Thanks for all the helpful tips!

<Be wary of dealers that claim MSRP but add worthless accessories to inflate the price. If they happen to have any cars on the lot, take a look at them to see if they've added any crap to them.>

CGameProgrammer, I've talked to a couple of dealers that add chrome wheels and then add $2500 to the MSRP. They can claim that they are not selling above MSRP, but they also will not remove the chrome wheels. If I recall correctly, the Puente Hills and Huntington Beach dealers are doing this. Carson Toyota flat out told me that they mark their TCHs $3000. They had the exact car I wanted, but I won't give them my business.

<I bought a Sienna several years ago when they were really hot and most dealers were marking them up above MSRP. Bought mine from South Bay Toyota at MSRP. Recommend you check them out. Ask to see Tina (Fleet Manager). The General Manager is Nick and he says they will not go above MSRP.>

H2O Doctor, I talked to someone named Duron yesterday. He told me that they sell theirs at MSRP. Hopefully he has good news for me this Wed/Thurs. Thanks for the names! I'll be asking for them.

<Your best bet is simply go down the list. I have been told that they are currently getting allocations of about 2 TCH each week depending on the dealer. But the thing is that they don't know exactly what color or options are on the car until it acutally arrives on the truck. Also the best days to call are Wendesdays and Fridays. That is when they usually get the new allocations of TCH's.
Be persistent and firm, personally I wouldn't put down a 500 deposit on something I don't even know when I am going to receive it. Take the best deal and don't ever purchase something you are pressured into. The most important thing is that you are happy with your choice.>

mak, thanks for the lists of dealers. Didn't think of calling Family Toyota (did nt know about this dealership). Also gave Toyota of Long Beach a call and left a message.

I was hesitant about the deposit, but I was assured that if I don't purchase it from them that I will get my money back. Power Toyota is a pretty big dealership so I hope they don't pull these tricks.

 

I got mine from Longo Toyota - at MSRP, I put myself on the waiting list back in February when they announced the car, with the understanding that I can get it back. They are one of the largest dealers in SoCal, so they don't pull any markups or hard color to find tricks. I got what I wanted in color, and package, no more, no less.

I heard they get about 25 TCH per month, probably more than other smaller dealers. Call them and see how many they have on the waitlist ahead of you.

They are good about cars sold to people on the waitlist - when we went to go put the deposit, I asked to see a Prius, I saw it, but I couldn't test drive it, since it was already spoken for.

 

Longo is the largest auto dealership on the planet I believe. It's by far the largest Toyota store in this Hemisphere.

 

That's why there was about 50 people ahead of me when I put myself on the waitlist on May 6. Still waiting on the call.

 

Unfortunately, when I called Longo last week, I was told that I would have to wait 6-8 weeks for my TCH if I placed an order that day. By being the largest dealership, they also have a lot more customers to cater to.
By the way, I just got an email from Toyota of Huntington Beach with a price quote for a TCH with the options I want. They are selling at MSRP, but the next sentence read "Plus any dealer installed accessories". I guess that confirms the chrome wheel add on for $2500-3000 I read about before.

 

Jeff,
If you are still looking, you might want to call around. I got a couple of phone calls yesterday from dealers selling at MSRP (didn't check into this since I had already purchased one). One of the dealers was Wondries Toyota......they had a desert tan car. The other was Claremont Toyota that had a blue ribbon car coming in. I believe both were "fully loaded" as that was what I was looking for. Again, since I had already purchased a car, I did not pay as much attention as I should have to all the facts for these.

Hamer Toyota offered us a barcelona red car last weekend -- but gave us a terrible price for our trade in. Since red wasn't our first choice color and we were starting to get several calls from dealers in the area, we just walked away from that deal.

Did not have a good experience with North Hollywood Toyota.....but did have a favorable experience at Hollywood Toyota. However, Hollywood Toyota requires a $2000 deposit -- although their "list" seems shorter if you decide to get on it. As reported, Longo required $500. Rancho Santa Margarita Toyota had a long list and was $500 to get on it. I believe they told me it would take up to 3 months?

Simi Valley Toyota and Sierra Toyota in Lancaster did not seem to have lists and at least did not ask me for a deposit. No guarantees when a car would come in -- but both were willing to sell it for MSRP and seemed easy to deal with.

Valencia Frontier Toyota seemed to be adding lojack for $695 to each vehicle and did not seem to have a list. It seemed like you had to be lucky to actually get a call when the vehicle arrived.

I'll try to update this post if I get any more calls from LA area dealers that actually have a car in stock. I think I went overboard and contacted too many people in my quest to find this vehicle -- now, I'll be answering phone calls for months.

Good luck.

 

Sammi,
Yes, I am still looking to purchase and have started expanding my calls to dealers outside the LA/Long Beach area. I'm hoping to get calls back from South Bay Toyota and Toyota of Riverside as they stated that they are checking their allocation and will get back to me tomorrow.

Thanks so much for letting me know about the dealers who may have fully loaded models coming. Our first choice is Magnetic Gray, but the Desert Tan may do. I really like the Blue Ribbon Metallic, but my wife and I may get tired of the color after a while.

I will definitely give the dealers you mentioned a call in the morning.

Feel free sending me a Private Message after you get a call ! :-) Thanks again!