You are here: Forums Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Toyota Sienna Prices Paid and Buying Experience

Toyota Sienna Prices Paid and Buying Experience

9658 messages,  Last post on Dec 07, 2009 at 4:46 PM

You are in the Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum. Your Hosts are car_man & kyfdx

What is this discussion about? Toyota Sienna, Car Buying, Van

Messages Page 174 of 967 1 ... 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 ... 967 Prev Next Last

Go To Msg # Search This Discussion

#1725 of 9658 Deals in MA by alanschl Jul 15, 2003 (7:33 pm)
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!
#1726 of 9658 Thanks, Alanschl by steve_ HOST Jul 15, 2003 (8:54 pm)
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
#1727 of 9658 More on MA deals by alanschl Jul 16, 2003 (3:22 am)
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.
#1728 of 9658 le 8 passenger by nyfn1 Jul 16, 2003 (6:14 am)
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.
#1729 of 9658 Sienna XLE in Upstate NY by daveb13 Jul 16, 2003 (6:35 am)
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.
#1730 of 9658 anybody got good deal in Philly, PA, thanks by bqli Jul 16, 2003 (6:44 am)
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);
#1732 of 9658 Sienna LE by lok888 Jul 16, 2003 (9:18 am)
alanschl - Thanks for the info. I have been dealing with the Expressway. But they only offered few hundreds off (about 2.5%) MSRP. For the LE 8-seater with LE pk #7 plus CF, it is $27300. For the LE 7-seater with LE pk #7 plus CF, $27100. It doesn't matter I and my friend just bought a 03 Camry SE from them a month ago. No loyalty at all. I was expected at least $1000 off. Anyway, the wait for the 7-seater is shorter than the 8-seater. There is one 7-seater to be build in early August. For 8-seater, the wait is probably 3 months.   I think the big dealers usually discount less than the small dealers. The small dealers seem to hungry for more business and less overhead.   Nyfn1 - I don't know if LE 8-seater has leather. I think it is an option on XLE and standard on XLE Limited. Is it a dealer installed leather?   By the way, I am thinking to add a sunroof on LE 7-seater or 8-seater. I understand that I can't get sunroof from the factory. But my dealer told me they can install the sunroof at in port site for about $1300 to $1500. He told everything will met the standard (no leaking) and as same as the factory installed one. Is it something that I should I consider? Any comments?
#1733 of 9658 What is the difference between factory and port installed ? by tjlee Jul 16, 2003 (11:39 am)
Can anyone answer 'what is different between factory installed and port site installed accessories?'. I also purchased LE7 with leather, DVD, pkg#1, alloy wheel/michelin tire, and floor mat. Dealer told me leather, DVD and alloy wheel will be installed at port site and they will be exactly same as factory installed accessories. Is this true? Anyway I will pick up the LE7 on Aug 10 (only 4 weeks from order to delivery!!!). MSRP is 30860 but final price is 29000 plus tax, tag and documentation fee. Please post the answer...
#1734 of 9658 tjlee by lok888 Jul 16, 2003 (12:06 pm)
That's probably my next question. What is the different? Of course, I always prefer the factory installed items. But they don't make any CE & LE with sunroof. My dealer told I can have one installed at port site. I think you have your Sienna in lesser time probably the van was already scheduled to be built and unclaimed or by allocation.

Messages Page 174 of 967 1 ... 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 ... 967 Prev Next Last

Go To Msg # Search This Discussion

You are here: Forums Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Toyota Sienna Prices Paid and Buying Experience