I know most people feel it's safe (and it is) because everything is refundable, but there is no telling how long that wait time is... We don't even have a release date yet... Not only that but your money is not making interest while sitting in Toyota's piggy bank...
The interest is a small deal, but more to the point, there is nothing solidified yet, and once again we're lucky we're talking Scion because in most cases, you just lost all your haggle room... Pre orders make it hard for people to haggle right off the bat too so the premium of the car will stay high (in case of the BRZ) until the list dwindles down... No chance for anyone else to get a good price for a while...
However, I personally never even haggle or shop when I buy Toyota... I just go Google the local dealers all up, email them all the same message of exactly the options I want, color, transmission, etc... Then tell them to give me the out door price including tax and destination charge... I also demand my vehicle have no more than 10 miles on the odo...
I walk into the dealer with the lowest bid, buy my car... Wait...
Car comes in, I take a pic of my odo because it's awesome and never will be again... Drive with a smile
Pre orders don't hurt, I just don't see the need for it, not here to convince anyone tho cause I see why people do it, they're already dead set on it... I just don't want to deal with anything monetary until I know what I'm getting and I've driven it first... Cars are not something you get a 30 day return policy on...