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Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Scion xB Prices Paid and Buying Experience
345 messages, Last post on May 24, 2009 at 6:36 AM
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I've been researching new cars for the last month and settled on the Scion xB. I've been comparing it to about 10 different cars and nothing really offers the value for the money. The cars that come closest (to me) are the Corolla/Matrix and Honda Fit. But with those you still have to pay extra to get many things that are standard on the xB. I've found it frustrating to negotiate the sale of an xB, because frankly there is no negotiation. I thought that in this economy with even Toyota's sales down 30-40% and having a losing sales quarter (the first since 1938) that the "pure pricing" model would go out the window in favor of moving some cars. No deal. I emailed about 8 dealerships and each told me the same thing. They do not negotiate on price. Some dealers were offering to throw in extras, like free tires for life or a free lifetime warranty after the factory one expires. (These dealers were the furthest from me, so I did not take these offers too seriously - I'd read the fine print first.) The big sticking point has been the "documentation" charges each dealer has. In the offers I've gotten they vary from $300-600. I understand these fees are mostly pure profit so naturally I am trying to negotiate these away. Most dealers refuse. You would think that selling a car for sticker price in this economy would be enough of a profit, but I guess the dealers around here (Massachusetts) aren't hurthing that bad yet. If I can't get a dealer to eliminate or sharply reduce this fee I'll probably wait a month or so to see how the car market is. I don't mind giving the dealers a profit, but MSRP is enough (even at sticker tough the xB is a good deal). The best offer I've gotten so far was: MSRP: $16420 state tax: $821 (5%) doc.: $299 title: $50 plate: $36 inspection sticker: $29 The only room the dealer has to play is with the documentation fee. Anyone had any luck in getting this reduced or waived?
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Replying to: hulkedup (Dec 27, 2008 8:36 pm)
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Replying to: alamocity (Dec 28, 2008 11:37 pm) |
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| Stopped by dealership in Lawton, OK (Fiesta Toyota/Scion). They had 2 xB's. 1 was an automatic with spoiler and a protectant package. They wanted $18500 and they would not budge. I walked. This dealership does offer a lifetime warranty on all new car purchases, but that didn't interest me much because i have never had to use a warranty on a toyota. | |
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Replying to: hdfanatic (Dec 30, 2008 9:44 pm) About six other dealers had much higher doc. fees (up to $600) and all of them refused to lower or eliminate the fee. I think I'm going to check out the Matix. It's a compatible vehicle, but you have to pay extra for cruise, stability control and some other convenience features. The Matix gets better gas mileage though. |
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I do agree with you that the xB is still a great value for MSRP (though it took me a while and a lot of comparisons to similar models to reach this conclusion). Where I disagree is that there is a variance in the price people are paying for Scions from dealer to dealer. The difference is in the documentation fee that dealers tack on to "process paperwork." In Massachusetts and Connecticut I surveyed eight dealers about the xB. The MSRP's were all the same, true. But there was a wide variance to the doc. fees: from $299 to $600. One dealer told me that the profit on Scions was "miniscule" at MSRP. The thinking seems to be that these dealers need the documentation fees to make more profit. In New York (a neighboring state) the doc. fees are capped at $45, so where is the fairness? In my negotiation with dealers, all told me they couldn't sell an xB lower than MSRP or risk losing their franchise. While that may be true, I wish Scion would be just as vigorous in enforcing that dealers do not sell their Scions for over MSRP. |
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I think where there may be some confusion is that all dealerships don't sell the same vehicle at the same price nationwide. My understanding is that as long as the dealership sells the same vehicle to everyone at the same price and that doesn't have to be at MSRP. |
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Replying to: hulkedup (Dec 31, 2008 6:06 am) Seems like a much better deal on the xB. Sure you dont get to negotiate but your overall expenses for what you are getting is so MUCH better. You have to move to the XRS Matrix to get the same equipment and spend thousands more for you to feel like you get a deal. Even at the 4.9% interest rate currently a Matrix base is the same overall price basically as a xB except you get a Corolla Motor instead of Camry not to mention the lact of features. I know I sell Both cars. Honda Element is $2000 More has 2 half doors, Listed as SUV for insurance and gets 5 mpg less. For anyone that doenst know this - Scion builds all the vehicles the same except for the exterior color and transmission of the vehicle. By doing this they can build the car for $3-4000 cheaper than your typical car that has a lot of variations and inflating building costs. Scion cuts this figure out which is generally used for buying down the interest rate and/or to negotiate with. So overall you can buy a car faster and cheaper when you go with a Scion. For those that want to negotiate feel free, but you wont get the same money value when you buy another car. Scion also is rated the most reliable Brand of Cars on the road today by Consumer Reports. Scion xD is the Most Reliable car on the road period. Scion xB and tC are a Top Ten best Reselling vehicle on the road today. They are all made by Toyota in Japan so uncertainty of quality and reliability is taken care of when you say Toyota. I can go on for days and show lots of reasons to buy a Scion over any other car on the market today not just cause I sell but for the fact they are the best deal on the market today. From time of purchase to resell of the vehicle.
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| We bought our 2008 xB from Fitzmall last May, and has about 8000 miles on it by now. We paid about $15,600 for the manual transmission model, and the only added cost was the $99 processing fee (capped by Maryland law). I live in Northern Virginia and dealt with the internet sales manager and drove up to pick up the car. Paperwork took about an hour and the only unpleasant aspect was the attempt to sell the extended warranty which I declined (it's a Toyota, for crying out loud). But in the end, it was worth it to buy the car for $1000 less than what the NoVA dealers wanted, and the processing fee was $300 lower. | |
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