No, I did not get my car. I am such a horribly impatient, worry-wart person. I don't want to sit on this waiting list for weeks if my dealership isn't ever really going to get any jasper pearl TCH. This morning in another fit of car waiting insanity I spent an hour looking at the inventories of dozens of Toyota dealerships in the northeastern US. None of them had Jasper Pearl. One dealership in PA had 5 TCH listed in their inventory and, guessing that they might be the PA highest volume dealer, I called them. The very nice salesman with whom I spoke said, yes indeed he had 5 TCH, of which 2 were sold. None of them were Jasper Pearl, of course, which I knew. He told me that they are the highest volume dealer and they have not yet even seen Jasper Pearl either.

So, I called Toyota's 800 number, and they couldn't give me any info except to say that sometimes Toyota does designate a color to a specific area and it will take longer for the color to get to other areas. She said she couldn't say one way or the other whether this was the case with the TCH, because she didn't have that kind of information. She also said she has no access to the inventory information either. She said I should speak with the Customer Relations Manager at my dealership and ask her about the odds of getting the car before Sept. 30.

So, I called my dealership. First I called to talk to our salesperson, but he was with a customer, so I left a message. Then I called and asked for the Customer Relations person, but she wasn't in today since it's Saturday. Our salesperson called back. He's such a nice guy. He said, first, the gold TCH they told me about last week was still available and it was actually now on the lot (just came in today). This is the one with the moonroof. BUT, second, he talked to the guy in charge of the inventory and he says he is very sure we will get our jasper pearl TCH before Sept. 30th. BUT, if we want we can come look at the gold one and see what we think, we were more than welcome to do so.

So, we went over to look at the gold one. It was so new that it had plastic everywhere (plastic on the wheels!) and the mirrors weren't even installed. I didn't want to test drive it, just sit in it. The moonroof is nice. It does make the head room a little shorter, but I didn't feel it was too short. The bisque interior is darker than I thought it would be, which is a good thing. I just wasn't in love with it though. In fact, I think I am going to change my second choice color. It is a little too close to the color of my beige Corolla, and I think I want something different this time.

Our salesman told us that he had a bigger chip (than the one in the booklet) of the jasper pearl color we could look at. I LOVE the color. He said he would call us to come look at any jasper pearl car that comes in whether it is ours or not, just to be sure we love the color, but I don't think that will be necessary. He said that he absolutely trusts the manager who is in charge of the inventory; that if he thought we would not get the car before Sept he would tell us, and he'd tell us to pick a different color. He said at this point we don't even need to worry about a second choice. He is sure we will get jasper pearl. He will be in touch with us regularly to update us on the situation, and let us know what is going on and if we get to late summer with no car THEN we can discuss changing plans.

So, despite the fact that I could have taken the brand new gold one, I am going to wait. And I am going to TRY to be patient. I know I said that before .

BTW, gold and bisque interior is a nice combination. It *is* a pretty color. It's just not what my heart's desire is.

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And on another note... I got a quote from my insurance company today and I am not happy that there is such a price difference between the TCH and an equivalently equipped regular Camry. They are saying it's "because of the hybrid technology"... whatever. I think I'll be calling Traveler's....