Northern Virginia Roll Call

+3

 

Anyone interested?

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/38-vivid-lumen-lightbar.710120/

 

I really like that front bumper, can't wait to see it on your rig.

 

All done....have to download the tuner and flash. Couldnt say there is a difference until then. Nephew really is an expert at this install and he was extremely pleased with the quality and instructions. 6 hr install. Did it in his garage bay so every tool was available easily. Literally no difficulties.

 

Daaaammmmnnnnn that's pretty!!!

 

Better angle

Will have to meet up with Boogie to show him first hand for his channel.

 

Neither can I!! It's going to be a loooooooooooooooooong wait.

 

oh damn, I hadnt heard of that until now. Im going to do some digging

 

Flash forward!!!
While waiting on some possible TSB flashing at the dealership, I checked the parts department on spark plugs...just under $24 each! The service guys eyes opened.wide and he audibly gasped!

Rockauto iridium highest price were these denso plugs ...man the dealership appears to be hurting...majority of lot is used non toyota vehicles (Only see 2 4Rs and 1 Taco).

 

What’s the part number for your plugs?

 

Oh wait I found it from that screenshot. Still $12 per! That’s nuts.

https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/oem-parts/toyota-spark-plug-9091901263

 

90919-01263

Hell mcgeorge up in RVa lists them at 12.06 vs. 23.26 at my dealer...ugh price hiking!

 

Yeah rockauto is 11.49...at least there's only 6, my 4 banger, 65hp civic hybrid takes 8 spark plugs

 

Unfortunately McGeorge doesn't honor their online prices at the parts desk, for whatever reason. My family lives in the area, and I tried to get a CV from them at the desk over the summer. $500 at the desk, or $315 shipped online. Same thing with the seals, like $30 at the desk or $13 online. Kinda silly to ship something 30 minutes driving distance, but it was less money lol.

 

Good to know...and backassward!

 

Yeah makes no sense to me either haha. They're definitely shipping from somewhere close too, stuff arrived at my house 2 days after ordering lol.

 

It has something to do with with manufacturer set pricing. If you've had to send an email or add an item to your shopping cart for a discount it's the same thing. By offering the cheaper prices online they're skirting the policy and they can't honor it in person. If you look at these sites a lot of them require an effort to find out which dealer they're associated with and they're also separate web sites from their normal business sites.

The prices that you're seeing online are the jobber prices. It's a standard 20% off. If it's a lower price (~23% off) that's the employee discount.

I don't know all the particulars or I'd describe it better. I just know that they're doing this to skirt policy dictated by the mother ship. They say, "You cannot sell this part for less than X-amount of money." It's so that these dealers aren't hauling off and having price wars on parts, thereby creating an unfair market.

Edit: It'll be very rare to find a dealer that will honor their online price in person. And if they do, they could lose their franchise.

 

Gotcha, makes sense that it kinda balances competition. They also do this thing when buying at the counter they say like "price is $30 but I can do $23 today" or something along those lines. Thats the same thing I guess, just on a smaller scale? If no one knows the actual price, can't have a price war

 

Probably. Maybe. It's hard to say what they're actually doing. What little I know is from being a mechanic a long time ago, having friends that have worked at parts counters, etc. Oddly, I do have people I can ask. And could probably get a good answer. Just never have for some reason.

The reason some dealerships don't have online parts presences like that is because it has to be treated like a separate business and I guess the outlay is too much for them. Especially, if you have no one to do the upkeep and maintenance. I have a friend that used to be the parts manager at a VW dealership. He set up the dealership's entire online parts sales. And they did a lot of business in the VW scene. Something happened and he left and started his own business doing the same thing. The dealership's online sales collapsed without him and they eventually shut the whole thing down and began sending the business to him.

Anyway. See if you can train your local parts counter dude. I have mine pretty well trained if I can't find something. I just go in and he writes the part numbers down for me without asking and I order the stuff online when I get home. On that same note, they typically have better diagrams then what's available online as well.

 

Thanks for the explanation, I appreciate that. Always interesting to see the things that us normies might not understand

I like the training haha. I came in for enough diff seals that he must have felt bad and decreased the price down each time, so I guess thats a start. It took my 4 seals and 3 trips lololol.