Are Distributors and Dealerships running up the real cost of a Toyota vehicle?

Might as well open a can of worms. I have seen a lot of articles recently that Toyota Dealers are not selling many cars. I have also seen articles about the new Toyota President talking about going with "direct order" from Toyota for their customers. It seems he is not happy about a practice by the US dealerships. In one of those articles it showed how a new Toyota is handled by a distributor. In my area that distributor is Gulf States Toyota. Then they distribute to the dealerships under their umbrella. In the example of what happens they used a RAV4. From the factory the RAV4 is just over $48,000. When the distributor gets it they add several thousands of dollars to the vehicle in fees and add-ons. The article showed those fees and add-ons. Then it is sent to the dealership. The dealership has its own fees and add-ons. In the end the $48,000 RAV4 now costs $71,000. The article stated that practice is pushing customers away. Comments?

 

From experience here, when COVID started and the supply chain was backed up it was hard for dealerships to get new vehicles. To supplement this they started taking in more and more used cars to make up for the loss (and is partially why used vehicles are so expensive now). When they finally got new vehicles in they, of course, mark up the prices to make profit and make up for profit lost.

Each dealership is owned by another parent company that is authorized to sell Toyota vehicles and wear their badge. The parent companies can essentially make their own pricing to a degree. The Supra mark-ups were/are pretty astronomical.

 

49% increase would push me so far away, I ain't never coming back !

 

"Never pay retail! That's a sucker's move."

- my great Uncle Itzak

 

Since Tundra's are manufactured in Texas it would seem simple to order a truck exactly like one wanted like I did with Ford one time but no.

 

I feel like the automotive industry moves at the speed of molasses. Like with anything else I should be able to hop online build the exact thing that I want and have it show up at my house. You’re cutting out a lot of middlemen, and I understand that but some things you have to figure out during the ride. I think Toyota would be fine with that but I’m a lifetime, Toyota driver. I’m sure some people wanna actually get in the cars and see what they want

 

If Toyota went to a direct to customer model how would warranties and TSB's been performed? I'm not saying that having other entities in the chain isn't driving up the cost either.

 

The dealer lobby has had a profound impact in most states, which prevents direct to consumer models.

Like most enthusiasts, I know more about the vehicles I'm buying than the salesman, and dealing with a dealership generally ends up taking too much time with a lot of b.s.

I'd fully support a direct to consumer model, but it largely can't happen under the laws of most states.