like that.

 

It's refreshing to hear about your experiences with Towne Toyota; sounds like a very good place with excellent staff. We must spread the word!

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As it happens, I sold my 2012 to Sarasota Toyota. In my conversations with my salesman, I discussed that I was having a Prime shipped and he told me that his dealership had sold a couple via special order.

 

I'd love to read it!

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It has been a long, long time since I've depended on any dealer for anything beyond opportunistic oil change or tires (on sale.) I also keep a link to TIS.

I did have one problem diagnosed by Toyota, the Gen-1 sticky throttle plate. Otherwise, I just use their parts department if I can't find used on Ebay. I will use independent shops but a four-wheel alignment is me, shims, jack, and stands on the driveway.

Bob Wilson

 

How were you able to purchase your new Prime without going through a dealer?

 

Internet sales. Paid for car, flew up and test drive was to motel. The ‘dealer’ took the order, paper work, and handed the keys. They are 1,200 miles away and I have no interest in a revisit.

The local dealer wants me in for a warranty oil change. Later this week, may be. About 3,500 gas miles. I’ve already done two transaxle oil changes and oil analysis and fixed rear wheel camber.

Bob Wilson

 

I took my Gen 4 into the local dealer for the first free 5K check. The paperwork said they set tire pressures to 32 PSI. They were actually 39 PSI, much closer to the 38 I was running. The (new) service writer questioned them not checking the battery and the tech apparently side they don't do that on a Prius since it is different. My 12 V battery is under the hood like all their other cars.
I did my oil change myself to be safe.

 

That sounds weird! So what if it's different anyway? It still ought to be checked if it's on the maintenance check list.

 

That's normal here:

https://priuschat.com/threads/this-website-has-gone-ballistic.166340/

https://priuschat.com/threads/an-unexpected-error-occurred-please-try-again-later.186355/

Complain to staff. Like they'll fix it. Meanwhile, type from WordPad/TextEdit and paste your reply.

 

Complain Yeah, that'll help.

Funny thing is that I usually do type a long reply in TextEdit. That one time I didn't and I guess the zombie forum software knew that and erased it from existence.

 

Well I finally spoke to "Whitney" at Sarasota, Fl dealer after she tried to contact me several times over the holiday period (I wasn't around, so didn't act, but she was diligent). Bottom line, she's been there 2 months, so got stuck talking to me (newbies get the bad prospects!), and her bosses tell they won't get Primes, but she can sell us from a "large" inventory of Prii. At least it wasn't hard core bait & switch like some of the bad dealers out there. I told her that it was a shame they had such a lousy distributor and that word is getting around; people going to dealers where they can get what THEY want! I told her to keep my contact info when things get better. Sorry Floridians and other Southeasterners, it's time to make your pilgrimages; it's well worth it!!

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Toyota needs to get rid of Southeast Toyota Distributors, even if it costs them some money. SETD are crooks, and add $699 to the sticker price for useless crap. I bought my Prius in Indiana, where I spend summers, to avoid them.

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