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2004 Toyota Solara
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Comments
~alpha
I notice that kind of stuff with a lot of car manufacturer web sites. They are obviously designed by people who know about web design but not about cars -- they manage to make pretty cool, complex sites that are full of wrong or misleading information. Actually in terms of out-and-out incorrect info, Toyota is not too bad. Ford is probably worst in that regard. I have never seen a Ford online specs/features chart that did not have blatant mistakes.
-Andrew L
: )
Mackabee
The point is that on sites such as gmbuypower.com, fivestardealers.com, and such you can get an actual printout of a window sticker and VIN number as it is on an actual car in dealer inventory. True, this is not THAT much different from building a car that you can supposedly get in your region, but there is something more satisfying (especially for a "window shopper" who has no intention of calling up dealerships and getting a sales pitch) about seeing how actual, existing vehicles are configured. It's like going to a dealership, but you don't actually have to go.
-Andrew L
: )
Mackbee
Some pricing info. I'm leasing the car and for the residual the manager plugged in 14,300 for a 36 month lease which came to 558/month and 12,500 for a 48 month lease which came to 476/month. Anybody heard any other info about leasing the cars? Are these standard prices or do you think we'll be able to get better? These prices are based on a car without the Nav system with a MSRP of 27,914
I wonder how this will mix with the regionals?
And yes, the Toyota web site needs a major overhaul. I email them about once every two months just to remind them of this.
; )
Mackabee
By the way, anybody who doesn't know what the ToyoGuard package is, it consists of a free oil change, paint sealant, sealant cleaner, glass VIN etching, undercoating/sound shield/rustproofing, and fabric protection. All for a low price of $620.
Oil Change: $29.95
Paint Sealant: $15.00 (rough estimate, correct me)
Sealant Cleaner: $5.00
glass VIN etching: $50.00 or less
undercoating/soundshield/rustproofing: $35.00
3M ScotchGuard (A BIG BOTTLE!) $5.00
Total:
a la carte price: $139.95 (do-it-yourself)
Package Price: $620 (Gulf States Toyota)
Difference: (Distributor Profit): $480.05
You don't need the soundshield as most Toyotas are super quiet already. the oil change ain't "free", either.
Just order one, just the way you want it and skip the lousy distributors!
The paint sealant is probably some cheap stuff worth maybe $10 if you're lucky, but not really sure. I'm sure they want every dollar profit they can make so they'll give you the cheap stuff.
And the rustproofing stuff is worthless, and I hear it may actually make your car rust faster. It pretty much comes from the factory ready to go so all this add-on stuff is worthless and probably costs these guys a good $20-$35 at the most. I'd rather buy a good quality wax or polymer sealant and put it on myself than have some guy who doesn't care about my car put some cheap stuff on it and probably do a bad job.
As I said though you're still stuck with the $525 "administration charge" and extra $40 freight charge that they add into the invoice pricing. They won't put it on the window sticker I'm sure, but the dealer is charged this by the distributors so they have to be creative in getting it back from the customer. If a customer walks in there knowing the invoice price and MSRP price then they can't tack it on to that. They can charge maybe a documentation fee or advertising fee or something like that I guess, but again the dealer is fighting to get back that $525 that the distributor forced on them anyway. And there may very well be other charges hidden in there, I just know the people having to deal with these Toyota distributors are being taken to the cleaners.
Again this is the way I understand things, if someone can correct me feel free to do so. The custom ordering thing is a definite improvement though, and ultimately if you pay a price you think is fair then be happy. The dealer will always make money off of someone somehow so do the research and pay what you think is fair.
True, it may be out of the way, but I REFUSE to pay for some of the accessories that they put on the cars in this region.
I saw a 2004 Sienna LE minivan with Two-tone paint and Enkei wheels at a local dealer tonight.
They also try to make "special" and "limited" edition Camrys and Avalons.
As a matter of fact, I remember how they used to two tone the Camrys and Avalons before they were redesigned. It is OUTRAGEOUS here.
Wheel locks cost a lot.
They charge $138 for mudguards (BLACK) and $169 for body colored ones. Nissan charges around $89 for body colored mud guards, Honda charges around $58 for black mudguards.
I know Toyota isn't behind this, it's the SE Distributors. I don't think I am going to fool with getting a Toyota (Camry, Camry Solara, or Corolla) in the SE region.
For one thing, it's hard to find any car with the options I desire.
Anyway, I JUST LOVE the new Solara. Especially the SLE.
The car really catches your eye. I have to give Toyota credit for at least taking a chance with the rear lights design.
It's weird... in some ways Solara 04 reminds me of the 03 Accord coupe design, only it looks better, at least to my eyes. I guess I'd have to see them next to each other to explain why.
This one had a sunroof and maybe some other options. The MSRP was about $23K. I believe that is comparable or less than an Accord EX coupe.
I'm going to test drive one soon. My only concern: buying a first year car made in America, even a Toyota. Then again, this one is VERY nice.
Now for my observations. Red is the color for me. The spoiler does not cut it. Front end slopes very low. I like the look, but if Toyota hasn't improved the paint quality, the new Solara may be even more prone to paint chipping. I'll wait for feedback. Curly
Most of the time I will try to help but sometimes I like to watch it run its course.
I heard that the blackout in the Northeast was due to Toyota's suppliers making new gastanks.
While the infamous ToyoGuard package is clearly a very high margin "product", it isn't quite as bad as some are indicating. You can't get a decent sealant job in most cities for much less than $100. It isn't realistic to compare commercial prices to a do it yourself solution when you are discussing fare pricing. Nobody even mentioned my favorite "package feature" which is their willingness to rent you a loaner for warranty work. The good news is that about 50% of the cars in the Southeast don't have the package and the dealers are normally willing to acknowledge the margin during price negotiations. Knowledge is power.
You can't really blame the distributors for making money on investments they made in the late 60s when people still didn't want to buy "[non-permissible content removed] Junk". We see things very differently now, but the distributors took a risk and they are now reaping the rewards. If you think our free enterprise system is the pits, you can always go to a nice communist country and check out their automotive distribution networks.
You got that right. Too bad every customer walking through there doesn't have some knowledge otherwise these ToyoGuard package equipped cars would be sitting on the lots collecting dust. It's one thing for a dealer to try and convince someone to get rustproofing or paint sealant, it's another to force 50% of the cars coming in with this stuff and the cost is passed on to the customer. Or are you going to tell me that this stuff costs the distributors basically nothing and costs the dealers basically nothing so they can also charge basically nothing to the customer as well if the car they want in the color they want and options they want is on the lot, BUT they don't want the ToyoGuard package or alloy wheels or two-tone paint. As I said, if they had that knowledge these cars would still be sitting on the lot.
So the car can be found exactly the way the customer wants or can be ordered the way they want? Great, I hope the Toyota rebates apply though, since most of the time it only applies to cars on the dealer's lot. Which brings up a good question, if ordering a car, when the car comes in can the customer still get the rebate or does it only apply to ones currently sitting on the lot? And what's with charging an arm and a leg for floormats? Let me guess, they're premium high quality floor mats? While people outside these regions are paying and bargaining on a $85 price the customers in the SE/Gulf region get to bargain on floormats for a price of $150.
"Nobody even mentioned my favorite "package feature" which is their willingness to rent you a loaner for warranty work."
How generous of them. Please tell me this isn't part of the ToyoGuard package and that it's free. Lots of dealers do this, and Mazda has it as part of their warranty anyway, and there may be a few other brands that do the same thing. And if it is part of the package then for $600 I should hope so!
"If you think our free enterprise system is the pits, you can always go to a nice communist country and check out their automotive distribution networks."
No, these customers aren't going to a communist country, they're going to cross the border to another state to avoid the scams. Any dealer has the ability and right to con someone into rustproofing or paint sealant, but when an entire region forces it on 50% of their cars things are getting out of hand. And I'm sure you'd be first in line to pay $600 for paint sealant and rustproofing wouldn't you?
I stopped by that same local dealer I was talking about in a previous post.
They now have two Solara SLEs.
I wonder if the SLE will be the best seller?
Anyway, the car had the pearl white paint, which I know is an extra cost option from Toyota.
Toyota's MSRP was around $26K. After the SE distrubution added the useless options, the price was nearly $29K!!!
It didn't have any other options from the factory but the Paint and some floor mats I believe.
The SE region added the Toyoguard, sunroof visor, wheel locks, and I think the glass breakage sensor.
It was dark out, and the security guy that always watches these cars was talking with me. I told him for that price, I'll get an Acura TL, Honda Accord EXV6 (I can get it for $23K) or a left over Acura CL Type S.
He agreed 100%.
BTW, EVERY Toyota on the lot that I looked at had the ToyoGuard. It is a $600+ option (That seems mandatory)
I think the invoice on this pkg is around $159 over at KBB.
They are making a profit of $441 if an uninformed buyer goes for the ploy.
I still really like the Solara, BUT when I can get an Accord coupe with similar options (in some ways better equipped), and slightly better gas mileage for about $23K, I start to wonder what is wrong with the SE region.
I just don't have quite the same missionary zeal you seem to have for feeling the situation is outrageous. In our country, if you have more knowledge, you are always free to pursue a better deal. In a communist country, they "protect" everyone to make sure that everyone has an equally miserable life (except for the party leaders).
You a certainly free to drive across as many state borders as you wish. I might just choose to negotiate a better deal (knowing the approximate margins in distributor applied option packages) or change brands, since nothing is forcing me to buy a Toyota. I have done both in the past. If a distributor gets too greedy, educated consumers eventually punish them. The market works fairly well, but it works best for the enlightened.
Yeah, it seems the number is higher than 50%, more like 75% from what I've seen. Also they seem to like to put it on the more popular colors like silver or white, while the less popular ones are usually the few that don't have it.
"I think the invoice on this pkg is around $159 over at KBB.
They are making a profit of $441 if an uninformed buyer goes for the ploy."
Exactly. And of course invoice is not true dealer cost, so it'll be lower. And then on top of that what the distributor paid is even lower than the dealer cost so you can see that all this stuff they give you is close to worthless. I would hope most dealers would simply make you only pay $100 for the package if you showed them that you know the invoice and make it clear you don't want the package, but somehow I feel you'll have to haggle over that as well. And of course you're still out of the $100.
And let's not forget that usually in the fine print for getting a rebate that it must be taken from the dealer stock. I'd like to know if ordering a car will let you qualify for the rebate as well. Anybody know about this?
Yes for $29k there are better choices out there. No we can't pay or haggle on the $26k MSRP price, we have to start from $29k and hope we can get it down to $26k. We'll probably think we got a great deal, when in fact we only haggled down to MSRP.
1. Go accross state borders into a neighboring state that sells Toyotas without the ToyoGuard pkg.
or:
2. Buy a competitior's car. (e.g instead of Camry LE, how about Altima 2.5S or Accord LX?)
The rebates on the Toyota cars probably don't apply to the custom orders, as does the low financing. The reason they offer these in the first place is to move cars on dealer lots- the ones with the ToyoGuard pkg.
Regarding your "build your own", I'd LOVE to be able to add the SE Sport suspension option to a SLE. I'm sure you could do it afterwards at very great expense since it's probably a swap of springs, struts and sway bars, but could we get this done at the factory where the incremental cost should theoretically not be as much?
Since we had time to kill we walked the lot in search of "Toyoguard" cars. Out of 68 cars on the front lot, 57 were toyogarbaged. The 11 non-tg cars consisted of a few Corollas, Celicas, but mainly 4runners. The four '04 Solaras that were sitting out were all optioned with TG among wheel locks, sunroof visors, etc. All options that should totally be up to the consumer.
Maybe there ought to be a gripe thread for people that like Toyota cars but hate their regional tactics.
By the way, the Toyoguard was listed as $699 and I have been told by two dealers that you do NOT have to have toyoguard to be eligible for a loaner car while having warranty work.
And while I know this isn't the Corolla board, I cannot believe that cruise, abs, and side airbags are options and not one of the cars on the lot had these options, but they all had the Enkei wheels and BFG Skorcher tires though!
Mackabee
No, the Solara is not being recalled and neither is the Sienna. A recall is mandated by the government after people have been hurt or killed due to a problem on a vehicle. No one to our knowledge has been hurt or killed by this supposed "wrinkled" gas tank that in a "worst case scenario" may leak fuel and cause a fire if an ignition source is present. Toyota is voluntarily issuing a special service campaign to have these "faulty" gas tanks replaced at no cost to its owners. All of July's production and current Siennas being produced have this "new and improved" gas tank.
Next topic please.
: )
Mackabee
~alpha