Your prius order experience

I went to the dealer, told him what I wanted - Prius 3 with ATP in Black. It was delivered the next day.

Another dealer in NJ had the car and my dealer got it from them. The dealer he got it from is actually closer to where I live, but I went to the dealer who works with Costco.

Why does it take so long when you order a Prius? Is it the color or the package?

 

Prii are only manufactured in Japan. There will always be some local stock in your area, or nearby, but with all the variations of trim, options, and color you may have to wait for the next shipment to get the spec that you want. I ordered mine in late March and got delivery in early July - that was about 14 weeks.

 

My Toyota dealer told me that a Prius Four w/ ATP and PCP in Midnight Black Metallic and Moonstone interior (and no black console insert) would take about 3 months and that this configuration is very unusual. That was sort of weird because I thought a black exterior went well with a white interior. The next morning, I got an email that the car was at a dealer 50 miles away. They transferred the car to my dealer and I got it that afternoon.

I don't think they have an order tracking system. They miscalculated the delivery of my car by 3 months.

 

At least the error was in your favor!

 

I ordered through Lease Plan, the order then went to a local dealer. I went for the second from the top model Business Plus with 15" wheels, it normally comes with 17" and by going for the smaller ones l've saved money on the tax.We choose the Decuma Grey and the only additional item we ordered was mudflaps, which are dealer fitted. The dealership have said the estimated delivery date is October, so from when we ordered it we were looking at 12 to 15 weeks. They also confined it was being built to order in Japan.

 

When I bought my Prius Eco 2 it was off the lot.
However, after I decided to trade up I had the dealer order it for me exactly as I wanted it - a 4 w/ ATP & PCP and black interior. I was only flexible on color, but only wanted the blue or red.

When my order first went in, they said it could be several weeks. After 4 days, the salesman called and said they got the exact car I wanted. It was intercepted from a delivery to another dealer. All in all, it took maybe 1.5 weeks.

Glad I got the blue, although I'm starting to appreciate all the colors on this car.

 

My car was delivered directly from Japan, via some central hub in Holland or Belgium (I don't know where Toyota has its central shipping receiving hub).
No tracking system in EU that a user can access - only the dealer knows that.
I ordered my on March 21st, arrived at the dealer on June 8th (I think - that's when I saw it standing there waiting for me , and delivered to me on June 21st. So 3 months all in all.
My car was not coming from a lot, but BTO.

 

At least for Germany the number of built-in at the factory options is extremely limited. Hence, they can build the car regardless of whether customers placed an order or not, if deemed useful to do so (to reduce leadtimes or depending on material availability).

When I ordered my Gen3 back in Aug. 2009, I was told 3 months at least of delivery time - it arrived 1.5 months later really unexpectedly. The dealer said it happens very often. This is also why I like to buy BTO rather from whatever they have on the (very limited) lot.

Buying from lot as in a super market where often you have to compromise on what you want otherwise they don't have in the color, with that option, etc - no thanks. I am spending a huge amount of money, I want it exactly as I wish.

With Gen4, if they didn't loose almost 2 weeks to deliver it to me because of the ProTect body paint sealant they had to apply (which seems to be working really well BTW), it would have taken 2.5 months. Which is quite fast, considering also the 2 stops that Toyota suffered due to an earthquake and supplier issues due to an accident.

I read on the Toyota Germany FB page though, of customers that need to wait for the RAV Hybrid until November....

 

If it is identified in the Toyota system to be built, it is most likely 3 months until delivery date.

I ordered the Advanced Technology in Blizzard Pearl on April 21 with the dealer, which they put into the Toyota system first week of May. The car arrived in dealer on July 12. This is in Canada at West Coast.

I emailed the sales manager bi-weekly for an update. Apparently Toyota dealers in Canada do not have access to real time production information in Japan and the system in Canada is not updated very frequent for Prius. In May and June, the system only says "June Production". The last day of June, the system then displayed the estimated arrival date of July 15. The sale manager said that typically they would have more real time information if the car is built in North America.

I guess the supply chain systems in Japan and Canada does not really talk to each other.

 

EU and Japan systems also don't talk to each other. My sales manager said he only knows if a car is available to delivery, when it hits EU by ship, or after it leaves Japan (on the ship). But nothing before that.