noderat

I ordered a IIP Scion xA 5spd Manual with the airbags about six weeks ago, the salesman said that they would keep me informed of what was going on. About a week later my parents decided they wanted their own new car and went to the same salesmen and asked him to get them a Blizzard White RAV4 (Rare color). So both of us have rare cars, only the salesman gets a larger % out of my parents car, from what I understand. That is when the hell started.

I was told that I would be informed when my car showed up on their allocation list and it would take two weeks. So I waited. Three weeks later I had heard nothing from my salesman so I decided to give him a call. He claimed that he didn't see it on the allocation list and that his list was "old" so he'd let me know when it showed up on the list. he did say that my "timetable" of four to six weeks was still good though. So I waited some more. All the while I was waiting without my salesman ever calling me once he was dealing with my parents and their car.

It's been six weeks now and since I work late (noon-9) and my salesman is only at the dealership from 2:30-8:30 I haven't had a chance to call and _____. I have received not a single phone call though - nothing. My salesman hasn't tried to directly contact me whatsoever. The ONLY time that I have heard any information was through my parents when they told him they weren't going to get their car until he talked to them about my car.

I received my first phone call today after my parents demanded that our salesman call me. Apparently the dealership received a IIP 5spd Manual xA but it was without airbags. What the hell? The way the salesman explained it to me was that I was custom ordering one that was built for me! Did my salesman drop the ball again? I put $500 cash down on this car and I have nothing to show for it but frustration. He said that it wasn't their fault, it was Japan's and that they have limited access to systems and yak yak. He then asked if I could be flexible on colors so that they might be able to get one in in a couple of days for me.

I've spent six weeks waiting for my IIP xA, my current car ('92 Geo Prizm) is dying and is likely on it's last week. What the hell is going on here? The only other color that I think I could see would be Flint Mica... but it's not what I had my heart set on.

jwaggz82

iTrader: (1)

its sad when you get people that just dont care. Some salesmen are out to make money and will give you the normal BS. I had a few guys say that they wanted to make sure I was happy (right to my face) .... and turned out I was talking to their boss a week later because they didnt have a clue what was going on.

I just reciently found a few other dealers around me that really were ontop of things. Its too bad the one I went to first had a whole bunch of BS and nothing to show for. I guess thats why I just spent a bunch of money at the other dealers and not them.

Sucks when you dont know what you are up against when you first get car (or before you get the car) ...but ive told everybody i know how bad my dealer was so atleast a few people that are interested in toyota will never go there. Keep up the crummy work guys. I know you dont care because there are other suckers going into the dealeships all the time not knowing how bad you are but ya deff are losing money because of it.

highhobbiescom

pull out if you can, go to another dealer, other ones will get you the car within a week.

noderat

I called the only other local Scion dealer just a few minutes ago and they said that it could be anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks to get the car and configuration I want. Damnit, I want my car. Maybe i'll get it without the airbags.

qualityscion

Here in the Southeast region which is 5 states(FL,GA,AL,NC,SC), we will get a blue xA with bags in manual once every 3 or 4 allocation which is every 6 to 8 weeks. This car is for 116 dealers to choose from. We sell the most Scions in the USA down here. Six to 12 weeks does not sound to out of place. Your dealer should have let you know that up front. He could also if has not put it into a special order status with Scion so they would get it allocated directly to them when it showed up in the allocations of Scions. If you want to get it alot quicker, I would ditch the bags. For us down here 25% of all xA's are manual, of the 25%, 5% have bags and of the 15% are blue. That said, if 200 xA's were allocated, 50 would be manual trans, 2.5 would have bags, .37 would be in blue. This is every 2 week alocation.

Hope this helps...!!!!

PS Just check on locate for any color manual xA with bags for our region , there are only 2.

mdtjr

I got lucky, they had the color and side air bag option we wantedat Kerny Mesa scion.

I didn't want to wait either. BTW, the salesman at another Scion dealer lied to me and said there was "no Xa within 200 miles with side air bags."

jwaggz82

iTrader: (1)

if its hard to get and they arent giving you the runaround then wait it out a few more weeks. I waited for the airbags in my car because it seemed like it was the right thing to do. I know when I got mine over a year ago, a tC w/ airbags, and a manual - was a hard combo to get.

mdtjr

One thing to remember is it's made in japan.

Kahuna

Dealing with dealerships is very fustrating. Mine took about 3 weeks from the time I said go to keys in hand. Hope you get some good news soon!

Arakel

I realise waiting for a car can be frustrating, but the public at large need to take a reality check on this issue.

If you order items from online stores - for example, a book - these can still take in excess of four weeks to arrive on your doorstep. And this is an item which can be put into an envelope and mailed to you!

Obviously, you can't do that with a car. In the case of Scion vehicles, they have to be shipped from Japan on a boat. This all takes time.

5spd vehicles are no longer produced in any large numbers, since by and large the US public doesn't want them. Furthermore, the majority of xAs are produced without the side-curtain package. On top of that, you want one colour, and one colour only.

This makes finding your vehicle very, very tricky indeed. Unless you are lucky enough to find exactly what you want on the lot, you'll almost certainly have a wait on your hands.

Dealers make no money until the car is delivered, so they want to get you your vehicle as soon as they can. Granted, your salesperson could contact you more - but all he is going to tell you is that they don't know when the car will be in. This is NOT the dealer's fault, it is just how the Toyota production system works.

Best thing I can advise is for you is to be patient. If someone had ordered a 5spd S/C xA from me, I'd have told them it would be a while - because the chances of one lying around anywhere are next to zero.

I hope your car turns up for you soon - sit tight, and it'll appear. Believe it or not, 6 weeks isn't all THAT long to have to wait if you have to go to the factory to get the car.

istSportsM

I hear your pain man. At least we know we are not alone here in FL. We got a really bad dealer here too, David Maus Toyota. Its kind of shady too and I would not recomend it to nobody. They tried to trick my Mom like that two times and then a neighbor. The sales people there are some of the worst in this area. One of them even said to us "we need to pay our rent and the new car monthly payment too you know..." And he does not even drive a Toyota, he showed us his car. Like we wanted to see it. So hang in there man...

noderat

The thing that bugs me was that they way my salesman explained it was that I was actually "ordering" my car. Not just putting my name on a list for a specific type. And then I was ignored completely and treated without any respect. They shouldn't have lied about the allocation process and they should have kept me updated about what was going on, not my parents. I'm buying the car with my, and only my, money and my parents just happen to be getting a car at the same time.

It looks like I'll be getting the IIP xA without the side air bags. If anything, I may see another 07 xA later on with side airbags that I'll trade in for. We'll see!

oldmanatee

I hate that you have been given the run around on your car, bro.

I don't know why the salesman can't just call you every week with an update, good or bad....He has your money, he has your business, ignoring you is a good way to loose both.

jeffrgunn23

For the record all salesmen are out to make money! Any car salesman who says they don't do it for the money is lying. I don't sell cars 60+ hours a week because I feel I am doing this for the good of the community. I do however realize as your salesperson should that keeping a customer happy is what will in turn make me more money in the long run. I know it can be frustrating when you want your car and it takes longer than expected, but if the salesperson handels it right it makes it a little easier. A call every couple of days to say, I just want you to know that I'm still trying to get your car goes a long way in the customers eyes. Sorry you got stuck with a bad salesperson. I hope it works out for you in the end.

noderat

Update: Well my car minus side airbags will be here in seven to ten days. This is after he told me he could have it by Wednesday when we talked on the phone Saturday. I'm sick of all of the bull____ that I'm being given. I'm going to have to get out of there with a little something extra - floor mats or something.

rmccormi

Personally, i wouldn't settle.... like you said your paying for YOUR car with YOUR money and if you want airbags, then goddamnit they gotta give you your airbags, don't let them get your money out of you and your not getting everything you want out of your car, if they can't give you your car with the airbags you want, then you can't pay them the price their asking for it......period.

Psyco565

My xA has the side airbags and they have given me nothing but trouble when it came to modding the hell outta my car. Firstly Katzkin makes leather seats for only the ones without air bags and when it came to taking the C pillars off the inside they were bolted on and had to be cut.... I dont really see a need for air bags in the first place, not even the driver and passenger ones. Gah the passenger one is poop as well I wanted to put a TV there but noooo...

jwaggz82

iTrader: (1)

depends what you want - do you want leather seats ..or do you want more safety.

oldmanatee

I'll take the leather seats...

champagne_supernova

THe way Scions work is this. The factory makes a set number of cars in specific colors and configurations. These cars are then "allocated" to dealers depending on what requests they have made and how their sales have been. You don't get to "order" a car, have it built specifically for you, and have it ship right to your dealer. Your dealer records your preference, puts it in the request pool, and hopes he gets one allocated on the next cut. Your chances on this are entirely influenced by how picky you are- a manual with side airbags in a specific color basically guaranteed that unless your salesguy wins in vegas alot, his chances of getting it immediately were not great.

Even if he did get allocated "your" car on his first shot, that car will roll into the dealership 4 weeks later. It wouldn't show up tomorrow, so his 6 week estimate was to get one cut on the next allocation, then wait for it to come in. Twelve weeks at this time of year (peak buying season is late spring to mid summer, and longer this year because of gas prices) is realistic for this car.

As an aside, side airbags are not safer for all drivers. They are more dangerous for shorter people like me, as an airbag coming sideways and down at my head (I'm 5' tall) would likely break my neck. So I too would prefer leather seats over curtain airbags.