Are the dealers bending over to make any sales? Could I get a car dirt cheap? Are they selling the recalled cars at all? Their sales are very slow right now and consumer confidence on them is at an all time low but they cars are just as good as they were 3 months ago. I was already thinking of buying one by the end of this year but this might just be the right time for it. Is it?
Isn’t there a self-imposed moratorium on sales?
Toyota, the factory, has imposed a no-sale on all recalled Toyota models.
That doesn’t mean that the dealerships wont sell you one, but in my experience Toyota dealers really, really want to stay on good terms with the factory. Going against Toyota Factory mandates is a bad idea.
However, Toyota dealerships in general are disturbingly slow, even used cars. So you might walk out of there with a great deal on a used vehicle… but then again, you might not because the Sales Manager might work you for every red cent you’ve got (and trust me, if he’s good, he will) because things are so slow and his paycheck is so small.
Heck, even the leads generated by toyota dealerships since the recall on used cars have been slow.
They either won’t sell you one (not fixed), or they’ll sell you one of their fixed ones. Toyota and Honda (especially) are notorious for not haggling (and charging for stupid stuff like "additional dealer markup). If they only have a few that are fixed (Toyota is demanding that they fix customer vehicles first), then you’re not really in a good position to negotiate, especially since you’re never in a good position to negotiate with them in the first place.
I’ve been in and around car dealerships my entire life, and the policy we’ve always worked under is simple…
“Work them for every penny. And if you can’t, then you take what deal you can get, as long as it’s above invoice.”
It’s not that most dealerships won’t negotiate, it’s that most people are simply incapable of negotiating with them, or too trusting and believe them when they say that.
It’s not all that difficult to get a car at true cost (that’s invoice, minus dealercash and/or rebates, minus holdback, stripped of addendums)… you can either look it all up very carefully, or you can bluff your way through.
If you must, tell the dealership this very line, “Look, you can replace that car in 45 days. You can’t replace me. I’m offering to increase your marketshare and you say no? Fine, I’ll go to [opposing dealership] and I’m sure they’ll be happy to move a unit.”
Are you sure this was a Toyota dealership? Our local Toyota dealership is the only Toyota place in town and knows it. Just a couple years ago it was “pay retail price or get off our lot.” They didn’t even bother sugar coating it for people. Just flat told them the price on the car was the price of the car, and if they didn’t want to pay it they could choose a lesser car or leave.
I’d be interesting to see if things change now that they can no longer sit on their ass and let the cars sell themselves.
This was what I was wondering. Before, they knew you wanted a Toyota and they had the power. Now that they are not moving, maybe they are more open to bargain.
It’s a good time to go look at a Toyota. It’s a good time to have them know your name. When sales/customers are slow to come back, I’d want my name on the dealer’s list of interested people.
When a dealer has to call you and talk you into coming back, that’s some nice leverage right there. Expect Toyota to offer special financing. That is probably worth more than any basic negotiation you could get away with.
I bought a brand-new Toyota 4Runner a few years ago, and I sure as heck didn’t pay the sticker price. In fact, I snickered when the sales guy even mentioned it in passing.
I researched the dealer invoice price before I went. The salesman showed me his invoice printout, which agreed with my price to within $50. We then negotiated from there. I ended paying about $600 over the invoice, and about $3K below the sticker price. (I also didn’t pay for any documentation fees or other B.S. fees.)
I did have to walk out of my local dealership, because they didn’t feel like negotiating. I purchased my vehicle at a competitor a few towns away (~30 minutes away).
This isn’t a major fix. It’s replacing the gas pedal because of corrosion possibilites in the hinge area (most models). Maybe 10 minutes in the service bay? Problem is production of the replacement pedals and I understand the design has been fixed and is in the pipeline. I see some lawsuits cropping up over “unintended acceleration”; shades of the great Audi controversy in the 90s. The pedal only sticks, not goes to wide open throttle all by itself. I posted on another thread that Car and Driver magazine had no problem stopping the car with brakes and turning off the engine at any speed up to 100mph. Even at 100mph, the car still slowed to 10mph where turning off the engine would be no problem. Note that the stopping distances they measured were not greatly increased over normal braking.
To the OP, the dealers will weather the delay. Consumer confidence will be slow to recover. Nervous nellies will go to a different car maker. Toyota loyalists will stay where they are.
Precisely my point. The fault is as good as non-existent. The cars are just as good as they were a month ago. The whole snafu has done nothing to hurt my image of Toyota as an auto maker. If anything, the opposite. I am sure others would have tried to cover it and deny it.
Now, this is an interesting angle. Since I was thinking end of year anyways, there is nothing stopping me from just walking away from the dealers (There are plenty in a one hour driving range) and waiting for them to come to me.
I’m quite positive it was a Toyota dealership. I remember the dealership, franchise(s) and climate (that is, location and economy) of every dealership I’ve ever been in, much less worked at.
The bottom line is that you need to measure supply and demand. In the real world, if supply outweighs demand, or is equal to demand, then you need to work a bit.
The thing is, there’s an almost unlimited supply of new cars. The more you sell, the more they’ll give you (with limited exception, during Cash For Clunkers for instance). And even then, the more you’d sell, the more they’d give you… but since you wouldn’t get them until later, you couldn’t apply the 3,500/4,500 discount. We were charging, before finance, 3000 above sticker for vehicles, and telling people they could either take the deal as it was effectively 500/1,500 below sticker or GTFO.
Dealerships should always be calling you back.
If they’re not, please PM me with their contact information. I see a potential to make money.
You still payed the Doc fee, it just came out of the commission of the salesman. But it was still a good deal, because the salesman got another sale (it probably wasn’t a mini, it probably payed him about 300 or so depending on payplan, and how you financed) and the dealership got another sale. A good dealership has a tiered payplan based on units and profits anyway.
It’s not a particularly long repair, no. But it’s a supply thing, there are a lot of those pieces that need replaced.
And, according to Steve Wozniak, not that he’s an expert, that’s not the problem.
If they’re a good dealership, they’ll do that anyway.
If they’re a bad dealerhsip, they won’t do that anyway.
Assuming that the pedal corrosion is the only problem. Don’t forget a couple of months ago we were assured by Toyota that the problem was incorrectly installed floor mats.
Some? Every swinging dick driving a Toyota is going to blame sudden acceleration for their accident for the next year or so. Plus there will no doubt be a class action suit or three.
The difference between Toyota and Audi is there actually is a fault with the Toyotas, where none existed on the Audi.
Toyota rep took a hell of a hit over this. It is too soon to tell just how bad it will be.
Toyota did know about it, and did nothing.
I’m sure the people that died as a result of the problem would be happy to know the problem is as good as non-existent. Just as I’m sure GM would like Ralph Nader to know that there was nothing inherently wrong with the Corvair. And Ford, I’ll bet they’d like to let the Grimshaw family and Mother Jones magazine know that the “Pinto memo” was just a cost analysis. Maybe Audi, with their “unintended acceleration” that amounted to people putting their feet on the wrong pedal, would like to have a word as well.
This is a far more legitimate problem than any of the above examples.
:dubious:
When Toyota was calling the shots, and had more buyers than inventory, you wouldn’t get a deal, let alone a call back!! :eek:
Now Toyota, the GM of the early 2000’s, is going to have inventory exceeding customers.
Go back to supply and demand. Also, there is no historic match for the modern propaganda machine known as the U.S. media. Toyota is getting chewed up. Back when GM sucked, we didn’t have all the media outlets we have now.
Toyota needs to learn its lesson faster, eat crow faster and go from number one car company to customer suck up real fast.
[quote=“Sapo, post:1, topic:527973”]
Are the dealers bending over to make any sales? /QUOTE]
Customers are the ones usually bending over!
Doesn’t matter about them having more inventory than customers. They should still be calling customers back. They could try to bump them for more money, they could try to switch them to a Toyota Certified Used (“After all, they are Toyota certified and therefore just as good as new… but it’s right within your budget!”) or just plain old vanilla used car.
There’s an unlimited supply of used cars, and if you’ve got people interested in buying a car, there’s no reason to assume they can’t be switched to another one. Hell, I’ve personally switched people who came in saying “I’m definitely not going to buy a car today, but I’d still like to look at Sienna,” to “Hell yeah, lets drive me home in my '06 Caravan!”
Might be worthwhile to buy one now before the problems are all fixed so you can get in on the litany of classic action lawsuits they are going to get hit with.
Yay for you. Many don’t. Forget what should happen. Focus on what really happens. Many people have left Honda and Toyota showrooms empty handed, and not subject to the hardest or best of sales practices.
I’m aware of that.
That’s why I posted this.
See, I can’t forget about what should happen, because that’s my business.