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MD
Second, although I don't see where I wrote anything about what Venza "should" be priced, I do believe Venza would be well-priced in the $21-$22K range for the base model. Anything higher than that, as I have suggested, there are other options at better prices. I mean, for $26K, do you buy a Venza or well-equipped Tiguan, or maybe even a Highlander Hybrid? Back in the day, they used to price the Saturn wagon about $1000 higher than the Saturn sedan; in that case, a base Venza should then only be about a grand more than a base Camry. And even then, this would be more than I'd be willing to spend for it unless there were some serious rebates attached.
Which brings me to the final nail in the coffin for the prospect of a new Venza for me. Your own budget may of course be different, but I suppose the best way to sum up what I wrote is that $26K is about $6K more than I would spend on a car....period.
It's all according to personal preference, no matter how you choose to look at it. As far as Volkswagens go, they tend to be pricey by American car standards anyway, but yet cost less than Audis, which VW owns. But is Tiguan too expensive? Not compared to the rest of their lineup, unless you are looking at the Jetta Sportwagen, which is the only cargo-carrying vehicle they have that's smaller and less expensive, and can be had for about $21K MSRP. I believe that size and price-wise, Venza would be more comparable to the Passat Wagon and pricing it like that puts it pretty much out of reach for me.
THAT's what I was trying to put across!
Right now the price of gas is back down to where even premium is a bargain, but I don't think we should be fooled into believing it'll stay that way. In my opinion, one should shop as if the gas price were high. The difference between regular and midgrade is only a few dollars per tank, the price of a carton of cigarettes, say, which in my opinion is not really enough of a consideration. One could perhaps judge the car based on whether it has the right amount of room for you and how comfortable it is. But that said, I do hear what you're saying and felt the same way about the regular vs premium before I saw just how high gas could get! Now I don't have any problem with midgrade or higher gas, especially now that it costs now what I used to pay for regular!
But if you don't mind my asking, was your salesman telling you then, that it's going to be cheaper to buy it now while nobody has any than to wait until they have some in stock? Dealers do tend to put a lot of dealer-added stuff on them that nobody asked for...
But yours IS the leather model, though...
1) Blizzard Pearl (Special Color charge)
2) Tow Prep (TO)
3) Convenience (CQ)
4) Comfort (LS)
5) Security (SA)
6) JBL Stereo/Blue Tooth (EJ)
7) Carpet Floor Mats and Cargo Net (We had them throw this in)
It was missing the Lighting Package, otherwise it would be a Prem #2. But we're okay without it.
I hate the car buying process.
We started out where they said they'll sell it to you at invoice. I came back with 29540. I was aiming for a 10-11% discount from MSRP. Salesman leaves for ten minutes to go talk to manager (or whatever). He comes back and says invoice including TDA is 29973 and they won't sell below invoice. I made my first mistake by saying okay, I'll pay that if you include the carpet floor mats & cargo net. I should have just said I won't pay that much to see what he would have said. Oops. Salesman leaves for ten minutes again...Comes back and says, we'll cut the bs and our final price is 30473. We said no way and left. We get a call the next day saying that if we pay the 30473 they'll raise our trade-in value by $500. I accepted.
There you have it. I'm quite sure I could have received a better deal if I was a good negotiator. Which I unfortunately am not. And my wife is worse. But in the end I feel it is in the ball-park of fairness. Or at least that is what I'm telling myself. When they raised our trade-in amount it then matched Edmunds TMV for it. So that's good.
Looking forward to driving our new Blizzard Pearl, Ivory Leather Venza!!
You stated "But, $26K...hm. Nope, about $6K too much." in this post. To me, that meant that you felt that the Venza was overpriced by $6K.
But now I think I understand what you really meant -- what you really want is a true base model Venza that starts at $20-22K, rather than a well-equipped "base" that starts at $26K.
I mean, for $26K, do you buy a Venza or well-equipped Tiguan, or maybe even a Highlander Hybrid?
You're referring to a used Highlander Hybrid, right? A new Highlander Hybrid starts around $35K for the base model. Also, the well-equipped Tiguan SE for $26K is fairly comparable in terms of features of the also well-equipped Venza for $26K.
The Venza gets better mileage (20/28 for the 4-cyl AWD, 18/25 for the V6 AWD on regular fuel) versus the Tiguan SE (18/24 for the 4-cyl Automatic 4Motion on premium fuel). Features are likely a wash -- I see things missing on the Tiguan (manual, 1-zone AC; 17" wheel), but I'm sure there's stuff that the Venza is missing.
Which brings me to the final nail in the coffin for the prospect of a new Venza for me.
That's an important distinction, and I understand now where you're coming from. It's not that you feel that the Venza is not worth what it costs. Any car that costs $26K would be out of consideration based on your criteria.
I agree; we all need to purchase the vehicle that's right for our own wants and needs. Based on my initial look, I'm pleased with the Venza and think it's priced pretty competitively. It's high on my list of potential vehicles.
Thanks
There you have it. I'm quite sure I could have received a better deal if I was a good negotiator. Which I unfortunately am not. And my wife is worse. But in the end I feel it is in the ball-park of fairness. Or at least that is what I'm telling myself. When they raised our trade-in amount it then matched Edmunds TMV for it. So that's good.
Looking forward to driving our new Blizzard Pearl, Ivory Leather Venza!!
----
I think most people feel if they only would have negotiated a little longer, they could have gotten a better deal. I know I felt that way more than once. I have been buying new vehicles for almost 15 years and have learned a lot. Looking back, I always got the car (options, color) I wanted and enjoyed it for years, but don't always remember the final purchase price.
My wife and I are enjoying our Venza. Saw a Blizzard Pearl recently and love that color too.
When I complained about distributor add-ons one salesman told me that the whole country is divided into four regions with a distributor for each region. This is incorrect. There are two distributors for two Southern regions. In the North and West this nonsense does not prevail. I confirmed it by calling a Wisconsin Toyota dealer. I have the misfortune of being in a state (Texas) where the "distributor" gets first crack at adding unwanted, useless, and/or overpriced options ( they can be up to $2000 or more) before the dealer gets the vehicle and decides whether to pile on with more options before the car hits the lot.
For a great explanation of this difference in Toyota sticker prices from the prices shown on Edmunds and other internet sites see:
http://help.edmunds.com/cgi-bin/edmunds.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=493
Thank God for the internet and the information it provides!
Pricing is fair (below MSRP but several percentage points above invoice) and usually matches what's on Edmunds, but there is very little negotiating. On the plus side, I've seen only a handful of vehicles with rustproofing or other add-ons of questionable value added. It's nothing compared to what I've seen with GST or SET, where you have first aid kits and window etching and other profit-generators on almost every vehicle.
Same could be said for a house since, really, all a house needs to provide is shelter, a place to sleep, eat, etc. and shouldn't cost more than $30k - $120k depending on in what part of the country one lives. But then, not too many people live in a merely "adequate" house. :P As with cars, it's about wants and not needs. A $5,000 used Toyota car would serve 80% of the country just fine (guessing 20% would legitimately need more room for family, hauling for their job, etc).
That being said, "worth" is a completely different thing. It is based on opinion only. If all potential buyers didn't think a specific example of a car was "worth" what manufactures wanted, the car wouldn't sell and the manufactures would have to choose between selling them for less or quit making them. Note I said "all" buyers because even if 95% of buyers didn't think a vehicle worth it, but 5% did and that 5% bought up all available examples, that is all the manufacturer of any product needs. Indeed "worth" is whatever the market will bear.
I live in Central NJ and a dealer, 40-50 miles away in PA is offering $1,500 over invoice.
The dealer closer by is offering $2,000 over invoice (MSRP is $34,8XXX and invoice is $30,6XX). Basically, he's splitting the difference. I'm convinced that I shouldn't pay more than $1,000 over invoice and that I should walk away from the deal.
I'm basically looking at Comfort (LS), Convenience (CQ) and Navigation (NV) / EJ (Sound upgrade). Its been difficult getting these packages in these combinations but I have been able to locate a few dealers with them. Seems that, if you want Nav, you get stuck with Rear Seat Entertainment package.
Any and all information and advice will be greatly appreciated. I'd really like to wrap up Friday (tomorrow).
Thanks all,
HP.
I'll call them this morning.
Please do let us know how it works out.
3 dealers have been able to find that pkg combo with one or two add ons but no cars are available with only those 3 packages.
I have gotten 4-5 dealers quoting $1000+ over invoice (Ramsey, Toms River, Caldwell and a couple of others) regardless of the MSRP ... Morristown (Jose x251) and Rt. 22 (Hillside) were willing to go at invoices for the cars they do have. If my wife decides to stay with the Venza, I'll either be locking it down with Ramsey or Rt. 22 depending on which one has the best combination of color and options.
Great response/behavior from Ramsey and Morristown...Rt. 22 has done a lot of work trying to find me the right combination of packages (Jamie - Internet sales).
Now, we're waiting for Acura quotes ... big ole' circle but boy, its been fun and learning experience buying a Toyota with the veritable variety of options.
HP.
Hey all, I'm new here on the forums and I am really excited about the Venza.
I've been doing a lot of research on the invoice pricing on all of the extra equipment, as well as the car itself, so I could see in reality what kind of prices the dealers were offering and how realistic they are. I actually ended up making a whole spreadsheet about it, and it was truly interesting to see the wide variety in pricing... Here is the package I was looking for, followed by some of the prices:
2WD Black Venza with Ivory Cloth interior
SA - Security Package
CQ - Convenience Package
EJ - JBL Premium System + Bluetooth
SR - Panoramic Sunroof
CF - Floor and Cargo Mat
GN - Cargo Net
WL - Wheel Locks
That package I just detailed has an MSRP of just over $32,000, but an invoice price of about $29,000... Meaning the dealer selling it for $32,000 would make a $3,000 profit minus whatever small fees here and there. For a consumer, that means there is a lot of room for them to lower the price...
First, I got an offer claiming to be a "special Internet price", "just for me", saying basically "MSRP: $32,000, our Special Price for You: $32,000". I was honestly offended upon seeing that after learning the invoice pricing. I received a few offers from other dealers for $31,000, then $30,000, going back and forth in emails asking if they could match or beat a new offer I had received from a lower priced dealer... Eventually it hit $29,765, and $29,430, which seemed to be the bottom line at which most dealers started saying, "Well that place is obviously desperate and in a bad location", and that they could not match that price.
Finally, I narrowed it down to 2 dealerships, and was satisfied with the price at $29,430, but liked the relations with the dealer that was selling at $29,765 much better; I asked if he could lower to match the other dealer price, and he offered me this deal:
Either he could match their price, $29,430, OR he could upgrade me to a Venza with the same exact specs, but ALSO with the glass sensor and remote start package... At our originally agreed price of $29,765.
The invoice price including those 2 new things he added in? $29,692. I am getting the Venza for $73 dollars over invoice price, at $29,765 (plus tax of course). $2,000 dollars lower than my first offer, with more features than I expected, and $3,458 lower than the retail price ($33,223).
I just wanted to share that little story with you all, and encourage everyone that hasn't already to do a bit of research and calling around, because chances are there is a great deal on the exact Venza setup that you want, but don't settle with the first offer.... Bargain!!!
desire leather package seats
internet price $34,664.00...discounted to $31,450.00
plus tax....
live in southern california..Ventura..
where did you pushase your Venza and do you like it.
thanks again.
RCC. Ojai, California 93023
....
I am getting my Venza from a Northern California dealership near Vallejo, it seems dealers in that region have some of the most competitive pricing. Maybe you should email them? It may be worth the drive if they can get you a good enough deal. :confuse:
2.MSRP. 3. Manufacturer's invoice.
My question to owners of Venza, Options. Package #2
Is it worth the extra charge? I do have to have leather, but the camera, sound system and etc.?
thanks again. Customer with a mission. Totalied my honda accord last week, so also without car..cracked 2 ribs..so not in any hurry. On my knees with thanksgiving to God.
Initially thought the camera was a little bit of a gimick; but after driving a Venza & seeing what it does for rear vision & safety I won't buy a car without it.
We purchased our Venza about two months ago and are really loving it!
http://www.antiochtoyota.com/special.cfm?ID=152&P=Map|/|Directions
I just bought my Venza from them yesterday, and the whole process was just flawlessly smooth... From start to finish, they were the ones who were able to get me the lowest price (as I stated before, $73 over invoice), and the salesperson and finance person I worked with didn't pressure me at all... They were friendly and informative, and laid the options all out on the table. If I said I didn't want something, that was that.
I told them when I was coming in to buy the car, and when I got there all of the paperwork on their end was already done, all I had to do was inspect the car and sign my name on the lines. The whole process took just about 45 minutes, would have only taken 30 if I opted to not let them teach me a few cool things about the car and sync my phone via bluetooth, but that was helpful as well.
As far as discounts, I got the initial discount of $3,458 off of retail price, + an extra $100 discount for paying in all cash, + discounts on the maintenance and extended warranty since this is the first model of the Venza... basically a discount for being the first to take that leap and try something new.
If you are interested in buying a Venza (I believe they sell Toyota, Scion, Nissan and Lexus there as well), feel free to send me a message here and I will give you the name of the person to work with to ensure you get the same great experience I did.
I just purchased my Venza yesterday and didn't buy the extended warranty, but while with the F&I guy, he said because it was the last day of the month, the Toyota (not 3rd party) warranty was on sale. I don't know if it ever sells for more or less than the "sale" price, but we were talking about an extention to 7 years or 75,000 miles and the price was $985. The 7yr/100,000mi one was $1280.
I've never bought an extedned warranty for anything in my life, so I wasn't particularly interested - even though with a brand new product, some may want to consider it. It would be intersting to see what others have paid for a similar extended warranty to see if those prices are reasonable.
If Honda comes out with an Accord wagon with AWD, and prices it correctly at about $1000 or so more than an Accord, you'll see Venza prices drop or the sales will.
This vehicle is grossly overpriced compared to others in the Toyota product line as well as the competition...Of course, that is just an opinion based on my own research. I have been comparing it to the RAV4, CRV, Forrester and the upcoming 2010 equinox. What I don't understand is why toyota, nissan, and honda do not offer all wheel drive versions of their sedans or (ok, I'm dreaming now) an awd wagon version of the camry, accord or altima. I realize the Venza is basicly a wagon camry but as you state the price differential is not justified.
Also how much would be the normal maint. cost for 55k miles ($875), is that good for any dealerships, and for 5k miles oil changes or other interval?