Toyota Sequoia

slickrock

As promised, Karen at Edmunds has created a Toyota Sequoia Owners Club board:

Town Hall
>> Owner's Clubs
   >> Toyota Owner's Clubs
      >> Toyota Sequoia Owners
         >> Topic...
or

/direct/view/.eea8f44

Karen_S

Man.....he's beating me to the punch all over the Town Hall. :-)

But, that doesnt mean youre not going to get my official announcement.

I am here to announce the new Toyota Sequoia Owners club now available on Edmunds.com Owner's Club board. Please stop by and introduce yourself in Meet the Members and let me know how I can help build your club.

I have linked this discussion into that folder, but it will always reside here in SUVs .

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

KarenS
Host
Owner's Clubs

dianne4toyota

..to a good deal on an unusual or popular car is often patience, and focus. And, to listen. I mean, with lots of dealers across the state you reside in and others close by, if you don't care for one, find another.

My email box can fill quickly with requests for pricing, or for more info on problems or things their own local stores have said that either are or aren't true. Things like adding leather to side airbags cars, or the PM cars having seat heaters. I also find it odd that folks will email me for pricing, or to find an unusual car and the path to order building it, and post "Dianne can build it but her pricing isn't like tuscaloosa's website" ie. "she is too high", and then continue emailing me to insist I help them... might I please ask that if you check with me and don't like the pricing or don't want to wait for a car, please don't condemn me? I had that happen recently, and it sure ticks me off to see someone post that perhaps my pricing is not acceptable to them yet continue emailing me to get cars built and pricing on them. I feel used when that happens...and that isn't fair. My time's as valuable as anyone else's.

Please remember, find a dealership you can work with. Like it or not, you are gonna spend a lot of money and you are setting up a relationship with your dealer, so start things right with them. LIKE the salesman or saleswoman, and find one who listens and directs you truthfully and correctly right out of the gate. If you are in a far-off region with lots of snow, it's not really fair to badger the dealer with lots of snow about their pricing on a 4WD in comparison with a Florida dealership who gets no snow and has 4WDs! The Sequoia is an awesome car, and those with good sense, good taste, and the money to buy these cars are lucky. They are a far better investment down the road for years than anything that is built from the domestic manufacturers. I think it rocks.

I hope this isn't deleted, but I wanted to make sure it's clear that being here to see how Sequoias and their owners are isn't always about pricing. It's more about getting what you want, or close to it, and realizing that you're amidst both a sea of qualified buyers who may also want what you want, or with the power of the 'net in your hands, you can go anywhere.
Dianne

dianne4toyota

Where was that? This is not the last year for the LC by far! Not only will we have the LC next year, but we are also soon to have a "retro" 4x4 Landcruiser with tough-as-nails stance and the old 60-70's look to it. That old thing, reworked and revamped!

dianne4toyota

The factory announcement I have this morning is for a $300 pricing increase across the board on all Sequoias.

MSRP rises $300 exactly... and invoice rises almost exactly the same.

Di

cliffy1

Both Dianne and I try to provide timely and honest information. Both of us actually learn a lot about consumers and this is to our benefit. From time to time, a member here will even e-mail one of us to inquire about a purchase. I don't get as many as Dianne does, but every week, I get a few people asking about price and many others just asking for off-line advise. I never mind providing this. Dianne has a more difficult time with simple advise because who sells 4 times the number of cars I do. There just isn't time in her day.

When I give a customer a price, it is always prompt and fair. It takes into account the market forces here at my dealership. I never claim that they are the lowest prices in the country. Sometimes, it might be but often, it isn't.

I run a fairly big risk when I do this. If my price isn't as low as some dealership in the hinterlands, that member may post here about the "high" price he/she received. That wouldn't reflect very well on me. It is a risk I am willing to accept.

Currently, there are two participants who live local to me but didn't buy from me for this reason. They have spoken at length about the deal they did get but were polite enough to not bring my name up in the discussion. The funny thing about both of them is that shortly after they purchased, we got a huge number of extra SR5s and were able to sell them very close to what they ended up paying. Timing is everything I guess.

Dianne on the other hand has recently been slammed by a participant here. She was attempting to custom configure a Sequoia and offered it at a price that was very competitive in her market. The customer didn't see things that way because of a web site from a dealership 2500 miles from her home. The customer used Dianne's name in describing her "terrible" pricing. She was using this forum as a negotiating tool and it was not fair to Dianne.

I'm not whining here. Dianne and I both can take criticism. It just seems awfully unfair to her to slam her when all she has done is provide honest and accurate information. She is in the top 50 Toyota salespeople in the country and she still finds time to answer questions here from people she has no chance of selling cars to.

OK, off my soap box.

mcmatt

There were a couple of questions earlier on this. I finally had the time to crawl on my back and figure it out.

The GBS is an assy mounted behind the panel under the steering wheel. It includes an amplifier/relay box, a microphone, and power/alarm connections.

The amplifier box has a potentiometer on it with settings from 1 to 11.

Mine wasn't working, unless you made a noise right next to the microphone. The sensitivity was all the way up. I found my problem was the location of the microphone, it was pointing at the floor and behind some insulation in the dash. I increased the sensitivity a lot by relocating the microphone in the A/C ductwork. Now the sound can be picked up through all the vents.

I don't recommend anyone do this, but it might be more information for discussions with your service department.

I am afraid I will lose the mic fairly quickly due to changing temperatures in the ductwork.

If you do put the microphone in another location, make sure it is mounted firmly. If it is loose and it clicks on nearby plastic or metal, there will be noise.......

mcmatt

Thanks for the posts about the radio. I am still looking to see if there is a TSB or part number or something to reference when I go to the service department. I would prefer not to start the traditional round and round with the service advisors. Is there anyone that has had their amp swapped in their Sequoia that has reference info on a service ticket???

Thanks.

raybear

Well said. I have had the pleasure of working with Dianne for a year and a half now. She is consistantly the most competetive dealer in southern California, no, make that all of California and throw in Nevada and Arizona for good measure. When she finds the market has dropped for a particular model she adjusts for it, and she constantly seeks feedback from myself and other internet sites such as Edmunds to make sure she's on top of her game.

If a customer of mine is sent to her you should see what they have to say, heck I'll go one better and here's an actual email I recieved from a customer who I sent to Dianne after another dealer ripped him off--

'Ray, Thanks for sending me over to Carson Toyota WOW what a difference in attitude!! Dianne is great, looks like we may be buying a new Sienna from her, my wife fell in love with them and well if your married you know its just a matter of time. Now all I need to do is get Toyota of ******** to send me my $500 and this will be all over. Ray I really appreciate your efforts over this past month. Thank you very much!! G*** V****, Tacoma Owner '

That's a real-world testimony from an actual customer, not one of those made-up shills you find around here all the time.

dianne4toyota

McMatt, will you email me, please, about your findings on the V2?
Thanks!
Dianne@earthlink.net

heatwave3

Rather entertaining reading Sequoia salesmen/women on this web site, designed for those interested in learning about a particular vehicle and then whining when the subject of pricing becomes the central theme of some readers' interest.

They wouldn't even bother with this site if it didn't generate sales for them and then they get upset when they are treated "unfairly" by the buying public that is looking to get a better deal than they are willing to offer.

That's capitalism mixed with the internet. Get used to it because there are dramatic changes coming to the car buying process in the coming years. A better informed public will be driving pricing to the lowest common denominator PLUS whatever value the car dealership has to offer beyond the value of the car.

Today, the dealership has no say or input on how the public values a vehicle. That's determined by the manufacturer's designing to the public's needs and the public's willingness to pay for that value. Before the internet, car salesman determined the value. Now, with the info on the internet, the public is now determining the value without the influence of a salesman.

Eventually, the car manufacturer's will get into the selling game (once they work out some of the state laws - Ford has their own site coming out shortly) and car sales people will be selling vehicle service plans, not the actual vehicles.

heatwave3

Given the strong interest in comparing the Sequoia to full size GM and Ford products, I thought the following current sales data might be of interest.

Compiled this info from ai-online.com for a response on another site and thought the readers here might find it of interest.

All sales figures are in units sold for the months of Jan and Feb 2001 compared to the same months in 2000.

FORD: 2001 vs 2000

Explorer/Mountaineer 54,277 vs 73,840 down -26%
Expedition 27,494 vs 31,683 down -13%
Excursion 5,238 vs 7862 down -33%
Navigator 4789 vs 6215 down -23%

GM 2001 vs 2000 (GMC, Chevy and Olds models combined):

Blazer/Jimmy/Envoy/Bravada 49,950 vs 59,371 down -16%
Tahoe/Yukon 40,113 vs 27,253 up +47%
Suburban/Yukon XL 31,061 vs 28,974 up +7.2%
Escalade 2084 vs 3788 (The sales for the Escalade were almost exclusively in Feb. for 2001 as this is a new model and sales were very minimal in Jan. compared to 2000. If you doubled Feb sales (2x 2723) and compared to Jan/Feb 2000, sales were up +43%).

FYI: The Sequoia is not in the same league in sales at 9,494 for the first 2 months of 2001, however an up and comer. Time will tell if they become a real competitor to the full size SUVs from Detroit.

adebisi1

Thanks for your #2023 post.The first half of it was DEFINITELY true and I found the latter very informative.Hmmmm,buying directly from the manufacturer...sounds interesting!

Anyway I find that your posts are right on the money...ALWAYS! Thanks for waking me up.

stever

adebisi1

Does anyone have any info on the 2002 Toyota Sequoia?Will there be any improvements?

cliffy1

I just wanted you all to know that I am not ignoring you. I will be off fishing in FL for the next couple of days. Don't get too rowdy while I'm gone. I don't want to have to wade through 200 messages when I get back.

stever

We'll leave the dome light on for you (apologies to Tom Bodett).

Steve
Host
Vans, SUVs and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards

lcd1

Since I already placed an order, the agreed price is still in effect, according to my dealer. I remember another dealer, who was trying to sell a Sequoia from his inventory, told me that a disadvantage of ordering is that any price increase would be passed on the the buyer. Well, I'm glad I didn't go with that particular dealer!

rv47

Anyone heard the rumors of a 5.2 engine becoming available as an option to the 4.7? Fill me an as to when and HOW MUCH.
NV

slickrock

The "last year of the LC" reference came from the last line of Krisko's post 2008.

So I said "say it ain't so", and you did me one better. You said not only is the current LC gonna be around, but there's gonna be a new version of the old Land Cruiser built from carbon fibre and krell metal that can bore through rock and breathe fire underwater.

Let's hope it comes in a beter selection of better colors than the old FJ-40.

dianne4toyota

It's merely a dealer-discretionary thing. Last fall, the Tundras rose $300-400 a truck "surprise!" on November 1. Most every car rose in pricing, and Landcruiser was the worst at an $800 increase. Any dealer with orders in their drawers/folders could do as they, because the trucks and cars are the dealership's first, technically. Now, as a long-time sales professional, I know that but in my heart, the cars I order are actually meant for the customers who ordered them. I know my general manager would cringe to read this (good thing he doesn't!!) but that's how I feel. I have at least 10 Tundras in build-order process, along with a few special ordered Solaras and Tacomas.. they were in the pipeline and yes, my invoices increased, but I left the agreed upon selling price the same. I felt my word and the way my integrity was viewed was more important than a few bucks to the store. I don't think a small dealership could have afforded to do as I did on at least 2 dozen vehicles, but as a large store, it was all absorbed into the larger picture here.
The moral of the story is: a $300 "loss" to the dealer on a car like Sequoia isn't as big as the loss of your long term business and appreciation. I mean, knowing the rise in pricing is $300, you'd sure appreciate a dealership who held to their agreement, regardless of increase. The one thing that may dismay you is that if the dealership is small by nature, this may not be affordable to them.
I guess it really depends on how the deal is negotiated. A certain amount off the MSRP is still the same profit margin to the dealership, and a certain amount over the invoice is still the same profit margin. It's a big hearted and caring dealer who will stand by the numbers you negotiated to originally, based on old, original numbers.

Dianne

dianne4toyota

The all new and improved LC will cut thru metal, steel, mountainsides (kidding!!)... as for the retro-LC, I heard it's based on the Rod Millen Motorsports version that was at a car/tech show recently... rugged and able. Our LC biz is still pretty rabid, as the production is dialed down enough for us to feel the pinch of availability being lower. I know there's a new engine plant being built in Alabama for the V8 motors, and there's a larger V8 motor planned for the LCs and the Tundras and Sequoia as well... but there is no set time they are announcing its debut. I just know it's coming. :>

Di

slickrock

http://www.rodmillenstore.com/lx_470/mag_cover.htm

dianne4toyota

Same general idea, but "rounder" and sleek, not "trucky fronted" like the photo shows. Neat photo! If I can get a tech-drawn photo, I promise to post it.

Dianne

curious33

I would like to put in my two cents worth as an objective consumer. This website has given me the INFORMATION that I needed to make an intelligent and well-informed purchase of a new model SUV that many of the local sales personnel are still learning about themselves. The information shared by Dianne and Cliffy proved invaluable to me when ordering exactly what I wanted on my SR5. I just wanted to tell them thanks and to encourage them to keep providing their services to all those who are reading this site to learn more about this new vehicle. I felt WELL INFORMED when visiting my local dealerships. In this age of technology, we no longer have to be in the dark as consumers. THANKS!

adebisi1

Does the chestnut color only come in the two-tone variation? I like this color but not if the color for the wheelwell moldings are grey! Thats NASTY!!

Does anyone know if the Sequoia comes with a SOLID chestnut color all over?

dianne4toyota

That's right -- chestnut = two tone with the thunder gray bottom. I agree with you... the color combination is less than marvelous. My region, Southern CA, refuses to order SR5's in that color, preferring instead to request a larger mix of the silver. All chestnut Sequoias are two-tone.

Dianne

gauntlett1

I pick up my SQ 4WD Limited loaded last week and I am still impressed by the smooth ride and razor zarp handling this truck provides. I once thought that my Toyota Previa was great, but this truck so much fun to drive. I still have my toyota Previa, wife will not depart with it (1992 Previa LE with 157K miles and still going) so traded my Mercedes Benz C280. I drove the ML430 and was not impressed with the ride, handling, price and finish. It was just too small for a large family like mine. It also had a long history of problems that they are still correcting. I did my research since Jan 2001, only compared and drove ML320/ML430 and Sequoia, and the Sequoia wins for me. I do appreciate the information I received from Cliff? on 4WD systems. This town hall is great place to get info on all the bugs on the truck before purchase. Yea, Sequoia will have a few bugs, but ML is still working out these issue after 3 years of being on the market. The ML resale value is also not good.

I got a high trade in value for my MB that had high mileage, but was in excellent condition (having all the service papers sure did help me demand ~4K more that blue book value). I know they can sell the C280 for more than what I received, but they were willing to give in, since the trade in was in excellent condition.

Trade in value of the ML C280 was ~16000 with high mileage. I actually walked out of one dealer location, because they wanted to offer me 15700. The second dealer took a detail examination of the car and adjusted the figures after I demanded 20K.
Actual got 19900. They can sell it for ~23K.

The Sequoia 4WD Limited loaded was 45K. I got the trade-in value, but they stuck me with sticker. OK, I am satisfied.

toyotatoys

Hi Folks,

No, I did not disappear into thin air. I just had to thread through 4 months of roller coaster waiting for my ordered SEQ, and decided to stay quiet. Once given up for lost, I finally picked up my SR5 TONIGHT, exactly like I ordered (no GST garbage) at 5% over invoice. It may not sound great to some, but I e-mailed to more than 30 dealerships within the 300-mile radius, and only two dealers made a serious effort to quote me at this price. One was 200 miles away, and I was lucky to get it from 80 miles away. And, I did not get the $300 surcharge either.

What can I say? It drives like a SEQUOIA! Smooth and no ticking.

I hope it will still be in my garage in the morning. I can't wait for daylight.

Thanks for all the marvelous information. I considered myself half an expert in Sequoia, and my salesperson knows about 10% of what I do.

'Night.

nomorechevys1

I own a Chestnut SR5. First let me say that I don't understand all the bad opinions on this color. I love it. I'm an outdoorsman and plan on parking the truck on the edge of a corn field while I'm sitting in a goose blind a couple hundred yards away. Last year I owned a red chevy truck and the birds would see it and flare away from the decoys. But, this isn't the only reason I bought it. I just think it is a nice, rich color. It does have wheel moldings but I'd swear they're beige in color. If they're grey, they sure don't look like it. IMHO, the chestnut with the wheel moldings (whatever color they are) go together great. A lot of people look at this vehicle in parking lots and I can't believe they're thinking, "What an ugly car, what kinda fool bought it"?

obyone

http://www.canadiandriver.com/news/001211-2.htm

mikee7

Hello all, I'm a newbie and this is my first post to this board. I picked up my Imperial Jade SR5 about a month ago and love it! Great vehicle. The only problem I noticed is I have an occasional hesitation problem at times when I accelerate going from a dead stop. Doesn't happen all the time though. Dealer feels its the gas, I've been using the lower grade as per the info manual.

My questions are:
What type of gas do you all use?
Do you think this is the problem?
What else could it be?

I'm not a mechanic, so any help you could give me would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
Mike

adebisi1

DAMN!So the chestnut does only comes in two-tone variation.I agree with nomorechevys,I really like this color but if they get rid of that gray trimming for the 2002 models...I'd be doing backflips!!

Wait a minute....nomorechevys said that the trimming looks BEIGE?!? Can anyone confirm this?

thirdsuv

Nomorechevys1,

I think the talk about poor colors mainly deal with the terrible decision by Toyota not to have a solid color option especially since they're avaialable in Limited form. In your case, I guess the Toyota interior designers can brag to their bosses that the got the wintertime cornfield based duck-hunting market segment locked in. Yeeeeeeh Howww!

However, I saw a Chestnut SR5 in a parking lot and the darn thing practically looked like it was a solid color. It must be that strange color shifting Thunder grey doinfg its tricks again in the mid-morning sun. I though it looked quite attractive but I could imagine that brown doesn't sell well in oh-so-trendy Ca.

Here's another Calif bashing thought....
Could you imagine the electricity nightmare Calif
would be in if the car manufacturere would have been able to deliver millions of traditional electric cars like proponents wanted?

adebisi1

Can you post a few pictures of your truck? Pretty please!

adebisi1

"but I could imagine that brown doesn't sell well in oh-so-trendy Ca."

Lol,I know what you mean!

"However, I saw a Chestnut SR5 in a parking lot and the darn thing practically looked like it was a solid color."

REALLY?!? Well I still have to see one in person for myself.If it comes close...THEN I'M BAGGING ONE! Now you guys are getting me all excited again.

thirdsuv

This is one case where the net will fail you
horribly. The combination of lighting, weather, time-of-day, camera color interpretation, Jpeg artifacts, browser/Windows color management, and monitor/LCD color inaccuracies will GUARENTEE that you will be making your decision on INCORRECT data. If you are looking for more accuracy than "Yep...it's brownish" I would strongly reccommned that you find the color on the lot and look at it in varying weather conditions and times.

Cheeers

adebisi1

Yeah thirdsuv I agree,that's why I said I'd have to see it in person before I made my decision.Anyway I'd still like to see nomorechevys' Sequoia.

stever

If you go to the Options page on the Sequoia (or any other new vehicle at Edmunds), you'll see some color swatches towards the bottom. Highly accurate and representative, I assure you. Well, perhaps not <g>.

But it's a place to start until you can either get a brochure or visit a dealer.

Steve
Host
Vans, SUVs and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards

geeper

If you would, email me at geep@bigfoot.com with who you purchased from. I am in the market and live in GST land

Thanks,
Geep

thirdsuv

"But it's a place to start until you can either get a brochure or visit a dealer"

Heck, I ddn't even think the brochure with paint chips was that representative, especially thunder grey.

Of course it might just be me. I've had my fair share of buying a gallon of interior paint from paint chips and as soon as I put my first brush to the wall realizing that I need not to stop right there

doctorely

All of you are probably aware of S.A.D. Seasonal Affective Disorder. These are people who get depressed if they don't get enough light, especially in the winter.
What you might not know about is NSCAR. This is a disorder which I discovered and suffer from.
New Smelling Car Affective Response (NSCAR). If I can't get New Car Smell every couple of years I go into a profound depression. Hence, my Sequoia has cured me for now. Unfortunately, Uncle Sam is knocking at my door and there are no tax breaks for us NSCAR sufferers.

stever

Well, it's too late to edit my post, so I'll publish my retraction here. Just make sure there are no "red" florescent lights overhead like they have over the meat departments at the supermarket :-). Best find some of thirdsuv's sun when eyeballing that Chestnut Pearl.

Here's some "free" pic hosting sites (usual disclaimers):

picturetrail
photoworks
zing
clubphoto
fototime

doctorely, you could always buy "new car spray" at the auto parts store. Not the same I guess.

Steve
Host
Vans, SUVs and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards

thirdsuv

Heck I've been yapping about Chestnut for the last few appends and I should have been saying DESERT SAND.

So, in summary, the desert sand body looked pretty close to the fenders. That's my story, and I'm stickin to it!

cheers

adebisi1

Yes Dianne there are 3 different color trims(as printed in the Sequoia brochure) and the one the Chestnut comes with is the WARM GRAY which like you stated,is pretty much like the DESERT SAND color.

But I still need to see it in person,I think I'll like it.

oac3

in chestnut and it is quite good looking. I'd say it is closer to a misty brownish color, slightly different from the Desert sand which I think looks much closer to beige/gold/tan color, at least to me. The chestnut color is quite rare to find, at least here in SoCal, as Dianne mentioned earlier, but I'd like to see more bcos this color is quite good looking (said that twice already, just for emphasis)

Of all the colors available on the SR4 trim level, my favorite is the Silver followed closely by Thunder Gray... For Limited, you cannot beat White... A guy next door to my office owns a Ltd in white, and it is just stunning... I love the monotone white on the Ltd; and for the same reason, the monotone Silver Sky on the SR5 (my Seq's color)

slickrock

If you go to the www.toyota.com site, and click on sequoia on the wheel on the right, and then click on "build you own" on the second NAV bar on the top of the page. Then enter your zip code and select sequoia again, and submit, and then select your model (SR5 or Limited). Then select "build your own Toyota" and then click on "next step" twice -- Whew -- hopefully you'll reach a nifty "select exterior colors" page that gives you a fairly accurate (depending on your display) look at what any given color scheme will look like.

It's as good as the brochure.

dianne4toyota

Silver SR5's are the hottest colors for me, and a close 2nd is the blue marlin. Silver because it's monotone. Blue marlin because it's very limited in its availability and I end up build-ordering them anyway for regular stock.

Hands down, though, the most popular build order for me is a silver SR5 with PM leather package! I guess ya'll like that monotone color combo with leather... looks so much like a Limited!

Dianne

oac3

I got my Silver Sky SR5 with leather (and chrome wheels) and it sure looks so much like the Limited, for a lot less in $$$.... No wonder it is that popular around here. Another parent in my daughter's class just bought an SR5 4WD in Silver. Monotone is it for me ! That is why Desert Sand comes a close 2nd since its two-tone is so close as to be *almost* monotone...

adebisi1

Do you know when the 2002 Sequoias are coming out and do you know what changes will be made if any?