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Toyota Avalon Prices Paid and Buying Experience

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Comments

  • 1violinist1violinist Member Posts: 338
    Which dealer did you go to? Did you go on line or traditional negotiation?
  • jeffm5jeffm5 Member Posts: 123
    I signed a sales agreement today with a dealership in Pittsburgh for a Blizzard White Limited with laser cruise, VSC, heated seats, mats, no NAV, for $33,050. Add 7% sales tax & document fee, it's $34,997 OTD. I put $500 down & will take delivery on July 2. I think this is a good price for Western PA. The dealer is part of the AAA Advantage Buying Program. I called him at 8:30 AM told him what I wanted (3 colors would have been acceptable). He called me back at 1:30 & I was out of the dealership by 2:30 with a signed deal. It's hard to find a Limited around here that doesn't have NAV. One dealer even wanted $1000 before he even started looking. I believe I'll get the car as promised. The agreement states that if I don't get delivery of this particular car within 30 days, the deal is off & my money will be refunded. I'm optimistic.
  • paul_ppaul_p Member Posts: 271
    Our "plain Jane w/moonroof" Avalon XL came in today in Boston. Blue metallic & multi-toned, graded gray interior. The interior looks blue where it's light gray - a nice touch!

    Paid $26,951 not including $254 doc fee which includes a full tank of gas, state inspection fee, and delivery to our home. Sticker is $28,220, I guess we could always have done better, but we're very, very happy! Saved $4 to 5k over the Limited, which has plenty of cool gadgets required for some people, but not for us.

    What a deal for a car whose acceleration (reportedly 0 to 60 in 6.0 seconds) rivals that of a Porsche, with superior gas mileage comparatively - all for 1/3 of the cost! Hats off to the designers and engineers, they got this one right! The original Mr. Toyoda would be indeed proud of his company's latest engineering marvel.

    Great experience at Lexington Toyota northwest of Boston - worth the 35 mile ride to do business with them. Held to their word in every respect, and imho they are a model for other dealerships to aspire to.
  • viking644viking644 Member Posts: 23
    My dealership is Bill Wright Toyota Bakersfield, CA. They are willing to make deals. My deal with via negotiation. They did want me to take a blood bath on my BMW trade in, but I sold it outright back to the local BMW dealership for $900 more than Toyota would give on trade in value. :)
  • paul_ppaul_p Member Posts: 271
    Awsome, viking644! Good for you - no need to take a bath :) ! Same goes for trading my 2000 Merdeces C230, I sold it outright instead. Imho, I think the Avalon will be a great replacement for that car. Better acceleration, reliability, and fuel economy.
  • 5539655396 Member Posts: 529
    Just a comment. When posting prices, include all the numbers. What is retail? Does that number include shipping? List the price quoted or purchase price, and most importantly, ALL the add-ons. That's where they get ya. Without all of this, it's pretty meaningless.
  • mikes.mikes. Member Posts: 337
    When I bought mine in Hagerstown, Md back in Feb. I was dealing with internet people from Fitzmall.com. They have a store in Gaithersburg. I'd check there and also Koons, Browns, Younger & Carmax. Looking at Koons website they have a decent selection of XLs. Buy in Md. though, doc fees are a LOT less there. Save about 150 bucks.

    Definetely do your homework on pricing and on your trade-in if you have 1. I had a bit of problem on my trade.

    MikeS.
  • mrcainemrcaine Member Posts: 1
    Hello, I am new to the board. I originally purchased my 2001 Avalon XLS in Dec 2000. I paid $30,000 out the door, taxes, tags included. It was the most pleasant car buying experience I had ever had, but it was only the 3rd car I had ever purchased. It was fully loaded (including heated seats), excluding the gold package. I fell in love with it it while window shopping at the Toyota dealership waiting on my Ford Taurus repairs to be completed at the dealership next door. I researched the vehicle thoroughly on the internet, using the build your own feature until my wife threatened to cancel our DSL subscription. So once I was ready to purchase ( about 2 weeks), i hit the dealerships. The dealership I found love in originally quoted me a price of $43,000 out the door once the smoke cleared. i called my bank and they told me that was waaaaaaaaaaay too much for the car, and gave a list of their "preferred dealers." I contacted the 1st one on the list, and all he asked was that I use the "build your own" function on the website, and fax that sheet to him and he can tell me what they had. All he had was a green one, and my heart was dead set on black, and for $30,000 I wanted exactly what i wanted. They found a black one in New Orleans, about 10 hours away, and loaded it on a truck. It was there a week later. All of this happened from the comforts of my living room. I appeared at the dealership the morning the truck arrived with my baby on top of it, test drive it, and signed the check. Her name is Rayven I still love her today as much as I did the day I saw her December 9, 2000.
  • tinatinatinatina Member Posts: 388
    Hello,

    Hansel Toyota in Petulama, CA is offering all Avalon Touring models at $3,500 off of the MSRP.

    There appears to be some good deals out there. I saw one dealership's website had 17 avalons in stock. Most dealers now have an ample supply.
  • rartigorartigo Member Posts: 2
    Very good price. Can you give me name of the person that you deal with and phone number? Thanks.
  • Kirstie_HKirstie_H Administrator Posts: 11,148
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  • jarodnbcjarodnbc Member Posts: 1
    Viking, just checking - was this price of $33,454 out the door? Or was tax applied on top of it? We've been talking to a dealer up here in Northern California for an XLS, and out the door was $33,500, so pre-tax (8.5%)would be about ~$30,500. If you were able to get the Limited OTD for less than $33,500, that is a steal! Please let me know as soon as you can so I can re-evaluate my offer.
  • viking644viking644 Member Posts: 23
    This was the price of the Limited. The MSRP for mine was $37649. It has NV (Nav), CL (Laser Cruise), VD(Stability Control), CF (Floor Mats), and 070 (Blizzard Pearl paint/Ivory Interior. My price was $100 over the invoice that the floor manager had on an inventory sheet. By KBB or Edmunds estimate I paid about $450 over invoice. The finance manager did also show me his screen showing that after taking dealership "expenses" into consideration they made a -$202 on the sale and netted about $750 including Toyota's 2% holdback for the dealership.

    What sold me on the Limited was the combination of the keyless entry and ventilated front seats. My wife is forever juggling the kids, shopping bags, and her purse to find the $%#* keys. With the Limited you just drop the remote in your pocket (or purse) and grab the handle.

    You can look at pictures of my Limited at the following site: www.photobucket.com

    Under the user name: viking644
    public password is: viking644

    Hope this is helpful. :)
  • viking644viking644 Member Posts: 23
    Excellent point-

    My price of $33,454 breaks down as follows: {Base Invoice $29,514. Delivery $540. Options $2,938 (CF-floor mats $126, NV-nav $1,625, CL-speed control $480, VD-stabilit control $520, 070-blizzard pearl paint $187} +$462 profit for the dealership according to KBB and Edmunds. Those total the price of $33,454. According to the dealerships floor manager's invoice their cost was $33,354-not certain if the were rolling advertising costs into that invoice or not. And yes, he did show me the sheet showing all the invoice prices on the allocated units coming in.

    Now for the good stuff.

    GAP insurance- if you're not sure what this is and you are financing your automobiles, go look it up. Prices go all over the place-basically they'll charge what they can for it. I paid $175 for 60 months coverage (my finance period).

    Paint/Fabric protection- another interesting product which will cover you if your paint is damaged by bird dropping, tree sap, etc. and your interior from your kids and pets. The finance officer "offered it to me for $499. Note that the sheet they work off of has no printed prices. I ended up paying $349 just by telling them that I wanted a better price.

    Extended Warranty- I forewent this as I don't put over 10k miles on my cars a year. Needless to say, you can "save" that money and use it to pay for repairs "if needed" instead of giving it up, up front.

    The bottom line is that the finance room is a boiler room- be prepared to do some psycological warfare in there. Do your research and have a number-a line in the sand so to speak, which you will not come off of.

    Good luck to all- I do love my new Avalon Limited and have NO reservations about the purchase.

    :D
  • xbixbi Member Posts: 9
    Agreed with mikes, you should definitly try Fitzmall in Gaithersburg. They have their price online. No pressure. People were real nice. Definitely recommend Fitzmall. And if they don't have the selection you want, Koons or Frederick Toyota will be happy to give you at that price (maybe even a few hundred lower). BTW, Fizmall gave me the best price for my trade-in (on paper). Even better than carmax.
  • quilterquilter Member Posts: 9
    I went to one of the 17 dealerships here in the Atlanta area. They had the Desert Sand Mica one on the lot, with ONLY what I wanted: Nav, VSC. AND the mats were thrown in already. MSRP was 35,040, plus tax, documentation fee ($396!) and $ 21 for some minor taxes. My OTD price was 33,900. I tried to get lower, but I was told that SET (Southeast Toyota) gets $595/car. If I take that into consideration AND getting the mats without paying for them, I figure I paid about $200 over invoice (Edmunds). What I liked the most about doing business with this dealer is that they wanted to keep my business in our county rather than let me go to one of the others. Also, they didn't add all that extra (Toyoguard, etc.) that is PURE profit. The salesman told me after I bought the car, that Toyoguard costs them about $150...and they charge the customer $700.

    I may not have gotten the BEST deal, but I am very pleased with the dealership, the experience, and (of course!) the car. BTW, this is the first non-American car that I have bought, even though I know it was designed and built in the US. I may never go back to "Detroit". :)
  • 307web307web Member Posts: 1,033
    Why do you need 5 years of gap insurance? Even with $0 down you should not be upside down my any significant amount even before 3 years unless you have overpaid for the car.
  • littlejohn600littlejohn600 Member Posts: 80
    Bought my LTD from Beltway Toyota and was very pleased with their internet sale people.
  • viking644viking644 Member Posts: 23
    Dunno...that's just what the GAP policy shows for its term and at $175, I believe it's worth it. I've seen GAP offers for as much as $500 in the past. :confuse:
  • mytoymytoy Member Posts: 14
    A dealership in Ft. Lauderdale has an offer on the table for an Avalon XLS with all car mats and mud guards for $29,970. Need to add tax, tag, title. He said MSRP was $32+ (do not remember exact number). This offer is from the Internet Manager. Going to see the car tomorrow.

    How much more negotiating room do I have?

    Thanks in advance for all replies.

    MyToyota :)
  • viking644viking644 Member Posts: 23
    Depends on all of the options. KBB.com or Edmunds.com can both give you invoice/msrp prices. My Limited had about $4,700 in mark up from Invoice/MSRP.

    Good luck
  • mytoymytoy Member Posts: 14
    The car I am looking at is the basic XLS. Only options are the car mats and mud guards. That is it, no other options added.

    MyToyota
  • diladila Member Posts: 1
    I have gone to several dealers here in Los Angeles and I have yet been able to find a dealer that has an Avalon XLS with vehicle stability control. I did find one but the price was to high and it was not in the color I wanted. The quote for that car was around $31, 500. I thought it was really high. I'm still looking if someone knows a dealer please let me know thanks.
  • mfoster1mfoster1 Member Posts: 5
    Excellent point about the "gap insurance." I looked into my pay-off for an 03 Camry and you're right, I don't need this gap insurance in the first place. That was $$$ more from uninformed car buyer.
  • klcrdklcrd Member Posts: 8
    I am also in the market for an Avalon 2005. I live in Manhattan, so if anyone out there has had any half way decent experience with Toyota dealerships in the Tri-State area please let us know.

    Thank much
  • cbj1cbj1 Member Posts: 2
    I am trying to buy a Avalon 2005 XLS with floor mats (CF), rear spoiler (RF), vehicle stability control w/heated seats (VD), and the 6/cd changer (EJ), in the titanium silver. MSRP $33,618, invoice is $29,321. I only want to pay about $500 over invoice (at the most), no document fees. To me document fees are nothing more then profit. Dealers are stating that the invoice is $500 more then what Edmunds is reporting, and they will not deal on the vehicle. I was also told that the Avalon can not be special ordered right now, because dealers are in their initial allocation of the newly designed vehicle. I live in the Columbus, Ohio area and I am trying to buy this vehicle. Does anyone have any suggestions?
  • toyotakentoyotaken Member Posts: 897
    High demand/low supply vehicles often do not have much if any discounts. If you're working with a reputable dealer, they should not have any problem with showing you an invoice for an Avalon to see what the differences are with what you're using to figure invoice. At least in this area, $500 over invoice would not be accepted by any of the local dealers on an Avalon either at this point. Camry, possibly, but not on the Avalon. You could look farther away from you to see if there is anyone further away willing to meet your requests or wait another 1-2 years in all liklihood to find something in the range of what you're looking for.

    Hope this helps.

    Toyota Ken
  • sbell4sbell4 Member Posts: 446
    it would help us if we knew what part of the country you were in. There are cases when a dealer will have 10-12 Avalons in stock and if you were interested in one of those a dealer would probably (not all dealers but some would) sell you an Avalon for $500 over invoice.
  • toyotakentoyotaken Member Posts: 897
    Agreed. That would help imensely.
  • dreasdaddreasdad Member Posts: 276
    Edmunds does not show the accurate dealer invoice as Toyota charges
    what is called add fees to each car based on set %. Read some more posts and look for discussions about TDA fees. Some dealers will not "order"
    cars as sometimes orders are not filled and causes more heat than saying no. Doc fees are set by the state in Texas and are a standard fee as the state will not let any body but a dealer reg the new car. I have seen other posts talking about hundreds in doc fees but Texas is only $50.
  • mackabeemackabee Member Posts: 4,709
    garry4, sorry for the late response. If you have been following the "2005 Avalon" board you may have noticed that I left the dealership and had stopped posting for a few weeks. I am now at a different Toyota store and am settling down at this time. I have found Edmund's invoice prices to be the most accurate. You must remember that they don't include holdback which is 2% of MSPR or TDA (Toyota Dealers Advertising) which is 2% of base invoice. Edmund's has an explanation in small print that explains why. TDA varies by region so it would be very cumbersome and time consuming for the folks at Edmunds to include it for every region of the US.
    :)
    Mackabee
  • navladynavlady Member Posts: 2
    My husband just picked up our 2005 Phantom Gray w/ graphite interior Limited from Checkered Flag Toyota in Virginia Beach, VA. Great people there. Out the door, tax, title, dealers fees etc... was $37,000. Avalon has Nav system, stability control, laser cruise, and I had to have the floor mats. Haven't seen it yet, but he's driving it back here to Jacksonville tomorrow. VA was the best price we could find and he had to go up there anyway. OBTW, USAA offers free gap insurance if you finance through them. Can't wait to see it, he says it's purdy! :)
  • frisconickfrisconick Member Posts: 1,275
    Why but an Lexus ES, when you can get an Avalon cheaper?
  • garry4garry4 Member Posts: 11
    Mackabee,

    Thanks for the information. Good luck at the new dealership.

    garry4
  • bettersafebettersafe Member Posts: 92
    Now that Ford and Chrysler has joined the GM employee discounts, Maybe Toyota will need to start to make better deals. The price of a new Explorer is so good I may buy one when I was not even in the market for one!
  • teddylegteddyleg Member Posts: 8
    I wouldn't be surprised if other car companies in addition to Ford and Chrysler did join the trend of these programs that GM is offering, but if Toyota does join the bandwagon, I seriously doubt you would see this deal offered on the Avalon. Note that not all models apply to the U.S. automakers "employee discount" and there are exceptions.

    With Avalon sales up well over 100% vs. last year, those numbers can only be expected to grow in 2006 with commensurate word-of-mouth and just people noticing the new design when they see more of these cars on the highway.

    Not only that, but if Toyota did offer the 'employee discount' deal on the Avalon, they could risk SEVERELY choking the sales of the ES300 (as if they haven't already) and that wouldn't make the shareholders happy.
  • mackabeemackabee Member Posts: 4,709
    Funny, that's the store I just left! They must had had a very bad month to blow out a Limited like that. There were no discounts on Limiteds when I was there. Isn't life strange. Enjoy your Avalon. :)
    Mackabee
  • mackabeemackabee Member Posts: 4,709
    Toyota usually runs the other way. For example now that the domestics are giving everything away and buying future sales, Toyota has stopped all rebates and incentives on their vehicles for the month of July (at least in CAT) GM dug their own hole when they began rebating their cars to death and now they've just found another way to buy more sales with this employee price thing. They still don't get the long term picture. It's a shame.
    :cry:
    Mackabee
  • kribskribs Member Posts: 3
    Hello all
    I am looking to buy an 05 touring. right have been quoted 30,598 for one. Would like to know what would be a good price also would like to know if anyone bought one in the chicagoland area and if so what they paid for it . :)
  • bettersafebettersafe Member Posts: 92
    Have you seen prices on Ford Explorer? I saw $8000 off of MSRP between rebates and family prices. At that price the Explorer looks highly competitve against Toyo models. Yes, the 4 Runner is better, but is it $8000 better ?

    Closer to the subject, the Ford 500 has good prices as well. A Limited version for $23,582.

    I think Toyo is going to feel some impact.
  • toyotakentoyotaken Member Posts: 897
    The tough part is going to be in the coming 1-3 years when these vehicles start coming in on trade. "mister customer, I know that you have the window sticker for your exlorer, yukon, ram, etc. and it shows that it was originally $35000, and it's only a year old, but the market value for the trade is $5000." We've been living that with some of the vehicles already like the windstars, dodge minivans, grand am's, etc. Now it's going to be across the board.

    Ken
  • bettersafebettersafe Member Posts: 92
    Good point ! What is the value of a 1 year old Explorer if a new one is $8000 off of MSRP? I would think the used car marketplace is in havoc at the moment.
  • easyrider300measyrider300m Member Posts: 1,116
    why is the doc fee so out of line with actual costs--what exactly is included in the "doc fee"? Do all dealerships add this on after the deal is made? why should the doc fee vary from dealership to dealership in the same state? Is the doc fee negotiable? I don't feel I should have to pay for their preparation of the paperwork. Inspection sticker and title is all I would think doc fees should include. The rest to me is dealer profit.
  • rwb2rwb2 Member Posts: 85
    I live in Pickerington. Try the Lancaster dealer. The advertising fee makes it higher than Edmunds (see Mac's post) and its hard to talk them out of the $100 document fee which the state of Ohio allows but does not (that I know of) mandate. If you get within the $100 why ruin the relationship when you're talking 30 grand anyway. Good Luck. But I agree, just call the document fee what it is - dealer profit.
  • toyotakentoyotaken Member Posts: 897
    Keep in mind that many, if not most dealers have DMV substations or equivilent abilities to help customers with the processing of their paperwork. They need someone on staff to process that paperwork, need to have supplies(plates, paperwork, etc) to process the DMV paperwork. I guess if all customers are willing to stand in line for the 2-3 hours to get their paperwork done and pay the appropriate fees, then doc fees wouldn't be necessary. I know that at least here, the NYS maximum $45 doc fee that is charged by dealers also covers the cost of the DMV required palm pilot to figure the transfer fees which we are required to "lease" from the state and the forms which total around $15-20 depending on the transaction which we don't itemize on the buyers order.

    I don't condone $100's for doc fees, but this is a service that is being provided to the customer and that service costs a salary and other miscelaneous expenses. Don't expect that these are done by magic and can automaticly be absorbed by the dealer. If you want inventory to choose from, people to wait on you in a timely fashion, clean facilities, updated tools and equipment for service and pavement to drive on and park, there are costs to cover.

    If you don't want to pay the doc fee, find a dealer that won't charge them or figure that into the negotiated price of the car. I, for one, always explain what all associated expenses are going to be when quoting numbers to any customer.

    Just my $.02

    Ken
  • rwb2rwb2 Member Posts: 85
    You do it right and so does my dealer. That's why I never complain. I find my dealer continues to deal with me and my friends I send there in a very fair and honest way. It's worth a half hour trip down route 33 to Lancaster Ohio. The Toyota dealer 5 minutes from my house has a great service department, but I just can't stand their sales techniques.
  • jose7jose7 Member Posts: 11
    Hi Kribs
    I, too am looking for a 05 Touring in the southern WI area. It would be helpful to know what options you're interested in to know if the price is "fair". I was told that the dealership near me would do $1000.00 over invoice. I don't know if that is reasonable. Any opinions out there?
    I was looking at options SR,EJ,N1,CF,PC(special color-pearl)
    I also wanted mudguards($120) and hitch/wiring ($350)
    Total invoice w/destination and TDA: $28,806; out the door: $29,800
    Thoughts???
  • johndjrjohndjr Member Posts: 80
    Jose7,

    I couldn't get mud guards when I bought my Limited.
    I found them after market, color matched to my color, for 87.26 includes shipping. This is for all four. I installed them yesterday.
    They are from the same source as the dealer.
    Worked for me.
  • bettersafebettersafe Member Posts: 92
    As reported by earlier posters, there is a dealer in Ames, Iowa who claims to sell any Avalon for $1000 over invoice. And one in Fayetteville, Arkansas who claimes to sell any Avalon for $500 over invoice. Two months ago, a St. Louis dealer wanted invoice plus 3%. I do not have out-the-door prices, yet, so I do not know if there are any hidden fees, mark-ups etc. I think prices are coming down from the initial rush of customers.
    BetterSafe
  • kribskribs Member Posts: 3
    Well i didnt go into much detail with him. He said this would be the standard touring. Color was black.Also whats with the 1000 over invoice price.
    thanks :)
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