Searching Inventory in the SE
 

Hey all,

Has anyone gone to a dealer website and searched through their "inventory" that lists all the cars within the SE region? I've been doing this and finally found a few cars that match what I'm looking for, but I can't figure out where the hell they're located (other than somewhere in the southeast). Dealers have refused to divulge the specific location of the cars; instead they try to convince me that the Argento AT @ $29,000 on their lot is what I'm really looking for.

What's the best way to get this info? The last few digits of the VIN is listed, along with color, options, transmission, and price - but nothing about which dealership currently has the car. I thought about calling the regional manager, but I can't find that person and Scion/dealers won't give it to me either.

I know my car is sitting somewhere waiting for me, but I can't find out where exactly! Any help is much appreciated.

theres a firestorm auto here


what are u looking for

Someone here who has spoken to the regional rep (from the manufacturer) will probably PM you their contact info. Seems like this should be easy to sort out. If you know what you want, any dealer should be able to get it and sell it to you.

Thanks for your response. It really DOES seem like an easy thing to figure out, which is why it's driving me nuts. I know what I want, have found a few acceptable cars via the inventory search, but when I ask dealerships about them, the convo always goes something like this:

Me: Hi, I used your inventory search and found a car I like. [Describe car and give last few VIN digits.] I know it's somewhere in the SE, but the particular dealership isn't listed. Can you help me out?
Dealer: Oh, these cars are really rare, there are only X amount [usually 1] of the car you're looking for with those particular options in the ENTIRE REGION!!!1
Me: Um, I know...but there IS one listed - the one I just described to you. And really, I'm only in the market for one car right now, so it's actually perfect.
Dealer: Oh. Well, that dealer is not willing to trade us the car.
Me: That's OK, I'll drive to that dealership if it's within 200 or so miles.
Dealer: It's just so hard to get these, a lot of them are pre-ordered. Would you like us to pre-order one for you just the way you want? Or put you on a wait list? Or are you interested in the one we have on the lot?
Me: Possibly, but I'd like to check out the one that is available right now before ordering and waiting. Couldn't you just tell me where that car is located?
Dealer: No, Toyota/Scion will not allow me to release that information.
Me: So my only option is to directly contact the dozens of dealerships in the SE region to see which one has the car I'm looking for?
Dealer: I guess so.

A Scion rep refused to release the contact info for the regional manager.

That would drive me nuts too! You don't want a monologue about how super ultra mega fancy rare the thing is, you just want to buy that one.

Email Scion HQ "I want to buy VIN ### but the search page won't tell me what dealership to call. Please help." Surely someone will realize this is an easy fix and get you pointed in the right direction.

Edit: Better yet -- hit them up on twitter/facebook/etc and I bet they'll respond.

Good call - I'll do that. I've checked with 25 dealerships so far to find specific inventory and put it all in a spreadsheet.

I only focused on MTs, but if anyone wants to know what MTs are available within a 200-mile radius of Atlanta, I'd be glad to share the information I've compiled. Obviously, it's all subject to change quickly.

Thanks again for your help!

Have you called any Subaru places @Erroneous or is it a case of "gotta have a Scion?"

If you find your car in Nashville, we'd be happy to deliver it to Atlanta. :thumbup:

An MT is supposed to arrive at a local dealership here soon, but I'm in Tampa.. a bit more than 200 miles.

I wonder if you could call Scion's customer service center and get this information. Back in 2005, right after Hurricane Katrina, I was shopping for a MX-5. I called Mazda's customer service and told them what I was looking for. They gave me 4-5 dealers who either had the car or was going to receive it within a couple of weeks.
I called them all, negotiated the price over the phone, and bought from the dealer who offered the best price.
It was one of my easiest buying experiences ever.

Ive had almost the same experience with a local dealer. I even brought in a print out with the info I found. The best he could do is print out a similar page with another car not even close to the one Id described. (different Transmission, additional features, etc.) He gave me the "rare" speech and even told me to try out a Subaru dealer instead.

Id hate to think that we're more informed than individual dealers about the regions inventory.


Please share what you have! Ive considered checking out the Carolinas and East Tennessee area, but I havent been able to find an Ultramarine or Asphalt MT.

Sticking with Scion because the added cost of the BRZ doesn't seem worth it to me.

Haha, I bet! I envy the employees that get to deliver these cars to customers. Quite the perk!

I actually spoke with someone at Beaman Scion in Nashville - Robert Piraino. Nice guy. Still, if I can get it closer to home, that's preferable.

I did chat with a Scion rep online and asked him directly for that information but he wasn't helpful. I may try again.

I'll definitely hook you up with what I've got later this evening when I get home.

I sent an email to them and got a speedy response, the gist of it being "sorry, we can't disclose inventory info" which I kind of expected.

They suggested that I get to my local dealer and get on a wait list. Again something that I expected. But the dealers Ive been to around here dont have a clue when they'll be able to fill my order, and some have been unreasonable with their deposit requests(non-refundable).

Yeah, I was told the same thing essentially. Ditto on the deposits. Marietta Scion is $1,000 deposit, non-refundable...and no test drives. Insane.

Check your PM box...

It's what I had to do. Go page by page. :(

I noticed that the Toyota Southeast Inventory checker actually works for some dealerships, while for others it lists the entire SE region. I'm not quite sure whether the dealership has control over that listing or not. It's kind of silly that we have to resort to contacting multiple dealerships on our own time and effort.

I agree. If there is a car in stock and someone is willing to travel to get it, why not tell them where it's located?

Alas, soon this fervor will wane and with it so too shall such annoyances become a thing of the past.

That is so weird. I was told by my Toyota dealer that all the cars in the SE comes through one port. Basically, all the SE dealerships work for this one guy who bought the import business back in the 40's for $20K and is now worth over 2 billion.

I guess everyone wants to get their piece of the pie but since the volume for these are so low, who cares? If I was a dealership local to you, I'd made sure I give you great service so the rest of your family and friends would come back for all the other, more common, hot sellers.

Stupid inventory database...when I put the deposit down on my car, the availability date was 7/15. Then a few days later it shifted to 7/16. Then 7/17. Now it's at 7/18.

Yesterday I was so amped about only having 5 more days to wait. Then I woke up this morning to...5 more days to wait. So frustrating.

Pushed back to the 20th. A member here (Scion employee) confirmed that the car isn't even at port yet, so even that number is way off.

I don't know why Scion has their inventory system set up this way, but I know that in my case it convinced me to buy a car with a bunch of add-ons that I didn't want because I was told it would get here sooner than ordering my own. Honestly, I think that's bullshit.

If anyone is still searching around for one to pop up, it might be worth it to just order one how you want it, because it's going to take a while either way.

Are you sure that they are not in? I already have my vin, i thought it was delayed only a week. I was expecting delivery this Wednesday. Interesting, keep us posted.

Apparently I got a temporary VIN. You get the real one once they reach the port. If that hasn't happened yet, I doubt they get up here from Jacksonville any time soon.

Are we in the same allocation?

I'm in Tennessee, figured I would get mine after yours.

I'll definitely let you know if I hear anything.

Edit: Does Tennessee go through the Jacksonville port or somewhere else? I didn't think it was part of the SE region.

An SoA rep once told me that SE vehicles typically come from the Baltimore port.

From Wikipedia, but I think this is accurate:

Maybe different ports for Toyotas and Subarus.

Lolz, I read SoA as "Scion of America." :bonk:

Mine arrived today.

I hate you. :thumbsup:

Out of curiosity, had you been checking in on the availability date through the inventory system?

(Actually, I'm not sure the same inventory tracker is available for that region. Weird.)

Enjoy!

Mine came in through Portland, picked it up this evening amazingly beautiful.

Mine is here now, too! Of course, I can't pick it up until tomorrow. :sigh:

I wasn't expecting it until next week at the earliest, so no complaints here.

Nice! I am getting my car detailed and then coated with Optiguard on Tuesday. Will post pics to the Southeast section when it's done.

Just curious Erroneous.. If you don't mind me asking, what dealership did you eventually buy from? And how would you rate them? I might be in the market for an FR-S soon too..

Bought from Milton Martin in Gainesville, working with Chris. I got quick responses and mostly straightforward answers to all my questions. Good iverall experience.

Marietta Scion wasn't nearly as helpful.

That was the dealership I was looking at too actually. Great to hear you had a good experience there.

Did they get you the exact FR-S you specified? They didn't try to include any extra add-ons did they?

Thanks for answering all my questions. And congrats on finally getting your new FRS!

I didn't custom order...just took what was allocated to them bc it was an MT and asphalt. Had to take the tint, BeSpoke, carpet, and useless paint protection film. Got it close to MSRP (I know they made money in those add-ons but I was cool with that).

If you want, contact Chris Maughon and tell him Jeremy sent you. I think he'll be straight with you.