I'd call and get one of the sales managers to give me in writing they won't be installing a bunch of addon's and bloat the price by another $5k once it arrives.
2024 Land Cruiser Delivery (3 Viewers)
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A lot of that crap is added at the port. They really don't have much say there. You just need to buy from another port.
The fact it says Suggested Retail Price does not mean the dealer will sell it for that or is not selling only with add ons and rediculous mark ups for the same. Interesting Manufacturer part of MSRP has been left off. Dealers and lawyers must have figured out they can do as they wish. They must have also been talking to each other giving the finger to the manufacturers. I wish Anti Trust kicks in right there. I do not even know why we need dealers in the first place. I am looking forward to manufacturers selling them direct to clients. Maintenance can be done at a variety of non dealer places and warranty could be at specialist shops.
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I still enjoy test driving before I buy so I hope dealerships survive.
$77k + for the first editions at a few of my local Toyotas in NorCal--
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It hasn’t gotten to port yet ; )
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The 3 trucks offered to me were a long way from the port. They all had extra stuff added or getting added like carpet floor mats, cargo floor mats, ball mount etc…. Everything was already on the allocation sheet.
Only extra I really want is the dash cam. If my truck ends up having the illuminated door sills I wouldn’t be upset but given the choice probably wouldn’t add them to a build. Thing already comes with rubber floor mats I don’t need a set of carpet ones. None even better as my usual pattern is to order WeatherTech’s. And I certainly don’t need an $80 “ball mount” that doesn’t even come with a ball on it. I’ve got a garage full of them and $50 buys a new one with the ball. Door edge guards and other misc. rap only there to increase profits. $560 rack cross bars are the worst. Those go straight in the trash.
This is the only area that I hate Toyota. They shouldn’t even have the build option online. False advertising if you ask me. Last 3 cars we bought from Subaru I built and got only the accessories I wanted. Waited a few weeks and picked it up at invoice.
Interesting, I’d go non-Toyota on this one. Others do better but too bad this isn’t integrated into Toyota’s Birds Eye View.
Odd thing about this is it’s an option on the builder for the First Edition. The FE comes with a “cargo basket” already. So I’m confused.
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I realize there are better options from the aftermarket. But I’ll take the Toyota unit that integrates easy and fall under the warranty. Basically easy button.
The reason we "need" the dealerships is because the dealerships have legislated their requirement to exist into every (I think) states law. Tesla has been fighting this since their inception with different levels of success. When the dealership model is finally wiped out you will be able to test drive the car you want just like you can test drive a Tesla and they do not have any dealerships.
Port installed options should never be allowed. I remember when I purchased my 100 mine had four port installed options. Mats: OK, Roof rack: OK, different badging color (luckily it was not the gold), and spoiler: no good.
The spoiler or air deflector or whatever it was cost me a new upper rear door. When I had the car painted all white (removing the silver bumpers and door trim) I had to replace the upper door due to it leaking from the top. It also looked incredibly tacky and served no purpose.
The installation method was barbaric. Drilled through the top and put two metal anchors (think drywall anchor) and screwed it down. Of course the drill was freehanded so it grabbed and twisted/bent the are around the hole. It was all under the mounting hardware, but still. The install could not have taken more than 5 minutes start to finish.
The list of dealer (or port) installed options will probably keep me away from this as they can make a killing off of them and will. The ones that concern me the most or anything that requires disassembly of the car to put them in. Everyone knows bolts/screws end up missing, metal is scratched if prying is necessary and plastic anchors get broken. I want my cars to roll out of the assembly line and into my hands without anyone adding anything to them. Maybe we will get lucky and the port will just pass them through without violating them.
only true car guys are tracking which cargo ships are arriving at what port etc. hilarious!
IMO this is one huge advantage that companies like Tesla and Rivian have over the rest of the industry. Being able to buy directly from them without any haggling with a sleezy sales rep and/or their managers. No BS addendums and hidden fees. Even test driving was convenient and painless when I took a R1S for a spin last year. Simply book a time online, show up to the service center, get a thorough look around the vehicle and about 20 minutes behind the wheel. No holding your keys or hard sales pitches after the test drive. They just said if I wanted to buy one to simply go onto the website and place an order.
The manufacturers would like to cut out the middleman as well so they can get the profit differential.
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Personally I would not want to deal with Tesla Polestar or Rivian living where I do. Big metro sure. You have local service centers. My buddies Rivian was out for 5 months to get body work done 6 hours away after a minor fender bender. This will change in time but for now hard pass.
I’ve never had the bad dealer experience since I was a young adult. And even then I found it almost comical. I know there still are some games played in the industry. Probably more common in the big metro areas.
I’ve never had the bad dealer experience since I was a young adult. And even then I found it almost comical. I know there still are some games played in the industry. Probably more common in the big metro areas.
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Flag too. Or, driving south toward Big Hell is fine. North, not so much. The smaller places in the big west are for a variety of reasons still a hard sell. I passed two out of charge Rivians last week between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. Probably just poor planning, or bad range estimates in the cold snowy weather, but still inconvenient at least. And then there’s the lack of local servicing and long tows.
