I'm willing to bet also that the instant gratification buyers may be paying
above MSRP.

The Toyota of Orange here in Orange COunty bought the bowling alley
across the street, and they use the hundreds of parking spaces as a
storage lot for their vehicles.  Like if you want a SUV, no problem, the
parking lot's _always_ full of them.  A few years ago my co-worker went
over and bought a Highlander from them, and after 50k miles, she went
back over and bought another, then her husband went over and bought a
Tundra truck.  Of course, no waiting.

Another guy at work waited four month to get his Prius a few years ago,
then waited 6 months to get his '04 Prius this year.  I'd say that he's
happy with them, since he bought another one.  ;-)

Why he got the GPS map thingy for $1500 on his second one I'll never
know.  He said he only used it a few times on his first one!

In July 2002, was told there was a 3 month waiting period.  I searched the
area and found one I could drive home that day in the color I wanted.
In the San Francisco bay area there is a lot of choice within a two
hour drive.