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Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Toyota Sienna Prices Paid and Buying Experience
8589 messages, Last post on Sep 30, 2008 at 6:49 AM
You are in the Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum. Your Hosts are car_man & kyfdx
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April, I am not sure of the situation in your area of the country. Here in the SE region, it is impossible to find an XLE w/#14 because the SE region has chosen not to order this configuration. They prefer to order "stripped" versions of each trim level and then install the options locally. Even if you ignore the financial implications of this model, it still sucks because some options (stability control, rear disc, side airbags, window shades....) can not be installed outside of the factory. However, it is possible to get one if one is very persistent. I just placed an order yesterday for an XLE w/#14. This is the second time in a month that I have placed an order. The first dealer refused to do the extra work required to get a package #14 in the SE region and finally returned my deposit. (The dealer was Roswell GA Toyota, stay away from them.) The order I placed yesterday was with Tuscaloosa, AL Toyota and I am cautiously optimistic of delivery by end of August. Re: price, In 2 months of shopping, the best I was able to get was $1000 off of MSRP (after the dealer admin fees were added). If your goal is to get close to invoice in the next several months, you probably need to visit your local Honda dealer. At this point, it is just basic supply and demand. I am in the same spot you are in - I need a van now and could not wait 6-9 months for the early adopter demand to be satisfied and other manufacturers' models to soften the overall market supply. Good luck! |
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itch1 - It was my second dealer visit since I test drove the Sienna back in March. I first tried the Herb Chambers of Boston. Of course, it was MSRP back in March. This time I went to Expressway Toyota. I was not surprised that they only offered me 1% off MSRP on LE 8-seater even I and my friend just bought a 03 Camry SE there. Definitely no loyatly there. I have to order one and probaly with a 8-12 weeks wait. I am still thinking the deal after they were willing to knock off $700, which is $27300 for LE 8-seater with LE package #7 (BW) plus floor mats & door still (CF). After months of car shopping, my relative decided to go for LE 7-seater with LE package #7. The sale manager there didn't call me yet with the pricing. What would be the best deal I can get? Well! Not |
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I did a bunch of shopping recently. Here's a recap of my situation, in case it's helpful to anyone. I limited my search to my home state (MA). There are about 39 dealers in the state. I made some kind of contact with about half of them. I went for variety, talking to dealers of different sizes and in various locations. Before I started, I had already decided exactly the vehicle I wanted, an LE AWD (5366) with airbags (BI, pkg 4) and carpet mats (CF), white/fawn. List is $30191. The response I got seemed to relate to the size of the dealer. As a general rule, the big stores tended to offer no discount, or fairly small (a few hundred dollars) discounts. The smaller stores, on the other hand, seemed more willing to negotiate (as a general rule; there were exceptions). I found eight dealers willing to offer a discount of $1000 or more. In two cases the discount was roughly $2000. The problem is delivery. I want the vehicle exactly as specified (including colors). The smaller shops (offering higher discounts) were typically telling me I'd have to wait 3-4 months for the vehicle. In the end I made a deal with Balise, in Springfield, which is not far from where I live. They're fairly large, but smaller than some of the huge shops in eastern Mass. I have confidence they can meet the promised delivery schedule (6-8 weeks). I could have gotten a bigger discount somewhere else, but I probably would have had to wait longer for delivery. Going for the bigger discount also would have required me to travel farther. I also found Balise to be particularly prompt, professional and courteous. I'm comfortable with the discount I got (over $1000). I put down a deposit today. One suggestion I would make is to not focus on all the mumbo-jumbo about TDA, MAF, holdbacks, finance reserves etc. Just focus on the bottom line, the out-the-door price. One piece that does add confusion, though, is documentation fees. In MA the registry needs to get $94 ($50 for title, $15 for plate transfer, $29 for inspection). Dealers seem to typically bundle this into an overall "documentation fee," where the dealer adds profit ranging from $40 to $200 (in my experience). So this might be a good thing to ask about. A dealer might tell you a price that theoretically covers "everything," but they don't bother to tell you that they'll also need $150 to carry your $94 to the Registry. I think perhaps it's possible to get a better deal if you're flexible about what vehicle you're willing to accept (equipment and colors). And you can get faster delivery, if you're flexible. I would be driving the vehicle right now if I had been willing to take gold instead of white. (That deal would have been through another dealer, and at a somewhat higher price.) On the other hand, if you want (like me) to be very specific about how the vehicle is equipped, you could probably save money if you're willing to wait 3-4 months. I was willing to pay somewhat more in order to not wait quite so long. And of course another tradeoff is how willing you are to travel. I placed some value on working with someone closer to home (for a variety of reasons). So obviously price isn't the only factor. There's also how is the vehicle equipped, how soon can I get it, how far do I have to go, and how comfortable do I feel with the rep. Decisions, decisions! Anyway, here's my summary recommendation of dealers you should talk to, if you're in Mass, and if saving money is an important factor: Eastern Mass: Westboro, Expressway, Wellesley, Lexington Western Mass: Balise, K-M, Greenfield, Northampton I think it's a good idea to ask for whoever handles internet sales. Good luck! |
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Great info - you'd think that the bigger stores would have a bigger allotment of Siennas and would therefore be more willing to deal. Guess it pays to stop in at the smaller dealers. Steve, Host |
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I did find exceptions (to the general rule about big stores not willing to deal), so I don't want to over-generalize. As far as why the tendency was that way (despite your idea, which is reasonable, that the big stores should be willing to deal, since they have a large allotment and therefore need to move a lot of units), here's my theory. The big stores of course do have a large allotment, and therefore they're more likely (at any particular moment) to have at least a unit or two for people to come in and look at (if the unit is pre-sold, which I bet is often the case, they won't let you drive it but at least you can sniff it). This is true even though they're also turning over a lot of units. Since there's a lot of interest at the moment, I think the big stores are drawing a lot of traffic (at least prospects, if not buyers), because at least they have something to show. I bet the small stores, on the other hand, are getting phone calls, but then people go elsewhere when they find out there's no stock to eyeball. With all the traffic at the big stores, I bet they're not having much trouble moving their allotment at list (or close to it). It's a brilliant product (I think the attention to detail is extremely impressive, and still mostly not understood by the public and even by the reps) at a great price at the right time, so I bet it pretty much sells itself once people see it. The big dealers have their hands full handling all this business, and they don't feel much incentive to make their allotment even bigger. And it makes no sense for them to offer me a discount when they already have people lined up ready to pay list. And they're not that interested in custom orders (like in my situation, where I already know exactly what I want and I'm not interested in their opinion on this). Why should they defer their revenue when they have customers who are ready to accept whatever's already in the pipeline? The model lineup and options choices are confusing enough that I bet reps are having a relatively easy time convincing prospects that the model the prospect needs is exactly the model that just rolled off the transporter (or the one that's scheduled to arrive next Tuesday). I think the small shops are hungrier. To a great extent this is because of how the allocation system works. You sell more and then you get more (kind of like the rich get richer). They hate to lose a deal because this leads to their allocation shrinking even more (and they know it means their competition down the street ends up with an even bigger allocation next month). This is sort of a vicious cycle. In the end I was wary of going with a shop that was too small (even though they offered what looked like the best deals, and even though I also fundamentally like the idea of dealing with a small shop) because I was afraid they would have trouble getting the exact unit I wanted, on schedule. Interesting market dynamics. |
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| Just put my order in - 04 LE - 8 passenger with Leather, LE Pack #1, running boards, mats, woodgrain dash/trim - 26,639 - plus tax and title - no other dealer fees. | |
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After doing some research, I found a dealer in Lockport, NY that was willing to deal on the Sienna. The name of the dealer is Basil Toyota and I dealt with the internet sales person. I ordered the vehicle on May 5th and took delivery of it yesterday. It took about 10 weeks from the time I ordered to delivery which is exactly what I was told. I purchased an XLE with package #12 and the Z1 accessory package (floor mats, cargo net, first aid kit). MSRP was $32,919. I paid $30,408, which is $2,511 below MSRP. The details are as follows: Price Paid: 30,408 Sales Tax: 2,509 Registration: 100 Inspection: 10 Doc. Fee: 20 Out the door price was $33,047. The whole experience with the dealer was very pleasant. There was no haggling over price as this was the initial price they offered. The vehicle arrived when they said it would. There were no surprises at delivery and they were very efficient. I would definitely recommend them, although, I do not know if they are still offering this deal. It is worth a call if you live in or around this area. |
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| I am planning to buy LE 7 passage with pkg #1 option, and talked to several dealers, they only offered full MSRP, or some dealers such as Tricounty toyota, they even asked higher than MSRP, they are not honest at all from my experience (since i want to trade-in my older car, they gave a extremely low price for my old); | |
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