Who’s getting a GR Corolla

It's a low volume car that's only been rolling into customer hands for about 3 months now. There's not many out there. I put my name on the list the day before it was officially revealed (I was #2) and I put in the order back in the summer as soon as the dealer was able to (#1 on the list didn't) and I'll be getting mine in about a month. If anyone's serious about getting one, my recommendation is to get in line now, but I think most dealers already have long wait lists. A co worker of mine tried to get on the list a while after I did and was turned away as there were already more names on there than cars likely to be delivered in several years.

I got "in line" with a couple of dealers a couple days before you did.  Never heard anything from them.  If I can't buy one, I guess I'll just figure out how to work on the Focus RS now that the warranty is expired:)

So my buddy at work finally caught me. 

He paid $5000 over sticker in NH, a place in MA wanted to add $10k to the sticker.

Mine should be here next week.  We'll see.

Get one on Cars and Bids

I saw a base model on the road last week, first one I've seen. It was surprisingly subdued w/o the hood vents

In reply to calteg :

It's definitely one of those "if you know, you know" cars. 

It had been a few months, so I clicked on a few cars on the Toyota inventory search to see if things are getting better.  They are not:

Totally honest dealer response: "The Corolla GR Circuit is a reserved unit that someone came in and requested this unit. It is a sold unit. To get one you must be willing to place a nonrefundable deposit of $1000 and hope that we get one awarded to us. These are a limited build and have a fair market value placed on them. The unit you saw sold at $55,103 plus fees and taxes. Wait time is between 12 and 18 months!"  (MSRP was $45k)

I'm guessing things will be a lot better next year.

MSRP deals are out there, but they are hard to find.  The best way to find any availability is to watch the Toyota website for inventory, it seems to show before the dealer even knows they're getting one. And it seems to be a totally random allocation...they really don't have control over what they get or when.

I got lucky, got my preferred color and options for no markup.  It was 6 months from when I started to when I picked it up.

In reply to Berck :

A non-refundable deposit is a joke, stay far away from that dealership.

They are going to keep making these for at least several years, and while everyone that wants one may not get one right now, they will be way more available starting next year. 

Toyota's allocation system is frustrating, for dealers and customers. I got lucky and was able to grab the first one that came a local dealership, at MSRP, with no dealer add-ons or required financing through the dealer. With enough patience, anyone can get a similar deal but they may need to talk to a number of dealers and put down (refundable) deposits at a couple dealerships, depending on how picky they are on colors and trim, and wait a little bit longer. Unfortunately, it does seem to be region specific, with some areas like California being very difficult to get an MSRP deal, but I think it's still going to be attainable in time. 

Finally got a call from my local dealer who offered me his next allocation.  Put down a deposit on a Red Premium.  MSRP+$1k in delivery/handling fees.  Plus a bunch worthless port-installed "options" like $177 for "Black Lug Nuts and Wheel Locks".  So not exactly a steal, but no flat-out ADM.  It's already built and sets sail from Japan on Monday!

We were just notified that we got a white Circuit Edition and it arrives 3rd week of April. I will let you know what we think of it, we've only test driven a Core. We will be autocrossing this car at Nationals this year and BTW we paid MSRP and not a dollar more

Finally!  Patience pays off.  I was even successful getting them to remove a bunch of the port installed options I didn't want.

It's the wife's car, so I've only driven it about 15 miles, but I'm pretty happy with it.  It's replacing a Focus RS (anyone looking for a high-mileage but well-maintained stock Focus RS?).  Thus far I note that it feels significantly slower than the RS--more than the numbers would have made me think.  I haven't gone nuts (break-in), but the turbo lag is quite noticeable compared to the twin-scroll magic of the RS.  Other than that, I think it's better than RS in every way--the handling, feedback, gearbox, comfort, even the noise is better. 

If you'd told me a decade ago that I'd be excited about a 3-cylinder Toyota Corolla, I'd wonder what happened to me.

Our 2024 Circuit Edition came in and I drove and drove it until we got 1000 kms on it and could rev past 5000 rpm. My gosh, the car is amazing. It does everything well, however we did get our butts handed to us at our first autocross. We think we know why, we left the traction control on for every run. Tomorrow we get a chance to redeem ourselves, traction control off.

Berck said:

I got "in line" with a couple of dealers a couple days before you did.  Never heard anything from them.  If I can't buy one, I guess I'll just figure out how to work on the Focus RS now that the warranty is expired:)

We were interested in the new Prius and it was just showing up on dealer lots. Went to see one and as we arrived, one returned from a test drive, and we asked if we could get a test drive. Nope - sold. Okay, do you have another. Nope. Do you know when more will arrive. Nope...... silence. No offers to put us on a list, no offers to "discuss this in my office", and no offers to call when one arrives. Business was apparently so good that salespeople could become lazy. So we bought a Mazda.

Berck said:

Finally!  Patience pays off.  I was even successful getting them to remove a bunch of the port installed options I didn't want.

 

It's the wife's car, so I've only driven it about 15 miles, but I'm pretty happy with it.  It's replacing a Focus RS (anyone looking for a high-mileage but well-maintained stock Focus RS?).  Thus far I note that it feels significantly slower than the RS--more than the numbers would have made me think.  I haven't gone nuts (break-in), but the turbo lag is quite noticeable compared to the twin-scroll magic of the RS.  Other than that, I think it's better than RS in every way--the handling, feedback, gearbox, comfort, even the noise is better. 

If you'd told me a decade ago that I'd be excited about a 3-cylinder Toyota Corolla, I'd wonder what happened to me.

How much you looking to get for the RS?

Off-topic, but I've gotten a few requests, so: $25k.  It's got 96,000 miles and is completely stock with the exception of a fancy all-metal undertray.  This should make it one of the cheapest good condition Focus RSs around, but also one of the highest mileage.  It was the wife's daily driver and she commuted to work in it about 100 miles/day.  It has rock chips and such from all the miles, but is well-maintained and has nothing wrong with it.  Comes with a second set of wheels and winter tires.

More photos and a proper for-sale ad to come in a couple weeks when I have a chance to clean it up and take a zillion photos.

I finally saw one in traffic this morning.  Black, not sure what version, plates said XLYARIS.

Now I want one again.

I got lucky last July and landed a Circuit Edition for MSRP.  Seems the Circuit is still tough to get, but the market for the Core and Premium is softening a little. This is the kind of car that you need to be patient and be willing to travel to get a good deal. I love this little beast!

Almost forgot about this thread.  So, ME!  (with 3 different sets of wheels to choose from, these are the OEM w/ RE71s.)