Why is it so hard to locate a car!

Give Stadium Toyota a try. They are in Tampa, FL. We have bought two Prius from them and have had fantastic luck with them! Their number is 813-872-4881.

The problem that the online site has is that it does not always show that the car you are seeing might already be allocated to a dealer for a sale. If that is so, then dealers have to "wheel and deal" with each other to try to get the car. That could be why they won't do this for you w/o a deposit. The dealers do have inventory reports though from distribution (which is in Jacksonville, FL), so they can check out that report for you, but this may also be from the deposit angle as well. As I said above, try Stadium Toyota. I have talked to most of the Toyota dealers in this area and they were the best dealer for us.

 

Did you consider that someone else may have already ordered the one you feel you deserve?
It took me 5 months to get the Prius I wanted because the entire inventory--at least the part that I was interested in--was spoken for. Supply and demand... Demanding supply doesn't seem to work all that well.
After you slide down of that high horse, consider working with a dealer to spec out the car you want from the factory. There's a REASON these cars are difficult to buy, and it's not because the dealers are out to get you.

 

If you know where the car is, I would also consider contacting them directly. If they're willing to make a deal, why not just go get it? Plane tickets are cheap, and the drive home makes excellent Prius/Driver bonding time

Rob (who drove his Prius 1800 miles home from Indiana!)

 

Wow, you had the potential for a great post there, let me help you with editting a bit....

There, informative with little to no vinegar! /puts on best Julia Child voice "Bon appetite!"

Gregzgurl, I would say that you may have to put a deposit down, but if you opt not to buy from the dealer, you do get your money back (it is refundable). I'm guessing the angle is that if you want them to do the legwork, they'd like to have something "to hold onto" in the hopes that you seal the deal with them (and not another dealership). Just business, nothing more, nothing less.

I thought (in another thread....) that someone mentioned Costco as an alternative. If you have one near you, you might brave the Costco lines and see if they can give you what you want. I've not done the Costco route, but you might be able to go in and say "I want a package #2, Barcelona Red" and they can go get it from the dealer who has it.

Just a thought/another avenue to explore.

 

Try carsdirect.com. Enter zip code, and options you want and local dealers will notify you. I completed the process the same day I registered. Drove 50 miles, wrote the check and was out of there in less than 1 hour. Easiest car I ever bought, and that was back in '06 when supplies were tighter. My only concession was color: wanted blue, settled for white, no big deal.

 

This may be a stupid question, but how do you search new car inventories on toyota.com?

 

Life is like that sometimes. Keep a positive outlook.

 

Hi Gregzgurl,

Check out:

New Car Prices, Used Car Values, New Car Reviews and Car Buying at NADA Guides

 

Gatorland Toyota in Gainesville, talk to Frank Whiteacre. I went in looking at used, finally decided to get new. They had one, then decided it did not have cruise package 2 which I had to have. They had some in Ocala at Deluca, I told them on the phone that I was on the way to Ocala to buy one from them. They paged me while I was enroute and said the would have one in two hours. They did what they said and sold it to me for less than Deluca was going to. Said it was the fastest locate that they had ever done. Tell him to give you the $50 off that he promised me if I send him a customer!! He will know who I am.

 

Gregzgurl, I went thru Costco to Palmbeach Toyota, they gave me a song and a dance back in Aug 2007, saying there is too much demand to make a Costco deal. I went on my own to Lipton Toyota in Ft Laud, they took a deposit, but couldnt deliver. Got my $500 deposit back...Was just nosing around on Toyota.com one day and saw the package I wanted except in a different color, which I'm happier with now, at Delray Toyota. The salesman didnt even know he had it on his lot, so when he confirmed he had it there unclaimed I zipped down and picked it up that night. Now 2 month pround owner of a 2008 touring package 6 in Spectra Blue Mica, the absolute uncontested best color Prius.
So, as you say, It will come.

 

I live in the Tampa area. Why would you assume a dealer is going to spend any time helping you with no money down? I wouldn't. Do you know how many jackass tire kickers they talk to a day? Stop whining and slap down some cash. I put $ 500 down with a local dealer (Clearwater Toyota) with the caveat they need to find my car in a few days or money back and they found exactly what I wanted in 24 hours (hint: There's a huge parking lot at the Port of Tampa where there's a big bunch of Prius's looking for a home) yes thats right I rolled out of there the next day with the car I wanted. Package & color. Get it? It ain't magic dude ...its called business
not please waste my time.

 

It is difficult for a variety of reasons. First, they are selling very well right now. As a result, dealers don't have many in stock. Also, if a dealership happens to have Prius' advertised as being in stock, chances are he sold them before the ad was even published. Lastly, many times dealerships will tell you they have vehicles in stock or inbound just to take you off the market. They believe if they tell you they have your car there or coming in soon they will be able to keep you as a customer until they can produce the car because you are under the assumption they have it. I worked in the sales department for Toyota for over 5 years and still have access to manufacturer sites that allow me to check availability of vehicles as well as see the true pricing. I may be able to help you out.

 

I am in the Charlotte, NC area, its the Southeast but not quite as south as you

Basically I was in a wreck and my car was totalled.

Here are the steps I went through to get my prius.

The wreck happened Wednesday night, I test drove a Prius on Saturday. Told the dealer what I wanted (color and package) and he gave me a print out for one that would be coming in soon.

Found out my car was officially totalled on Wednesday, made a deposit over the phone. Car was in stock at the dealer friday night, I picked it up Saturday morning.

It seems strange to me that they won't look to see when they can get one in unless you make a deposit first.

By the way my dealer was Town & Country Toyota, and I just went there because it was right across from the light-rail station that I use.

 

I tried that typing in a Florida zip code this time and now see what you mean, the southeast gives an entire inventory which is really handy. Unfortunately I live in Southern Indiana which is in the Chicago Region and they don't have an inventory system like the Southeast's, too bad though.

 

So that they can make a sell. I expect my dealor to talk to me about the car, show me the showroom car, let me test drive one in the lot, and let me know when and if I can get the car I want before I give them a check. It doesn't matter how 'hot' the car is or how hard it is to find one.

Then I wouldn't buy from you or your dealorship (or other business) ever. Eventually, you will probably get fired for not making any sales.

No, its called competition. The dealors should be competing for your money and your business - you should not have to compete for their attention.

I talked to my sales guy a year ago and asked to see a Corolla and a Prius. He showed me and my wife both cars, showed the features of both cars, let me test drive both cars. After deciding on a Prius, he went through their order list for the next two months and showed me the cars that they were getting in and still had available (and there wasn't much available). I told him I was pretty set getting a Package 2, no more/no less, and wanted the color black. He said that he feels like he could track down that car for me during the next few weeks, and when he found the car, he would call me, I would give them a 200 dollar deposit, and when the car arrived we would close on the deal (and I could back out at any time, and if I wasn't satisfied with the car that they brought me, I would get the deposit back - they wouldn't even cash it). The deposit was just a good faith effort on my part.

Three days later, they found the car, said it could be in a week. He told me that I could go down to the dealorship, work out a verbal deal on the final price, and give them a 200 dollar deposit. At the dealorship, I told him that I talked to 'so and so' at the 'other dealor' who called me back that week and was willing to give me 700 dollars off MSRP and I would appreciate if he could just match that, He said no problem, I gave them a deposit, the deal was closed the next week.

Now mind you, I did talk to three internet salespeople and 2 other dealors over the phone the day after I saw my salesman to get a feel for deals and availability, and only one other guy was willing to talk on the phone and look up availability for me (it took him at most 10 minutes), so not everything was easy for me, but do not compromise for crappy customer service.