We took this vehicle for a test drive. It has power sliding passenger side door. Has only minor visible problems (inspection pending). Only 25K miles on it. Great color - though scratched in a few locations. Price seems OK at 14K. Only problem its a rental vehicle - Alamo rental service. Don't know if we should buy this or not? Any suggestions are most welcome!
You may want to check the vehicle history from the internet. According to Edmunds, the trade in is $16K, private party is $17.7 and dealer is $19.4K. I think you still have some factory warranty left.
I ordered from Bennett $850 over invoice (Invoice + TDA that is) plesant to deal with email me prodogs@yahoo.com for salesman name. I ordered two weeks ago and waiting on allocation for XLE LTD. Also there is another good deal in MD but your deposit is not refundable there.
I think TDA stands for something like Toyota Dealer Advertising. Cars Direct includes this in their Invoice Pricing. The Dealer hold back is included in the price.
At the end of the day, you have to settle in for what you want to pay. Bennett offered me the car for $2800 under MSRP. Given that the market is hot for this I believe that this is a great price. - In addition Bennett and the salesperson I have been dealing with their have been wonderful so far. - I am still waiting for my build date, so i'll reserve my final opinion until after I get my build date and VIN#
"Negotiated" (term used loosely here!) a sale agreement on a '04 Sienna LE Awd. Pkg#4 at MSRP w/a couple of accessories added at dealer cost - along with a decent trade-in for my '99 Subaru Outback Wagon w/40k mi. @ $13,650.
I focused on getting a decent price for the trade-in as I had little leverage on the supply side of the equation.. and felt comfortable with the deal "as a whole".
The dealer (Peruzzi Toyota - Hatfield, PA) was only too eager to trade a similarly equipped model "in stock" w/Dealer Locator for the color I had specified, and 4 days later called to inform me they couldn't find one (Desert Sand - a real "radical" color choice I know); so it was off to factory-allocation I went.
After waiting dutifully for the requisite 7wks. the car was finally in today, and upon asking for a fax of the "official sale" invoice, I noted that my trade-in vehicle was now worth $1000 less than when we made the deal (you know, the one he couldn't deliver on!).
To make a long story short, we left the dealership with my 4yr. old daughter in tears as we tried to explain to her what had just happened to us. The wife broke me down (still can't explain this yet) and called them back to try to work something out after our initial "shock and awe" and the car was already sold 1hr. later!
Just thought I'd like to share my Toyota Experience. Still hoping there's a happy ending to this whole charade, can't imagine one at this point which doesn't involve going to another dealership and waiting an addtl. 7wks (and my car depreciating another $1,000)!
2004 Sienna 5338 model (8 seats) deal in San Jose area: Invoice (LE + BI + Z1) =$24,045. (Surprised that dealer invoice have $56 dollar difference with KBB information, it should be $23,989 in KBB. Does this $56 is the cost to delivery the van from another dealer?) 3% benefit=$722 TDA = $443 sale price = $24045 + 722 + 443 = $25210. Plus tax+lic_+document. I know one guy at middle of May get @24,500 for LE BI 7 seats. Not sure he has Z1 package. If not, then his deal is $400 better than mine.
The best price I've been offered so far here in MA is $23,000 for a CE 7 seats with package #2 and car mats. Dealer invoice is $21,977. How are others in New England area doing now? How does this offer strike you, good or not? Thanks for your input, I've found everyone's postings to be very informative.
I had a ver similar experience. My vehicle dropped about $1,500 Cdn in value in 9 weeks while I was trying to figure whether I should buy the Odyssey or the 2004 Sienna. For a relatively new car, I think depreciation at $250 to $350 per month is reasonable but you also have add demand/supply,and other factors into the equation.
You know what I did instead. I sold my vehicle privately and brought that purchaser to the dealer so that I can also get the trade-in tax credit. This is very rarely done. I save almost $3,000 Cdn (inc. taxes) by doing this.
Almost every dealers here in MA are selling the van at MSRP. Some of them were not even return my emails. The Expressway Toyota is the only one can offer me some discount (2 to 3%) for CE or LE 8-seater because I and my friend recently bought our 03 Camry SEs there.
The current market situation does not allowing any huge discounts. But as many Siennas (7-seater) are coming, a minimum of $500 off is possible. I can see you they discounted yours for about $1000 and considering the MSRP=$24131, Factory invoice=$21663 and TMV=$24074. The price is fair. Can you tell me which dealer did you get the quote from? Is it in stock or on incoming list?
Back in April, I found three MA dealers who were willing to deal. The three dealers were Balise in Springfield, Herb Chambers in Auburn, and Expressway. All of them would do 3% over invoice. I went with Herb Chambers based on location and dealer size. My van is coming in this week. So far, no surprises. I dealt with the internet sales managers via emails.
Somebody mentioned that there was a good dealer in MD that was willing to offer price significantly enough below invoice. Would you please let me know who that dealer is. Thnks.
Try a Discussion Search in here for recent posts. Search on both "MD" and "Maryland." You should get about 10 or 12 hits and hopefully one or two will be what you are thinking of.
I tried Herb Chambers of Auburn with the email. I have got no response from them. Expressway will be the one I am going to try. The sales manager said they can give me about $1K off the MSRP. I am also looking for a LE 8-seater. And you have been waiting for 2 months now. How much did you pay? Is it 3% over dealer invoice (after the holdback)?
8 Passenger LE with LE#7 (BW), Z1, Wireless Headphones, and hood protector
The Invoice is as follows:
8 Passenger LE $21,969 BW package $ 2,364 Wireless HP $ 64 Z1 $ 174 Hood Prot $ 64 Destination $ 510 TDA $ 467 Gas $ 6 Total Inv $25,618
Purchase Price was $26,350 including all of their doc fees and inspection sticker ($222 which I go tthem to include in the purchase price)
The only thing that I have to pay above the $26,350 is the registration and the MA tax.
I could have had the same deal at Balise and Expressway as well. I gave my deposit on 4/29/03 and the van will be in this week. I got the VIN last week and was told the van is in freight.
So the $21,969 includes the $488 holdback and $244 finance reserve. All three dealers told me this was non-negotiable. So I guess I had to accept that but I told all three dealers that I would not pay for their doc fees, registry service fees, title prep, and inspection sticker - that was non-negotiable!
I live in the Urbana-Champaign area and emailed 7 dealers around the area from the toyota website. Until now (it has been a month), no reply. Any ideas where I can get a decent deal around central illinois or chicago area?
I didn't get all the replies from all the dealer that I contacted. I contacted some via Edmunds dealer locator and some via the dealer's website. I only got 2 responses from out of 8 or 10 dealers' response. Only one out of 2 dealers keep sending me an email with a list of incoming Sienna for the next two months. None of them are 8-seaters.
I checked with a variety of dealers over the course of a few days. The ones who were willing to give me a discount off of MSRP for a CE 7-seater were: Herb Chambers of Auburn, Toyota of Wellesley, Acton Toyota, Balise in Springfield, and Expressway of Dorchester. (Itch1, I found your earlier emails about dealers willing to negotiate very helpful, as you can see!) In all cases I dealt with a sales manager, fleet manager or the general manager, except with Balise and Auburn where I dealt with Internet salespeople. At Dorchester, where I have no prior relationship, they were willing to give me 3% off of MSRP ($723.93 off of an MSRP of $24,131 with invoice at $21,977). They first offered me one to two % off of MSRP.
Yesterday I ended up putting a deposit down with Toyota of Wellesley, where their final offer was $22,800 (lok888, this is the dealership that gave me the initial $23000 offer). This comes out to be about $823 over invoice and $1335 under MSRP. Everything has been done by phone and fax, and I have found them to be straightforward to deal with so far. The vehicle is in their allocation, to be built the week of July 21. Herb Chambers of Auburn and Balise's offers were the second best; Auburn in particular was pleasant to deal with. Itch1, let us know how everything goes this week when your car comes in!
I got the call a couple of hours ago - It's in!!!! The dealer is about an hour away, so I won't be able to get there until Friday. But I can't think of a better way to celebrate Independence Day. I get to celebrate my independence from Ford ;-)
Congrats on your deal. The funny thing about your experience is that, back in April, Wellesley and Acton wouldn't budge off of MSRP. Go figure! I'm glad everything worked out for you. It sounds like you'll have a much shorter wait than I did.
I can properly do much better in Expressway Toyota as a past customer (bought a 03 Camry SE there a month ago), maybe 4% to 5% off MSRP from the sales manager that I personally known. I think it is still tough to get more than $1 off in MA consider the supply and demand sitution in MA. BTW, I began my Sienna shopping at Herb Chambers of Toyota at Boston back in March with the internet sales rep.
Try Pitts in Dublin, GA or Taylor Toyota in N. Augusta, SC. E-mail me and I'll send you salespeople names. Or try faxing them both and asking for their best price. I would suggest doing your research first so that you know the color, options, etc you want.
Thanks! Pitts was recemmended by another Atlanta-based Edmunds message boarder, who'd bought from them. I emailed and spoke to a salesman at Pitts, gave him all the details, but he did not call back or respond to my email.
Taylor Toyota quoted MSRP and 90 to 120 days delivery for an LE-8 with option #10. They were, however, willing to reconsider their price if I could show them a better price quote from another dealer.
Ok, put my order in on June 9th, but have not heard about allocation of my vehicle yet. Has anyone else on the east cost who put an order in around this time heard back yet? thanx
Dealers in MD and VA are getting full MSRP on the limited number on the lot that are being purchased practically off the truck. We went with CarMax Toyota in Laurel - great buying experience - for $307 under MSRP for LE pkg#7 with hood protector and floor mats.
I had heard from a dealer no the board that it should take no longer than 3 weeks to hear back on allocation. I would suspect that the first order was rejected and possibly the second one as accepted. - Again thank you for sharing your experience
I think I misunderstood your question - my apologies. Yes, the allocations are done twice a month and you should hear the results from your dealer. I thought you were asking how long it took for a succesful allocation. In my case, the allocation request was rejected the first two times.
Hi, Just called my dealer to find out about my allocation. He explained to me that the way the process works as follows :
- Place Orderwith Dealer - Order Placed on Stack with other others - Toyota Issues Allocation to Dealer - Dealer Matches Allocations to Orders - If you are high enough in the Q you get a build date - If not your order waits for next allocation
Does this seem correct?
I thought somehow that the order was entered and sent to toyota which influenced how the cars were allocated.
HELP this is very confusing. I feel like I am getting shafted.
That is pretty much how it was explained to me. I was told that the "stack" was controlled by the Regional manager and they were filling orders strictly by date of order. I selected a large dealer figuring that this would help to speed up the allocation process but that apparently was not the case.
The dealer said that they had the stack. I'll guess i'll call to clarify. Feel a little more comfortable if it is in the Regional Manager's hands and not the dealers. However, the way it was explained to me was that the dealer handled the allocation.
My understanding was that the dealer handles the allocation, but I certainly could be wrong about that.
My vehicle took 3 weeks to be picked up in an allocation. Another 3 weeks until the build date and then 2 weeks for the delivery.
I was told by a sales guy that Toyota does not really take orders like other car manufacturers where they slip in your vehicle in the middle of a production run to fill inventory. The belief is that it results in a higher quality build as the plant is not forced to switch from one model to another and then back again.
and you do not have to worry about getting a build date. What is happening is that the smaller dealers are taking orders from people and saying that they will get you a van off of the allocation but they have no idea when they will be able to get you the van more then you do.
High volume dealers sell more vans so they get replacement vans quicker and more of them. The large dealers sell more trucks, vans and cars and are willing to take stockpiled inventory of Echo and Corolla when no other dealer would want them so they are rewarded with more of the prime merchandise as well.
I could give you a great price on a Sherman tank and would be willing to take a deposit from you to secure it but you would just have to wait until I get the next tank in my inventory before you can take delivery!
Every dealer will have their own way of explaining how it works and different terms that they use - here is my shot.
Twice a month, dealer submit their list of "preferences" to the region. The preferences include: model, equipment, and color choices.
Before each preference is submitted, the list is updated to reflect recently placed orders.
The list is submitted to the region, who matches it as close as possible to the vehicles the region is getting from Toyota Motor Sales.
Each dealer is then contacted by the region with the vehicles they are gettting. (allocation)
In a perfect world, the requested models match the ones allocated, but it doesn't always work.
After the allocation, inventory managers work with other dealers, and within the Toyota ordering system to fill any outstanding orders.
Getting the right cars is part science, part art, part politics. Some dealers are better than others. Bigger dealers get more units, so they have more ability to work within the system to get the ones they need.
But some smaller dealers are pretty good at working the system too.
Steve that is perfect and also the way i understood it to work. I repeatly asked the dealer about the process, and specifically asked if they submitted anything to the region. He said no, that they were given an allocation and then matched them to the order.
It's time to think how we are going to Pay because
U.S Facing Challenge of Big Shift of JOBS To Low-Wage Nations(COuntries)
Communication Networks are Becoming Faster and Faster to Link these Nations (Countries) with US Most of the JObs are Moving out of US Like Information Technology, Customer Support , Services, Call Center, more to come into this List Now we must ask the Question ???????????? How we are going to Pay our Mortgage and Car Loans ???
Any reactions to this proposed deal: I am looking for a 2004 Sienna LE 8 passenger option package #7. The dealer proposed MSRP (actually $23 under MSRP), but then also said there would be $390 document/prep fee in addition to a $26 title/lemon law fee plus the sales tax in my county. I realize that dealers currently are getting top dollar due to supply/demand dynamic. However, is $390 above MSRP (plus tax) too much or is it good/reasonable given the current situation? He said he would put it on order and I should have it within 2-4 months ($500 deposit). Thanks in advance!
Look back at post #1642. I was able to get almost $2000 below MSRP for the same van. I would recommend calling/emailing all Toyota dealers within reasonable driving distance from you. It's not easy, but deals are out there. Good luck!
To itch1: Thanks a lot for referring me to your prior post. Would you mind answering a few questions about your post?
What is TDA? My dealer did not mention that.
You said you got them to include $222 doc fees in the purchase price. Does that mean they increased the price by that amount or they just waived the doc fees? I assume the latter, but if it means they increased the price by that amount, what advantage did that offer you?
You mentioned $488 holdback and $244 finance reserve. What are they?
TDA - Toyota Dealer Advertising fee - There's been many posts on this in this forum - seems like it varies from region to region but is pretty much non-negotiable
They waived all of the doc fees
As far as the holdback and finance reserve goes, I'm a little confused how these came into play. The base invoice price the dealer gave me was actually lower than the price quoted by Edmunds. When I added in the holdback and reserve that was quoted to me, the invoice price matched exactly what Edmunds had. So I decided to take Steve the Host's advice and focus on what I wanted to pay. I didn't get bogged down on whether or not I should be paying that fee or this fee. I said this is what I am going to pay and not a penny more - including doc fees.
Comments
Thanks!!
Did you also get the holdback deducted?
At the end of the day, you have to settle in for what you want to pay.
Bennett offered me the car for $2800 under MSRP. Given that the market is hot for this I believe that this is a great price.
-
In addition Bennett and the salesperson I have been dealing with their have been wonderful so far.
-
I am still waiting for my build date, so i'll reserve my final opinion until after I get my build date and VIN#
sarniasting Jun 5, 2003 7:26am
Steve, Host
thanx
at MSRP w/a couple of accessories added at dealer cost - along with a decent trade-in for my '99 Subaru Outback Wagon w/40k mi. @ $13,650.
I focused on getting a decent price for the trade-in as I had little leverage on the supply side of the equation.. and felt comfortable with the deal "as a whole".
The dealer (Peruzzi Toyota - Hatfield, PA) was only too eager to trade a similarly equipped model "in stock" w/Dealer Locator for the color I had specified, and 4 days later called to inform me they couldn't find one (Desert Sand - a real "radical" color choice I know); so it was off to factory-allocation I went.
After waiting dutifully for the requisite 7wks. the car was finally in today, and upon asking for a fax of the "official sale" invoice, I noted that my trade-in vehicle was now worth $1000 less than when we made the deal (you know, the one he couldn't deliver on!).
To make a long story short, we left the dealership with my 4yr. old daughter in tears as we tried to explain to her what had just happened to us. The wife broke me down (still can't explain this yet) and called them back to try to work something out after our initial "shock and awe" and the car was already sold 1hr. later!
Just thought I'd like to share my Toyota Experience. Still hoping there's a happy ending to this whole charade, can't imagine one at this point which doesn't involve going to another dealership and waiting an addtl. 7wks (and my car depreciating another $1,000)!
area:
Invoice (LE + BI + Z1) =$24,045.
(Surprised that dealer invoice have $56 dollar
difference with KBB information, it should
be $23,989 in KBB. Does this $56 is the cost to
delivery the van from another dealer?)
3% benefit=$722
TDA = $443
sale price = $24045 + 722 + 443 = $25210.
Plus tax+lic_+document.
I know one guy at middle of May get @24,500
for LE BI 7 seats. Not sure he has Z1 package.
If not, then his deal is $400 better than mine.
I hope things work out quickly for you.
Bev
You know what I did instead. I sold my vehicle privately and brought that purchaser to the dealer so that I can also get the trade-in tax credit. This is very rarely done. I save almost $3,000 Cdn (inc. taxes) by doing this.
The current market situation does not allowing any huge discounts. But as many Siennas (7-seater) are coming, a minimum of $500 off is possible. I can see you they discounted yours for about $1000 and considering the MSRP=$24131, Factory invoice=$21663 and TMV=$24074. The price is fair. Can you tell me which dealer did you get the quote from? Is it in stock or on incoming list?
Steve, Host
8 Passenger LE with LE#7 (BW), Z1, Wireless Headphones, and hood protector
The Invoice is as follows:
8 Passenger LE $21,969
BW package $ 2,364
Wireless HP $ 64
Z1 $ 174
Hood Prot $ 64
Destination $ 510
TDA $ 467
Gas $ 6
Total Inv $25,618
Purchase Price was $26,350 including all of their doc fees and inspection sticker ($222 which I go tthem to include in the purchase price)
The only thing that I have to pay above the $26,350 is the registration and the MA tax.
I could have had the same deal at Balise and Expressway as well. I gave my deposit on 4/29/03 and the van will be in this week. I got the VIN last week and was told the van is in freight.
So the $21,969 includes the $488 holdback and $244 finance reserve. All three dealers told me this was non-negotiable. So I guess I had to accept that but I told all three dealers that I would not pay for their doc fees, registry service fees, title prep, and inspection sticker - that was non-negotiable!
I hope this helps.
Steve, Host
Blast Fax Car Buying
Steve, Host
Would you mind revealing the San Jose Dealer where you purchased your 8-seat Sienna?
Michael
Yesterday I ended up putting a deposit down with Toyota of Wellesley, where their final offer was $22,800 (lok888, this is the dealership that gave me the initial $23000 offer). This comes out to be about $823 over invoice and $1335 under MSRP. Everything has been done by phone and fax, and I have found them to be straightforward to deal with so far. The vehicle is in their allocation, to be built the week of July 21. Herb Chambers of Auburn and Balise's offers were the second best; Auburn in particular was pleasant to deal with. Itch1, let us know how everything goes this week when your car comes in!
Congrats on your deal. The funny thing about your experience is that, back in April, Wellesley and Acton wouldn't budge off of MSRP. Go figure! I'm glad everything worked out for you. It sounds like you'll have a much shorter wait than I did.
Pitts was recemmended by another Atlanta-based Edmunds message boarder, who'd bought from them.
I emailed and spoke to a salesman at Pitts, gave him all the details, but he did not call back or respond to my email.
Taylor Toyota quoted MSRP and 90 to 120 days delivery for an LE-8 with option #10. They were, however, willing to reconsider their price if I could show them a better price quote from another dealer.
thanx
Deposit left on 4/29
Notified about allocation on 6/11
Van arrived in port 6/23
Van arrived at dealer on 6/30
I hope that helps
I had heard from a dealer no the board that it should take no longer than 3 weeks to hear back on allocation. I would suspect that the first order was rejected and possibly the second one as accepted.
-
Again thank you for sharing your experience
Just called my dealer to find out about my allocation. He explained to me that the way the process works as follows :
- Place Orderwith Dealer
- Order Placed on Stack with other others
- Toyota Issues Allocation to Dealer
- Dealer Matches Allocations to Orders
- If you are high enough in the Q you get a build date
- If not your order waits for next allocation
Does this seem correct?
I thought somehow that the order was entered and sent to toyota which influenced how the cars were allocated.
HELP this is very confusing. I feel like I am getting shafted.
However, the way it was explained to me was that the dealer handled the allocation.
My vehicle took 3 weeks to be picked up in an allocation. Another 3 weeks until the build date and then 2 weeks for the delivery.
I was told by a sales guy that Toyota does not really take orders like other car manufacturers where they slip in your vehicle in the middle of a production run to fill inventory. The belief is that it results in a higher quality build as the plant is not forced to switch from one model to another and then back again.
High volume dealers sell more vans so they get replacement vans quicker and more of them. The large dealers sell more trucks, vans and cars and are willing to take stockpiled inventory of Echo and Corolla when no other dealer would want them so they are rewarded with more of the prime merchandise as well.
I could give you a great price on a Sherman tank and would be willing to take a deposit from you to secure it but you would just have to wait until I get the next tank in my inventory before you can take delivery!
Twice a month, dealer submit their list of "preferences" to the region. The preferences include: model, equipment, and color choices.
Before each preference is submitted, the list is updated to reflect recently placed orders.
The list is submitted to the region, who matches it as close as possible to the vehicles the region is getting from Toyota Motor Sales.
Each dealer is then contacted by the region with the vehicles they are gettting. (allocation)
In a perfect world, the requested models match the ones allocated, but it doesn't always work.
After the allocation, inventory managers work with other dealers, and within the Toyota ordering system to fill any outstanding orders.
Getting the right cars is part science, part art, part politics. Some dealers are better than others. Bigger dealers get more units, so they have more ability to work within the system to get the ones they need.
But some smaller dealers are pretty good at working the system too.
Did that confuse you more ? Hope not.
I repeatly asked the dealer about the process, and specifically asked if they submitted anything to the region. He said no, that they were given an allocation and then matched them to the order.
Your explaination clears it up
U.S Facing Challenge of Big Shift of JOBS To Low-Wage Nations(COuntries)
Communication Networks are Becoming Faster and Faster to Link these Nations (Countries) with US
Most of the JObs are Moving out of US
Like Information Technology, Customer Support , Services, Call Center, more to come into this List
Now we must ask the Question ????????????
How we are going to Pay our Mortgage and Car Loans ???
Steve, Host
More importantly what percentage financing are people getting that have already purchased their Sienna's.
What is TDA? My dealer did not mention that.
You said you got them to include $222 doc fees in the purchase price. Does that mean they increased the price by that amount or they just waived the doc fees? I assume the latter, but if it means they increased the price by that amount, what advantage did that offer you?
You mentioned $488 holdback and $244 finance reserve. What are they?
Thanks!
They waived all of the doc fees
As far as the holdback and finance reserve goes, I'm a little confused how these came into play. The base invoice price the dealer gave me was actually lower than the price quoted by Edmunds. When I added in the holdback and reserve that was quoted to me, the invoice price matched exactly what Edmunds had. So I decided to take Steve the Host's advice and focus on what I wanted to pay. I didn't get bogged down on whether or not I should be paying that fee or this fee. I said this is what I am going to pay and not a penny more - including doc fees.
Hope this helps.