I am ready to order my 2006, silver, #7 package really soon. So any advice as to this process would be appreciated?
Where are you located? When I was in the process of purchasing my Prius a little over a month ago, Package #7 seemed to be the most popular one on the lot. Had I wanted a #7, I wouldn't have had to wait at all. As it turned out, I only had to wait a few days...a week tops...for my beauty.
Check out what Consumer Reports says about new-car buying, for general advice. Beyond that, do not pay over MSRP and do not allow a dealer to insist that you accept options or upgrades that you do not want. Especially do not accept "port upgrades" or dealer add-ons. Those dealer add-ons are notoriously bad deals for you. And if you decide to buy the extended warranty, do not buy it from the dealer (big markups!) unless the dealer can match the price you can get it for here on Prius Chat. You can buy the warranty anywhere, and it is good at every dealer. If you are willing to travel, check out dealers outside your area. You may find better prices or the exact car you want. Good luck!
To add to what daniel said about the extended warranty, you don't have to get it the day you buy the car. You have until your 3/36 regular is about to expire, which gives a chance to think about it.
A few more things: 1. Play dealers off each other - they rarely talk to each other, so use that to get them to drop and add-ons, like Lojack, paint protection, etc. 2. Find out how their allocation works - first come, first served...waiting list, etc. You need to know how to get to the front of the line. Most dealers have a specific day each week where they get to pick from what Toyota has available (which also depends on how many they are allocated...mostly from their past sales numbers). So a larger dealer may get more allocation, but probably has more people wanting the cars too. A smaller dealer may not get as many cars, but also may not have as many people waiting for them. NOTE- Sometimes "small" is deceiving...a smaller dealer near my home, actually has one of the largest allocations in the state because they sold a ton of them to the city before. 3. If/when they call you to say a car is there, do not hesitate...tell them you want it and get there (don't show any sign of not wanting it...just go there...if it is not what you want, you can always say no!) They have probably called several people, and the first one there gets the car! 4. Get pre-approved, so are ready to go when the car you want is available. GOODLUCK!
Located in Illinois. I liked that red also but finally made the decision to go to Silver. Not the best looking silver, in the world, but ok. Actually I said I wanted to order it and the dealer said just a minute let me check out something. They had just received one like I wanted with 2 miles!
Some dealers work that way, some don't. I was told when my car had arrived in port, and given an estimated delivery date. I was told when it arrived on the lot, and told when it would probably be prepped and ready to go. I did go right over when it was ready, because I was in a hurry to get it after 2 months of waiting. But that car was mine unless I refused it. Honest dealers work this way.
That is correct, allocation is a strange thing and doesn't always run on logic or appearance alone. I'd like to add that if a dealer has good relations with their regional rep they can usually pull packages and color combinations from outside of region to make a sale. Yep, 2 miles on the odo is about the total distance from off the car line, to the ship and then from the ship to a car carrier. Very nicely done to get one that nobody has driven around the block 10 times.
