'Quite frustrating': B.C. man still waiting for EV ordered in 2020
Tom Hurtig and his wife Debbie have gotten used to practicing patience. In August 2020, he placed a deposit and put his name down for a Toyota RAV4 Prime Hybrid. As of today, there's no estimated time for its arrival.
“It’s been quite frustrating with Toyota to get an answer," Hurtig told CTV News.
The dealership, Open Road Toyota Richmond says the delay is due to extraordinarily high demand and low supply.
"We understand the wait can be frustrating to customers," said general manager Ryan Snel.
"There are currently more than 40 people ahead of Tom and Debbie who are also still waiting for this same car.”
CTV News reviewed text messages between Tom and a salesperson dating back to June 2021 that say otherwise.
"Hi Tom, just checked. Not so good news. Toyota Canada has cut allocation. Six people still ahead of you. Chances of getting one this year are slim," read the message.
Snel responded by telling CTV News that the salesperson was mistaken.
CTV News spoke to another dealership manager who says lengthy wait times, particularly for high-end EV's, continue to be the norm.
“We have clients that have already been waiting for a year or longer and some of those clients will still be waiting another three to six months or longer,” said Leon Cheliadin, general manager for Applewood Nissan.
He says he doesn't know when the supply chain issues will improve and that his inventory numbers indicate the lengthy wait times will continue for the foreseeable future.
“Challenges in metals, challenges in electronics, challenges in general distribution," said Cheliadin. "I think the containers coming overseas is a significantly lower number."
Dave Sandelands with the non-profit Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association says there are ways to cut the line.
“Because there is a wait and a shortage, dealers are marking cars up over the manufacturer's suggested retail price and people are having to pay higher prices if they want to circumvent that line because the odd person will cancel,” said Sandelands. "Rather than that car going to the next person in the lineup, the dealer may keep it, mark it up and then take whoever’s got the cash to give them that money or have a trade-in, and they go higher up on that list.”
Despite being offered a refund for his deposit, Hurtig says he has no plans on cancelling and is willing to wait it out.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Freddie Mercury's home is on the market for first time since 1980 minus his 'exquisite clutter'
Freddie Mercury's sanctuary in London, where he lived the last decade of his life, is on sale for the first time in nearly half a century -- minus his "exquisite clutter."
'The lost season': Winter comes to a close as Canada's warmest on record
The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.