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Comments
As a side-bar interest of mine, I work extensively with computers in digital imaging. Color matching (i.e., accuracy) is the BANE of working with computers, and, believe me, unless you have a professionally calibrated monitor working with a color matched file, you cannot trust what you see on your screen to be accurate. In fact, in many cases it won't even be close. Added to that, the colors you see on your screen are additive whereas paints are subtractive, so they will NEVER match perfectly.
Sadly, I've even found most color samples in actual brochures to be relatively inaccurate (for all the above reasons). The bottom line is if you want to see how they look, trot on down to the car lot; it's the only way to be sure. You might be unhappy if you ordered the "midnight blue" on your screen and ended up with "dark purple" on the lot!
I think that this was a good deal indeed for us. After costing the same car on edmunds', and adding the dealer-installed chrome wheels, I found that we paid $1655 less than MSRP on this vehicle. Not bad at all.
We are waiting for it to be outfitted with our choice of leather (Titanium color) on Silver Sky metallic exterior, and we expect delivery within a week from today. I cannot wait to drive this car, although my wife will end up driving it much more than I. I think it is a lovely car, despite some of the few shortcomings identified here. I look forward to enjoying this vehicle with my 2 kids for many many years to come.... I can safely say, this is my last car for a long long time...
I have to thank all of you posters for a wonderful job of educating us all and providing very useful and educative posts. And to Cliffy and Diane, for being so much nice than you would find out there. My experience with this dealership can be described as being "mixed", but overall I cannot complain that I got a really fair deal, one I can live with, on a car this hot...
Diane are chrome wheels an option? What about TRD wheels?
If you have the car for a few years, having the Limited model will help resale value, and the use of the extras won't "bite" so badly, value wise.
If the intention is to keep it 7+ years, frankly, it's best to order-build an SR5 if you are fixated on factory leather because when it's a young 2-3-4 years old, value-wise, ya still just have a fancy SR5, with a small addition for leather in the blue book, which you pay $2400 for (that PM package). The Limited model would book much more strongly, and still have additions later for extras.
After 7 years, the difference in value between the two levels out and is minimal, making the long-term owner better off with their SR5 with leather, assuming the extras in Limited are not needed or wanted. It's late. I hope I am making sense.
Incidentally, if a vehicle has side-curtain airbags, (GY) we can't add leather after-market. And, FYI: leather after market in a non side-airbag car costs $1100-1200 tops.
oac3, that (-$1655?) off MSRP is a good deal on a basic SR5. I can see they padded the cost of the leather a little, and what did they charge for the added wheels? $1500?! ....but what the heck. You got a car you liked.
-Dianne
Diane: I am glad to read of your opinions of this purchase. I felt a little cheated on the leather option value, especially since the price went up from $1300 to $1470 b/w the phone deal and the on site deal (the explanation sounded too corny to me, but I simply shrugged it off; I guess you can't win all the time). At the end overall, the deal wasn't that bad and I sure can live with an extra 100-200 bucks of "mark-up" on this option. I read somewhere here that for long-term, the 2-wheel version lasts longer, and it is comforting to know that over 7+ years, the price of both SR% and Limited evens out; especially since I do plan to own this vehicle for a long time...
And, like Diane said, in the end I feel that my wife and I got a fair deal, maybe now I can look back and see it wasn't as high as 1655 off MSRP, but it is still good anytime you don't pay MSRP on a first edition vehicle from a good car maker like Toyota...
By the way, what happened to Yossarian? Has his keyboard been jammed by the Lepage glue gun? Sorry for the Catch 22 reference to all you non-fans of the best American novel of the 20th century.
--Exterior: The side view of the truck looks great-very aggressive forward slant to the C Pillar. Much better looking from the side/rear than the Navigator (too boxy and rear turn signals look like the "Family Truckster" from the back). My only disappointment is the front of the truck is kind of plain (where Nav is nicer).
--Interior: All seats are very comfortable. The second and third row seats are marvels of flexibility, from the seatback reclines to the tumble forwards. I was quite surprised by the amount of legroom in the third row (I'm 6'2"), and a better third seat footwell than in Nav/Expy (which is non-existent). The dashboard gauges are too plain. For $45 large, and for a truck named after a tree, there should be WOOD in the car-guess they were concerned with yet another SEQ feature being better than the more expensive LC. At least my interior is gray, so the mettletone plastic at least blends in-maybe there will be a factory recall! Overall fit and finish is superb-just grab an interior door pull and feel how solid it feels. Switchgear is like every Toyota/Lexus-great. Sunroof is about 1/3 again as large as the Nav. Wish they would put the gear selector on the floor instead of on the column. Leather is stitched nicely but has a fairly rough feel.
--Engine and gas mileage: Very smooth. Much faster acceleration than I expected, not only off the line but in passing. Has a very optimistic fuel computation (15.1MPG). My experience is 13 MPG, and 10-11 with the 4x4 engaged.
--Handling: MUCH better than I thought, for such a big vehicle. The steering wheel gives great road feel, and there's minimum body roll in aggressive turning.
--4x4 operation and VSC: Had a few inches of snow in Chicago the other day-handles great. When making a tight turning circle, there's no groaning/resistance as there was in my Ford Explorer. I did like the Explorer's feature of leaving it in 4 Wheel Auto and having four wheel drive kick-in only when needed. The Variable Skid Control hasn't been invoked yet, but I've needed it twice in my GS400 in high speed emergency maneuvers, and am a BIG fan of this safety feature.
--Overall, this has to be the best large SUV on the market. Superb fit and finish, handling, power, convenience, and appearance. Lastly, just close one of the doors and hear that THUNK, and you'll know you're driving a quality vehicle.
I was very satisfied with my deal. I purchased my vehicle from Dianne and can say that she and her partner Mike are consummate professionals.
I would also recommend using the services of Driveoff.com whom set me up with the vehicle. They are very professional and their "deal kit" is first rate. I used them because I wanted to do my entire car purchase online from the financing all the way through to the purchase of the car.(which I did!)
I bought a white SR5 4X2 with oak interior. The options are (AC,AH,CC,CQ,DR,GY,,GN,CF,WL)
The price was $34,121 with tax and everything the total came to almost exactly $37,000. The car is great and my family and I are very happy. Dianne and Mike treated us very well.
The Keyless entry is part of the following option package.
Convenience Package
- Power Heated Outside Mirrors, Keyless Entry,Accessory Meter (Compass,Outside Temp
Gauge, Homelink And Trip Computer)
$ 490.00
As to why it is not standard on a thirty five thousand dollar vehicle I will let you draw your own conclusions.
Another thing: the manual is a bit unclear about how to shift from 4WD hi to 4l(unlocked). I thought I read in one place that you could do this while you are driving. WRONG! I got an awful grinding noise: thankfully I didn't force it. You have to be stopped with the auto transmission in neutral before you change to 4L. Presumably you can change from 4WD/4L unlocked to 4WD/4L locked while you are still driving at low speed on soft ground, but I did not try this. The owner's manual spends too much time giving idiotic legaleze warnings about rollovers and other safety warnings that basic vehicle operation is glossed over in some areas like this. One thing the manual does state is that the clicking noise you hear shortly after you start it up is the ABS self test process. This has been commented on in several posts and is apparently normal.
I drove 7 hours in my new Sequoia and loved every minute of it. It is very smooth and quiet, and best of all, so easy to drive for such a big vehicle. The computer says I got 17 miles per gl. for the first 500 miles.
The only complaint I have is the radio. It has the booming bass others reported. I also noticed the problem only occurs when I listen to the radio where I have to change the bass setting to -2. The unit works fine with the CD player, in fact, I have to change the bass setting to +1 for the CD for it to sound normal. I have the standard SR5 radio. Sound like this is wide spread problem on many LCs, does anyone know what the fix is? Is there a recall?
armour1: I live in the north county of San Diego, and I got my car from Toyota of Escondido. However, I would hesitate to recommend them... Rather, I'll recommend you use Diane, seeing that she is giving out great deals (see suvaddict's mail). But it appears there is a long waiting list with her, tough ! If you cannot wait for a month or so, then I'd recommend Toyota of Carlsbad; they are far more reputable than my dealer, although their prices are often at MSRP or even slightly higher.... But then, these are simply my opinions... Do what you think is best for you. And Good Luck to ya !
Diane/Cliffy: I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask you, if you have the time to answer:
1. How much would it cost to add running boards ?
(my dealer said he doesn't have a price for it)
2. How about fog lights ? I got a price of $180 each + $100 for switches?
3. Any ideas on a AM cost for a nav on my SR5 ?
Thx for helping out...
For all of the potential buyers out there especially those from Southern Cal I'd recommend a dealer in Nevada if you can't get your car through Dianne or Cliffy. This is the guy I was going to use if I couldn't get a car locally. The dealer is Toyota West and their e-commerce director is Carl Denny ; you can e-mail him at cdtoywest@aol.com. When I talked to him he told me that he had a Silver Sky and a Desert Sand arriving in a week to 10 days which was 10 days ago(on Tuesday the 12th).
I'll just reprint his e-mail to me here:
I have one coming in within the next week to ten days in Silver Sky. Option codes are: FE, DR, RL, CC, ST, PG, AC, CF
I have another one that is Desert Sand Mica, option codes are , FE, DR, GY, RL,CC, ST, PG, AC, CF.
These should fit within your parameters. The MSRP on the Silver one is 33365, we are selling them for an 838.00 discount until the end of December. That's when the price increase hits.
The Desert Sand one MSRP is 33865 and again we are selling them at $838.00 off the sticker price.
If this will work for you, please let me know. I will accept a deposit that will give you first right of refusal on which ever Sequoia you pick out. The deposit can be as small as $500.00. Most of these vehicles are sold before they even get here. These are 2 that we (The Internet Department) special ordered for our customers. Hope this works or you.
Just tell him JDSMITH99@aol.com sent you.
It appears that, for many buyers, the Sequ is the first full-sized SUV purchase they may be making.
Consequently, many may not know what they really want in their full-sized SUV.
Like, "real room" behind the third seat for real luggage, baby carriages, and other stuff (a reason why so many people will never buy another Expedition or Navigator). The Sequ has some, but not enough in my book.
Or second row captain's chairs to open up the truck like a minivan.
The competition has these features, the Sequ doesn't. And, despite being larger, the competition has the same (according to published specs) or smaller (according to real life) turning radius, making it just as easy or easier to park.
So, I suggest you drive the competition before you buy the Sequ. You may be pleasantly surprised. To boot, you get more power, less road and wind noise, and a savings of almost $10k.
As for Ltd vs. SR5 resale value, I always thought that you take it on the chin for Ltd's and loaded-up vehicles. I believe that you may be able to unload them faster, but you almost always lose a lot more money (% wise) -- you just don't it back.
We have looked at RX300 but have decided it was too small for us. Then we heard about Sequoia but once we look at its size and found out it would not fit in our garager. We also was told the Sequoia price was going to be about $40K back in August. We end up getting an MDX. If the Toyota Highlander were available with the 7 passenger seating capacity, we would have very likely purchased it.
Golfnuts: Either way, topgn is confused. There's a big $$$ difference between 5% over invoice and $1,000 under MSRP.
Personally, I think we'll be seeing 5% over invoice on Sequoias almost everywhere in the next few months. They've already come down $3,000 in my neck of the woods in the past 60 days. New car sales are dropping like a stone, and no SUV, not even the Sequoia, is immune. We'll see.
One of the main concerns I have is will it fit in our average size two-car garage. Currently we have a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Camry and space is already tight. Any comments on this? I noticed that someone in a previous message said the Sequoia wouldn't even fit in his garage.
Also, what do you all think about the 2 wheel drive versus 4 wheel drive issue? We have 4WD on our Jeep and use it maybe once or twice a year if it is icy or snowy here in Central Ohio. I think we would lean toward the 2WD.
Does anyone know of any great dealers to work with in the Central Ohio region? We're in Columbus but willing to travel outside the city for a better deal. Thanks in advance.
Your best bet is to contact their internet sales manager either by e-mail or by phone. Carl Denny at Toyota West is the one who was offering the deals and he's their internet guy.
I'm sorry you had such a bad experience but if you would have talked to Carl directly you would have been treated like a person and received the deal I mentioned.
I personally, don't like to go to dealer lots anymore. I did all of my research for my Sequoia online. But before I decided on a Sequoia I test drove several SUV's(unfortunately I had to go to a dealer for that) and researched those cars online as well. So to yossarian; yes I made a very well informed decision.
Also, I live in Houston and all the dealers within 500 miles are controlled by Gulf States Toyota. The dealer said Gulf States configures their own options, even adding leather interior locally. Does anyone know a discount dealer in Texas or Louisiana?
Lastly, is it possible to get a SR5 with cloth,JBL w/changer ,moonroof, and side airbags?
The information on this thread is excellent.
If you want to find a discount dealer in Texas or Louisiana go to the toyota.com site and use the dealer locator. Most of the larger volume dealers will have an internet sales manager. You should be able to punch up a good number of local dealers. You'll have to click each dealer individually to get their separate e-mail addresses. You should send an e-mail to each of them with the type of vehicle you're looking for along with options and see if they'll deal. You may have to go through several dealers before you find one that will go below MSRP. That's the fastest and most efficient way I know.
Yes, you can get the SR5 with cloth. That's the CC option. I believe that goes for $655.00 retail. The moonroof is the SR option which retails for $1005.00 and the dual front head and side impact air bags(GY) goes for $500.00. I don't know if you can get the JBL w/changer by itself without getting the preferred package. Your money will probably be better spent buying a changer separately at circuit city or something.
Tampaguy: It's Gettel Toyota in Bradenton, I cannot locate the salesman's name. Just ask for the Internet Manager and state you want the 5% over invoice. Also If you go to Autoway (used to be Southerland Toyota) in Pinellas Park. Tell them you hace a deal at Gettel and they should match the 5% over invoice...Just DO NOT pay M.S.R.P. it's just plain greed for the Sales people to get full sticker.
Cliffy...we talked before but you said something interesting here. Are the GulfStates dealers not packaging up the SR5 with one or all of the Perfered Package, Convenience Package and Alloy Wheel They seem to have this Extra Mile Package of some frills, mainly to drive cost I guess?
Comments...
If you guys also like to share information "outside of this thread", I would be willing to do so.
My suggestion is, forget the Tahoe and go check out a Suburban. Same height and width, and just a tad more expensive than a Tahoe (but still substantially less $ than a Sequ), but you get another two feet of length where you need it. Gives you more room for the 3d seat, and substantially more cargo room behind it.
The Suburban still turns on a dime, so it is almost as easy to park as a Tahoe.
Gain alot, lose almost nothing.
When I hear stories of people buying SR5s without running boards, I know what is going on. The same holds for the keyless entry. Every region in the country is getting those features but it seems GST and SET are planning on offering their own equipment in an effort to make more money.
This isn't the dealer's fault. They have no choice in the matter.
Aren't they just a consortium of dealers?
As for content of the Sequoia vs the Land Cruiser I had posted a question that went w/o an answer for a while but I visited a Toyota dealership today and have the info.
Land Cruiser 95% parts from Japan 5% US and other
Assembled in Japan engine and transmission Japan
Sequoia 60% parts from US and other 40% Japan assembled in US engine and transmission Japan.
Shop around! I can tell you here in NJ I have passed by several dealerships and some have had the same Sequoias on the lot for at least three to four weeks. I'm sure eventually they will be happy to sell them under MSRP and stop paying the interest on them.
Be nice be firm and let them know you will be just as happy with an Expedition (even if you won't be). Politely point out if they don't sell you their truck they won't make any money.