Dissappointment with Dealer whom I've bought 4 Toyos from...

2006 Chevy Colorado..google Chevy Colorado cylinder head failure, you'll see it.

It was confirmed initially when GM stated to me by the dealer entering my VIN that it pulls up all the bulletins pertaining to my vehicle and there's no way he didn't know about it...further when he told me he's replaced many heads under the warranty.

Like I said, it's not like 25 years ago where you had no such thing as the Internet to find this stuff, so if the average dimwit like me can find it in under 5 minutes then something isn't right if this guy really doesn't know about it having worked for GM for 20 years.

 

Here one Maui we have 1 Toyota dealership.

Stuck with their prices unless you can fork up the shipping costs from outer islands or the continental US

 

There's an edit feature ... unless of course you are just trying to increase your post count.

 

At the end of the day it's all about making money for the dealership.

I bought used vehicles from a local mom and pop lot. I bought there, my parents, my aunts, my cousins, and a few friends. He passed away two years ago, and the son took over. The many cars we purchased there meant nothing to him. I'd say all in all over 20 years we bought 10 to 15 cars there.

 

Sorry you got burned man. I have to agree with the majority, if the only time you see the guy is at the dealership, that's no friend. The guys is just glad you feel the need to go to him. Dont quote me but I think the commission is just based on the amount of cars sold, not the final price the customer ended up paying.

A customer of mine at my restaraunt comes in everyday, if not him then his wife and kids, and I always take care of him. That's been going on 8 years, in that I bought a scion xb2 and two tacomas. I can't even describe the change of demeanor they had when the gm came out acting like my good buddy telling everybody to take care of me. Prices I paid surprise people when they ask.

Business is all about what can they do for me, in your case unfortunately it's you loyally giving him money no matter the cost.

 

Years ago my commission was based upon both. I was paid a percentage of the profit earned on each sale. That percentage was based upon a sliding scale that increased with each sale I made, with a predetermined starting and ending percentage. There was also a minimum amount that I could earn on each sale if the deal was below a certain threshold in profit. Everyone started at 10% and your percentage went up one percent with each sale over 10 units per month, capped at 15%.

And having written the above, the owner was continuously changing the formula slightly every 3 months or so. He was very smart in regards to computers and computer programming and maximizing profit I assume, not so wise when it came to people.

But every dealer is probably slightly different in how they compute commission. When I purchased my 2014 Tacoma the internet sales person told me she got paid a flat rate on the number of people she had contact with that actually came into the dealership in person, regardless of profit margin.

 

Was on "Mobile" and busy. Didn't have the time to go through the edit feature.

 

on my 2014 4runner for 7/125 was $1350 and the 2014 rav4 was 7/100 at $1050 in state.

it will vary by dealer and how much profit they want to make. I could have gotten a better deal out of state, but with the new corporate rules for out of state sales on Toyota ext warranties, I got the best I could overall.

edit : forgot to Tacoma's are on T2 price range, 4runners are in T3 and the rav4 I think is in T2. the extended Toyota VSA warranties have different tiers for pricing.

edit 2 : just confirmed from an old email last feb-2013, 4runners are on T3 pricing matrix which is about $100-$200 higher than a Tacoma pricing matrix on average

 

Always work two or three dealers to get the best price. I don't think people like to get up and walk away after an hour of negotiation. The deal will always be there in the morning. The last and best experience I had was over the internet. I negotiated the price of my tacoma online while at home.

 

I took this route as well. I went to the local dealer to test drive, pick over the vehicle and learn how it came equipped, pricing, etc. Then decided what I wanted and had the local dealer give me a build sheet and a quote. Then I contacted two other dealers via internet and sent them the build sheet and quote and asked them what they could do. They both gave me a price on what they had in stock then I started playing the game. The only phone call I made was the when the final deal was made. Showed up at the dealership to check out the truck after the dealership was closed. First time I showed up when the dealership was open was when I went in to pick up the truck.

 

^ That's the way to do it man. Go test drive and figure out exactly what you want and walk away. Then contact at least 3 - 5 of the closest dealers either by phone or over the internet and tell them exactly what you want and ask for a quote. Let them work for you and scramble to come up with quotes, from the comfort of your living room. Instead of walking into the dealership shark tank and letting the sales people try to read and manipulate you.

I did the same thing but over the phone. It only took me a few hours of time, from the comfort of my home, to get quotes back from four or five dealerships. I also found you tend to get lower no hassle quotes over the phone, because they already know you contacted several other dealers and what you're doing, so they play less games.

 

Worked for me. It was kind of fun actually having three dealers saying wait....come baaaaack without the face to face firm handshake, and a shiv in the back.

 

I tell the dealer up front that I will not pay for the Gulf States add ons especially the vehicle shield. I had a sales guy had one dealer that actually tried to sell me on the merits of vehicle shield. He was filling in for the lady I had been dealing with who understood my position on it. The other dealer add on I refuse to pay for is nitrogen. When I bought my 2009 Prerunner most of the Tacomas had close to $1000 in Gulf States add ons. I told dealer to find one with $350 or less and we could talk.

 

Also like others have said. No car salesman is your friend. When it comes to putting food on the table and paying their bills those POS will say and do anything.
Research your best price and be ready to walk out and leave.
I just bought a 2015 Tacoma the other day and we came to a fair trade after some wrangling and me walking out once and they called and wanted me to come back. I did go back after a few days and I also went to a couple of other dealers in the area and did my research. I'm happy with the price I paid and happy with the whole experiance. They also knew that over 30 years I had only bought 2 Toyota's out of 6 there and I wasnt afraid to buy my Toyota elsewhere.