Toyota Dealers A Little Too Arrogant

I think people here are dramatically misunderstanding the intent of the dealer’s. I think they’re all evil, and so I hate to defend them, but what incentive do they have to keep a demo vehicle on hand if every allocation they get is sold before it hits the lot? I bet my life savings when things cool down they’ll have a demo available but why would they invest 50-60k now when they don’t need to?

 

I think you are missing the point... While we purchase the vehicles from the dealer, ultimately we are buying a Toyota product. So since Toyota is at the top of the food chain, it should be their desire to maintain customer loyalty. They would show a significant amount of good faith by either providing a demo to each of their authorized dealers or forcing them to have one in inventory (no different than any other franchise requirement) so that customers have a chance to sample the product. If not, then let's move away from purchasing from dealers at all, and just go online, build the car you want and buy directly from Toyota, Ford or whoever. This is already happening in a couple of other countries with Ford. Quite frankly I'm good w/eliminating the middle man. Let the dealers focus on providing warranty, maintenance and other services!

 

I like my salesperson personally, but I'm not thrilled with the situation. I found out my truck got stuck at the port because of a recall. I put a deposit down back in October. I asked my dealer to ask Toyota if they'd consider giving me an extended warranty for my troubles. I've been waiting way too long for this, and I feel like I've been strung along here since the unveiling. The more time goes on, the more we hear about nagging QC problems. I'm becoming disillusioned with the truck and this whole process in general.

I don't want to say my request was met with ridicule, but that's kind of how it felt. At the end of the day, I think they have the power. I know they can resell my truck to someone else in 30 minutes. So, back to waiting another month for a truck I'm not sure I want anymore....

 

well toyota makes dealers keep loaners on hand that they cant sell and used exclusively for warranty work.

just make a loaner a 22 tundra

 

100% agree with that!

 

Turo supplies their own insurance for each individual and covers up to a crazy amount of liability damage. The individuals insurance won't cover them renting out their personal vehicle.

 

Would that mean everyone pays the same price from factory for a specific trim/options. Just like buying a phone.

 

Yes - this is the Tesla model. Direct manufacturer to consumer. No negotiation and they pay dogshit for trade-in because they aren’t a “dealer”.

 

Not sure if you've tried Sterling McCall Fort Bend Toyota. We bought both our 4R and Tundra there. The 4R was totally negotiated online via email (the salesman I worked with back in 2014 is now the Internet Sales Manager). I had already driven a 4R elsewhere (the dealer I test drove at pissed me off with their BS "let me ask the mgr." games and flip-flopping), so no test drive needed other than to comfirm the vehicle I had chosen online was functional and acceptable to me. This was the smoothest car buy transaction I've ever had (we already had financing through our bank).

My Tundra was a little different - went in undecided between Taco/Tundra, but had no trouble crawling over both and test driving the Tundra. However, this was at the very beginning of Covid - people were starting to freak out about it, but mask mandates weren't out quite yet. Anyway, it was still a good transaction, just took longer because I used Toyota financing (0%/72, hell yeah!) and had to sit around the dealer for a while waiting for approvals/paperwork.

Their website says they have some in stock - not sure if any are exactly what you're looking for, but might be worth checking them out. Unless they're one of the dealers who have already pissed you off! lol

On edit: I see that "In Stock" doesn't mean they actually have anything. Would assume this is consistent across all dealers.

 

To be fair, it’s not just Toyota dealerships. In this last round of buying a truck the only dealerships that ever got back to me on anything were Chevy/GM, and even that only lasted for a message or two on the next vehicle that arrived they thought I might like, nothing beyond that.
Even worse, had a dealer I’d been using for years where I bought and had serviced my sports car and our SUV. Absolutely awesome service until ownership and management changed over then it went dramatically downhill. Really a shame since they carry a lot of nice brands. Apparently there are enough folks with more money than brains keeping them in business. I’ll drive the extra two and a half hours to Spokane the next time I need one of their vehicles.

 

https://youtu.be/BApmFOQ04tY

 

If they treated you poorly, leave a bad review on there socials.all of them. Then go out if your way to shop somewhere else. And if you truly like the king ranch better then get it! But try and test drive both first. Lol

The fact that the ford dealer was treating you good means they also might be willing to cut a deal in the king ranch for you? Could at least try and see

 

Find a Toyota dealership near you (if possible) that has won the "President's Award". That isn't just some BS award to flash around the website. Toyota only gives it to dealers that maintain a high standard of customer satisfaction through their internal surveying process. It requires the dealer to hit a ton of different metrics through both service and sales to win. If you see the stamp on their website somewhere, you know they are a very decent dealer.

 

Pretty much that would be my understanding. However, I'd imagine there would be incentives and various partner programs out there that would allow certain groups/people to purchase at a set price below MSRP. For example Ford offers X-Plan pricing on most of their vehicle to certain people within their partner programs (excluding certain lines such as Raptor, GT 500s, etc.). So, I'd imagine there would be limitations to those type of programs for vehicles such as the Capstone, PROs, etc. Those vehicles would be eligible for purchase at MSRP only.

Either way it takes the BS out of it dealing the MFRs directly. Another example w/the X-Plan program is that it's voluntary for dealerships to participate in it since Ford doesn't own the dealer. So, when we started experiencing the shortages, almost every dealer stopped honoring X-Plan. However, if you searched around a bit, you could still find dealers in most areas honoring them. Hell, a dealership in Iowa (Granger Ford), who is active on the Ford forums, flat out advertised 3% UNDER INVOICE on any new F-150 order (no Raptors obviously), but King Ranch, Tremors, Limited, etc... were all being had at that price. Ford ended up increasing their allocations I believe to meet the demands and most folks were getting their vehicle at that pricing in under 3 months. Not bad!

Another example of manufacturers not allowing the dealers to mess w/their customers happened several months ago w/Ford when dealerships started messing w/folks that put deposits down on that new electric 1/2 ton or whatever they had just come out with. Dealerships were collecting deposits and then once the vehicle arrived they tried to strong arm customers into paying higher prices or threatened to sell the vehicle off to other customers and just return the deposit to the original customer (some really shady crap). A few customers started complaining to Ford, and Ford basically sent a letter out to their dealers outlining that unsound business practices were a bad reflection on the Ford brand and were not within the spirit of their agreement between the dealership and manufacturer. Ford further acknowledged that while it was the dealerships' choice of who and how much to sell vehicles to, any confirmed nefarious business practices could result in a loss of future allocations for that/those dealerships. So, that $hit stopped pretty quick.

My point is, while it's easy to point the finger at the dealerships and not assess any blame or culpability on Toyota, there are certain things that can be done to mitigate the silliness.

We seem to be praising the crap out of Toyota for putting out such a fine, dependable and affordable product. However, if the quality of the product is no longer going to be what it once was, why should anyone feel compelled to stay loyal to the brand when they can at least go look at, sit in, and drive competitor vehicles and even in current market conditions have the chance to purchase them at a price was intended by the manufacturer.

 

I guarantee if they did have a demo this guy would say “They have a truck and wont sell me it, assholes!!!”

 

So the dealer can do whatever because the purchaser of the vehicle took out a loan for it? People come up with the craziest ideas.

that’s like saying the realtor can keep showing your house because you haven’t paid off the mortgage.

 

It isn't owned by the dealer or the person that wants to test drive it either and it's registered under the person that purchased it, regardless of whether or not they used financing. If I ordered a truck and the dealer allowed someone to test drive it when it came in before I came to pick it up I'd be pissed. I'm pretty sure most people would be as well.

 

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/toyota-motors-fourth-quarter-net-profit-drops-31.amp

This is exactly what I mean, leaving no inventory cushion on lots is not sustainable for any manufacturer in the long term without significant supply chain changes. Being unable to get vehicles into driveways in a timely fashion will eventually drag them all down.

 

I'm not sure what you're trying to point out? Profit is down but revenue is up, and this was all projected a long time ago due to the chip shortage and general supply chain issues.

Not saying there aren't issues, but this has absolutely nothing to do with having cars in lots. The reality (which is incredibly evident in this thread) is that Toyota is selling every single vehicle they produce.

 

could be worse. could be like the big 3 or even bmw dropping content (android auto/carplay) in vehicles cause of shortages.

 

I think in the long term not having anything on lots to sell when supply chain crunches happen is going to affect the bottom line and manufacturers are going to have to look for a different balance that allows them to keep moving cars

I think the business model of limited lot inventory is worth aspiring to in an always perfect supply chain environment. But I think over time if they try that but don't have long term supply chain fixes, it will get problematic when the process is disrupted and wait times keep becoming unpredictable. I am not saying not having cars on lots causes the problem. But rather, it will make it worse. If I want a light blue Platinum and can't find one but there is a loaded dark blue LTD sitting in front of me, I may take it. IF this trend continues and there is nothing sitting there to consider and a 6-plus long wait time, a good portion of the buying public will start gravitating to whoever has trucks available that can be had in a reasonable time frame. To stay competitive manufacturers may have to look for a new middle ground where there is an inventory cushion to get them through supply chain crunches but not one that gets so big it drives down prices significantly. I just don't think this car lot of the future with one of each model to test drive and nothing else is realistic any time soon. Gonna swing the other way a little bit.

I guess it is a question of weighing risks and imperfect solutions. Sure, there are people who want a Tundra and will wait 8 months to receive a Tundra at elevated prices. There are also people unwilling to wait who may buy something else that catches their eye if they have time to think it over waiting for their Tundra to become available. How many of them do you lose before it starts to come close to outweighing how much you make off the people dead set on a Tundra.

 

I assume limited inventory on dealer lots is not a Toyota business strategy. They would love to have more vehicles to sell but the current supply chain shortages make it difficult.

 

I think it's reasonable to want to test drive a vehicle before you buy it. This whole market is completely bonkers and I'm glad I can sit it out on the sidelines until things settle down. On another note OP, keep an eye out for used 2022 Tundra's. I have seen some pop-up with 5k-7k miles on them while searching for used Tundra's online. May want to give that a look as far as getting behind the wheel of a Tundra for a test drive.

 

I have to wonder about this. Some of the dealers I talked to last fall told me they only had 40% of their usual inventory, but were making record profits (due to increased margins on both new and used vehicles). Some were frustrated by this, but others thought making more money with less personnel and effort was actually a good thing. This same mindset appears to be going on in several industries right now. Why struggle hard to mass produce and compete on slim margins when you can engineer scarcity, not have to work as hard, and make more money?

 

They'll do it once..

 

I'm all for conspiracy theories but I just don't see the connection here. The dealers are not part of Toyota, in many cases, the vehicle brands *hate* the dealerships, so I'm not sure how Toyota is making extra money in this situation? Best case, the small msrp increases they've added in the last 12 months means they're making maybe a couple hundred extra bucks per vehicle, but I'm pretty confident it's the dealerships that are making the profits.

 

That’s not how liens work. A lien is a property interest, not ownership.

 

Pay your bills.

 

Supply and demand............ They are mostly all presold at this point. What do you want them to do, let you test ride/drive someone elses truck? How would you feel if you showed up to pick up your new truck to find out some muldoon was out on a test drive in it? It is the same with every first year popular vehicle.