Quote:
Originally Posted by rexster
I checked the toyota inventory site. There is one 86 within 500 miles of me with the power pack and it's a 36k+ premium. According to Edmund's.con there are only two base models with the performance pack in the entire country, but they could already be sold. I have tried to buy two different Toyotas within the last two years and even though there are tons of dealers near me they all tell me they can't get me what I want because toyota doesn't build it. Or they can get it, but I'll have to pay thousands extra and might need to settle for a color I don't want. Try finding an AWD Camry XLE without a pano roof or the 4k premium package. Last I checked, there were five in the country and they're all black or white with a light interior. Toyota knows how to price and sell their cars in a way that forces customers to pay thousands in extra features. That's why I likely won't buy one.
What you have to do is find a MSRP only stealer. In my state, that means a 3 hour drive to another major metro and even then, the Toyota MSRP stealer is in a suburb, not the main city. When found, $1000 deposit, and get it in writing that it is refundable. Once 12 months lapses, or as the year goes on you get bumped up and up the list. That means say you have a deposit, but many others do as well on Tacomas, Tundras, Prius, whatever. As time goes on people either buy elsewhere, cancel deposit or take delivery. As that progresses you keep getting moved up the list and moved up in priority status. Once it hits 12 calendar months, or longer, you are at a point where they can actually order what you want as the honest dealers will give you one of their few ***8220;custom***8221; allocations which is a fancy way of saying you get to order your car. That***8217;s how it works. But you need a MSRP only dealer, and you will have to wait.
Then the port add ons. In my region it is Gulf States Toyota, and they add port installed options. Some stealers have enough pull to have this bs removed but it takes them work. They have to call the port, throw a fit, and put in the time. Most stealers don***8217;t want to do this. And in my region it doesn***8217;t happen. But other regions, the West/NW, and East Coast I***8217;ve seen this happen too many times. That ticks me off because Gulf States won***8217;t do this but other regions will. I don***8217;t know how many Toyota regions there are but I know of at least 3-4. They are separate companies at the corporate level. I mean in my region I know who it is, and where the cars are all stored until they ship to the stealers.
None of this is advertised but it***8217;s how it works. I know a salesman that is a SME who relayed and I did my own independent research to verify. They hide all this as well as they don***8217;t want customers knowing. If they did, many people would be refusing to buy any trim/color they don***8217;t want and insisting they get exact trim/color/spec. And the port/region you***8217;re in with Toyota certainly doesn***8217;t want you knowing this and canceling winter mats, charging cables, homelink mirrors and such, that you don***8217;t want.
I kept my Monroney sheet from the window of my car.
Premium Carpet Mat Set (Carpet Floor Mats and Trunk Mat): $299.00
Connectivity Kit: $75.00 (f***8217;ing charging cables)
Spider Cargo Net: $59.00 (Actually useful but a hatch floor mounted net)
Frameless Homelink Rearview Mirror: $199.00
Vehicle Protection Package: $399.00
Paint Renewer Cleaner
Paint Sealant
Fabric Guard
Total
Distributor Options: $1,031.00. I found this absolutely infuriating. But it was on every single one of them in my region and I got MSRP while others were paying $10k over sticker. The only way this will change is if all customers said no to this. And said no to dealer added option packages as well which is never going to happen because people get in that stealer and they want it. I refused all dealer add ons and told them the port add ons were infuriating enough. Any mandated dealer packages, keep the f***8217;in thing. They relented. So I have 2 stealers now. 1 in state, and 1 out of state where my rural land is, where I can get trim/color/spec, and MSRP only but I can***8217;t do a got damn thing about the distributor add ons. And that goes for any Toyota model in the lineup. The port adds bs to every single vehicle they import.