From the past few months of sales data, one out of every sixteen Camrys sold in the US is a hybrid. For July 2008, Toyota sold 42131 Camrys total of which 2645 were hybrids. Unless domestically built Camrys are built somewhere in addition to Georgetown, KY, the August 2008 sales of TCH should be around ~14K a 429% increase.

That would also mirror the Prius sales numbers (14785 for July).

 

FWIW, I ordered my TCH on June 28. Had to re-order it a week later as they didn't offer the exterior/interior combination I wanted and the factory rejected the order.

I took delivery this past thursday (Aug 7).

$27,235 for the upgrade package, moonroof, heated mirrors, sill enhancements and carpeted floor mats from a dealer in Suburban Philadelphia.

 

SJRING,

So it took you less than 6 weeks to get your car.

Your car did not have leather and NAV, is this correct?

At what point after your second order did you hear something about the car. It has been 4 weeks and I have not heard anything.

Thanks,
-JG

 

JG,

You are correct, no leather and no nav. After the re-order I did not hear anything until I called the dealership on Aug 1 and was told, "A week to a week and a half for delivery and they were just getting ready to send me an e-mail to that effect." Next call I got was about 1 PM on Thursday the 7th that it had just rolled off the truck that I could pick it up that night.

Turned out they Dealership had just done a system migration and their server crashed. When I showed up Thursday night, the protective plastic was still all over the body. I was able to take a test drive. Friday the server was up and down, they let me take possession with dealer tags that evening. Saturday they threw up their hands and installed a new server (I can't imagine a dealership not being able to generate sales orders on a satuday). We finally pushed the paperwork through and transferred title last night.

I had considered the nav system, as some other dealers in the area, in theory, had units with the nav sitting on their lot (at least their inventory on their website was showing those units in stock and over the time of my order they hadn't moved) but in reality, I already have a portable GPS that I'm generally happy with and saw no need to drop the extra $$.

I've drived about 150 miles so far and if the dash display is correct I'm runnung at about 34.3 MPG (that's mixed highway and city use). But I'll have to see what I'm getting after the engine breaks in.

 

Well in this area, the dealerships are not taking orders for anything less than fully loaded TCHs with leather and NAV. They only get a certain allotment of TCHs and they are all sold before they even hit the lot. They want to make sure that they get maximum profit for each vehicle, and this means leather and NAV. It wasn't a big deal for me because I was planning on getting the leather and NAV anyway.

I have uses a Garmin Novi but it has given me lots of trouble. It had a hard time acquiring signal through the windshield on my 2002 RAV4, the suction cup doesn't always hold it to the windshield, and last year my Garmin was stolen out of my car after they busted the window. For these reasons, I think the built-in NAV system is a great idea if you don't mind paying the $1,000 or so it costs.

 

Not to go too far off-topic....I'm using a Magellan Meastro (similar to what Hertz puts in some of their cars). I'm generally pretty happy with it, alhough I've had it for over a year and there have been no map updates...and it occasionally tries to send me on a street with transponder activated gate as if it were a public access street. But I do a fair amount of traveling and it;s fairly easy to throw in my briefcase and saves 10 bucks a day.

 

Well its been 5 weeks since Ive ordered by white TCH so I called the dealership last Friday to ask how much longer he thought it would be. He told be that they get allotments twice a month and I was "near the top of the list" so quite possibly I would get my car on Monday, which was the day of the next allotment. Monday came and went and no new info.

Does anyone know how allotment works? I figured once you order a car they ship the dealership one additional car. Is this not the case for the TCH? Does each dealership get the same number of TCHs regardless of how many special orders they have?

If this goes on much longer the 2010 Prius will be out and if it is truly bigger and more powerful, perhaps I will cancel my order for the TCH and order the 2010 Prius. Of course by the time that order is filled there will be a plug-in hybrid and I will have to do it all over again...

 

Yeah! I've been looking for prices and quotes all over and stumbled upon this great source:
http://www.buyingadvice.com

 

You guys are doing great compared to the fact that I have been waiting since April for my Ford Escape Hybrid and they haven't even scheduled a build date yet....

I'm convinced that Toyota CARES more about it's customers and DOESN'T play favorites with it's dealers.


Maybe it's time to start looking at buying a vehicle from a foreign company after all.

 

I still think it is better to buy American. But of course now that the Camry is made in the USA, it is not as big a deal as it has been. That being said, I feel it is more important to buy the car that is right for you because only then do the car companies make an effort to design the sort of cars people want.

The closest American alternative to the TCH is the Malibu Hybrid, and it is not available nation-wide and it is not a true hybrid so it won't see the significant fuel savings that the TCH sees. If I were to buy the Malibu over the Camry then the message to car companies would be that you don't need to worry about good millage, just through in an electric motor and I will spend thousands more to buy it.

For now, the only reasonable options for hybrid sedans are from Japanese car manufacturers, and the only model made in the USA is the Camry Hybrid.

But 08FEH, is it possible that it is your dealership that is selling your car to other customers for a "don't have to wait" premium? I have encountered a few dealerships that said the THC would take 6 months, but for the right price they could make it happen sooner. No doubt they were selling the cars other people ordered for a substantial premium and then reordering the car for the poor sap who said he would rather wait than pay the inflated price.

If you ae not interested in a hybrid sedan but want a hybrid SUV that gets good gas millage, I think the Escape is your only option as it gets much better millage than the hybrid highlander.