true but considering the competitioin and the availability of scion dealerships, it would be stupid for one dealer to mark up if others aren't. I, like most, will happily take our business to another dealer where there isn't a mark up. And we are talking about the FR-s, there are plenty available so if someone pays a markup, they are stupid

I am not sure how your inventory is looking in NC. But I can tell you availabilty of what people want out of the gates in LA is slim and trim.
As for plenty available......

20,000 FR-s in 2013 Model. About anywhere from 150 - 200 dealers just in California. And around 1,450 in the US. Some of which aren't Scion Dealers granted. 20k units / 1,450 dealers (just to make an even average) is 13.79. too round 13.75. Or to round down 12. 12 FR-s a year / 12 months a year. 1 car a month. Thats not a lot. Heck Longo is getting 17 out of the gates! And thatd not counting First 86'ers.

Man I am lucky I am getting 4 out of the gate.

Ordering is a misconception
 

Just wanted to thrown in my two cents on car ordering.
I've been waiting for 6 weeks as of today for a Hot Lava in manual tranny. I did put $500 down, signed paperwork to trade in my 2010 Corolla and agreed to putting another $4500 toward the car to keep payments low. Now when I "ORDERED" cars in the past, I always assumed, like most I'm sure, that I was actually placing an order directly to the factory, not so. I spoke with the dealership's head manager and even contacted Scion's US headquarters to get some answers. Turns out when you "ORDER" a car you are actually put on a list of other customers who requested specific features. When your name goes on,it's first come first serve. The manufacturer decides what they're going to produce, how many they're going to produce and where they're going. If a car is not allocated to your region in the set-up you're looking for, you are S.O.L. Not to mention Toyota is producing mostly AUTOMATIC trannys for the FR-S which is beyond me. Everyone who knows about this car wants it in manual and it's obviously designed with a manual driver in mind otherwise they should have made it front wheel drive as well.
If anyone could help with tips on how to search the midwest region for this car, I would appreciate it. I live near Chicago.

WOW so many NC FRS/BRZ purchasers! I'm really on the verge of getting one atm. I have been on a test drive with one from Mike Johnson Toyota in Hickory, NC and I had a lot of fun driving it, but it was the auto and not in the color that I wanted so I had to say no. The wife also loved the car and can't wait for us to get one. When I check the list of availability, it shows that there will be 8 available at the local dealership which is just around the corner from me so I'll definitely be going over there to check it out. But that number seems really high to me and it's probably one of those things where it's available in the region and not really at my local dealership.

One of the biggest problems is that the midwest, due to it's winters, is getting a lot of automatics allocated. That's what Toyota thinks we want. Your best shot at getting a MT is to have your dealer put in a trade with another dealer, however, MT are in demand.

That doesn't give me any warm fuzzier about actually seeing my FR-S this year..."ordered" 3 weeks ago and still no VIN. Wonder if I should talk to my dealer about locating one nearby that is close to what I ordered...

UPDATE!!! As of Friday, September 7th, I finally recieved a call from my dealer and he tells me that a Hot Lava with manual transmission has finally been allocated to me and is coming straight from the factory and should be in my hands by late October, early November...uhhh, at least I'm getting what I want. @Hawaiian- I asked about a dealer trade, because I located TWO in Texas but they said I would have to pay the over $800 to ship it. I figured, I'd wait.

Or, you fly to texas, and drive your FRS home!