Any Toyota Employees on TGO?

[MacGyver]

So, I'm buying a new truck.  I want a specific model Tacoma that will likely need to be shipped in as most of the allocation of this specific model goes out West.

I'm not overly impressed with our dealers in middle Tennessee thus far, as most of them appear to be opposed to doing actual work to find a truck - though all of them want to sell me one they've already got on the lot.

Anyway, if any of our members work for Toyota, let me know.  I'm happy to provide details and let someone here earn the commission on the sale.

[Omega]

Not an employee but I've purchased two so far, one a Sequoia, had to be shipped in from out of the area.  Joe Heitz (now Wyatt Johnson) had it brought in because I wanted one without the leather and other bells and whistles.  The second, my Tacoma was on the lot so no issue, but if you speak to their sales manager I am sure they will get on the computer and get you what you want.

[jhc77]

One of our members is or was a service manager. Not sure if he can help or not. I'll have to dig later today and see if I still have his handle.

[TNWNGR]

Good luck on your new truck MacGyver, I went through the assessment and decision making process a few weeks ago. I'd initially leaned towards an SUV but decided a full size crew cab 4x4 PU was a better choice. I had it down to either a Toyota, Titian, or F-150. With incentives and all I ended up going with the Ford. Either of the three would have been a great choice.

[MacGyver]

Thanks!

I've got two Nissans right now and they've been great trucks - over 175K on both.  Every time I get in them though, I find myself thinking I'm ready to be back in a Toyota again.

As an American engineer, I find myself pulling for Ford.  I just can't bring myself to buy a F-150, though.  @KahrMan has one and it's like riding around in your living room.  It's super nice, but I've got some legacy Ford ownership issues I'd have to work through.

[Patton]

I don't work for Toyota but many of my friends that my wife and I used to sell cars with have wound up at Toyota dealers. It may not be that this guys are not willing to help you so much as they really can't. Toyota does some weird stuff with their dealerships. I was in a similar boat wanting an excab prerunner with the 2.7. My connections could have actually put me in a 4.0 for the same money, but I didn't really trust the engine as much. My friends all swore up and down to me that it was not possible for them to get me this truck in our region. Ironically, it could have been bought new in Georgia since it came from a different regional supplier. Toyota's website would not even allow me to build the truck with my zip code, but giving a zip code several miles south of me allowed me to build and price it. Within a short period of trying to make a decision the truck I wanted and was told would be unachievable appeared as a pre owned with only a couple of thousand miles on it. 

Edited June 7, 2016 by Patton

[TNWNGR]

55 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

Thanks!

I've got two Nissans right now and they've been great trucks - over 175K on both.  Every time I get in them though, I find myself thinking I'm ready to be back in a Toyota again.

As an American engineer, I find myself pulling for Ford.  I just can't bring myself to buy a F-150, though.  @KahrMan has one and it's like riding around in your living room.  It's super nice, but I've got some legacy Ford ownership issues I'd have to work through.

Yep. I went through some grief with Ford over a '97 150 with engine problems and hadn't planed on another Ford. I like the all aluminum body and this ones an FX4 so it's pretty solid. Of course only time will tell on how well my faith in Ford's restored.

[btq96r]

@MacGyver Have you checked to see if your bank has some kind of car buying service?  Mine has a "build your own car" type of thing where you select the make, model, and all the rest from a menu, then they quote you a price. 

[raildog]

Do what I did in 2011 found the truck i wanted at a dealer in DFW jumped a southwest flight on a Saturday morning for $68.00 dealer picked me up at love field was on my home by 12:30 with my truck for 12k less than i could get here

[MacGyver]

@raildog I'm not opposed to that, and I've got dealers as clients in Missouri and Wyoming that would be glad to get me exactly what I want.  I'd love to keep it here in middle Tennessee - so I thought I'd give it a shot here before I go that route. 

@btq96r I'm planning on paying cash for it unless I can talk them into letting me put it on my Amex.  But it's worth a shot - maybe call Amex and Costco, too. 

[raildog]

MacGyver im a die hard Chevrolet man as of today i have officially lost faith in all Chevrolet dealers in a 50 mile radius of Murfreesboro 

[btq96r]

31 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

 

@btq96r I'm planning on paying cash for it unless I can talk them into letting me put it on my Amex.  But it's worth a shot - maybe call Amex and Costco, too. 

You should still be able to pay cash for it if you go through a bank service.  They'll try to package it with a car loan, but I think you can just bypass that and put down 100% as a down payment.  Worst case, make sure the loan has a no early payoff penalty and just pay it all off the first month.

[DaveTN]

I don’t know about Toyota, but when I purchased my last two new Chevrolets, I emailed the local dealers with what I wanted. Only two dealers emailed me back with specific vehicles they had, the rest responded with their standard “Come on down” BS. I told them I was buying in the next two days; which I did.

Walker Chevrolet in Franklin got both sales. I don’t know that the salesman would want his name posted here, but if anyone wants to know they can message me. The first one was a dealer locate that came out of Alabama. He asks me to come to the lot and he would show me the exact vehicle I would be getting, only in a different color. We did that, made a deal and he had the vehicle the next day. It doesn’t cost you anymore for a dealer locate. They send them a vehicle they want and drive yours back.

On the second new vehicle years later, he emailed me back that he had three vehicles that met my request. He took the time to email me the specifics and then called and asks if we could set up a time to come in and see them. We did that and when we got there he had the three vehicles at the front of the showroom ready for test drives. We drove one home.

I am sure you can find what you want in a dealer and salesman. I just find it odd that they spend so much time and money trying to get leads and then when you contact them and say “I’m ready to buy today” most seem so unprepared.

[peejman]

9 hours ago, raildog said:

Do what I did in 2011 found the truck i wanted at a dealer in DFW jumped a southwest flight on a Saturday morning for $68.00 dealer picked me up at love field was on my home by 12:30 with my truck for 12k less than i could get here

 

 

If the locals won't play ball, fly-n-buy, and enjoy the road trip home.  I have zero patience with car dealers.  With so many to choose from, there's no reason to cut them any slack.  They're kinda like lawyers... 99% of them give the rest a bad name. 

[gregintenn]

I've heard good reports about Beaman Toyota, but haven't bought from them personally. You might give them a shot if you haven't already done so.

I can name a couple of Toyota dealerships to steer clear of. The one in Gallatin and the one in Bowling Green, Ky are definite no go's for me.

[KOM2]

I have a long time friend that went to work for Beaman recently as a salesman. I can get you his info if needed.

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[MacGyver]

I actually bought a truck today at Toyota of Murfreesboro.  They worked with me to source the truck I wanted and I got a good deal.

It was a cash deal, so it was quick and pretty painless.  

It's interesting when you talk to several dealerships in a short period of time.  You can tell the ones that really want to sell a truck. You can also clearly tell the ones that just don't care. Oddly enough knowing exactly what you want seems to do more harm than good on the typical lot. You really have to find someone who realizes, that while they may not make quite as much money, they also don't really have to do any actual work,  

[DaveTN]

9 hours ago, MacGyver said:

I actually bought a truck today at Toyota of Murfreesboro.  They worked with me to source the truck I wanted and I got a good deal.

It was a cash deal, so it was quick and pretty painless.  

It's interesting when you talk to several dealerships in a short period of time.  You can tell the ones that really want to sell a truck. You can also clearly tell the ones that just don't care. Oddly enough knowing exactly what you want seems to do more harm than good on the typical lot. You really have to find someone who realizes, that while they may not make quite as much money, they also don't really have to do any actual work,  

I think most of them want to sell; but don’t know how to. They get so use to tire kickers that they don’t know how to handle it when they talk to or get an email from someone that says they are ready to buy today. At least that is how I appeared to me.

Most are unfamiliar with the inventory and unfamiliar with the vehicles and their options. Maybe if they spent more time on the lot learning what they have and less time cold calling people that aren’t interested; they could close deals. (Just my opinion)

This is 2016, we can easily find the prices and who is offering the best deals at the time. With me it was just finding the truck I wanted.

I sold cars many years ago; I would hate to be doing it today. I bet the turnover is pretty high and the quality of salesman is pretty low. The internet has helped us locate and price; not much for the Salesman to do but deliver the vehicle and write up the paperwork.

I sat in the Chevy showroom in Murfreesboro and wanted to shout out “Does anyone here want to sell a loaded Silverado today?” I didn’t though, like most buyers I just moved on to another dealer.

I enjoy buying new vehicles though; it’s still fun.

[gregintenn]

I think the default setting today is "how much will the payments be?", and "can I qualify for the loan?".

 

Anything beyond that realm blows most new car salesmen's mind.

 

You and I are dinosaurs, McGyver, with our cash payment and such.

[nightrunner]

38 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

I think the default setting today is "how much will the payments be?", and "can I qualify for the loan?".

 

Anything beyond that realm blows most new car salesmen's mind.

 

You and I are dinosaurs, McGyver, with our cash payment and such.

That and the fact that the make so much money on financing, they aren't too terribly interested in cash sales.

[Lumber_Jack]

I actually bought a truck today at Toyota of Murfreesboro.  They worked with me to source the truck I wanted and I got a good deal.

It was a cash deal, so it was quick and pretty painless.  

It's interesting when you talk to several dealerships in a short period of time.  You can tell the ones that really want to sell a truck. You can also clearly tell the ones that just don't care. Oddly enough knowing exactly what you want seems to do more harm than good on the typical lot. You really have to find someone who realizes, that while they may not make quite as much money, they also don't really have to do any actual work,  

I expect pictures and a full report. What specific model did you buy?

[peejman]

No kidding. Walk in, say I'll pay you this much for that one, and they stare at you like you've got 3 heads. 

[MacGyver]

1 hour ago, Lumber_Jack said:

I expect pictures and a full report. What specific model did you buy?

Double Cab TRD Off Road Long Bed. Black. With a moon roof of all things. 

The long bed model 7568 was the tough part. Apparently almost all of those get allocated out west where someone might actually put something in the back or something. 

I like the fuel economy of that new Atkinson cycle 6 cylinder they're putting in them. With the tow package, I'll barely strain it to pull my boat.  While I don't expect to use that crawl control that they're putting on them that much, I'm in sand enough that it might come in handy. 

[MacGyver]

1 hour ago, gregintenn said:

I think the default setting today is "how much will the payments be?", and "can I qualify for the loan?".

 

Anything beyond that realm blows most new car salesmen's mind.

 

You and I are dinosaurs, McGyver, with our cash payment and such.

Yeah, the modern car dealership will actually tell you there are two separate business models in their dealership.  First they "sell" you a car, then the real selling happens after you agree on a price. At that point they "help" you figure out a few way to pay for the car. 

Most of the profit a dealership makes its in that second model where they bundle all types of products in and likely mark up your loan.  If you're not familiar with markup, basically a bank will sell them a loan for two points.  Then, they can mark it up to whatever you'll agree to.  So you might well have been able to get a 2.25% APR loan, but they mark it up to 4.5% and split the profit with the bank.  Most dealerships today make about 40% of their money via markup.  This is why if you're planning on financing a car, you should always bring your own financing with you.  You might later agree to go with their captive for some incentive, but at least you'll have a floor on what your loan should cost. 

[MacGyver]

55 minutes ago, peejman said:

No kidding. Walk in, say I'll pay you this much for that one, and they stare at you like you've got 3 heads. 

Dave is probably right that we're so out of the norm that most salesmen don't know what to do. 

But find one that gets it, and they realize that's probably the easiest money they'll make all day. 

Invoice is readily available on about anything out there today. There's no reason someone should walk onto the lot not knowing exactly what the car with the options they want us going to cost. 

In my case, knowing invoice I called several dealerships and told them what I wanted, that it was going to be a cash deal, and that I was willing to pay a price that was $1000 above factory invoice including their doc fee which is almost all profit to the dealership. I gave them that number and simply asked if they were interested they give me a call back. 

Really it was a simple pass/fail. 

Beaman never even acknowledged my request. Rude, but I expect with all the  condo owners who are already leveraged up to their eyeballs surrounding them they don't have to search too hard for business. 

Roberts Toyota called me back and emailed several times, but never got past, "why don't you come in, and we'll find you something at a payment you can afford." Frustrating. 

Toyota of Cool Springs was happy to work with me, but was really only interested in selling a truck that they found at one of their sister dealerships.  It was 90% of what I wanted, but if I'm paying that much for a truck, you better believe I'm going to get what I want and not just take what you can find and act like you're doing me a favor because, "these things go fast you know?"

The guys at Toyota of Murfreesboro found two trucks exactly like I wanted, one that was in freight and one that was in a dealership out west.  They offered to get the first one or trade the dealer out west for a similar one.  They had no problem doing the deal exactly like I wanted.  The finance manager even said that a lot more people ought to buy cars this way.  

 The dealership model that has existed for the last 50 years will change in the coming generation. Most people my age and below simply have no interest in going through that process to buy a car. Dealership associations have lobbied successfully to put a lot of protectionist practices in place, but this industry will be disrupted sooner or later.