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Old 05-29-2012, 11:30 PM   #72
ruskymx
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Drives: 13 HotLava FRS, 93 4Runner, 97 Taco
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I feel obligated to chime in on this one since I've been a salesman at my dealership for 10+ years now. I'm not saying that I know everything because I don't and still learn something just about everyday.

Since MrFRsLa is salesman too, he has no say, (well, he can voice his opinion, but it will fall on deaf ears), as to what his dealership wants to do with their inventory of FRS's. It seems to me that his dealership is trying to take advantage of the hype/demand for the car and just want to make a quick buck. The reason they are not taking deposits is because they had all intentions of loading them up with as much stuff as they wanted to increase the profit margins on them. It would be much harder for them to add extras to the cars if they had deposits already and customers were expecting the car to be basic with no extras. If his dealership seriously wants to increase their sales, they need to immediately stop adding extra stuff to all their FRS's. I can see accessorizing one as a showroom display model to show examples of things that can be done so that a consumer can see what the car looks like with X, Y and Z accessories, but be prepared to sit on that model for a while. I definitely would wait for the "hype" to settle down as well. The faster you sell your inventory, the faster Toyota/Scion will allocate you more cars. Having more cars available, will in turn increase your sales. You can't sell what you don't have. Good luck dong a dealer trade for an FRS without one to give back.

Will this dealership sell these loaded up cars.....probably, but they would be able to sell them faster as base models and earn more inventory quicker. Putting short term gains ahead of long term benefits is actually against the "Toyota Way"/culture of the company. I already read the book [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071392319/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=jefatfretoy-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creative ASIN=0071392319"]The Toyota Way[/ame] by Jeff Liker and I'm currently reading [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/007176299X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=jefatfretoy-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creative ASIN=007176299X"]Toyota Under Fire: Lessons for Turning Crisis into Opportunity[/ame], which is about how Toyota handled the recalls and used it as an opportunity to grow. It's an excellent read so far on how companies should think, large and small.

I'm not bashing MrFRsLa either. He is actually doing the right thing by telling you what to expect when you see his cars or consider purchasing one. It's better to know upfront instead of getting there and there's $3k worth of stuff on the car that you don't want. If you know about the extras ahead of time, then you can decide if you even want to make the effort to go look at it.

Now as far as the ownership of the vehicle goes, when you finance a vehicle, you are the REGISTERED owner of the car. You offer the car as collateral to the bank to provide you with the loan to purchase it. Collateral is defined as an asset pledged as security for a loan. An asset is defined as something of monetary value that is owned by a firm or an individual.The bank is then listed on the title as a lien holder. A lienholder is the bank, finance company, credit union, other financial institution, or individual with whom you signed an agreement to borrow money using a particular asset, such as a car, as collateral.

Now when you lease a car, you are NOT the owner of the vehicle. The lease company, Toyota Fianancial Services, owns the vehicle. A lease is defined as an agreement between two parties whereby one party allows the other to use his/her property for a certain period of time in exchange for a periodic fee. Auto leases are an operating lease, which is short-term and the lessor (bank) retains all rights of ownership at all times.

MrFRsLa is correct in saying that consumers do not own the vehicle even if they leave a deposit on it. In PA, a consumer can back out and change their mind at any point, even after signing paperwork, but if they drive off of the dealership's property with THEIR registration, the are now an OWNER. If they go down the street and turn around and come back on the lot, technically the dealer can turn the customer away and say it's their car and we can't take it back. If that would happen, let the PR firestorm begin! This never happened at my dealership, but we have had customers come back on a Monday that bought a car on Saturday with buyer's remorse.

*off topic* My car still didn't ship yet! I hope it does tomorrow. My region was supposed to release the FRS's from the port today.

Ruskymx

Last edited by ruskymx; 05-29-2012 at 11:48 PM.
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The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to ruskymx For This Useful Post:
bestwheelbase (05-30-2012), denkigrve (05-29-2012), Fly Guy (05-30-2012), kwood9000 (05-30-2012), MrFRsLa (05-29-2012)