Questions about ordering through the dealer

for the most part, as far as the prius goes, dealers get allotments from the regional distributor. they use these allotments to match the customer's preferences as closely as possible. they haven't caught up with production enough to be able to take specific orders yet.

what we did was tell the dealer what color and option package we wanted. they were to call us when we were high enough on the waiting list and one came in.

that would have been fine, except after waiting for a while i learned my car was about to die. we were on the top of the just waiting around for blue and basically had first choice of what we wanted, so we just picked a black one that was on the truck.

if you're flexible about color choices that might be helpful. but don't feel like you have to settle for anything you don't want.

hope that helps.

 

Where are you located? What year/pkg/color did you have in mind and what car are you planning on trading?

There are some areas of the country where they are sitting on the lots just waiting for someone at below MSRP and other areas where you may need to wait 3 months and have to pay a priemium. So where you are makes a HUGE diference.

Springtime

 

i think the gray isn't available until later on in the year- May, possibly? but if you have no problem with waiting, it should work out fine for you.

 

our dealer sold for straight msrp, non-negotiable (besides, we were ok with that) so we didn't do any price discussions. and because my car was crap, we didn't trade in. but they did offer to do a trade evaluation when we were filling out the purchase paperwork so i'd guess that is done when the car comes on.

i'm pretty sure price can be negotiated at time of ordering, but trade may wait until the car comes in, just because of the miles and wear and tear that can occur in a few months time.

 

It is usually wise to determine the price of your new car seperate from your trade in. So, it would not hurt to see how many dealers are in your area and ask for a quote on the configuration you want. After you get a price plus tax and tags you have a benchmark from where to start. Much of this you can do via the internet.

Only after you have prices from 3 or 4 dealers do you want to introduce the possibility of a trade in. You can go to the kelly blue book and determine the estimated trade in value of your Corolla. Once you have an idea of the value (let's say it it $3000) then you can get a trade in value from each of the dealers you are considering.

Simply compare their quoted price less their quoted trade in value and you will probably be down to two dealers. Once you are down to two dealers you can ask how much wiggle room they have on the price. The guy who wants your business will be willing to give up a small amount of his profit to get your business.

Springtime

PS

If you had been located in the NE and had not specifically wanted the Gray you could have probably had the car within 30 days. There are a few pkg #7's on the dealers lots near me ( but, they may already have been spoken for and may just be waiting until 1/2/06 to be picked up.) I love the dealers who list their cars on an internet inventory. It is quick and easy to get an idea of availability of a particular pkg. and color without driving all over the place to find them. My impression is that the demand for a Prius on the East Coast is not as great as the West Coast and so we have cars in stock at many dealer locations and therfore they will quote a little less than MSRP when proded to do so.

 

I think the process varies by dealer.

One dealer that I talked to wouldn't take any deposits - you just take whatever is alotted to the dealer as it becomes available. This wasn't actually too bad because the dealer had lots of stock so there really wasn't much waiting.

At the dealer I ended up with, the salesman quoted me a price without trade-in at the time I ordered the car and I paid a deposit. He said we would deal with a trade-in (if that's what I decide to do ... unlikely) when the car arrives. He found a car somewhere in the system that matched my specifications and is having it rerouted here (it was originally destined somewhere else). He was very good about not requiring Toyoguard or any extras. And he is even willing to give me a ride to Carmax if I sell my current car there. I just ordered my new Prius yesterday and it is supposed to arrive in about two weeks or so.