Is Toyo Advantage worth it?

But it's not. Southeast Toyota is a distributor. You can't show up at SET headquarters and buy a truck. They're basically a middleman between the dealership and Toyota. They install all sorts of things at port and even the basic Toyota accessories, like all-weather mats, bed lights, etc., have a mark up over what they cost everywhere else.

OP, normally I would say push for more discount on the truck if you didn't want that, but right now dealers aren't budging off whatever is on the window sticker. Never hurts to try though. Also, the last time couple of times my wife and I looked at vehicles in the SET region, they wouldn't discount the vehicle as much unless we financed through Southeast Toyota Finance at almost 5%. So they may try to push that on you one way or another. If you have to go that route, you can always turnaround and refinance it at a better rate with your bank or credit union. We drove 5 hours to TN to get our last two vehicles because we got tired of all the crap we had to deal with buying in this region. Hopefully, your experience will be better.

 

I haven’t signed anything. I’ve only put down a deposit and they reserved the truck for me. With that, I’m wondering if I should just wait till the day it arrives and drop the bomb on them that I don’t want the ToyoGuard stuff?

 

My understanding of it is that the Toyoguard Platinum is $699 and is put on the sticker price and is not negotiable. Maybe at another time than right now, you could talk the "out the door" price down to overcome it.
At closing, the closing guy offered an optional extended warranty called Toyoguard Advantage (or some name like that). It was about $2200 extra and supposed to cover everything including batteries and tires for some length of time. When he started his hard sell tactics, I put my fingers in my ears and shook my head no. He got the idea that I didn't want to hear about it.

 

I HATE buying a Toyota down here and having to deal with SETD. It's just an unnecessary added layer that only exists to take money out of your pocket. You also can't use Toyota Financial Services or get a Toyota factory extended warranty if you wanted one. You have to deal with SE Toyota Finance and J&M Warranty. If I wasn't in south Florida where it's a 9 hour drive to get out of their region I would do the same thing you did. Maybe back in 1968 when the company was created a distributorship arrangement was needed, but not any more. At least for accessories after the sale I can order online from places like BAM Wholesale and get a much better price.

 

It also seems that they all include that $70 phone charging cable package option now. Nothing like being forced to buy $10 worth of cables for $70 each time you trade vehicles.

 

LOL don't remind me. It's actually $73. At least they are a cool red color

 

You could definitely try it. Worse they can say is no, so there's no harm in trying to get them to take it off. Just be prepared for them to hold their ground. Dealers have an advantage with demand being so high and inventory so low and they seem almost giddy to point it out. If they won't budge with that, you could see if they would throw in some accessories or something.

 

Yeah, they basically force you into their warranties, their financing, and stick you with a ton of accessories that you don't want. I have no interest in a $349 keypad on my windshield when I always have my keys on me. SET makes a killing on all of the port installed stuff. The other thing that really annoys me is that they want outright list rebates and such. They call it dealer cash and they won't tell you the amount. Outside of SET, you clearly know what the rebates are.

 

Man, I'd go somewhere else in the country just on principle. I feel sorry for you guys, and especially anyone who actually needs to buy a new car right now. I guess most of mine have come through Gulf States, only bought one in Missouri and not sure who distributes there. Gulf States does have the cheesy stuff they add on, but it is low cost stuff that is easily negotiated around (in a time when you have leverage).

I use KBB and other sources to figure out what dealer invoice should be on a vehicle based on the factory options included (which isn't what they truly end up paying, it's just a better starting point than MSRP). I have a standing offer I throw out and stick to, $500 over what I calculate that invoice to be (which excludes all that other port and dealer added junk). I walk otherwise. It's a fair deal for them and is significantly less than MSRP. I actually got my '04 Taco for significantly UNDER invoice because I walked out on that dealer multiple times and they wanted to earn my business. But right now, it probably wouldn't work.

 

Theres a reason they are called the SET mafia...

This is exactly why I'm shopping out of the SET region for my next truck.

 

If the dealer told me how I was gonna buy my truck and with what options, they’d get a simple fuck off. If you fall for it they might as well order you a Pro and tell you what pay for it, give you the terms and % rate and say to bad. It’s 100% an option per their documents tell them to remove it period.

 

In the current market, they would 100% show you the door lol.

Dealers are selling these trucks at MSRP or higher (including port and dealer add ons) before they’re even on the lot. If one person doesn’t buy it for their asking price, the next one will. Unfortunately, they have all the leverage right now. Either supply has to catch up or demand has to go down before they’ll really start negotiating again. I imagine some dealers may do a little here or there for customer service, which is why I told OP to at least give it a try. But, walking away doesn’t carry the same weight that it used to.