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Pricing and DealersDiscussions that are specific to vehicle pricing, preferred dealer pricing, current incentives, rebates, and experiences.
This is a discussion thread titled "Toyota lost me", within the Pricing and Dealers forum, part of the Marketplace Forums category.
I'm 28, in my short, 11 year driving career I have owned nothing but Toyotas. I love them, their reliabilty and ownership experience have been awesome. I currently have an 85 Celica and a 2005 Corolla XRS. The Corolla XRS was the last new Toyota I bought and the last I will ever buy. I used to live in the Boston, MA area, that is where I purchased the XRS. I recently moved to the Houston, TX area. I am married with 3 kids. When my 3rd son was born my wife and I were looking for a mini-van. Obviously our choice was a Sienna. Our search at the local dealers was a disaster. The Gulf States Toyota WE-THINK-YOU-ARE-STUPID add ons were unacceptable, nevermind scrupulous dealers even went so far as to add their own incredibly blatant rip off add ons on top of the GST stuff. I asked salesman if I could get a Sienna without the add-ons, almost all responded with an indifferent "that's the way we sell them." The few that did acknowledge that it could be ordered without GST options and stuff, still gave me a high price and couldn't get me a vehicle for months. Months went by, I researched more and more, using this site and others. I found a suitable option was to buy outside the region. I tried to setup a deal in a New Mexico dealer. I was hoping to lease to get a more affordable payment. I couldn't lease because I wasn't a NM resident. Crap, stuck with GST. Many letters and emails were written to Toyota Motor Sales. All were responded with a generic answer. It was then, that I went to a Honda Dealer and got an 08 Odyssey. I am actually very relieved I have a Honda. I have had great service and the van is awesome. I will never buy another Toyota again if I have to get it from the GST region. PLease Toyota, do the right thing, if you can't completely put GST out of business at least make it so they can't put on all the garbage stuff they put on the cars. Anyway, I am done with you.
When we were pricing my tundra, my dad laid it down on the dealer. Told him to talk the bs off or we would just go someplace else. They took it all off.
My problem, was that pretty much every Sienna in dealer stock had some nonsense add-ons. Stuff like window etch, extra-mile bs warranty aren't exactly easy to take off.
My point is, if we avoided the bs from the beginning things would be alright. Starting from an inflated inferior option-laden price and working its way down is very advantageous to the dealer, no so for me. I like to start at the very bottom and stay there. In a non-GST region you know the price and don't have to worry about the add-ons. It's just a better bying experience.
Last edited by NoelA; 02-28-2008 at 09:43 PM.
Reason: .
After reading about some of the add ons that SET and GST stuck on the vehicles they distribute I made certain that neither of the two used Tundras (a 2000 and a 2004) came from their regions before I purchased. I wanted them to be as they were when they left Princeton with no add ons or mods by a distributor or previous owner.
Larry
__________________
2004 Tundra V8 Limited Access Cab 4X4 , Auto Dim Comp/Temp Mirror, Aero Turbine #2525 muffler, Access Roll Up Cover, Optima D31A battery, Multi-Vex adaptive outside mirrors, Eclipse AVN5510 Nav unit and Sirius SIR-ECL1 tuner as of 10/07 pictures in my photo gallery
If a combo of all these whizz bangs met their claims you'd have to syphon gas out of your tank every second day and sell the excess horsepower on the third????
I was surprised my dealer in GST does not let them put the junk on their vehicles. I all most wanted to buy a new Tundra from them for that reason alone. SET seems to give you more value for your money with their add-ons.
An Odessy is better than a Sienna anyway. You made the right choice.
I'm luckily less than 2 hours from New Mexico (Denver Region). Our last 3 new vehicles have all been Toyotas. '96 Camry V-6: Roswell NM; '03 Tundra V-8 4WD: Jack Morris, Plainview (GS) & '08 Tacoma reg. cab 4WD. I really like Mr. Morris...but after waiting 5 months...at least 4 of which my vehicle sat in Houston, I cancelled the order and drove to Beaver in Santa Fe and got a very fair price on an '08. I've learned my lesson...no more GS Toyotas for me unless Toyota Corporate straightens GS out big time. The above posts are also correct: it's not worth the hassle of finding a GS Toyota without all the distributor added junk on it. Sad to say, it's gonna take Toyota loosing sufficient sales over GS 'independence,' I fear, before things change. Mazda, Honda & Nissan also make good cars and pickups.
Go to NM, skip gulf states BS. Plus NM has different option packages which are typically cheaper and more functional due to the demographic and economic differences.
I've bought my last two toyotas there for no BS 5K less than the same vehicle in Tx.
I prefer the roswell internet sales guys. they give you the deal when you call the first time. No BS.
-H
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoelA
I'm 28, in my short, 11 year driving career I have owned nothing but Toyotas. I love them, their reliabilty and ownership experience have been awesome. I currently have an 85 Celica and a 2005 Corolla XRS. The Corolla XRS was the last new Toyota I bought and the last I will ever buy. I used to live in the Boston, MA area, that is where I purchased the XRS. I recently moved to the Houston, TX area. I am married with 3 kids. When my 3rd son was born my wife and I were looking for a mini-van. Obviously our choice was a Sienna. Our search at the local dealers was a disaster. The Gulf States Toyota WE-THINK-YOU-ARE-STUPID add ons were unacceptable, nevermind scrupulous dealers even went so far as to add their own incredibly blatant rip off add ons on top of the GST stuff. I asked salesman if I could get a Sienna without the add-ons, almost all responded with an indifferent "that's the way we sell them." The few that did acknowledge that it could be ordered without GST options and stuff, still gave me a high price and couldn't get me a vehicle for months. Months went by, I researched more and more, using this site and others. I found a suitable option was to buy outside the region. I tried to setup a deal in a New Mexico dealer. I was hoping to lease to get a more affordable payment. I couldn't lease because I wasn't a NM resident. Crap, stuck with GST. Many letters and emails were written to Toyota Motor Sales. All were responded with a generic answer. It was then, that I went to a Honda Dealer and got an 08 Odyssey. I am actually very relieved I have a Honda. I have had great service and the van is awesome. I will never buy another Toyota again if I have to get it from the GST region. PLease Toyota, do the right thing, if you can't completely put GST out of business at least make it so they can't put on all the garbage stuff they put on the cars. Anyway, I am done with you.
Ditto. As bad as things are in the Houston area, think about what we have to deal with in the Austin area. We only have three Toyota dealerships here (one is in Round Rock).
When the Tundras first came out, it was "here they are, take it or leave it". What makes me mad is that they configure the trucks to a specific price point. I wanted a Limited with most of the factory options (5.7, 20" wheels, Nav/JBL, moonroof). They had none configured that way because if they built a truck like that AND added all of their port-option profit makers, they would have ended up with a $50+K truck! So, what I usually saw was only one of those major options included. They usually only had one truck on the lot with a Nav because they like adding XM radios to them at port.
You can always tell a GST truck driving around Texas because they have pinstripes and GST wheel upgrades which are obviously different from the factory alloy wheels. For some reason, they think that Texans like a lot of chrome on their trucks.
Anyway, I drove out to Las Cruces, NM after placing my order - no problem. That's what I will always do from now on. I don't feel the need to go to a GST dealership here and beg them to order the truck with factory options.
__________________
2007 5.7 CrewMax Limited 2WD; Pyrite Mica/ Red Rock Leather
20" Alloy | Nav-JBL | Moonroof | Sonar | Cold Kit | Daytime Running Lights | BedRug | ConsoleVault | SoftTopper | TRD sway bar | Weatherguard Tool Box
NAV Mods: Speed Pulse Generator | AUX video input
Buy your truck outside of the Gulf States Toyota monopoly if you don't want to compromise.
I wish their bad business practices got more press. And I am very disappointed in Toyota's support of these crooks. Who knows? Maybe one day they'll go out of business.....all we need is to educate people. It's really amazing how many people just suck it up and get scammed. I see hundreds of Toyotas everyday and 90% have that retarded pinstripe, glass etch and bootleg wheels. Gaaaah!
I used to work at a Toyota dealer in MA. There are a lot of retirees that purchased their Toyotas in Florida(SET region). They would bring in their cars to our dealer and get them maintained. It was funny when they would try to get some crappy SET option warrantied. We'd laugh and explain the garbage that they got. Most would vow to buy their cars in our region after that. Here in TX people have no clue. They just go to a dealer say they want a Toyota for X amount of dollars a month and they are happy. I refuse to be a sheep.
I wish their bad business practices got more press. And I am very disappointed in Toyota's support of these crooks. Who knows? Maybe one day they'll go out of business.....all we need is to educate people. It's really amazing how many people just suck it up and get scammed. I see hundreds of Toyotas everyday and 90% have that retarded pinstripe, glass etch and bootleg wheels. Gaaaah!
I used to work at a Toyota dealer in MA. There are a lot of retirees that purchased their Toyotas in Florida(SET region). They would bring in their cars to our dealer and get them maintained. It was funny when they would try to get some crappy SET option warrantied. We'd laugh and explain the garbage that they got. Most would vow to buy their cars in our region after that. Here in TX people have no clue. They just go to a dealer say they want a Toyota for X amount of dollars a month and they are happy. I refuse to be a sheep.
Good for Group 1! (see specified article above). Messer Toyota in Lubbock, TX is owned by Group 1. Our '03 Tundra 4WD (not purchased at Messer's)just hit 90,000 miles. Even 'tho Messer's hourly service rate is very high, they certainly do have some qualified mechanics. I'm taking the old Tundra to them for a timing belt replacement...call it support for Group 1's lawsuit. While I'll be stunned if Group 1 succeeds against GS...and while I generally hate lawsuits...at least they're making the effort.
Toyota lost me
Re: Toyota lost me
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