My first post in this forum. Dealer gave a time frame of 3-4 months. Said I was 34th on the list and that the dealership got 3-4 cars a month. I said that sounded more like 9-10 months. He said people were getting the car they ordered in 3-4 months! I went in after 10 weeks and was told that I was #24 - pulled the list up off the computer. I went in yesterday (11 weeks) to expand my color choice to include the Spectra Blue. He said, without consulting the computer, that I was now 'about # 17'. What are the odds that I'll get my car before the new Insight and 2010 Prius become available? And how long would you guess the waiting lists for those cars are going to be? Is there any way to have an informed opinion beyond mere conjecture? As you can see, I'm full of questions.
I would call around. Many dealers now have them sitting on the lot. If you can find one elsewhere that matches what you want I'd start giving your dealer a hard time. They should be able to trade for it and get it for you now, or give your deposit back and let you go buy it from the other dealer. You should also be paying less than msrp now. Some folks are getting down close to or at invoice at this point. I suppose it somewhat depends what you are looking for and how flexible you are. For example, one of my local dealers (Power Tempe Toyota) is showing 38 2009s in stock, all are listed at msrp but I'd bet they would deal. They also have 7 Camry Hybrids in stock, several are already marked $1-2k under MSRP on their website. You should check out this thread to get a better idea what others are paying: http://priuschat.com/forums/dealers-pricing/25799-how-much-you-paid-your-prius-60.html Rob
Thank you, Rob, for your reply. My inquiries to dealerships in the area up to 100 miles or so returned no replies with the color and/or package I 'ordered'. Since I'll be trading my present car, work and time constraints prevent driving it long distances, I just bit the bullet and waited. The dealer is offering top trade-in value (according to Edmunds and others). Last week I got 'the call' and my car is expected for delivery on the 26th. That'll be 19 weeks and 4 days of waiting. From all the enthusiasm at this site for the car, I'm expecting the wait to be worth it. Edmunds also indicates that people in this area are paying more than MSRP. My salesman has indicated that they will 'throw in' the floor mats at the price we agreed upon (MSRP) back in August. I've read enough here to know not to fall for any of the additional things that will be pitched at closing, so, all in all, things should go as expected. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks again for being the sole respondent to my OP.
Sorry to hear prices are so high and wait so long in your area. To give an example, Toyota Sunnyvale is advertising pack 6's at $26,888. That is about $2k off sticker price. What colors are availabe at that price, I don't know. Their pack 2's are in the mid $23k range, FWIW.
Well, the car came in early and I took delivery on the 19th. I've ignored you guys here at PriusChat while driving around including a 700+ mile Christmas trip to visit family. 1500 miles on ODO. My job requires 15 to 25 trips a day in the 5 to 6 mile range. Time is of the essence, so I accelerate more quickly than when I'm at leisure. During these I am averaging 42 - 43 mpg. On the long trip I got 49.4 with a tail wind and 45.2 into a head wind on the return. I expect these numbers to improve as things loosen up and I learn more. C'ya
Frequent short trips are economy killers. If the car is parked 5-10 minutes between trips I recommend keeping it on and manually locking the door. This will stop the ICE from running just to warm itself. Also check & increase your tp. Considering the circumstances expecting much of an improvement is unrealistic.
