2013 and Earlier - Toyota Sienna Prices Paid and Buying Experience

jeffc7

I received an offer in writing to purchase the Silver Spruce XLE with HE (moonroof and electric door (did not want leather)), TO, EF and DC for $26,099 on Saturday ($100 over invoice). On Sunday night I sent an e-mail to five local dealers detailing the offer that I had on the table, letting them know that I was going to purchase the next day, and giving them until noon today to beat the price. All five contacted me Monday morning. Three had exactly what I wanted on their lots and of the three two offered to sell at invoice and one went $100 under invoice.

Drove it home tonight for $25,899 + tax and title (no extra costs added) and absolutely love it! I would highly recommend this strategy. Once you think you have your best deal on the table send out the e-mail and challenge them to beat it.

I would also highly recommend dealing with Greg McDaniels (Dry Ridge Toyota in Kentucky) and John Jacobs (Performance Toyota in Fairfield Ohio). Both were very upfront and easy to work with.

beeler1

I live in Spfld IL and want a Sienna. We have test driven and like the LE. I have emailed 8 IL dealers asking for info and got a response from only 1 in Effingham and he wasnt' about to talk about invoice pricing. Being educated here at edmunds I know this is the process I want to use to buy. But I'm striking out with the online email process. How could I word my request to get responses? I am especially interested in Indianaguys experience. Thanks

Beeler1

tzs

The quote we were given from our dealer was the quote we got the first day of dealing with them. They held to it thru the down-payment while we waited for financing till out the door two weeks later. No additional fees, about what one other dealer quoted but $1,000.00 less than others. We couldn't believe it, about 2% over invoice (see other postings.) Been driving it for almost two weeks and are still thrilled. For those who followed our previous postings, we did buy the service contract for $590.00. The day we went to pick-up our new Sienna our 93 Concorde tranny went. We're now scouring past Edmunds postings regarding Chrysler transmissions (you don't want to know). THEN, one week later the radiator went on our Eagle Premiere beater. We know we are cursed, and want to sleep at night 3 years from now. BTW, a Chrysler Dealer called to tell us about the new higher rebates, not knowing we had bought our Sienna. I succintly told him that at no time will we EVER buy another Chrysler product, we're part of that 'ever-growing fan club' of Toyota/Honda owners.

buycar5

Have ordered an XLE with luxury package, tow everything, moonroof deflector, bumper protector, runningboards, woodgrain dash and will be paying 28401 out the door. This is from Wilmington Toyota, I had two offers at 28800 for the same vehicle, one even from Greentree Toyota in Indianna, who would have delivered it to my door. Based on the extra fees, the Wilmington dealer clearly is not worrying about them, as this price is less than 1000 over invoice, ie 3% profit for them. No one in this area would touch this price. Of course the dilemma is, getting all the options, I have to wait for it to be made...maybe I should have paid the extra 400 to the guy in Indy who had it on his lot?

indiana_guys

In response to the request in posting #117, I will explain more about how I shopped. My one attempt at a conventional/commercial on-line car shopping (Autobytel) was a mess. My success was with individual emails written to 7 local dealerships. Some dealerships have a streamlined interface for internet offers, others have no clue what is going on. Cast a wide net. I ended up buying 25 miles out of town.

The idea of email bombardment of local dealers was raised in an earlier forum and one person sent their version of the letter they wrote. I simply adapted it to my own needs. The text below is a copy of that part of the posting from "emailshopper" in earlier versions of the townhall (posting #545 in "how much did you pay, II" I think). I added an extra sentence saying I would be going into further discussions (trade-in, time frame, etc) with the three dealers who offered me top prices, but otherwise the letter was pretty similar....[my comments in brackets]

Have fun and good shopping! There are

--from email shopper---------------
Here's the Email. I think the critical components
are to include the exact model and options,
mention the dealer invoice price, and ask for an
out-the-door price including everything. Good luck![also important to let them know you are ready to buy, since they must hate casual inquiries which chew up their time]

to Sales staff at ....

I've decided to purchase a Sienna LE with the LE
Extra Value Package (UN) and rear bumper protector
(EF). I'm willing to buy right away although
I'm happy to wait for a factory delivery if you
don't have one on site. I'm flexible on color
although I prefer the Denim Blue Mica and Desert
Sand Mica. My research indicates that the invoice
price is: 22,148 (base) + 271 (UN) + 36 (EF) =
22,455 plus a destination charge of 480 for a tota of 22,935 (minus a 2% dealer hold back).

Could you send me, via Email, the best
out-the-door quote you can offer? Please include
all charges (destination, advertising, documentation, taxes, license (I'm transferring) and any other fees). [I will be discussing my trade-in and financing details with the dealers who come in with the three top offers]

Thank you very much. I look forward to doing
business with you.

Sincerely,

----------------

tzs

We used a very similar format, and got few to no responses. The one response we got was $800.00 more than the Sales Manager at that dealer had quoted us. We got no response from two others that we sent out. I've read sucess both ways. There was an earlier posting about "why do they sound so good on e-mail but then fall back to their old ways when we come in the door"...

buycar5

I did the e-mail thing, though here in NC it was to the 9 dealers within 2 hrs of here, didn't list what I "know" the car to be worth, but rather what the local guy had offered, stating I knew it was too high. Everyone responded, at least during the first round of price wars.

ralpi

muulk,
We bought from Competition Toyota in Middle Island. Best combo of purchase price (lowest) and trade in price (highest). Also, they have a very good selection. The highest price I was quoted was from Sunrise Toyota, 2nd lowest from Smithtown Toyota. Talk to Joe Riccio in Middle Island.

jeff1962

Has anyone bought a Sienna LE in the NH or Mass. area and found a good dealer/price they can recommend? Thanks!

baa

We just bought an XLE with LL option at Northbrook Toyota. Gave us 1% over invoice ($27,000). I had e-mailed a few dealers about their quotes and this was the best one. It was hassle-free shopping and our experience of buying a car was enjoyable. Total time it took was less than an hour.
The contact person there was Sarah Ashford.

Good luck.

timreed

Hi! I am looking to purchase a 2000 Sienna LE with the UR and UN packages in Central New Jersey. I went to a dealer who showed me their invoice and it had a "F.I.E" charge of $1300 added. All other costs, (base+dest+options+TDA were there correctly) A similar invoice he had but minus the UR ($884) package had a "F.I.E" charge of $550. The invoice said that the "F.I.E included motor/admin taxes (something like that). They could not explain it to me adequately. I have not seen that charge mentioned in any of the posts. Does anyone have any idea what that F.I.E charge is? Also, I seem to only getting a price of around $25,000 for the LE with the UR and UN packages. Does that seem fair for New Jersey? Thanks for any help

jain1

I just got an offer in email for Sienna LE in white with gray interior. It is equipped with the following: TO, UN, GN, EF, and DH for $23,486 plus $600 profit. Based on my research the dealer cost is about $280 higher than the invoice price. But the profit is about 2.5% of the invoice price, which is quite reasonable (see other posts). I would really appreciate your thoughts on this offer.

nsvltndog

I'm intrigued by a demo at the local dealership. 2000 Sienna LE, TO, UN, V5, RB, J2, GP, with 4965 miles on it. The window price is $27,021 so no discount has been applied, but I am at a loss for what to offer? Should I start at invoice price plus destination charge ($23,763) and then subtract for the 4965 miles or should their still be a 1-3% markup before subtracting the miles? And then, I've seen opinions that vary from $.10/mile up to $1.00/mile on how much to discount a demo model? Any thoughts are appreciated.

coach24

Just purchased a Sienna LE with UN UR RB N1 EF GN in Napa Burgandy via the internet for 25,300. Used the form letter from an earlier post and it worked like a charm. Got several responses from dealerships and told them I was buying from the lowest dealer by a particular date. As the date came closer they all worked hard to beat each other and all I did was sit back and let them do all the work. I would recommend this to anyone looking to buy a new car. I never set foot in the dealership until I went to get the keys! Pretty happy with the price too. (Close to 3% by my figures) Good luck to all and thanks for the interesting info and stories .By the way, bought from Northway Toyota in Albany and the contact is Danielle Lebed. Great to work with.

diane31

Can someone please tell me what the option codes stand for (i.e., LL, TO, SK, RB, SD, EF, etc.)?

Thank you

linda963

Diane,

You can find the option codes by going back to the Sienna of your choice through Edmunds. Under the invoice price is the list of options for each model and the codes are next to each one. Those are the codes everyone is referring to in these posts.

bennett13

This is for "Schoe" or anyone else who can give me further information on the leather used by the SE Distributors.

In "Schoe's" posting, he claims that the SE Distributors use "inferior" leather when putting leather into their vans at port. What is this claim based on? Personal experience? We are seriously considering buying a van through them and want to hear good/bad experiences with this leather. I was told by Toyota that the port leather, was in fact, nicer than the factor leather. BS? Thanks so much.

Diane

juliei

LeMieux Toyota in Green Bay has offer to sell me an XLE with the LL package for $28,929. That was an improvement over the first offer, which was more than the tag hanging from the rear view mirror. That is more than $2,200 over invoice, and obviously not acceptable. I emailed 4 other dealers in Oshkosh, Madison, and Appleton yesterday, and haven't received any response. Where are these great responsive dealers? Any suggestions?

Thanks.

lamm9733

We bought our LE from Wilde Toyota in Milwaukee, WI. There was the traditional haggling. At the time we purchased (Nov 99), we paid 1000 over invoice (24300). Don Jacobs Toyota would have matched this price. Earlier posts from the "Tzs family" had them purchasing from Don Jacobs at 200 or 300 over invoice. Based on other posts, the price in the midwest appears to be 200 to 500 over invoice.

juliei

Jon Lancaster Toyota in Madison has offered me a
Sienna at 2% over invoice without any dickering.

tzs

Sounds good, but get all the costs spelled out. There will be somethings that you will have to pay, but make sure they tell you what "invoice" includes. Some poor souls have actually paid for installation on their add ons such as bumper guard, cargo net etc.

chamelin

I just purchased a Sienna CE with the Extra Value Package (which brings it up close to an LE except without the LE interior and middle captains seats) It also has the towing package, EF package and Keyless entry. Here in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia the best we could do was $24,700 out the door (includes tax, title, tags, processing fee etc.). We didn't even get the color we wanted (We got a color we considered acceptable, but not in our top 3 choices). Anyway, I noticed that almost none of the posts here were about the CE versions and this makes me wonder why? All the dealers here have CEs and very few LEs or XLEs

tzs

When we started shopping, we had a specific list of items we wanted, middle row captain's chairs, keyless remote, and other items that were standard. Turned out our best deal for us was the LE. It was much simpler finding what we defnitely wanted and also preferred (CD player, rear AC) with Toyota. After we purchased, my husband went to Edmund's (natch) and compared a similarly equipped Grand Caravan and we saved over $1800.00 because of NOT having to make step ups to get our options.

honkers

Not sure if I should risk embarrasing myself with how much I overpaid for mine Sienna, but the local Toyota dealer in my town is run like the Saturn sales...you pay the BEST PRICE as marked on the window. They are indeed below the sticker price, but without having "shopped around" I cannot say with confidence I got the "best deal" I might have otherwise. The sticker of my LE, with the UN convience pkg and the bumper guard was $27,134. I got a $1000 rebate (to dealer) off the UN package, and the BEST PRICE listed was $23,958, which is still almost $2200 off MSRP (after rebate). Here in my town, there was only ONE Sienna on the lot at the time, and the next one due in was scheduled to arrive 6/29, and it had running boards which I did not want. Anyway, I know they made money on me, but for a minivan in high demand I felt like I got a fair deal. Best part was that they offered me $750 more for my used Villager trade in than the Villager dealer did...so that sealed the deal for me.

roberts12

I am in the process of finalizing a deal with a dealer in southeastern MA. Quote for a Sienna LE with TO, UN, AW, EF for $24,200. That's the best I received in over two months of research.

juliei

I'm getting closer. I've talked with 3 dealers now. One wasn't in the ballpark, one was at 2% over invoice, and the third one came down to 1 1/2% over invoice without any prodding. There price for "Toyota Advertising" is $100 different, though. I think that it helps tremendously that I told the sales manager about the blank credit union check in my purse. I would recommend getting "pre-approved" if you can. My credit union sent me a "not to exceed" check that I can use anywhere.

yodu

i read all of posters about siena price and learn a lot tricks about negotiation. i am in the process of shopping siena XLE with option LL. Anyone can recommend a "best dealer" in Houston-Galveston area and target price? how much dealer's holdback? it says not 2% in southern U.S in this homepage. do i should pay advertising fee? if how much? is 3% over invoice price a reasonable profit for dealers in this area? my 2 friends payed 26500 on LE with Un and UR, did dealers made extra $500? i am going to pay
invoice
base 23930
LL 2298
des 480
-----------------
26708
dealer profit
600
27300+ ttl
any comments about this. i am really appreciated for all your input.

adlumia

There seem to be few posts on Siena CE purchase prices, so here is one:
Invoice prices:
vehicle 20,602
extra value 847
destination 480
rear bumper prot. 36
______
total 21,965
I paid $22,540 and felt that I could have dickered away another couple of hundred given a little more time. Good luck to all prospective purchasers! Adlumia

cvanbuyer

This is a great site! Thanks go_sienna as I also got mine from Longo Toyota (So Calif). I sent an email to Abe Mashayeki (Internet sales). He was extremely professional (which counted a lot to me). Had an absolutely terrible experience with Toyota of Cerritos and Norwalk Toyota who were totally unprofessional and spent most of the time trying to justify their respective $1400 and $800 over invoice prices + bogus fees). Bottom line Abe sent me an email for an LE as follows:
Base price LE 22148
TO 128
AW 380
UN 271
(not incl 2% rollback) dealer profit 556
dest. 480
tax 1860
license 354
doc fees 45
OTD Total 26211

May not be the lowest in So. Cal but I believe it was a great deal compared to other dealers. Abe and Longo Toyota seem to understand that more sales will result from good service, courtesy, and fair pricing. Hope this helps.

juliei

I really learned a lot from this forum. I know that it saved me a good deal of money.

I got my XLE for 1.5% over invoice at Kolosso in Appleton, WI. The invoice included $250 for advertising, which I will begrudgingly pay.

I talked to six dealers, and the dealing was really between only two. Appleton was closer to home, and they were very eager to sell me the van. I would recommend them -- or maybe I should wait until I pick it up in a few days when it arrives from a Chicago area dealer and we finalize the numbers. I would also highly recommend Ken at Jon Lancaster Toyota in Madison. He was the most helpful and straightforward salesman that I talked to during this experience.

Julie

imsick

Use the $150 Coupon!!!

Sienna LE with TO, UN, AW, J2. Twenty LE's on lot- all with AW. Didn't want but couldn't change.

MSRP = $27,008, including $480 Destination Charge.

Dealer refused $25,000. "Internet Deal"= $25,987
Offered $25,200. "One Day Only Price"= $25,487

Agreed on price after showing dealer research, trying to lower more. Dealer expects profit on this model of 7%, and will not accept less.

Dealer didn't like coupon! California requires coupon be counted as down payment, rather than taken off final price.
Price after coupon = $25,337

Edmund's price list is the same as Consumer Reports. Save your $12!

pmark

I just paid $300 over invoice (did not include advertising fee) for the XLE with package #4 and a few other extras. I used the edmunds.com invoice prices for the model and the package and the dealer was more than willing to sell after telling him that we had kept up with his inventory (not many were moving over a few weeks). He also gave me an awsome deal on my trade-in. I love my new Sienna!

jane25

I live in Minnesota and want to buy the $150.00 voucher to use on my new Sienna XLE that will arrive in a few weeks. Where can I find one? I called the 800 # from Edmunds and was told that there were no vouchers for Minnesota. Is this true? Please help.

brentg1

More technically, they probably meant that their supply for the Minnesota area has been exhausted. Your only recourse is to somehow find somebody who still has one and never sold it to the clearinghouse. Don't know exactly how you'd go about doing that.

brianz2

Hi

I live outside Wash D.C., the advertising fee add on is over $500. Is this negotiable and to what level?
thanks

k4mack

Just bought a 2000 Sienna CE with the Extra Value Package and Bumper Protection at IRA Toyota in Danvers, MA.

Invoice Price:
CE Base: 20602
Value Package: 847
Bumper Protection: 36
Total Invoice: $21485

We paid $21980 ($495 over invoice) + $480 destination charge. No questions asked... they accepted our first offer.

But then the "fees" piled up... first on the purchase contract then on the financing contract.

On the purchase contract they added:
advertising fee: $322, which we reduced to $161
title prep fee: $5
vehicle admin fee: $135
reg service fee: $65

After agreeing to pay almost $22k, you feel silly groveling over little line items... so we shrugged it off.

Then the financing... They go in the back room to "prepare the paper work" and come back in two hours with the forms all filled out in triplicate with the following fees:
vendors single interest insurance: $50
Gov't license and/or reg fee: $30
Cert Title fee $50
Sellers Documentary fee: $140

In total, after being very satisfied with the agreed to purchase price, they tried to tack on $636 in fees!!! They made an admin error, so we ended up only paying $430 in fees.

My question is this? How many of these fees are legitimate, if any?

We still can't wait to pick up the van on Monday. Even with all these fees, we paid $926 over invoice, which is better than they were offering a year ago.

burroughs

Looking to get a Toyota Sienna. Never have been a Toyota owner, but it seems I have noticed over the years specific times ("Toyotathons" etc.) when the prices are seemingly at their best. Know that the end of the month and in the fall are supposedly good times. It seems I have noticed that they have large rebates around June. Would appreciate any suggestions from any successful Toyota bargain hunters.

jeff1962

k4mack:

Who did you deal with at IRA? Would you recommend that person?

Thanks!

dazednconfused

Congratulations on your purchase of a Sienna 00' LE!
I'm in NYC as well and starting my search for a dealer that will give me the least headaches.

Pardon me if ask a few questions.
Were there any other "fees" tacked on to your purchase? What was the so called advertising charges that you paid. What was the final "out the door price"? that you paid.

thanks much!

zmurphy

Congrats on your new Sienna - I too, have been looking in the bay area these past couple of weeks. Toyota 101 in Redwood City is offering $2,000 off invoice and seem pretty decent. I will give the guys in San Rafael a try though - anyone in particular I should ask for?
Has anyone had any luck with getting the low financing on the Sienna that they offer on all other Toyotas? Any other advice on Bay area dealers welcomed!

jjt1a

I just bought a used 1999 Sienna CE from a guy at work for $18,000 with 20,000 miles (he's being transferred overseas). It has dual air, remote entry, CD, power windows and locks, rear defroster. It does not have the driver sliding door and a roof rack. I think this is a good price, any comments?

cwsibley

In So Cal - Sienna LE MSRP 25,298 plus TO 160, UN 301, AW 475, EF 55 and Dest 480 = Total 26,769. Got it for $23,700, which includes 750 rebate that gets applied to down payment. Invoice on car is 23,473. Total fees were 45 Doc, 1,898 Tax, 326 Lic. I think I did ok. They made about a grand on me thanks to the rebate from Toyota and I paid a couple hundred over invoice.

davray99

I was quoted a price from a dealer for a 2000 Sienna w/ UN, TO, AW, WL, EF for $24,344. Is this a good price ?

k4mack

jeff1962 - the sales man is Patrick and the sales manager is Chuck. I don't have their business cards handy and don't recall their last names. They were both very pleasant. I would deal with them again... only if I enjoyed 'haggling' I would definitely start the offer at invoice (or even below) and say no to the fees one by one. My guess is that when it's all said and done, we could have paid about $600 less. (Partially based on the ads in last Sunday's Globe - $4k off MSRP).

If you deal with them, I'd be interested in how you make out. Good Luck.

lsteadman

Mkawasaki - I am in touch with the folks who sold
you your Sienna - $500 over invoice but my numbers show there is a mystery $400 in there based on Edmunds pricing. They say that the advertising is "built in" - back to negotiations?
Did you give them a price to meet/match?

Thanks,
Patty (under hubby's alias)

gb9

I live on Long Island and am looking for a practically identical Sienna (just a different color - I'm partial to Silver Spruce). I don't have time for the dealer nonsense, either.

Would you still have the e-mail addresses of those dealers? Please e-mail me if you do! You'd be saving me lots of time. I promise not to plagiarize your e-mail text!

Here's to competition.

Thanks

George

gbuckl1@hofstra.edu

gb9

In my e-mail that's GBUCKL1 (one)@HOFSTRA.EDU

Thanks

694

Hello! Everyone,

I'm in the process of purchasing a 2000 Sienna XLE. The invoice is $27,393, which includes Luxury Pkg. $2298, Bumper Protector(Rear) $36, Cargo Net $30, Inside Automatic Day/Night Mirror $190, Running Boards $365, Wheel Locks $31, Moon Roof Wind Deflector $33, and Freight $480. The M.S.R.P. is $31,776. If anyone would tell me how much over the invoice I should pay for this vehicle, I'll be really appreciate it.

Thanks,
694

694

One other thing, I live at seacoast area of New Hampshire, if it helps.

Thanks,
694

readytobuy4

Just sold my '94 4Runner and ordered the '00 Sienna XLE, loaded with the LLAT package (factory leather, power door, 6 CD changer, moonroof),
entertainment center, running boards, etc. Got it for about $30.5 plus tax and tags-did I get a good deal??? I still have a chance to add Toyo Guard but am not sure if I want to spend $400? I had it on the4Runner (no choice!) and got VIN # etching on the glass and 2 cans of Toyota cleanser that I never
even used. The fabric protection was OK but not necessary now with leather. The only benefit I think would be exterior paint sealant and undercoating/sound shield. We plan on keeping the van for at least 5 years and that's when the rust warrantee expires. Does anyone have any ideas as to whether Toyo Guard is worth it? Will I be sorry I didn't get it in 5 years?? Isn't there an exterior paint sealant anyway? I would appreciate your advice and suggestions as quickly as possible........