PriusChat "Certified Dealer" Program - looking for suggestions

Priority Toyota on I-95 in Virginia!

How about asking each dealer to have one designated salesperson for the plug-in customers.

 

That's a good idea. i think in the very beginning there was one salesperson that was a "Prius Salesperson"

 

Dealer must have a factory certified (and prove it) mechanic to work on the Prius PHV

"Dealers can't charge for "required" costly add-ons".......can you explain this more.

 

Every dealer should have a Dianne Whitmire.

 

I think PriusChat certified dealer should participate in PriusChat. Dianne is a great example.

I would recommend Competition Toyota. I chose them for the Gen3 launch priority program. I pass up the opportunity to upgrade but they have great people working there and the service is great.

 

*edit* Nevermind, the dealer I suggested can't discount apparently. So... nevermind. /end edit

I'm going to use Dianne @ Carson, so... uh, I recommend her. :lol:

 

I think the Koons Toyota in Tysons is perhaps the best dealer in the area. They're the largest Toyota dealer in the area and sell the largest number of Prius's well. I was told by another dealer that the allocation for the plug-in Prius is linked with how many Prius's were sold in the past two years and how many people sales people and techs have been trained to handle the plug-in Prius.

 

That would be in Northern Virginia!

 

I would recommend Pauly Toyota out of Crystal Lake, IL. I dont know if IL is on the 15 state list. But, Jeff Balcer from Pauly Toyota is on Prius Chat, and treated me very well when I got my 2010

 

I would recommend Roseville Toyota, ( Northern CA ) They have explicitly followed my desires and one time even gave me a free hubcap, without even mentioning it. Parts and service people always work well together to answer any questions. The free coffee and donuts are always welcome.

 

Team Toyota in Lithia Springs, GA has sold to several Prius Chat members here and have given all of them a great discount. Jason Young is the Saleman, and he would be a great POC for this program. Mark Capozza is the GM, he's a great guy as well.

 

"The Prius Plug-in will be available starting spring 2012 in 15 launch states:
Arizona,
California,
Connecticut,
Hawaii,*
Maine,
Maryland,
Massachusetts,
New Hampshire,
New Jersey,
New York,
Oregon,
Rhode Island,
Vermont,
Virginia
Washington.
Availability will open up to all other states in 2013."

 

Figures! Maybe we shouldn't limit this to just Plug-ins and open it to the entire Prius line... Seems like a win-win for the site and the better Toyota Dealerships!

 

I agree their service department is excellent, but the the sales sucks.

 

I agree completely with you because in less than one year after launch, it is going to be available nationwide. I thought every dealer should have someone like Dianne Whitmire in California, she posts regularly here in PriusChat.

 

Perhaps, though I would imagine that would take much more work than just doing this for the plug-in Prius .

 

I am interested in the best, most southern VA dealership. If we do this we will be driving 300mi and I would really like to have the deal set before making the trip. I would want a dealership that would do what was needed to do everything but sign the papers and make the swap remotely. (Will be trading in 2010 Prius III if we do this).

 

Taking a step back and looking at the basic premise of a PriusChat certified program I think that you are going to have a bit of a chicken and egg issue. I would imagine that you are looking at this as a way to "monetize" the website and I think that you are going to have to look at the value proposition to the 3 stake holders in this - the dealer, the customer and you (only you know the issues to you and the site).

For a dealer they would look at this as a way to drive sales and unless they can be sure that it will help I do not know if they would bite even if the program were free. They deal with programs like USAA and AAA because they have hundreds of thousands of customers and are open to all car makes and models. I would recommend doing a pilot at a few dealerships where you have a relationship already and use that to get real world data.

The customer needs to at the very least get the same pricing as with AAA or USAA and also some other benefits. What other ways will this program help the consumer?

I'd also look at the name certified. I think that you might be better off with the name recommended. With a certified pre-owned car you get a tangible list of benefits - low mileage, longer warranty inspection, etc- I think that the term certified would lead customers to expect a high level of involvement from PriusChat - ie dealership visits and inspections to make sure that they are up to snuff, help with disputes, assistance after the sale etc. A lot of what you have a the qualifications are going to be covered by Toyota in dealer training before the car launches and also relies on members opinions and recommendations.