I was able to head this off by going in on a random friday, meeting with a sales guy and telling him what I wanted, and then he "reserved" one for me. I brought in my DL, insurance card, etc. etc. They knew what was coming in so they printed me off the financial statement. I didn't have to put down a deposit, and I could still test drive it and say no. They called me 5 days later when it was ready and we went in and completed the sale.

so if you're really interest in something (for OP...) you may need to go into a dealer and talk to someone first and figure out what's coming in when, and put dibs on it.

The guy over the phone said I'd have to put down a $500 refundable deposit, but the salesguy said a handshake was good enough... I'm sure they do that for everyone, unless you seem extra shifty. Part of the "we think you're great!!" sales technique.