Tundra Owner thinking of buying an Av - local experience

[Dan in DE]

First - thanks for all the insights from this board, I have been perusing over the last couple of days - soaking up as much as I can.

And I do like the AV - just wish I could find the car optioned the way I really want it ( WBH, leather, ss steps, flairs ). I like the cleanness/openness of the interior w/o leather ( much smaller console ) - but would like the heated, power seats etc ... ).

Anyway - below is a post I sent to the Tundra Board, about my current experience with the local Toyota and Chevy dealers. Thought you might find it of interest.

Thanks - Dan

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I have a 2000 Limited and pretty much love it - bought from Steve in Springfield 3 years and 42,000 miles ago ( for under invoice - as they were dealing at the time ), but he has since moved out of sales when I talked with him last.

Anyway, some family issues ( basically taxi service for my parents - which is becoming more frequent ) is forcing an 'upgrade' to a full rear seat.

I know the Quad Cab Tundra is do out in Nov, but not to sure if I can wait that long ... however, I went to the two local Toyota dealerships - to see if they can give me some info/insights on the Quad Cab as well as a reason to wait. Well both dealerships couldn't care less .... Sales guys just said I don't know and didn't encourage me in any way. I even asked if I could a check on the value of my Tundra for a future trade ( ie like Carson does on this website ) and they said it was to early - that if I am serious, I can come back when they are in .... Sheeeshh. Now I know why I went to Virginia to buy my Tundra ( I live in Delaware )

On the other hand - I know that Chevy is giving decent rebates on their Avalanche ( $4K ) and it ( as well as the Silverado ) have decent Consumer Report ratings. I also can get a GM supplier discount thru work ... all in all about $9K off of MSRP. I went to the local Chevy place ( granted these guys are hungry ), but they were friendly, knowledgeable, courteous and not pushy - wanted to talk and were pleasant. Everything the Toyota sales guys were not LOL

So I test drove the AV and liked it ... I wish the interior was as clean as my Tundra, but it wasn't. However the drive was nice, as was the seating. Rear view not as good - but that is a known issue to just deal with it.

They offered my $18K for my Tundra ( which they admitted was just wholesale - but that was the best they could do, given the GM supplier discount I am getting ).

So all in all, I can get into an AV for $28K-$34K ( the later comes with all the toys - even DVD in the back ), depending on how loaded. This could be between a difference of $10K- $16K off of trade in. Consider I sell it outright for a few K more and toss the that into an extended warranty and call it even.

All in all, the AV ( or Silverado 1500 HD in leather ) are hard options to pass up !

So the Toyota Tundra has had decent ( ie low ) depreciation over time and I wouldn't mind buying another again - just wish I could get a little more info on the Quad Cab ( idea on price and timing ... as nov release might mean more Dec/Jan before one would be available to me ), as well as a local dealer that would give me a reason to buy from them !

FWIW - but thought the board might be interested in hearing this experience.

Dan

 

[Intimidatoruag]

Welcome to club! ... hope we can help! ....

if it was me I would jump at the deal .... $18,000 for your truck? how much was it new? ... you could always put a 4-sale sign in it and see if you get any bites .... then at the same time have the dealer do a locator for the exact options that you want ....

I think GM latest deal goes until early Sept? ... Board members correct me if I'm wrong here ....

but remember that the 18,000 is good for July ... probably in August as the 2004 start to roll out watch you go down to about 16,500 because it is now another year older .... something to keep in mind ....

It is a big step to take but I think you will enjoy your Av. very much .... plus you'll get a lot of new friends here .....

 

[TXAVy]

Don't wait too long on getting a better offer for your Tundra either. With all of the companies offering big rebates and low interest rates there have been enough cars/trucks sold and traded in lately that the used car market is getting pretty depressed. Lots of people with really good vehicles are having a hard time getting close to what KBB or Edmunds says their vehicle should be worth. Sad state of affairs, but that's the way supply/demand works.

 

[danlwil]

I agree w/ Intimidatoruag and TXAVy that you should get a little better trade in for the Tundra. I'd continue to work with the dealership and get them to go to $20k or throw in the ext waranty.
They'll work with you.... or shop around a little.

just wish I could find the car optioned the way I really want it ( WBH, leather, ss steps, flairs ). I like the cleanness/openness of the interior w/o leather ( much smaller console ) - but would like the heated, power seats etc ... ).

If you watch the ads and take what's in stock... you'll get a better deal.... Doing the mods yourself, personizing your truck is most of the fun.

Whatever you do, Enjoy your future New AV.

 

[Dan in DE]

Thanks for info and invites guys - the posts and responses on the Tundra board have not been to complementary to the AV ..... to bad, as it is mostly judgemental as opposed to fact based.

I am currently at about 9-9.5K off from the local dealer I like - I'd love to get that to the 11K mark I have seen mentioned in another thread - but not to sure if that is possible locally in Delaware or the area.

My sales guy showed me his GM promotion ( mailed to him - under his name ) for an additional 1K off. But it can only be transferred to people sharing the same residence. I called the promo line - to see if they would issue me one - but no go. They took a very hard line on this. She did say she would put me on future ones - but they tend to come when you don't want/need to buy !!!! You can see the ad at www.gmtruckoffer.com

As for getting a better offer - I will let Carmax look at it ... they tend to give top trade in dollar.

Thanks ! Dan

 

[midlifecrisis]

Why is it that dealers only offer wholesale trades when you use the GMS discount? Then what's the point of using GMS? This happened to me recently when I went to buy a Grand Prix with GMS. They only offered me $5000 trade, when a Dodge dealer offered me $6700 on an Intrepid without the GMS. I finally settled for $6000 trade, but the dealer made me feel like I robbed him (like I feel their pain).

Isn't the GMS supported by GM? Why does it affect the trade in value, or are the dealers just trying to scam people?

 

[TXAVy]

Why is it that dealers only offer wholesale trades when you use the GMS discount?

It's because almost all dealers get a much thinner margin on GMS vehicles than they do on normal sales. Between the new vehicle and how much they can turn your trade-in around for they try to get the same amount or more on every sale that they make. So they either give you a good price on your trade-in, or a great discount on the new vehicle, but almost never both.

That's why I went dealer shopping by ONLY telling them that I was considering buying an Avalanche but that I needed to get $XXXX out of my trade-in otherwise I couldn't afford it. Once I found a dealer that was willing to give me a reasonable amount for my trade I let them know we'd be ordering a vehicle through GMS. In my case the dealer was actually happy as they have very thin margins in the first place and actually end up making more after GM kickback, but it still made my price lower too.

 

[midlifecrisis]

It's because almost all dealers get a much thinner margin on GMS vehicles than they do on normal sales.

In my case the dealer was actually happy as they have very thin margins in the first place and actually end up making more after GM kickback, but it still made my price lower too.

Something seems contradictory here, or I'm just plain confused (which is likely). Why would they make thinner margins on GMS vehicles if they are getting a GM kickback? Why would GM expect the dealers to take a hit in order to sponsor a GM corporate program?

 

[TXAVy]

It's because almost all dealers get a much thinner margin on GMS vehicles than they do on normal sales.

In my case the dealer was actually happy as they have very thin margins in the first place and actually end up making more after GM kickback, but it still made my price lower too.

Something seems contradictory here, or I'm just plain confused (which is likely). Why would they make thinner margins on GMS vehicles if they are getting a GM kickback? Why would GM expect the dealers to take a hit in order to sponsor a GM corporate program?

My understanding (and I'm no GM insider so perhaps one can chime in here), is that the dealers get $0 "margin" on a GMS vehicle. Employees/Family are able to purchase it at the same price that a dealer does. Some people have said that they've encountered dealers who didn't even want to process a GMS order for them for just this reason. I think this is why the factory pays the dealership to make the deal work out. It's something like this.


GMS:
Factory pays dealer $500
Dealer passes vehicle on to customer for the same price they paid for it.
Dealer walks away with $500 in profit.

Normal Sale:
Dealer buys vehicle from factory for GMS price.
Dealer sells vehicle to customer at GMS + $2500.
Dealer walks away with $2500 in profit.

But either the dealer that I was talking to, or the huge rebates/price-wars that were going on at the time, or some freaky combination of both of them made the dealer markup less than whatever it is the factory pays them to make a GMS deal. The salesman lead me to believe that at the time I purchased the vehicle, they made more money on a GMS purchase than they did on a regular sale. And MY price was lower to order GMS versus buy it off the lot. So you tell me where the extra money came from? *shrug*

All those numbers above are just picked out of thin air btw. But the fact that the dealer preferred to charge me less and work up a GMS deal than to sell me an AV for a higher price off the lot has got to tell you something.