Best Northwest Dealers

Thanks for all the help guys

 

I got mine from Rodland Toyota in Everett at a competitive/good price. Zach Garneau was my internet salesman, he was good/no bologna.

 

I've been to Rodland a few times but I've only dealt with their Maintenance department. All my dealings went we'll so i'd like to give them my business.

 

I'll add for Rodland. Doug was great, though I paid close to MSRP back in October. Didn't help that the truck I wanted happened to be en route that week to them and unsold. I'm sure prices have opened up a good bit since then.

I'll also add that I just happened to land at Rodland, but shopped around at the dozen or so other dealerships around Seattle beforehand. That's a good strategy for buying.

 

Very satisfied with the whole purchasing experience at Titus-Will in Tacoma WA, working with Dan Kerns (Internet Sales Mgr). He got me the truck I wanted, the price I wanted, and had me in and out of the dealership within an hour. No pressure, well-informed on the Taco's features. Good communicator throughout the purchase process. I started my search by contacting 30 Toyota dealers, and Dan was the most responsive and professional.

 

I needed new tires and timing belt cover gasket replacement and I still got over Bluebook on mine

 

Ok sweet. I think I need the timing chain gasket too because there's a small oil leak there but I never have to add oil even after 10,000 mile oil changes

 

I purchased my 2011 in Seattle. I wouldn't piss on Titus-Will if they were on fire. Being next to a military base they're geared to rip people off

 

That is the same salesman I got, he hooked me up with a good deal.

 

Congratulations on your anal-rape. I hope they gave you a complimentary coffee and a reach around.

All of the dealers on S. Tacoma Way are priced higher because of the military bases around there. They have a captured demographic of customers. Better deals are made outside the military area.

If you feel you got a good deal then congratulations! By your photo you must be a Titus-Will fanboy.

 

There are 30+ Toyota dealers within a 2hr drive of Joint Base Lewis-McChord -- not sure how that qualifies as a "captured demographic." But if you subscribe to the philosophy that military personnel are too lazy or dumb to make a good deal on a vehicle, you're entitled to your opinion.

Since I actually did contact 30 dealers with the exact specifications of the Tacoma that I wanted, and offered to pay no more than $550 over invoice, with no dealer add-ons, and no more than $50 in doc fees, I have some real data rather than just an opinion. Five dealers were willing to accept my basic offer: Lake City Toyota, I-5 Toyota (Chehalis WA), Burien Toyota, Michaels Toyota (Bellevue WA), and Titus-Will. Of the five, Titus-Will had the best price and, by quite a margin, the most professional interactions (i.e., polite, rapid response, informative, zero run-around). Of course I can't speak for any of their sales staff other than Dan Kerns, which is why I mention him by name.

FWIW, my second choice would have been Burien Toyota/Tim Holmquist.

 

See my earlier comment. It's better to get out of the immediate vicinity of a military installation, i.e. Seattle or anywhere besides Tacoma or Olympia. It's far enough away not to have a lot of military traffic. Thank you for putting words in my mouth and inferring "captured demographic" means "too lazy or dumb".

The fact is dealerships close to military installations prey on young service members who have a steady paycheck probably for the first time in their life. In almost 20 years of military life, at various installations, it is the same everywhere. Young service members make impulse decisions or purchases from dealerships with astronomical percentage rates and dealer markups. Letting emotion drive instead of common sense. This is not dumb on their part, it's called being young and making poor decisions.

I'm glad you got a good deal and feel compelled to defend them. However, coming from the military community and seeing service members get screwed over, Titus-Will Toyota being one of them, dealerships on S. Tacoma Way are notorious for ripping service members off. That includes Titus-Will Chevrolet in Olympia and the multitude of other dealers in Olympia.

 

I am also stationed at JBLM, and I do agree that the Tacoma way dealerships are a little shady. Not to mention the amount of sales tax you pay in the Seattle/Tacoma area. It's pretty common all over the world for dealerships to be setup right outside military installations to reel in the young kids living in the barracks/dorms that have nothing better to spend their money on except that big bad 4X4 or hopped up sports car. They prey on young in-experienced troops. It's a sad truth.

 

Didn't you buy your Tacoma in Bremerton? You know, right next to the Naval Shipyards and Bangor Sub Base?

EVERYONE preys on the inexperienced, impulsive, clueless, and impatient, but the last time I checked (yesterday), a vehicle purchase was a contract between people reaching a mutually satisfactory agreement.

As the son of a Marine I have spent a good deal of time on/around military bases. If anything, the 20-somethings in the military are MORE mature than their civilian counterparts.

At any rate, Titus-Will didn't prey on me, and I had a good buying experience. In contrast to data, argument-by-anecdote isn't very persuasive.

 

So because "EVERYONE preys on the inexperienced..." it makes it ok because it's contract that both people have to agree to? Again, captured demographic where there is a higher concentration of inexperienced people looking to purchase a vehicle. These dealerships know that and take advantage of it. That is why it is better to go outside a military area to buy a vehicle. You just acknowledged my point.

Being the son of a marine qualifies you to know firsthand how junior service members get raked over the coals and make poor decisions when buying a car? Talk about argument-by-anecdote. Have you been a first line supervisor of these young soldiers to see it?

A 19-20 year old kid that has money or a steady paycheck for the first time is not necessarily "MORE" mature than a civilian counterpart when it comes to finances. Dealerships are more inclined to lend money to high risk individuals with no credit at higher percentage rates because they know they have recourse through military finance. A college student or young person in industry just starting off does not have the financial backing of a steady military check. Resulting in them probably not even getting financed. Now when it comes to other life skills, such as punctuality, integrity, and work ethic a service member might have a little more because they've had it thrust upon them and are held to a higher standard.

And just how much data have you analyzed to identify the contrast?

 

Walser Toyota...but I'm biased because I work there ;-)

 

I bought a 2015 Tacoma (basic work truck with no frills) back in June of 2015 at Toyota of Kirkland (That's the location that is most convenient for me) I had a 3 out of 5 experience there. I didn't particularly like my experience with the first salesman, but, we got the deal done. When I went in to put an order on my 16, I wanted to try a new salesman. He was ok, but he over promised and under delivered. They said they had my truck, then they didn't. Said it was on it's way, then it wasn't. It was annoying so I took my business somewhere else. ** I was in the Kirkland dealership yesterday for my 5,000 mile service and one of the salesmen said they get 2 TRD Pro's per year... and that one was already spoken for. I'm sure there are good salesmen to work with at the Kirkland dealership, I just didn't happen to get matched up with one.

I contacted Toyota of Puyallup at the recommendation of my neighbor. They worked hard to find the exact 16 Tacoma I was looking for. I worked directly with Matt Penrose who is the sales manager. 5 out of 5 experience. In and out of the dealership in about an hour. Will not be buying Toyota's anywhere else.

 

If I do a regression analysis with my 30 data points on Taco price vs. distance to JBLM, and it comes out insignificant (or significant but positive), what do I get for my trouble?

Clearly you don't like Titus-Will, though you haven't provided a single concrete example of predatory pricing (if there is such a thing in a deal made between two consenting adults). Clearly my 30-dealer search turned up Titus-Will as giving me the best deal during the week that I was looking.

Since I assume that both of us have better things to do, I'll let you have the last word.