Toyota Avalon Prices Paid and Buying Experience

geegee1 · July 2005

I just made an offer to Longo Toyota in El Monte (CA) for the XLS with sound system and Sirius radio for $29,200

(I'll also get an additional $400 rebate because of College Grad Program) Original quote from them was $29,821.

geegee1 · July 2005

Offer was accepted and I pick car up tomorrow night! Internet salesman was fantastic - we did the deal within 3 hours - phone calls only. I was preapproved for a loan through Toyota Finance.

Wow, and at a price that is great - $29,200 + tax and license less $400 recent college grad rebate. Out the door $31,450.

I'll post after I drive it for awhile.

Thanks everyone for helping me negotiate for a good price.

tinatina · July 2005

I heard about that dealership in Southern California. What was the MSRP for your vehicle? I live in Northern California. Two dealerships have 18 Avalons "collecting dust" on the lots, but they won't deal.

geegee1 · July 2005

MSRP was $32,179

drfu · July 2005

What color combination (interior/exterior) did you get? and where did they put your Sirius antenna?

geegee1 · July 2005

Desert Sand Mica and Ivory Leather
I pick car up tonight - not sure where the antennae will be located.

geegee1 · July 2005

Love the car! It's so luxurious, rides smooth, awesome sound system (upgraded JBL) Looking forward to driving it to work tomorrow.

buck11 · July 2005

Got a call today from my dealer and was told my 2006 LTD is scheduled for delivery the third week in August. Toyota still hasn't released 06 pricing but I'm assuming it won't be much more than a couple hundred increase. Hope so at least. I'm pumped.

discman1 · July 2005

Lee,
That sounds like a great deal. If I'm reading your post correctly, you bought a $37,878 MSRP, $33,771 Invoice Avalon for $1,271 UNDER Invoice.
Is my calculations correct?????
If so, WHAT A DEAL!!!!!

The best quote I have gotten so far is $350 OVER invoice on a similar equipped Limited (NJ)

roy007 · July 2005

2005 Avalon Limited with
VSC / Brake Assist \
Extra Mile Option Package
Spoiler
Tint
Mud Guards
Black/Ivory

MSRP $37,561, dealer proposal (first shot): $33,500

Any feedback is appreciated.

zorro16 · July 2005

roy007,

what dies the extra mile package include?? how much is it alone ??

roy007 · July 2005

Extra value package was priced at $1577 and included:
remote start/intelligent key
glass break sensor
park pilot (rear sensor)
Carpet mat set/Trunk mat
Wheel locks
Tape stripe
Fabric Guard
First Aid Kit

gs3 · July 2005

roy007,
that is a pretty decent price for a limited
if you don't mind letting us know which and where is the dealership located.

thanks.

roy007 · July 2005

It's Toyota of Lewisville in Lewisville, TX (not far north of Dallas). Thanks for the feedback!

zorro16 · July 2005

roy007,

the invoice for your price quote comes around $32400, it's about $1100 over invoce.thats not a bad deal for a limited but not a very good deal too.i think you still have room to negotiate, considering the fact that 2006's will be out soon.

p.s: roy, if you are a tech buffy guy, i would suggest you drop that extra value package and opt for a navigation and laser cruise control for the price quote they gave you.

roy007 · July 2005

Can someone clarify for me when the 2005 Avalons came out? I've not followed the cars before, and when I started shopping a couple of weeks ago, I deliberately asked the salesman when the 2005s came out and he indicated only a few months ago and implied that the 2006s are not coming soon. Is that true? If so, it seems strange that I'm seeing posts that the 2006 arrivals seem imminent. I'm not in a rush to buy, and though I've gotten a decent deal on the table without much haggling thus far I'm wondering if it's best to wait and see if the 2006s are showing up soon.

Thanks.

sob · July 2005

Would you furnish the terms of your lease with regard to money factor, residual value, etc. thanks

dreasdad · July 2005

Avalon release date is 8/04/2005 but remember they are not going to discount the 06 until the 05's are gone. Deal you are getting is pretty good on the 05, go for it

roy007 · July 2005

I wouldn't go for the 2006, just wasn't sure if I couldn't get a better deal on the 2005s if I waited a few weeks. Thoughts?

mstem · July 2005

Hi Roy007!

I have a firm commitment on delivery of a 2006 Avalon Limited for August 22nd. That was the first date for arrivals of any 2006 models. The next date is September 5th. Apparently the "pipeline" starts delivering in this area on August 22nd. I am located in southwest Ohio. We are fortunate in that we are just about sixty miles north of Georgetown, KY where they are built!

Mike

buck11 · July 2005

This follows what I was saying earlier when I posted that my 2006 LTD was due in the third week of August. I'm in NC. Glad to hear that I'm not the only one been told of this delivery date.

cjponline · July 2005

I ordered a 2006 Indigo Ink Limited with VSC and DLCC. Scheduled for delivery in about 4 weeks. I paid $33,973 plus taxes and license. I checked with 4 different dealerships, and couldn't find a 2005 Limited without NAV.

sob · July 2005

It appears you bought the exact model, color, and equip that I am considering. Please clarify the discounted selling price and cost of options and admin fees....exclude taxes, please. Any regrets so far?

roy007 · July 2005

FYI for everyone, I got an aditional $500 from the dealer to bring them down to $33,000 and they were pretty generous on my trade-in. Our dealer in Dallas still denies having knowledge of impending 2006 deliveries, but I was able to use the info in these posts as leverage. Thanks everybody!!!

amoxoma · July 2005

Yesterday we purchased a 2005 XLS Indigo Blue/Sand interior, stability control/heated seats, JBL 6-CD, wheel locks for $1050 over Edmund's invoice price. Here in the Pittsburgh area, Toyota dealers count an additional $550 on their invoice for regional advertising fees ("TDA") - so the dealer called it $500 over invoice, but in actuality it's $1050 over invoice.

Based on what I read here, that's an OK deal, but certainly not a great one. My goal was $500-$1000 over invoice. Great deals are nice, but there is a certain value to your time, and it's nice to get a reasonable deal without a fight. Ironically, Edmund's "Confessions of a Car Salesman" article made me feel sorry for these guys, and I feel a bit better if everybody is reasonably happy.

So ballpark, there's about $4200 invoice-to-MSRP spread on Avalon XLS no matter what the set of options - and holdback, of course. We encountered a variety of responses from local dealers.

I spent the most time with the first dealer that I approached. Two test drives, and a few discussions about the car. It was during this process that I decided that I wanted an Avalon, and I told the salesman that I wanted to buy it from him. However, despite repeated requests for him to make a serious offer, he stayed in the area of $400 under sticker; he just wouldn't budge. This coupled with a ridiculously low offer on my trade-in yielded a ludicrous $6000-profit deal (based on avg trade-in)! The really amusing thing was that his own dealership website was offering a price $1000 less than his offer; (but I didn't bother mentioning it; didn't see the point of embarrassing him). He would leave phone messages asking me whether I had "come to a decision", and I would return them with something like "I'm still waiting to hear an offer." I guess he had me pegged as easy money. It just proves once again that you can't approach car buying by simply showing up and being a friendly guy.

Luckily, my wife is at home during the days, so she was able to do the legwork. She made two rounds of calls. To locate the vehicles, she used the dealer search at toyota.com, and used the individual dealer websites' inventory. She called local dealers, a few that were up to 150 miles away, and as a sanity check, a high-volume dealer in northern Va. The idea is that we'd prefer to deal close to home, but if we are talking $1000 difference, a little day trip is in order.

The first week, she called a number of dealers asking "What's your best price?" On the second week, when we were really ready to go, she called them and said "I'm looking for an Avalon at $500 over invoice; can you help me?" In the first call, the range was 1500 over invoice to MSRP. On the second call, we had one $500 over invoice (for a car with 450 miles - "not a demo or anything"), one $1050 over (the one we bought), two $1500 over, and a few who stuck close to sticker - $3200 or more over invoice). The VA dealer was $1185 over invoice, but 250 miles away.

So we went in and bought the one at $1050 over invoice without further negotiation. A very conveniently located dealer was $1500 over, and we would have negotiated with him just for the convenience - but this guy had problems returning calls quickly. I feel that with more work and desire, we could probably have achieved $750 over invoice at this dealer, or even $500 over somewhere if we played a few dealers off one another. But we preferred the straightforward approach.

Let me close by making a few points:
- Let your fingers do the walking, make the calls when you're serious.
- Most of the work needs to be done by email or on the phone; once you're in the dealership, progress comes to a halt.
- Don't let a salesperson waste your time - insist that he get serious or just get out.
- If you really want a great deal, wait for the lingering 2005 "problem cars" when the 2006 come out shortly.

buck11 · July 2005

Glad you got the vehicle you wanted at a fair price. Not a great deal but one that you can live with is more important than beating your head against a brick wall over and over with no results.

As a retired auto sales manager may I add that sometimes you just need to go up the food chain to get what you're looking for. At the dealership I retired from we required that all customers be logged or turned over to a manager before they left the lot. We wanted the ability to find out why this person was walking away without purchasing. If we didn't have the opportunity to speak with them before they left, we would call them back within 24 hours to find out "what we had to do to make the deal". Sometimes you get a salesperson who acts independently and fails to see the big picture from a dealers stand point and that is moving metal.

Now that I am retired, if I'm shopping for a vehicle that I don't have a friend working at, I just pick up the phone after researching prices and ask to speak with a sales manager. Not going to waste a bunch of time playing the "if I could, would you" game anymore.

Enjoy your new vehicle.

rwb2 · July 2005

I don't know of any dealer who walks away from advertising fees. They include that in their "Invoice Price" 100% of the time.

drb05 · August 2005

I posted about my deal (not a great one-maybe) a week back for my touring. I got 28,000 with option 1 package in CT, USA. it was the best deal i could in all of CT. One dealer was so greedy that he started with 33,303 for XL and wouldn't budge. Inspite of telling him that I am a serious buyer, he kept saying that he will give better figure and would reduce couple of hundreds. Eventually i got the car elsewhere and when the greedy dealer called me i said, I already signed the deal with another, he budged and said that he will beat that price and asked me to come and buy from him. But I did not agree.

well, the point, i am trying to come to is that....one should do homework. Phone and email will narrow down to the best deal. As the other person said, walking to a dealer is a bad idea. They never budge. I speak this from experience (changed 4 cars in 4 yrs).

hope the greedy dealer learnt a lesson. He should be aware what other dealers in the area are selling and also know that customers are also wary of other deals.

drb

tarheels2005 · August 2005

I've been also looking for a good deal in CT. These dealers act like they are doing you a favor selling you a car. drb05 please contact me because I would like to compare notes on our experiences. Thanks and happy Avalon hunting.

Kirstie_H · August 2005

One important key to a successful, vibrant online community is having the conversation take place where everyone can benefit from the questions and answers. Therefore, we highly discourage "email me" requests within a post. As we like to have the discussion in the Forums, these posts will be removed. An email exchange of answers deprives the community of valuable information. We hope you will share information about vehicle purchases with all of us!

kirstie_h
Roving Host
Host, Future Vehicles & Smart Shopper discussions

tarheels2005 · August 2005

I didn't think it would be acceptable to talk about specific dealerships in a forum such as this. Maybe we can list towns/cities? I would just like to know which dealers will deal and which will not. That info can save ALL of us a lot of time and headaches.

drb05 · August 2005

Hi Kristie_h
partly i agree to your views on sharing information. however i have to disagree with your views on specific requests made by other users. If surfers post tons and tons of contact info of dealer data on this forum, it will become cumbersome for newbies who are trying to get information. Say a person living in TX will be least interested in offers from say seattle,washington. Aren't you making things tougher by doing so?

either there should be a separate thread for this information purpose or just let it go the way it is. However I don't see a point in how one can disclose all the quotes from several dealers that i obtained say just within CT area. I obtained from 15 dealers, do you mean that every thing should be posted?

personally, i saved headaches for other non-CT surfers by avoiding irrelevant details of dealer info.

anyway ball is in your court as you have the power to control the board.

drb

Kirstie_H · August 2005

Sure! We welcome you to post dealership, city & state information. The only information we don't permit is anything related to specific salespeople. We'd love to see a list of dealerships posted who will or will not deal so that members can have the best possible purchasing experience.

kirstie_h
Roving Host
Host, Future Vehicles & Smart Shopper discussions

Kirstie_H · August 2005

We hope that our search feature will be helpful for newbies trying to locate information related to a specific city or state! Unfortunately we can't support separate discussions by each region. However, feel free to take editorial license with your own posts - post only the information that you think will help other members.

kirstie_h
Roving Host
Host, Future Vehicles & Smart Shopper discussions

mrfmlf · August 2005

I am also in the market for an Avalon in the Pittsburgh area. What dealer did you purchase your Avalon from?

buck11 · August 2005

We've got one scheduled into a dealer here in Raleigh 8/5 and several more starting soon thereafter. Anyone else got them in their dealerships yet??

cleveland1 · August 2005

Took a first time drive in the Avalon on Sunday 7/31 here in NE Ohio - very nice car and ride (I came off of a 2002 RL lease last fall.) and I was told the 06 Avalon will be in around September or so. Of course he tried to sell me an 05 XLS on the lot but did at least mostly honestly tell me I could order an 06 and get it within " a few months". Then yesterday I visited another dealer in NE Ohio (Mentor) I happened to drive by and the sales manager assured me that the 06's wont be available until December. And I see postings that say their 06's will ship in august. This is why car dealers often have a poor reputation.

latv · August 2005

I was looking for a 2005 Avalon Limited with NAV and XM. I went into Keyes Toyota in Van Nuys, CA. I asked them for the best price for a lease. I wanted them to lay out all of the costs on one sheet. The first thing they told me is that I had to pay $ 10,000.00 down on a lease. They say that their bank requires it. My FICO is in the high 700's. Then they wanted $ 3,000 over sticker as well as extra added "features" that I did not want. This was another $ 1,000.00 over sticker. I walked out extremely furious.

drb05 · August 2005

Tarheels2005,
I didn't see your email. probably you missed my posting before it got deleted or you found a dealer.
either way, just thought to share this...
I got the best deal from Stephen Automall, Bristol, CT
do not set your foot in colonial toyota, milford, CT-they quoted the highest price of all-more than MSRP. probably they weren't convinced that I would buy a car and simply threw in a huge number. too bad! they lost a habitual customer.
other dealers in New Haven, Westport, Wallingford, middletown etc....were 1000-2000 above invoice but lesser than MSRP. however, these quotes are just off the bat. There is room for negotiation.
all the quotes are for touring 05, with option 1 package.

hope that helps.

drb

gs3 · August 2005

point well taken, no juvenile attitudes, its nice to know and be able to work with people who are honest and up front about with the info and knowledge that they may have as a salesperson. most car buyer go to dealer with the intent to car shop, may not be at that moment, most car shoppers are not bashful either, but like you said, there are few jerks that are just jerks and waste everyone's time.

bearfan1 · August 2005

I just purchased a 2005 XLS Blizzard Pearl with grey leather. Option packages were Z1, EJ and VD. Love the car but am trying to figure out if the Toyota extended warranty is a worthwhile investment. In general I don't ever purchase the warranties, but am curious what other owners think. The finance guy at the dealer claims that 87% of new buyers purchase the plan. I was quoted somewhere around $1125 for the 7 year 75,000 mile warranty.
I would really appreciate some insight from other owners.

For the record we paid $30,751 for the car. Sticker price was $33,753 and dealer invoice was $29,310 plus whatever the dealer pays as upcharge for the Blizzard Pearl paint. This color looks great with the grey interior.

dandl · August 2005

If you are planning on keeping the car for the long haul, I would think purchasing the extended warranty would be a good idea. As posted in earlier discussions, many have purchased the 7 year, 75,000 zero deductable warranty for $985.00. You might want to call around to different dealerships to see if they will match the price that some have given to Edmunds forum subscribers. The out of state dealership we bought our Limited from offered us the $985.00 price because I mentioned the forum prices. They also told me I could purchase it over the phone. This was from Midwest Toyota Superstore in Hutchinson, Kansas, a truly fantastic dealership! (we are in Michigan). Oh, he did mention that the $985.00 price was exactly $100.00 over his cost..... Hope this helps.
Laura

amoxoma · August 2005

In Pittsburgh - I purchased from Davis on McKnight road, a very straight-shooting salesman. I would like to recommend him, but I don't think I am allowed to use his name here. I also found that Rohrich and Massey offered good possibilities, and also Colonial Toyota of Indiana, PA. I had no luck at all with Baerl or Spitzer. Baerl, in particular, wanted an astounding amount of profit on the deal - $3800 over invoice, and $2000 under the average trade-in on my car - and they would not budge..

amoxoma · August 2005

mrfmlf - I would like to recommed my sales person to you - he was a straight shooter throughout. But I don't think there is a way to do it here - email addresses aren't acceptable. Kristi, is there a way to exchange this info?

amoxoma · August 2005

buck11 - Thanks for your reply. I think your advice to go directly to the sales manager, by phone, is right on the mark.

You also spoke of salespeople who "don't get the big picture." At my problem dealership, I suspected that the salesperson was trapped in a box arranged by his management. But the truth is, I really have no way of knowing. Maybe he thought he had a fish on the line, and didn't care about the big picture.

Because I did spend time with him, I really wanted to give him the business. If only car-buying were like every other human transaction....

buck11 · August 2005

You're right of course. There's no way to look into the crystal ball and figure out the truth. Because the majority of salespeople are paid off of commission only, they tend to sometimes become self centered and concerned only with how much gross they can hold in the deal. They are usually paid a percentage of the total gross profit and at most dealerships they even get a percentage of the backend profit, i.e., extended warranties and service plans.

If you run into an internet salesperson or a high volume onsite salesperson, the dealership will tend to give them a bit of autonomy based off of their success. These are the ones that will typically hold the price on a vehicle. On the other hand if you run into just a typical salesperson on the lot, they will generally make sure you are seen by a manager before you leave.

Bottom line: Either talk directly to a manager while onsite or call into the dealership and ask to speak with a salesmanager. Have your figures ready (from Edmunds, etc.) and be ready to commit. The last thing a salesmanager wants or needs is a customer shopping him/her. If you're serious about buying, be ready for the deal. I'm not advocating jumping in, but if it's a good deal in your opinion, be ready. Last but certainly not least is the fact that the Avalon is a hot property. It's the law of supply and demand. I saw this with the Thunderbird and now the new Mustang GT. Anytime you want a vehicle with limited availability you're going to run into this.

zorro16 · August 2005

amoxoma,

whats your final price from Davis???

allson · August 2005

We brought home our 2005 XLS last night...Titanium Metal (silver) with gray interior. Price out the door (including 6% taxes, license/doc) was $32,151.92. This included packages EJ (upgraded audio), VD (stability control) and CF (mats). We shopped at three dealers and negotiated up from wholesale at the first one...got a good price and then went to others to see if they would beat the price. (We weren't happy with the first dealership in aspects other than price.) We ended up at $495 over dealer invoice, probably because the dealer is trying to clear out the 2005s. Quoted price before taxes and license/doc was $30,103. The dealer dropped the price a little to accomodate a $139 higher license/doc fee than the quote from another dealer in our home state.

We bought the vehicle from Richmond Toyota in Richmond, Indiana. We very very impressed with all aspects of this dealership. It was recommended to me by a friend who has purchased Toyotas from them over the past 20 years.
The Avalons at dealers in southwest Ohio seem to be disappearing off the lot quickly, but one dealer near Cincinnati has an in-store board showing their average sales price on Avalons is 5% over dealer invoice -- far above what we paid. Last Sunday, they had six 2005s on the lot and by Wed., there were three.

The dealer in Richmond had 6 and received more on Friday, including a Blizzard Pearl Limited and a Silver Pine Limited. The green and blue Avalons reportedly don't sell well in this area of the midwest, according to the sales mgr., but sell very well in Florida. Only 1.5% of Avalons made are Silver Pine, apparently.
We became Avalon converts when we went shopping for a used Camry.

mstem · August 2005

I enjoyed "allson's" post #475 for two reasons: they are located in my neck of the woods, and I have a '06 Silver Pine Mica on order! Am very familiar with the dealers in SW Ohio, prowl around their lots quite a bit. Allson, curious as to the source of the comment ref "only 1.5% of Avalon's are Silver Pine Mica..." Did a dealer share that or did you find it posted somewhere?

I have agonized a bit over my color choice, and several posters have offered encouraging words about the light green. Have to admit, if they are that scarce, I kinda consider that a benefit rather than a shortcoming! Might keep me from seeing one on every other corner!

Anxioulsy awaiting Aug 22nd for delivery of my color-challenged Silver Pine Mica Limited baby...

allson · August 2005

mstern...

The source of the comment that only 1.5% of Avalon's are Silver Pine Mica was the sales manager at Richmond (IN) Toyota, if I remember correctly. It was definitely one of the people (6!) that we dealt with as we were picking up the vehicle last night. I agree that makes the Silver Pine more desirable. We bought a dark green Chrysler minivan (1994 model) and it turned out that must have been everyone's favorite color that model year! We always saw ourselves coming and going. LOL.

The light green one we saw was beautiful -- my husband considered upgrading to the limited just because of the color, but we already had financing arranged and didn't want to spend more $$.

The sales manager said the best selling colors in this part of the country are silver, blizzard pearl and black. So, we may see ourselves coming and going again!

We were not even aware of the Avalons before we went to a Toyota dealer to check on buying a used Camry last weekend. So we became quick converts. I'm tall (5'10") and getting in and out of vehicles without bumping my head is always a challenge. Not so with the Avalon. Plus, for the first time, I have adequate leg room in the front and back.

We've always purchased either Buicks or Chrysler cars until May when we bought a used 2001 Camry for our 17 year old 6'4" son, mainly for safety reasons. So when the AC went out on our 1994 Chrysler Town and Country (175,000 miles), and we learned it needs rack/pinion repairs, we went shopping for another used Camry. Advice -- if you go shopping for a used Camry, do NOT sit in the back seat of a 2005 Avalon in the dealer's showroom. LOL!

mstern -- I think you will be very happy with the Silver Pine. It really stood out in the dealer's lot! Please post when you take delivery.

Toyota Avalon Prices Paid and Buying Experience

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