I'm going to give y'all information about the process we go through to "order" a car. This will help you understand what we go through and I'll follow up with tips on how to work the system to ensure you get your car.

Every month, we get a "TVO Book." This is just a list of what cars are being delivered to our region the following month. It breaks things down by transmission, equipment and colors. For instance, in the Central Atlantic Region (CAT), we are getting 475 Scion tCs in the August order (delivery between late August to mid-September). Of those, 189 are manual. Of the 189 manual, 47 will have side air bags. Of those, 10 will be flint mica. So if you are looking for a flint mica manual with side air bags, you know that only 10 cars will be delivered to a region with over 100 dealerships. The chances of the dealerships you are at getting one of these as a random occurrence is pretty slim.

Twice a month, we get an allocation of cars. Based on the size of the dealership, we are given a certain number of cars. We don't know ahead of time exactly how many we will get each time. The allocations are generally on the 1st and 16th of the month, depending on where weekends fall. Allocations are never cut on Saturday or Sunday.

Prior to the allocation coming out, each dealership can tell Toyota their preferences. Its called a preference bank. We can tell Toyota that as long as we are getting a bunch of cars, there are certain configurations we would prefer. The higher up on the preference list we put a car, the more likely we are to get it. We are NEVER guaranteed to get a car on our preference list.

The morning after the allocation, we are sent a fax of the cars we got. We are told the color, equipment and transmission, as well as the day the car is due into the port. From that list, we assign the sold units to the customers from whom we have orders. Those sold units are locked in stone. Two days later, the new allocation hits our communication system called Dealer Daily. At that point, we can see what other dealerships received, except for the units they put in reserve for sold units.

This is when we start calling other dealerships to make trades. If I have an order for a car that I didn't get, I might be able to find a dealership who did get it and is willing to swap. This is a time consuming process and relies on personal relationships with other inventory managers. Its very hit or miss.

So what can a consumer do to increase his/her chances of getting a car sooner, rather than later? Find a dealership who is willing to discuss this openly with you. If asked by a potential customer, I will show them a list of my orders, along with my list of incoming units. I will also add a car to my preference bank while they sit in my office. Most dealers are not set up to allow this, but some are. If your dealer can't do this, just make sure to follow up with the sales manager just after the 1st or 16th to see how the allocation went. Ordering just prior to the allocations also helps because it keeps everything fresh in mind.

Another thing you can do is have more than one color request. If you must have white, you'll get it eventually. If you tell the dealership you'll take white, black or black cherry, you've nearly tripled your chances of getting the car sooner. To put this into hard numbers, here in the CAT region, there are 17 white manual transmission tCs coming without side air bags. There are 11 in black and 17 in BCP. There are also 32 flint, 36 silver and 18 indigo. Obviously, if you want flint or silver, you have a better shot than if you stick with white.

Are you getting the picture? If you order today, there is an allocation on Monday night and by Tuesday morning, the dealer will know if your car is inbound. If they didn't they have to make a bunch of calls later in the week. That process can slide into the following week. If no other dealership will give the car up, they have to wait until the 16th to try again. They can't tell you anything further until then.

I hope this helps you understand what is happening at your dealerships.

Good description for sure.

Cliffy1
I want to personally thank you for the great explination.
I am sure that this will help everyone out that wants to order a car, or has ordered a car.

We were told that my girlfriends BCP tc will be in between yesterday and Wednesday. It's coming to Kingsport Toyota in Kingsport, Tn

wow thanks alot! i love to know wot happens behind the scenes, was offered a job at a dodge dealer but i turned it down because of how far away it was from me... if there's anything else you've got the time to explain about anything please feel free! thanks alot! :D

Great info! Thanks!

The morning after the allocation, we are sent a fax of the cars we got. We are told the color, equipment and transmission, as well as the day the car is due into the port. From that list, we assign the sold units to the customers from whom we have orders. Those sold units are locked in stone. .

Cliffy1

Very helpful.

Quick follow-up question. It looks like your dealership locks an order in stone after allocation is received.

Although it is a rare event (I think) I have heard that some dealers may take an alocated vehicle that was assigned to customer "A" and re-assign it later to maybe the General Manager's best friend or something like that even though GM friend placed their order later than customer "A". I went on to hear that until the car is physically delivered to a customer the order is simply a request for a vehicle, no guarantee until it is delivered.

Have you seen or heard of this happening?

Although it is a rare event (I think) I have heard that some dealers may take an alocated vehicle that was assigned to customer "A" and re-assign it later to maybe the General Manager's best friend or something like that even though GM friend placed their order later than customer "A". I went on to hear that until the car is physically delivered to a customer the order is simply a request for a vehicle, no guarantee until it is delivered.

Have you seen or heard of this happening?

Certainly possible. Most GMs are smarter than to do this, but I'm sure it happens. Our GM actually bought one himself and he had to wait like everybody else did. He also paid the same as everybody else.

Just a bump so the weekday crowd has a good read.

Thanks for the info, Cliffy1. I had been planning on a test drive on the 30th just because it fit into my schedule; as it turns out, it was a good day to order. I hope to hear from my dealer sometime this week.

The morning after the allocation, we are sent a fax of the cars we got. We are told the color, equipment and transmission, as well as the day the car is due into the port. From that list, we assign the sold units to the customers from whom we have orders. Those sold units are locked in stone. .

Cliffy1

Very helpful.

Quick follow-up question. It looks like your dealership locks an order in stone after allocation is received.

Although it is a rare event (I think) I have heard that some dealers may take an alocated vehicle that was assigned to customer "A" and re-assign it later to maybe the General Manager's best friend or something like that even though GM friend placed their order later than customer "A". I went on to hear that until the car is physically delivered to a customer the order is simply a request for a vehicle, no guarantee until it is delivered.

Have you seen or heard of this happening?

My personal opinion. If something like that was to happen. The dealership does not have the integraty that it should. I have a best friend of the GSM that has ordered a car and he has ask me to get one right away. I told him that she has to wait until I fill the orders of the other people ahead of her first.

Great post, Cliffy. For us NON-salespeople, you took the mystery of how/when/priority the tCs are getting to the dealers.

Kevin

I thought a stork brought tC's :(

Good job~ Maybe this should be a "sticky"

Good job~ Maybe this should be a "sticky"

I second that! :D

Thanks for the info; even though I already have my tC for a little over a week, I still appreciate this info greatly. Now if ALL scion dealers were like this.... But it good to know that dealers are moving in this direction in terms of philosophy and customer care.

Good job~ Maybe this should be a "sticky"

Done. It should probably go into the FAQ, but it's a sticky for now...

George

Hey Cliffy, since the 1st of August was over the weekend, does this mean that all the delaerships are getting their allocations today? So when should I expect my dealer to know his next batch of cars?

Yup... allocation is tonight (8/2/04). Your dealership should be getting a fairly constant stream of tCs but the cars they get today were allocated a few weeks ago. What is allocated tonight will be here in late August to early September.

Yup... allocation is tonight (8/2/04). Your dealership should be getting a fairly constant stream of tCs but the cars they get today were allocated a few weeks ago. What is allocated tonight will be here in late August to early September.

my dealer here in michigan said that they got a call from their toyota field rep and that field rep told them that they had a car available to fill a request for a customer.. that car turned out to be what i was looking for.. so the inventory buyer told the field rep that "yes we have a customer that wants that, send us that".. the dealer said the car had left the port in japan and didn't have the vin and they wouldn't know it until it reached the US port.. which would be about a week..

now here's my question.. is this out of the ordinary? since your post was the normal channel.. how different is my order?? does this happen? let me know..

Its out of the ordinary, but not rare. That's called a hand allocated unit and is normally a reward for the dealer.

cool.. thanks for the info cliffy1.. keep up the good work! :D

I'm in NJ, with a deposit on a tC at Gateway Toyota in Toms River. I put the deposit down yesterday (8/3), and he told me all their allocated ones from the 2nd were sold already.. the color I want is an automatic Flint Mica (no, I'm not going to settle for anything else, so I realize it might take awhile). Front your breakdown it seems like Flint Mica is a more common color; any idea what the chances are that my Toyota dealership might manage to get one allocated on the 16th?

I've been waiting for four weeks for a Flint, didn'tr get allocated on the 2nd, good luck

This was a SMALL allocation. I only got three tCs off it and only one matched my 4 outstanding orders. I'm hoping the mid-month is bigger.

Whatabout the baby blue Azure Pearl color... I put a deposit on one, and thats supposedly due in Mid August... are those rare?

I am so gald that I read this but wish I would have seen it earlier! This what was what my first dealer said to get me to purchase it..."2 -3 weeks" they were only recieving 1 tC at the time and tried to "change it to my specs"...

but I found my specs on another lot sitting there waiting for me! I will have it on Monday! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

jenifer

Azure blue is very hard to get. Of the 475 tCs being ordered for August, only 38 are Azure blue. That includes 23 automatic and 15 manual.

One other point here... earlier today, I indicated that I had received only 3 cars in the allocation but only one of them met my preference order. In a 2 hour span, I was able to contact several dealers and swapped the two "spares" for sold units. It doesn't always happen that fast, but it can. This is especially true a day or so after the allocation hits to computer. The moral of this is... even if the dealership doesn't get your car allocated doesn't mean he can't get it eventually. It just takes work and patience.

Question:

I ordered monday (before the allocation). Called dealer Wed. afternoon to get an update, to see if my order which he preferenced was in that allocation. He said, he didn't know, hadn't checked his system. "Don't worry about it", I was told, he'd check the mid-month allocation and if it wasn't there then he'd start trying to dealer trade.

The attitude is very...relaxed. While I DID order it knowing upfront that he said it would take 4-5 weeks, am I just being impatient for expecting him to be a LITTLE more hands-on than this, or is this a fairly typical treatment since allocation is complicated?

If I'm asking in the wrong place please direct me to a more appropriate one!

Thanks for your advice.
(seekign indigo ink 5-speed tc , stock)

Its normal for a salesman to be unaware of what is in the preference bank. There are even managers who don't have access to this. Many dealerships have an inventory manager (also called a DXer or dealer exchange manager) who handles all of this. In some stores, the DXer is VERY provincial and doesn't allow anybody to tell him/her what to do. The rest of the dealership is expected to let him/her get the cars without too many questions. Its unfortunate, but this happens. In most cases, they really do pull through, but it can be disconcerting.

Its normal for a salesman to be unaware of what is in the preference bank. There are even managers who don't have access to this. Many dealerships have an inventory manager (also called a DXer or dealer exchange manager) who handles all of this. In some stores, the DXer is VERY provincial and doesn't allow anybody to tell him/her what to do. The rest of the dealership is expected to let him/her get the cars without too many questions. Its unfortunate, but this happens. In most cases, they really do pull through, but it can be disconcerting.

I just realized youre in Springfield VA... I wanted to buy a Scion, and Tyson's is taking forever and a day... AND they aren't getting one with the side airbags... if you have a moment, Im interested in an Azure Pearl Manual with Side Airbags, the TRD exhaust, and the amber interior LEDs.

Shoot me an e-mail at sclifford@kjtoyota.com. I can order it, but just keep in mind the scarcity. There are only 4 of that color and equipment being shipped to all of CAT in the August order. That represents 4 out of 475 cars to be distributed among more than 100 dealers. I would only be able to promise I would make every effort. I would not promise any specific time-frame.

If you want to stop by, I'd be glad to show you the TVO and our preference bank. That might help you decide if you really are willing to wait or can accept compromise.

So the next allotment will be next Monday? I hope it's decently sized.. the dealership I'm waiting for my car from got 5 or 6 from the previous one on the 2nd..

Yes. Monday night is the allocation, although we may not see the actual results until Wednesday. I only got 3 on the last one and I've got 6 unfilled tC orders. I hope this one is bigger than the last.

Wait, I've been thinking and one question.. when I first started with this whole tC thing a month ago, the guy I was dealing with at the dealership made it sound like on the allotment days you could see a bank of what was out there and then grab from it, and one time he told me "there were two tC's out there available this morning to get, but I think they're gone before you even got here after you called".

I haven't inquired again how it works, but as I said, I know he said he had 5 or 6 tC's coming in (He says 4 are silver.. is that strange? heh). But is it something you get to choose, or is it just here's what you're getting this week, figure out how to sell them?

We don't get to choose. We are told what is coming to the region and can tell Toyota what our preference is, but that's it. We can also do "locates", meaning we can see what other dealerships are getting and try to arrange a trade with them.

Good job~ Maybe this should be a "sticky"

Done. It should probably go into the FAQ, but it's a sticky for now...

George

added. :D

Keep us updated on how the next allocation goes :)

Ok I have a question. I ordered my tC on August 8th. The dealer said that they get an allocation on the 15th. He stated that he knows they would get 15 cars. 10 would already be taken leaving 5 that would go to people who put down depostis (like me). So my question is how long will it take to get those 15 cars to come to port? Whats an average amount of days you think?

Well cliffy can probably answer better than me but I believe the dealer knows what ares are IN port, and call you when they are actually at the port, right? If the last allocation was on Monday the 2nd, and it looks like my dealer got his allotment in this past Wed/Thurs that means it took a little over a week for the cars to go from Port Newark, NJ down to Toms River, NJ (about an hour drive). Obviously they have to be checked in and it sounds like things installed in them at port before they leave.

interesting........

Hmmm.... I'm in the SE area (Miami), amd I ordered and put down a deposit on the 6th with a promise to get a car or my money back within 3 weeks.. The dealer called me today, and told me that he would know whether he'd have the car for me by this Friday, the 20th, but shouldn't he know before if this is all true? Am I getting swung around here by my dealer, or is all this normal?

Ok I have a question. I ordered my tC on August 8th. The dealer said that they get an allocation on the 15th. He stated that he knows they would get 15 cars. 10 would already be taken leaving 5 that would go to people who put down depostis (like me). So my question is how long will it take to get those 15 cars to come to port? Whats an average amount of days you think?

I've been on vacation so sorry about the delay in answering. First, there is no way your dealer knows the exact number of cars he is getting before the allocation. It doesn't work like that. Next, when a car is allocated, we are told the date that it will hit the port. It is generally 2 to 3 weeks after its allocated, although it can be less.

I hope you have more information from the dealer by now. The allocation was Monday night and everything should be sorted out by now... unless the Scion manager was on vacation in which case he's still trying to unburry himself from the flood of garbage left for him.

Hmmm.... I'm in the SE area (Miami), amd I ordered and put down a deposit on the 6th with a promise to get a car or my money back within 3 weeks.. The dealer called me today, and told me that he would know whether he'd have the car for me by this Friday, the 20th, but shouldn't he know before if this is all true? Am I getting swung around here by my dealer, or is all this normal?

Again, apologies for the tardy reply. Your dealership is doing someting called "underpromising", which is a good thing. He likely knew by Wednesday, but its always good to hedge by a couple of days to keep yourself safe. Have you heard back from him yet?

We don't get to choose. We are told what is coming to the region and can tell Toyota what our preference is, but that's it. We can also do "locates", meaning we can see what other dealerships are getting and try to arrange a trade with them.

Which is also a good reason for _buyers_ to do a diligent search of dealers on their own.

I've found some dealers to be less-than-forthcoming about the availability of the desired vehicle if they think that they can talk me into buying a vehicle they already have in stock.

It's a lot easier to go directly to the dealer that has the car you want than it is to get another dealer to trade with them. Your car will also get handled less.

It's too bad that Scion doesn't have an on-line method of searching dealer inventories like Honda has. Honda's system isn't perfect, but it let me find the exact car (actually, three of them!) I was interested in after our local dealer told me "there aren't any in the state". This also told volumes about the honesty of our local dealer!

Is the practice of requesting what cars you'd like to have common?

I'm up to 3 weeks now on my Flint Mica automatic, (of course that's only one allocation, so it isn't too bad). When I last talked to my salesperson last week after the allocation he told me that "my car wasn't on the allocation" but he "would get my Flint Mica tC, it will just be a little while".

He has never given me any specific timeframe to get it.. and I'm just hoping he's actively trying to get it, not just sitting there and hoping it appears on the next allocation list. He seems like he's on the ball, but who knows..

The preference request system is standard for Toyota. It isn't perfect, but tis what we have to work with.

Maybe it would help to describe a real world scenerio. This is what I'm going through right now:

I have 11 tCs in the pipeline. Ten of them have specific orders and names assigned to them. The one that is not sold is an automatic in silver. I also have 6 outstanding orders for 5 speeds that are not filled. I've tried calling every dealership I can to swap my one automatic for a 5 speed to fill an order. It isn't happening so I'll have to see what happens on the allocation on the first.

Here's the tricky part. I'll likely only get 4 or 5 tCs on this allocation and probably only one or two of them will be manual transmission. Anyone who orders an automatic has a great chance to get a car quickly, as long as they don't want azure pearl. Those ordering the 5 speeds are a bit hosed. The orders I have are for azure, indigo and black. Those are low production colors so I may or may not get one to fill even a single order.

Now what? Well, as long as I have a 5 speed to trade, I'll likely be able to make a swap to fill an order. Once I trade out the 5 speeds, I'm pretty much done.

I do my best to explain the situation to customers in a respectful manner. I give them as much information as possible so they can make an informed decision. If you are picky, you'll eventually get your car. If you are flexible on color or especially transmission, you'll get it a lot faster.

Thank you for posting this.

A very great read, and very informational.

Thank you.

:)

Overall, what is the proportion of cars with side airbags? Sounds like the worst possible combination would be azure manual with side airbags. Good luck to those looking for that.

I placed my order on the 15th, and have learned that my order will be in port on 9/7 (black auto with airbags). However, when I put the deposit down, I didn't intend to commit to a color--the manager told me he didn't need to know yet, and that he'd let me know what their allocation was and then I could decide. I probably would have settled on the black, but I'm wondering, if I decide to bypass this one and perhaps wait for another allocation for a flint mica auto with airbags, how hard is it likely to be to get one with airbags? I know they had a couple of flint mica autos without airbags left over when they first notified me, but I'm pretty committed to the side curtain airbags. I'm just wondering if I do try to change it, if I'm setting myself up for an insane wait. The dealership is a giant Toyota dealership--by far the largest in this area, if that makes any difference.

I ordered my Indigo Ink 5spd a week ago, and we're not expecting it till january or february.... 3 months!! yikes!

I wish it were a tad bit faster... i'm gettin antsy

Hahaha, sounds like I'm not going to get my Azure Pearl 5-speed with SAB in 3 weeks like I was told. *sigh* Oh well, I'm patient. That Azure Pearl is the BOMB, I don't want to flex on that or the manual gearbox. Tired of driving slushboxes.

thank you cliffy1!! you rock!!!
I call to ask if he could get a xb blue for me and get it to seattle. he said that he could not do it but looked in the computer and gave me the names of the dealers who had xb in blue and is a auto(it's for mum) could not get one from them but will look some more or just order one. if i was a day or two away i would have fly out and pick it up from cliffy!!!

Just thought I'd bump this to the top. I've had a few questions about this recently.

Bump...for very useful information that I found hard to find! Thx cliffy.

Twice a month, we get an allocation of cars. Based on the size of the dealership, we are given a certain number of cars. We don't know ahead of time exactly how many we will get each time. The allocations are generally on the 1st and 16th of the month, depending on where weekends fall. Allocations are never cut on Saturday or Sunday.

Prior to the allocation coming out, each dealership can tell Toyota their preferences. Its called a preference bank. We can tell Toyota that as long as we are getting a bunch of cars, there are certain configurations we would prefer. The higher up on the preference list we put a car, the more likely we are to get it. We are NEVER guaranteed to get a car on our preference list.

The morning after the allocation, we are sent a fax of the cars we got. We are told the color, equipment and transmission, as well as the day the car is due into the port. From that list, we assign the sold units to the customers from whom we have orders. Those sold units are locked in stone. Two days later, the new allocation hits our communication system called Dealer Daily. At that point, we can see what other dealerships received, except for the units they put in reserve for sold units.

This is when we start calling other dealerships to make trades. If I have an order for a car that I didn't get, I might be able to find a dealership who did get it and is willing to swap. This is a time consuming process and relies on personal relationships with other inventory managers. Its very hit or miss.

So what can a consumer do to increase his/her chances of getting a car sooner, rather than later? Find a dealership who is willing to discuss this openly with you. If asked by a potential customer, I will show them a list of my orders, along with my list of incoming units. I will also add a car to my preference bank while they sit in my office. Most dealers are not set up to allow this, but some are. If your dealer can't do this, just make sure to follow up with the sales manager just after the 1st or 16th to see how the allocation went. Ordering just prior to the allocations also helps because it keeps everything fresh in mind.

Another thing you can do is have more than one color request. If you must have white, you'll get it eventually. If you tell the dealership you'll take white, black or black cherry, you've nearly tripled your chances of getting the car sooner. To put this into hard numbers, here in the CAT region, there are 17 white manual transmission tCs coming without side air bags. There are 11 in black and 17 in BCP. There are also 32 flint, 36 silver and 18 indigo. Obviously, if you want flint or silver, you have a better shot than if you stick with white.




I would like to get an automatic xb, but undecided on color.
what is hardest and easiest to get for colors on a scion xb with automatic transmission?
I was thinking of black cherry or blue or camouflage, are any of those colors hard or easy to get?
I live in Ohio.

Right now, they are all pretty tight. The September order is fairly small for the xB and demand is extremely high due to the current gas prices. For the Central Atlantic Region, there are only 222 xBs coming with the automatic transmission. Of those, 19% are white, 14% thunder cloud, 19% black, 18% black cherry, 13% camo and 18% blue onyx.

By having three acceptible colors, you make things much easier on everybody. As long as all three of these really ore OK with you, you shouldn't have any problem finding one.

Man 'O Man, never knew the order process was that complicated. The whole time I thought you just placed an order and it shows up in a few weeks.

I guess I just got lucky, my order was very uneventfull (a good thing).

I'm in NJ, ordered a Flint Mica, 5-spd, Ped-spoiler from Julio Izquierdo at East Coast Scion-Toyota. Julio said, 2-4 weeks. I walked in cash in hand, and didn't want to pay a downpayment for the order, they were cool with that. There was no discussion about alternate colors and whatnot, he just said "I'll pull some strings, and if you don't buy it, I can sell it quick anyway."

I had a VIN # in 10 days, car in 13.

So if you need a Scion tC in NJ, CALL JULIO!

times are changing, so does the allocation process and depending on what zone/region you are in.. Since This was posted in 2004 and its now 2006 there are ways to get information prior 2 an allocation!