Local Dealer Closed Online Ordering - Anyone Else?

Local dealer says no more online ordering or pricing - full list pricing at the counter or over the phone only. Anyone else run in to this?

They are ho-hum as a dealership, but the guys at the counter were solid and historically had pretty good pricing at this location, enough that I only mail ordered stuff once. Hoping this isn't a sign that Toyota is going to start with some MAP type stuff for parts/accessories? Is the sky falling?

 

More and more online dealer parts stores are being shut down.

I think this is coming from Toyota brass so they cam gouge us on parts and not let us find cheaper prices from other dealer websites.

Gouging and extortion is the new normal. Toyota sucks as a company now

 

That's unfortunate, and also unsurprising. So buy it now or forever hold your pieces, eh?

 

Forget the local dealer and just use Toyota's website.

https://www.toyota.com/smartpath/how-it-works/

 

Are we taking car sales or parts counter?

Either way, they aren't exactly the only game in town.


Edit:




Who is talking about that one?

 

I was thinking vehicles with the other link, you can buy parts online as well.

 

Wouldn't it be fantastic if you could just order and configure a new vehicle online? The technology is probably still 10-20 years out, but for now, just talking parts.

I liked ordering from the local dealer because I knew I wouldn't get knockoffs, wouldn't worry about lost/damaged shipments, and, well, for better or worse it's nice to support a local business. My concern beyond that was more along the lines of "official" sources of parts all being strong armed by Toyota to adherence to list pricing and/or having to deal with a person when ordering parts (think, "this part does not match your VIN, no can do, the confuser won't let me").

 

I’ve never had luck in the Seattle area to get online parts prices at the parts counter, so I dont even consider asking. I buy online and stock up when there is a sale.

But in cases like today where I wanted OEM and can’t wait for a delivery (sometimes up to 3 weeks), it sucks paying the premium. $4 for a oil drain plug crush washer

 

In my area none are giving up hard to get long beds for other dealers. One who said $500 to hold and no obligations now says that could only transfer to another vehicle and admits no allocations for up to 4 months.

This is for specifically wanting TRD OR long bed.

 

At least you DIY. I'm pouring over my 'new' truck's 200K worth of records; they charged the guy almost $75 for every cabin filter replacement, about half and half parts and labor...

 

I used to not mind dealer oil changes when they were around $80-$100, but prices have crept up so now, with 4 Toyotas vehicles (well, 3 are Lexus badged) I can do oil changes for all 4 and spend just as much as I would for 1 Lexus by getting oil from Costco and OEM filters online, not to mention time saving. I can get all 4 cars done in 1 day at home versus multiple
trips to the dealership and wait, usually takes a few hours per vehicle.

Air and cabin filters are no brainers for DIY, same with brakes/rotors these days.

 

Yeah, this guy was an attorney (and I think firm owner), so I don't think he flinched much at that...but, still crazy none the less!

Crazier still is the local Subaru dealer gives free oil changes if you buy the car there; we did not buy our Outback there, but for whatever reason, they keep giving us free oil changes. After the 2nd or 3rd time of telling them we didn't even buy it in this state, let alone their dealership, and basically insisting they take my money...I just gave up and let them do things their way.

 

It's a cost to operate issue, the little purchases, cancelations and returns (because of errors) make for poor profits.

If I ran a parts department I would never consider taking part with online purchases.

 

i did. a dig at something clinch mountain preacher said. i encouraged him to deny the state all that excess tax money

 

This is not a Toyota specific problem. Every company for the past 4 years has been gradually pinching the flow.

If your local dealership is going to charge full MSRP on parts then order somewhere else. Simple as that. Toyotapartsdeal.com still is competitive and I don't see them ever going away. Ebay is also a good choice if you buy from the dealerships who have stores there (such as belllexusnorthscottsdale).

Plus dealerships in populated areas can continue to compete with online since they make up for the reduced margin through volume.

 

Oh yeah, MSRP means they're now my "emergency" source. Never thought I would do this but I just ordered from Amazon..appears there are some dealers there; or at least people willing to impersonate them. Still probably 20%+ more than what my cart was totaling locally though, don't know why the storefront is even still up and operating..too lazy to shut down I guess.

 

I order from a local dealer using the Toyota Parts website that offers a free pickup at the counter option. They are about a mile from my house and if I order normal parts like oil and air filters early in the morning, it's usually ready for pick-up same or next day. I checked and four in the area still offer this option. Their prices are all different, sometimes by $3-5, so no red-flags there. I talked to the parts guy at the counter once and he said counter pick-up/online sales are a significant chunk of his business. If they start fooling with it, they'll just lose it to someone else.

https://autoparts.toyota.com/

 

Maybe the CAD system is still down?

 

The system..is down..the system..is down..

 

My local stealership is way over priced and won't budge at all towards online prices. They'd rather gouge you than save you a few bucks. Their service dept isn't much better... got charged for 11 qts of gear oil when the front/rear diffs and transfer case take a total of around 6. Only thing the service manager could come up with was "well, sometimes they take more." Had them do the ecgs bushing... 1st service advisor quoted me $700... talked to another one... he said $350. WTF! Got some smoked headlights... local dealership parts dept wanted $150 more per headlight compared to a online dealerships. For the routine maintenence that i can't do i take the truck to a reputable shop now... lesson learned.