Magic Incantation to Lower Dealer Prices (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Oct 20, 2021
Threads
3
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6
Location
Bellingham
This advice may be obvious, especially because the fact that you're reading this means you are likely familiar with how to use the world wide web, but I just had a rather strange experience at my local Toyota dealer that compelled me to share.

I was about to finish a timing belt job, so I went to get 5 gallons of Super Long Life Coolant from the local dealer to prepare for a flush and fill (just got the rig so I wanted to start real fresh). The price came out at about 30% above what I was expecting, based on the online price of ~$18/gal. So I asked Mr. Parts, "Aren't they 18 bucks a pop?"

This is where it begins to get a little fuzzy, as the sheer absurdity of his responses made them so elusive to my memory.

He responded, "Oh, you mean the online prices, hold on," proceeding to tippy tap on his keys with the focus required to conjure up a new price, just for my online self. It came out to $99 rather than $134. Truly magical.

I asked, "Why is there a difference between the online and in person pricing?"

He said, "Ya know with the way things are right now, people are usually ordering for home delivery so online is a little easier..."

I said, "Oh yeah, sure, but what makes the prices different?"

He said again, referring to the validity of his previous statement, "Yeah yeah, a lot of people order online, like we get a lot of orders from Alaska–"

"Don't they have Toyota dealers in Alaska?"

"Oh sure but the prices are so high, like you pay 10 bucks for a loaf of bread, so they just order from us."

At this point I knew that Mr. Parts would not reveal his magic. It was a black box, and I left perplexed. I was glad that our fellow Americans in the 49th state could get parts at a reasonable price, but unsure how they would be treated if they had walked in while on business in the area, thinking they might as well kill two birds with one stone and drink directly from this sweet fountain of life.

All I know is this. If you find yourself ordering parts at the dealer in person, say this simple incantation:

"That Was Not The Price I Saw Online"

The price will drop like magic.
 
Which dealer?
‘Yota of Bellingham? (iIRC it was Wilson ‘Yota last I drove by)

-Yota dealer here is pretty tight (Foothills / Burlington)




-I’d swap over to whichever one you hit & just “save up“ a parts list for when I go up for whatever / generally Boundary Bay :beer: -growler fills & Fanatik for bike junk.
 
I got all my OEM parts from LakeCity Toyota since I moved to Seattle 10 years ago. Steve and Adam usually manning the counter. If you are looking for hard to find parts ask for Mike, he’s the parts manager.
Let them know that you are friends of mine so that you don’t have to pay the list price.

Ferry
 
That’s interesting, when I asked the same question while picking up parts I ordered online the matter of fact answer I got was “ the counter price is the brick and mortar price” which means if you’re stupid enough to buy at the counter it’s definitely gonna be list ++. Get your part numbers elsewhere ( megazip, amayama, partsouq, etc.) and order online from your nearest dealer. When they email you that your order is complete, go pick them up.
 
as cruel as it sounds and it may shock some .......

after a total of 16+ years at both the T-TEN College level Program , Dealership Parts and Service and finally last 2 years Corporate level Central Atlantic Toyota Region ...



NICE ( Customers and Employees alike ) GUYs and Woman Finish LAST .......... :confused:




i finally had enough one day and simply walked to my 1998 T-100 SR5 Extra Cab as it called back then.....

in the middle of the day , keys in hand got into my CLOTH Build Sheet Captions Chair and broke down hard like big time , i started shaking too as i started the

3.4 5VZ-FE TRD Super Charger equipped , i kept saying to myself it was not my fault and i will never go back to a Negative Work Atmosphere where

99% of my co-workers hated there jobs and simply looked down upon there fellow co-workers as well ..........


that was almost 19 years ago now and i still have once every so often , negative memories or well ill be frank , Flashbacks of when i cared and loved my job at TOYOTA ......



thanks for letting me share .........


kindly matt





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one of my local dealers gives a discount if you mention Ih8mud, buying stuff with that discount usually works out close to or a few bucks less than what parts cost+ship from mcgeorge or the other online ones who do around 30% off of everything.
 
I wish mine would give any sort of discount, if they did I'd spend a lot of money with them on a regular basis. They just don't seem to get it.
 
Problem with living in a rural area, we only have one nearby, so they don't have any competition. It's over an hour to the next closest.
 

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