I just ordered a TCH with a price of about $300 above invoice. It seems almost too good as all the other dealers I emailed quoted MSRP. I gave a deposit and they stated it would be about 8 weeks for it to come in. I am a bit worried that when it arrives they will not honor the price. Is there anything I can do to help ensure I get it at this price? They did email me an itemized quote. Thanks for any advice.

 

Insist on a VIN for the prospective vehicle.
Short of that, your deposit is a an indication of your interest in the purchase of a car, but not a firm purchase.
If you were a dealer and you had two customers waiting for a 'hot car' (meaning in demand, not stolen). One is willing to pay $300 over invoice, the other $2000 over invoice...for the exact same car, and were on allocation and had to wait a long time for the car, which one would you call when the car came in? The first person who made the deposit or the one where you are going to make the most money on?
Car dealers have been known (not sure if it's illegal or done anymore) to sit on deposits and honor more profitable ones when they are selling hot cars.
With the VIN, your car is specifically identified and can't be sold to someone else (at least, I don't believe it can).

You can negotiate a great price...but at the end of the day, without the VIN that doesn't mean you will necessarily get the car... all it means is you got a great price, someone else, with a worse price could get the car.

 

Did you do an order to get one from the factory or did you just tell the dealer what you wanted, and he said he would get it for you?

 

When i ordered my 2007 TCH they gave me what they called a "partial" or "temp" VIN number. I later found out that there is no such thing. I pretty much knew they were stalling because i had already given them a $1000 deposit and they did not know when the car would arrive. In the end, i got the price i was promised and on my birthday......that was over a week earlier than the latest date they had it scheduled to arrive. Just keep them honest.........i talked to the sales manager several times and i think that helped.

 

I did 'order' the car and did not get put on a list. He did say that if one came in unspoken for that he would give me a call to see if I was interested.

I had been talking with the Internet sales guy for the last couple of weeks. I was trying to decide between the TCH and the Prius. I 'placed' the order for the TCH yesterday (Saturday). I gave him the specifics on the car and he took my personal information. He did say that they had a meeting on Friday and the sales manager said that all the hybrids would be at MSRP now. The Internet sales guy told me he would honor the earlier quote he gave me. I asked for an email confirming the details which he did send yesterday. My concern is he will go back to the Sales Manager who will say no on the price.

Getting a VIN sounds like a great idea. How soon after placing the order should I get a VIN? If I get the VIN does that mean my price has been approved by the Sales Manager?

Sorry for all the questions but I have never ordered a car before so I am not sure how the process works and what I should get from them.

Thanks for all the advice.

Shawn

 

we ordered from the factory through a family member and it is about 3-4 month wait for one. We wont get a VIN for a while since the car does not exist yet.

 

You might ask your sales manager to contact you when the build date is. Ask if he could also provide you with the cars vin number. He should have it faxed to him after the build date. I forget exactly but I think our 2007 TCH arrived a week or so later. Depends how far you live from where it's assembled.

I always work from invoice up on my car deals. Get the lowest possible price then ask for the drive out price.

 

They should honor it.

I think the reason why some people are paying extra for a TCH is because they want (or need) one now and are purchasing one off the lot. If you were to order one (as you did) dealership should not jack up the price since they are not losing business because you took an available car out of their inventory.

You wont be able to get the vin for a while because it is not in the system until the car is nearly finished going through the build process. The dealerships can usually track the build pretty well.

My order took about 8 weeks.

 

Whether or not you got a good deal depends on if you have a trade-in and how much you're getting for your old car. However if it's a straight deal and you got an itemized quote and put down a deposit, they should honor the price. Bring a check for the full amount and pay only the amount stated. Insist that the quote be honored.

 

they can honor the quote...when there is a car available to be sold...of course, they can play games and not have the car available to be sold