TOYOTA Is F#@%ed | Customers REFUSING To PURCHASE 

With how much they wanted at Toyota I told them I'd rather buy a Mercedes Benz because they're selling at or under MSRP at the moment where I live and I'd save money while getting a nicer vehicle. Dude told me yeah go try it. I drove back to Toyota a few hours later in a brand new GLC 300 with over half the options for the same price as an overpriced Tacoma. Dude thought I was joking until I pulled up and asked for him so I could show him just how much they suck. Don't tell customers to buy another brand. They will.

Toyota is convincing me to keep my older cars

The biggest crime out there is the fact we have to use a dealer to buy a car. Let me order one online and have it delivered to my house.

I went to Toyota today. The mark ups are mind boggling. $450 for pin stripe, tint $650, floor mats $600, cup holder cover? $250, and mark up of 6,760. There was more but all I could do was laugh at the guy.

Best thing we can do as consumers, is to not give in and pay for these ridiculous markups.

I'm a Toyota fan but I will never pay market adjustments for a vehicle. I don't understand how people pay for that extra money.

Sad thing is, someone looked at that vehicle for $71865 and said “That looks good, I’ll take it”😮

Honda too. Went to the dealership yesterday and the markups were insane. I worked at a Toyota dealership last year so I knew what I was walking into beforehand. It’s so sad people are getting suckered into this!!! Educate yourselves please!!!! Don’t settle for these insane markups.

My "market adjustment" is to keep my money in my wallet. All of these dealers have lost their minds. I will drive my car until it turns into a Flintstones-mobile (and probably keep it even then) before I am gouged by this BS....this applies to all manufacturers as they are all doing it.

I wanted to buy a Toyota Prius Prime from a southern California dealer at MSRP, but they demanded an $8K markup which pushed it over the price of a Tesla Model 3. Now I have a Model 3.

6 weeks ago, I responded to (two) online ads by North Park Toyota of San Antonio for a 2023 Prius Prime SE at $34,8k ($32,8K MSRP + $2k distributer add-ons). Once I got to the dealer, the sales manager told me would be tacking on an additional $3k in addons, and a $10k "market adjustment". This drove up the OTD price to over $51k... 40% over Toyota's original MSRP. This placed it well into Audi territory, another car I had been considering purchasing. Within a week, I ended up buying a Bolt EUV for commuting... and when I finish paying that off in April, I'll buy the Audi for road trips. That Toyota dealership did an excellent job of selling me on two other marques.

Went looking at a Toyota Sienna a couple of weeks ago. A big dealership in northern Virginia wanted around 10k over MSRP. When asked about that 10k charge, they said it was a "hybrid premium" charge. I asked them whether they had any non-hybrid Siennas, and they said no (of course there aren't... Toyota doesn't make them). So why is there a "hybrid premium" charge for a vehicle that does not have a non-hybrid option? Shouldn't that be baked into the MSRP already?

Many dealerships (not all) are some of the most wicked, evil, immoral and unethical creatures on the face of the earth. They have earned the right to go out of business. Let’s help them get there quick, fast and in a hurry.

I hope these crooked dealerships go out of business.

RAV4 used to be something that you'd buy for like a high school or college student. Now they're 50-60k. Prices are out of control.

My wife and I really liked Toyota after buying a Highlander and even got it at a discount in 2021. The past couple of years I've been considering buying a Tundra but our local Toyota dealership has markups on everything, sometimes ridiculously high, too. I ended up buying a Nissan Titan for 5k under MSRP and have been happy with it. Toyota may have built a name for themselves in terms of reliability, but they are now building another name for themselves in terms of greed.

I was a loyal Toyota customer, owned a Sienna, Rav 4 , Highlander. I can proudly say I'm on my CX90 after the lease ended on my CX9. I refuse to pay a penny more than MSRP for a car.

That level of greed is rarely sustainable. I have a 2007 RAV 4 AWD that was manufactured and assembled 100% in Japan. At the time I paid around $21k for it, out the door. It runs perfectly, everything still works, I don't owe a dime on it, and it also still looks great. The only non routine maintenance repair I have ever had to do is the alternator. I'll keep it for as long as it takes for car manufacturers and dealers to return to sanity.

When I bought my first ever new Toyota ('23 Tacoma) in 12/2022, I was totally unaware that Toyota had to sell their vehicles through a distributor in Texas. The sticker had the MSRP and then the Distributor added on options totaling $2,071 to come to a final DSRP. This dealership even back in December was discounting this particular truck off of the DSRP by $2,363. (I think because it was just an Access Cab and white.). So, I ended up getting the truck for a few hundred dollars off of the regular MSRP while still getting the distributor add-on options. I figured that I got a decent deal in this environment. I also got a VERY good price on my trade in thanks to presenting them with a Carmax buying offer. All that combined is the ONLY reason that I went through with the deal.

Let me remind you these dealerships artificially influence production. Many great cars have been discontinued because manufacturers believe that the product is not selling well. When in fact it's not selling well because the dealerships markup and add things the consumers don't want.

Maybe the answer is to have customers 'shop' for vehicles and take SO much of the sales reps time before demanding that ALL these extra charges be removed or they walk, and then have the next customer do the same thing and the customer behind them do the same thing...

They're probably doing this to sway more people into leasing. Not only will they make 2-3 yrs worth of payments, Toyota dealers get most of the cars back after the term and that customer will likely roll into another lease. It's basically a subscription service for automakers.

For the 1st time in about 10 years im actually considering something besides a Toyota. My hopes were for a 1794 Tundra but with MSRP and dealer markups it doesnt hurt to look around. Even considering a certified BMW X6 M which is now the same price as a Tundra!!

My wife had checkbook out to buy a Toyota. Dealer started listing mandatory dealer add-ons, she walked. She drove over to Subaru same day and drove out with a new Outback. Purchase price was cheaper and straightforward.

We’ve owned only Toyotas for 25 years. We stopped by our local small town Toyota dealer on Saturday to ask about getting a Prius Prime which I already knew they didn’t have in stock. The young salesman said some of the secret info out loud. He said they’d only been allocated 2 so far this year to which they added large dealer markups & would do the same with any future allocations. So much for working with our local dealer!

Long story short. I was shopping for a new 2023 Toyota RAV4 or a Honda CRV. I was giving both serious consideration. The two Toyota dealers I went to had crazy nonrefundable 5,000 markups. You paid that up front to get a pre-order slot. Plus, there was no date when your car would arrive. A safety pkg that was mandatory when buying. Also, both dealers had chips on their shoulders as if they were doing me a favor with all this. Honda also had long wait times but had a date when your car should arrive. There was no markup on vehicles, and they had one of each model type for you to test drive. Ended up buying a hybrid Sport Touring CRV last April. Toyota has left an everlasting bad experience with me. If they are having trouble, it's self-inflicted from what I can tell.

Man, I love listening to you guys discuss the car market after I've had some rum! You guys break things down in a way thats easy to understand and your really funny. 😂

$47k for a small 2 row suv. I don’t care how reliable it is, That is absurd

I worked for a Mercedes dealer and was told that if anyone adds to the MSRP the car, Mercedes will pull their franchise. TOYOTA has got so bloated and used to the feeling of if they build it it will sell that they don't even care about them consumers anymore just making money.

I wanted a RAV4. I couldn’t get my hands on one and when they did come available, the dealers jacked up the price by stupid high amounts. I instead decided to get a gorgeous new 2023 red Mazda CX5 Select. I went to a dealer that wasn’t doing market adjustments or mandatory addendum packages. I paid MSRP plus TTL. I REGRET NOTHING 😂 and I love my car ❤ pick your dealer wisely. Especially in this market.

I’m so bummed seeing this. I have been wanting a Toyota for years and was going to pull the trigger this year. I think I’m going to look at other brands now.

One can only hope that consumers stop buying new and used cars until these huge markups are gone. If vehicles sat on dealers lots for a couple years with no buyers they would have to change or completely go out of business.

I used to be the guy that KNEW I should pay off my current car BEFORE that shiny new object caught my eye...but I never did. They are FORCING ME to be fiscally responsible. Thank you Toyota (and all auto manufacturers) 🙂

Bought a Nissan Frontier 4 weeks ago and just got a survey from Nissan asking me how I like the truck. What I found interesting was Nissan asking if the dealer tried pulling a market adjustment or if the dealer added worthless add-ons to boost the price. That tells me that Nissan is probably discouraging or forbidding dealers from engaging in those practices. Smart move. They just might attract buyers who are disgusted with the Toyota stealership experience.

I went to that first dealer when we were looking for a new minivan, I saw the optional items they added and asked them to remove them in order to consider buying and they refused, I just walked out and bought from another dealer

Good to know that I am not alone. I was loyal Toyota customer but no more. After finding that dealers are asking ridiculous prices & markup on Rav4, I considered going with Subaru Forrester and now I am very very happy with Subaru. Never going to look towards Toyota dealership forget about walking into one.

Remember in CA the taxes, registration and licensing on the car are around 9.5-11% of the purchase price. That RAV4 was nearly 80k before interest on the loan..

Yes, I was going to buy a Sienna or a AWD Prius this year but ended up purchasing a Subaru Outback premium trim. I got Docc fee waived, $1000 of MSRP and all weather floor mats thrown in. I did have to pay $1200 destination charge but zero games at the Subaru Dealer. I used to be a loyal Toyota customer and had 3 of them. Now we have zero Toyotas and Drive a Tesla Model Y and the Subaru. I don't think Toyota dealers realize how many customers are leaving them due to poor dealership practices. I probably will never go back to them because of the dealer games. I just wish you guys would share these stories with Toyota USA.

I literally dodged a bullet in 2021 when I bought my truck. I thought Id overpaid for an almost new (5000k miles) Etorque Ram that came already lifted for 54k. The sales girl secretly texted me and told me they were going to raise the prices soon. Almost two weeks later other non-lifted trucks with way more miles were going for 10-15k more than what I paid. I thought it would get better, but as you pointed out, dealers are trying to sell little wussy 4 cylinder crossovers for what I paid for my Hemi 5.7

3:05 That’s when I lost it 😆 Geez Louise what is that dealer thinking?

My wife and I have collectively owned more than 26 Toyota vehicles since 1984. Given their new tactics, we may well never own another one. I just sold a 2020 TRD Pro 4runner for a fantastic sum. It was highly modified and just cool. I had such a bad experience at the dealer service department (Jim Norton Toyota in Tulsa), that I decided to sell it and move on. I considered replacing it with another/newer 4runner and called around to dealers that show them in stock. ALL of them said "Oh those are all pre-sold, but we can order one for you with a $10K mark up if you really want one", or words to that effect. With that, I'M DONE with Toyota until they get their business processes straightened out.

I will never buy a marked up vehicle!

My dealer says if you don't buy, the next guy will. Unfortunately they are correct. There are always people with more money than sense.

I just left a Joe Myers Ford dealership that plays the MSRP game. I think that if we wait awhile longer, the truck market will have to drop prices, especially with hybrid and electric vehicles. Here's why: 1-Hybrid vehicles like the Maverick are still relatively new. Bugs have not all revealed themselves. 2-Major competitors still waiting to jump in to fill the void that Toyota and Ford are not ready to fill yet dominate 3-Supply and demand is evolving in America with newer concepts that the rest of the world already understands. 4-Related to 1, we don't yet know what the new mechanical repair's impact will have on new hybrid/electric costs.

I went to my local honda dealer here in Bronx NY and guess what…….Vehicles had a 5k market adjustment over price. After a few discussions with the sales representative and told him I would not pay a dime over sticker price, in fact I would not even pay sticker price. Went to my local Subaru dealer and got a 2024 Outback touring with almost 2k off MRSP. Well done Subaru.

I worked for a Toyota dealer for 20 years,from early 80s into early 00s. I remember when the fj80 cruiser came out, it was the first time I saw the "adjusted market value" price added to the Maroney label, the dealer was pocketing 5k on each sale,that's probably about the same as this dealership mark up in today's money There is one easy way to avoid paying these markups, DON'T BY THE DAMN THING!!

Toyota South in Richmond KY. They have now added a banner on their website "No vehicles priced over MSRP, never have, never will". Although for many months I tried to negotiate on used 4 runners, which they wanted to sell for $5000 to $10,000 over msrp. They told me lunar rock color alone was worth $10k more just because of the color. Wait, then why wouldn't Toyota paint all of them that color?!?! Call and give em hell!!! Make sure they know we wont forget how they have treated us for the past 3 years. And call them out on their advertising lies!!!

My son's college roommate just paid $15k over MSRP on his RAV4 hybrid. He had to outbid others for it. My son is going to order a Model 3 instead because we couldn't find a Toyota at MSRP. oh, just finished the video, I didn't know this was only a Toyota thing. My family only bought Toyotas since 1975. We since been with Tesla starting 2016.

This is what happens when you choose greed over trust. I was going for a rav4 but now I’m getting a subi cross trek. I really hope Toyota goes down in business. 🔥 🔥 🔥

I find it crazy that Toyotas Franchise Agreement has nothing to say about this. If Toyota had any balls they’d fine these dealers and pull their franchise after repeat behavior and resell the franchise. Toyota acts like it has no control.

The second people stop stupidly paying these insane markups is the second I’m willing to bet the “supply issues” and backlog gets cleared up quick. 😂 I also feel that Toyota allowing this to happen at dealership level is going to create a huge problem for themselves and their reputation if they don’t crack down on this and get it together soon.

I hear everyone saying, just don't buy, but it should be just as illegal as stores upselling water during an emergency. This is for consumers and we don't really need dealerships if they are going to play this game. Better of having a system like Tesla where the distributer and dealer is the Manufacturer.

Elk Grove Toyota doesn’t charge 1$ over Msrp .Built a 22 tundra on line with the options I wanted ,and they were $ 150 under the build price $49700 sr5 crew max 4x4 totally happy with that dealership ❤️👍

This is why I'm keeping my 2003 GMC Envoy XL alive. I've become a pretty good at home mechanic thanks to RU-vid. I'll keep it running until the car market crash finally comes.

In Germany, we see this mark up all the time. The makers do this. What is different in the Us is the dealers are doing this, and the vehicles are US factory made.

I bought my Toyota in 2021 below MSRP, and the dealer had $0 add ons. I had other dealers adding on extra charges and dealer add ons. Happy I found an honest dealer. They actually went out of their way to trade with another dealer that had the vehicle I wanted.

Most of the auto manufactures are doing this. We need to remember the car dealerships who are price gouging and never do business with that dealership again, along with family and friends.

Is there a potential anti-trust violation if distributors are found to be colluding with dealers to add high-orofit options to all the cars they convey?

We need a list of dealers actually selling MSRP. That list will be a lot shorter than the ones Jackin the price up on the consumer

I know a dealer I worked with In 90’s. In 2005 opened Avondale Toyota and One of Oakland never charge over MSRP unless it’s a real addition like tint or wheels. Great owner great people so if you want a no hassle deal no managers no finance department just one person does it all say yes and your out in 45 minutes. Big Mac is the best!

you are showing why I'm not in California!! Also, just saw that Toyota factories are shutting down and didn't see reason. Plus- if they continue like this it will be cheaper to repair vehicles and not trade, before 300,000 miles!!

What a difference a few years make. When I bought my ‘17 Camry, the additional dealer markup sticker was $700, which I negotiated down to $150. Plus, there was $1500 cash back. I ended up getting the car for $1000 below dealer invoice. I just did a recent tour of their inventory, and every car had a $5K dealer add-on sticker. One of the sales people came over to ask if I was interested in one of the vehicles. I told him, “Never in a million years.”

we wereToyota buyer for 30 years, since the early 80s and then both dealerships I went to had questionable service claims (I took car to independent mechanics and showed them their estimate and he just shook his head, one dealership outright lied). All sorts of fees were added during purchases, and the final straw was when they sold me a used Corolla not properly checked with damage to transmission. I brought it back and they claimed to have "fixed it" - they did not, and then they washed away from it. When I went back in they had deleted it, and any record of it, from their system. My 3 family members walked away and never bought from a Toyota dealer again.

With this type of situations, most people will be upside on their purchase & pay monthly payment of $1k or more for 7-8 years ! Many will be faced with vehicles being repossessed! Hopefully everyone will be cautious with their purchases

Fortunately, when we bought our Lexus Rx 350 last month we didn't encounter this. In fact, it was quite the opposite. We got it for over 2k below msrp and no sealer add ons. Really great experience.

So Toyota actually believes that a customer in the Rav4 market can afford $71K for a vehicle? They are smoking something besides pot.

In 2019, i negotiated for a new 2019 Lexus ES 350 F sport, i told them that they can add anything they want, paint protection, wheel security lugs, tint bra etc, i specified all the specs, e mailed 15 dealership and stayed that i am only willing to pay $47K no more no less, that includes tags and tax, out the door price, 10 dealers responded and accepted, with a rate of 1.5%. Those times and deals are history, in todays market.

The saddest part is that there are enough complaints to Toyota , not to mention RU-vid videos , so the Executives at Toyota are aware of the scandal. They choose to do nothing. They might as well get Dylan Mulvaney as a spokesperson, and just let the company fail in North America. Toyota is losing brand loyalty at an astounding rate , and the executives do nothing.

I am one of those people who will not pay or tolerate this kind of dealer behavior. I wanted a 23 rav4. I was more than willing to wait and get on a wait list. After visiting 8 different Toyota dealers I stopped and decided to look at other brands or keep my Honda CRV .

The cheapest car to own is usually the one already sitting in your driveway. The average price of new cars is almost $50K. That's a payment of almost $1,000 a month. Three months of payments is a massive overhaul of your existing car. New shocks, brakes, carpet, and other trim will make it feel almost new again, and cost you a fraction of that new car.

The funniest thing was that when You Tube started this video with the usual advertisement, the ad was for the Toyota Labor Day Sale! I own a 14 year old Toyota and whenever I have to take it in for service, I have to wade through a bunch of salesmen trying to get me to listen to their sales pitches about WHY I NEED A NEW TOYOTA NOW!!!"

35-year+ Toyota owner. No inventory and pricing. So I just bought a new Hyundai Tucson Limited . Your videos did help me even at age 75. I thought I got a fair price.

A long long time ago, I visited a Toyota dealership. Waited for 20+ minutes, and not a single rep has approached me, or even acknowledge my presence. As I looked at different cars, something clicked. I left. Never to come back again. That's my Toyota story. And yes, no other Japanese seller has ever shown such disregard to a potential customer. Sad to see things didn't improve since.

Went to a Toyota dealer recently and immediately realized they are absolutely full of themselves price-wise. The up-price ($5-7k) literally put the cars into Lexus territory. The latter doesn't have an up-price, as far my experience goes. However, I ended up getting an awesome KIA phev, which also has a 5 year 60k mile bumper to bumper warranty. The biggest mistake Toyota can make is keep relying on its past reputation and sustain its current prices this high.... Most new buyers will move on just as quickly as did I.

Inwent to buy a camry to the dealership in TX. The price they had was including tint, some BS protection, etc.. I told them to take them off because I didn't ask for it and it told them I didn't like what they added to the car. Ended up getting the car for the MSRP with the add-ons.

In May my wife and I just bought a 2023 RAV 4 hybrid XSE, 500 dollars below MSRP, which brought it to around 38,100 and tax, title, and registration fees, plus a 499 dollar doc fee, the total out the door price was right around 39,100, this was still the most I ever paid for a vehicle, but the dealership We used didn’t charge any markup fees, we had to drive two hours to get it, but many dealerships in our area were charging from 2000 to 5000 dollars markup fees.

As long as people are willing to give their good hard earned money away then these dealers will continue to do it AND get away with it!!! STOP perpetuating this behavior people!!!

That's why people hate buying new cars. The worst experience I ever had buying a car was with Toyota about 6 years. My daughter needed a new car and had her heart set on a Toyota Tacoma. I had to threaten to walk away twice, once with the salesman who kept adding fees and then again with the finance manager when he tried to charge me for submitting the paperwork for title and registration when by state law they are required to do that; it still makes my blood pressure rise.. Afterwards, my daughter commented that she never knew I was such a hard-ass; I said I wasn't being a hard-ass, I'm just not paying for things I don't want or need. My best experience was when I bought a Acura Integra back in 1987. I said I was willing to pay X amount along with my car as a trade-in, the salesman countered with a price $250 higher than what I quoted. I said split the difference and we got a deal, which he did and everything was agreed upon in about 3 minutes and no attempt to up-charge along the way.

Something else to add...When I ordered my RV4, I was asked to pick out three other colors that I would be "okay with" I then went on a waiting list, every once in a while the sales person would contact me to let me know that they had got a new RAV4 in at the dealership, and if I would like to stop in and look at it. It was never the color I ordered, the suv at the dealership always seemed to have four thousand dollars more in extras than what I originally ordered. If I went to the dealership to look at their latest offering and didn't buy...I would loose my place on the waitng list, and had to start all over again. The mindset of Toyota is ... Order want you want, take what we give you.

I went to purchase a Tundra last weekend. The advertised price and window sticker showed modestly featured at $57k. When working to get out the door pricing... the dealership kept coming back with $71k (tax, title, license). They said it was rare to have a Tundra on the lot, and if I wanted the truck for the MSRP, then I would have to order it and wait 6-8 months to take delivery. So, Toyota is charging new buyers for the costs to carry inventory when people cancel the vehicles they ordered 6+ months!

This kind of stuff just re-enforces my feelings about Ford Motor going in the right direction by pushing the plan to allow you to buy from Ford (the manufacturer) directly and skip the dealer. I realize this isn't an easy road for Ford but I hope they keep going as I absolutely "hate" walking into a car dealership. Have been screwed over too many times and on the last attempt, they even tried to put the lease through their own leasing company instead of through Ford Motor Company whom I have an excellent rating with. I couldn't find one good comment about the dealer's leasing company and the document itself was extremely one-sided. I hope Ford keeps going with their plan and that others follow. Bringing the sale "in-house" is the only way to control it. I'll buy a Ford for sure if they do this.

Toyota Motor Sales was (still is to a degree) California based and existed before Toyota Motor Manufacturing in America. It is the tail that wags the dog. Once the vehicle reaches the final line at the plant it is sold to TMS. They drive it off the line and start adding dealer upgrades and options immediately via Toyota Logistics. Then there is the independent dealerships that gets their cut.. At every stage and level profit is being made. I would say that this is Tesla greatest leverage point. They are streamlined and without the excess baggage of dealerships.

I bought my 2023 4Runner via Smart Path. It is through Toyota the company and they steer you to only dealerships where there is no markup. In exchange, the dealership gets an increased allocation. The program will assist you in finding what you need or the dealer they send you too to trade with another dealership with markups.

Government needs to make it legal for car companies to sell directly to customers. Dealers have become nothing more than legally mandated parsites.

Got me a Hilux 4x4 diesel a few weeks ago here in the Philippines for 1.9 million Pesos. (46000 Cdn). Great truck. Could never get a good little truck like this in Canada.

Remember in 2007 when my dad tried to buy a Camry a dealer here in Buford wanted us to pay 8% interest, they thought that because we looked like foreigners they could screw us. We bought a different brand. They will never ever see a dime from my family.

Never pay MSRP. If the dealer won't move on the price then find one who will. And walk away if dealer-added markups that you didn't ask for are mandated for you to pay. I've bought a lot of vehicles in my long life. I have zero patience left for dealer games.

Was very excited in 07 when they came out with the new Tundra model. After buying one, it didn't take long to become disappointed. It was a two tanker! One tank to get over the mountain and another tank to get back. At twelve miles per gallon, I got rid of it fast. No matter the price I'm reluctant to ever buy another one.

I wanted a '24 4Runner before the model change. I tried 4 times to deal with the local dealer. Vehicle came with a wheel package that included wheel locks, but they added in a a "safety package" that included a first aid kit, window tint, and yeah wheel locks. Called them out on it and they adjusted the price, upped my trade in after a fight, but added in a windshield protection plan. I gave up and walked away.

"Toyota is convincing me to keep Buying 94 TOYOTA Celicas." Scotty Kilmer

When you think that you have a product everybody wants, you think that being screwed is what everybody wants.

So glad I bought my Silverado in 2019. Wheelock's$500 Window tint 900 Paint protection which is a total rip-off. People don't realize that is a film and if you keep your vehicle for a long time that's going to turn yellow and crack and look like crap. I had six windows in my truck tinted including the windshield with a visor tint for right around $500.00 They should charge $300 door handle and $1000.00 for a fuel tank

I just bought a 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV LT2 at sticker, great trade in offer no markup. Thanks Bob Howard Chevrolet in Edmond Oklahoma. Not all dealers are bad.

These charges are egregious . Toyota /Lexus won't be getting my business until they clean up their dealer act. What a license to steal supported by our congressional reps. Driving us all into the Tesla buying experience.

Just replaced my Prius with a Tesla. It’s almost like the car dealers know they are doomed and are trying to squeeze the most they can from people before the end. The Tesla price was the retail price from the website, with no BS add-on packages

Here is our tale of woe but it has nothing to do with inflated sticker prices. We have been buying Corolla's for our family for years. We tend to keep our cars until the wheels fall off that here in the the rust belt is 20-25 years. Our most recent purchase was a manual transmission 2020 Corolla. Manual transmissions have become a very small portion of the market so had to get one with lots of bells and whistles we were not interesting in. So far the 2020 Toyota has had a fuel pump recall. That was taken care of without much trouble. One of the sockets for the rear turn signals was misassembled. The contact was crushed. I was able to bend it back and it seems to be working. I checked into getting another socket to replace it but they seem to be keyed in a non-standard way. The only Toyota replacement is an entire harness. We just needed to have the rear brakes replaced as the passenger side disk pad was worn down to the metal even though there is plenty of life left on the front pads. Our mechanic said he is seeing more and more issue with short life on rear brakes. However the worst problem is at 50,000 the engine has started to burn oil even though I've changed the oil and filter every 5,000 miles instead of the recommended 10,000. Oh how could I forget. The audio system has free features for 3 years, but we were not interested, connecting our phones via Bluetooth works just fine. Every time you start the car there was a nag screen saying you needed to update the software. But since we never signed up for the "free" service were unable to do so. A year or so in I broke down and tried to sign up to get rid of the nag screen. The web site said our VIN was not recognized. During the warranty period the dealer managed to disable the nag screen so at least we no longer have to deal with that annoyance. Bypassing the screen was not a big deal but annoying after paying for the car to have to deal with ads to upgrade. We will not in the market for another car for a while, our other car is a 2008 Corolla. We will play it by ear when that time comes but overall very disappointed in Toyota.

Boy you hit the nail on the head when you popped up the logo for Southeast Toyota LLC. I priced my vehicle outside of Southeast Toyota, got a purchase order (was actually willing to drive to get the exact Toyota I wanted) but gave my local Southeast Toyota dealership a chance to meet the offer…they did. Of course it was all about the out the door price and I had not discussed financing…why, because I use to work at the freakin dealership and knew all the things they did to jack up the price!! I had to go to another state! This was right at the beginning of Covid, so the “shortage” of vehicles that they’re still experiencing 🙄 hadn’t started. I didn’t leave selling cars because of customers or because of the hours, it was the lying from the management that I couldn’t stand. It was toxic. I’m aware that not every dealership is bad, but there’s a reason for your videos and why people need to be educated before they buy a car. That said, I do think there is a bit, not all by any means, of an issue of supply and demand for certain Toyota’s. Prius Prime is a good example. However, Toyota is literally loosing millions by not producing enough of these cars just so dealerships can make a few thousand.

Unfortunately, I had a similar experience. Went to look at a new Tundra, and before any conversation took place I was told "$5000 over MSRP and $1800 for dealer installed security system and paint protection"; I walked away...

I love the father-son dynamic. It always reminds me of my own experience communicating with my parents lmao

I just bought a 2024 Honda crv exl, msrp was 35,600. Dealer listed it at 39,999. They put on like 4k of dealer added accessories. I paid 43k drive out… Tried to buy a new rav4, they are all presold. Best deal was 500$ down to hold rav, then i pay msrp plus tax. ( no guarantee i will get it at that price)