Are most Scion dealers adding on outrageous extra fees to the price?

[r311music]

All the local dealers here in central Florida add a 699 fee and most of them install the theft and appearance packages. Even a base MT costs over 26k before taxes and registration. And it's hard to even find a base model, as many have the bespoke upgrade that I don't care for. Hopefully one turns up soon as I'm ready to finally have a car...

[bestwheelbase]

Originally Posted by m.wood0213

nope. where I am there were 2 Subaru dealerships within 100 miles and the one I bought mine from just packed up and moved to another state. Also when I was ready to buy there were 0 FRS's available in the 20 Scion/Toyota dealerships within 50 miles. I Didn't have many options.

The important thing is that you were happy with your purchase. I just hate those added fees!

[bestwheelbase]

Originally Posted by mike the snake

Just bought my BRZ a week ago. Price was 3 grand over manufacturers price.

Congrats on the new car!

[projek_01]

This scion pure pricing crap is so stupid. My dealership is trying to sneak in $1000 of hidden addons at the financing department. They did not even explain what i was getting. Just what i would be paying monthly and where to sign.

Finance guy blames sales guy, sales guy blames financing guy. This is the #1 volume dealer in my area. We all need to complain to Toyota and local associations about the sketchy things added on if they are indeed sketchy.

It would have been fair if i was told about the addons and i could refuse them. I was just told to sign. I had to do the math before hand at home to notice that something was tacked on compared to the price i was given earlier

[DCStorm]

Originally Posted by r311music

All the local dealers here in central Florida add a 699 fee and most of them install the theft and appearance packages. Even a base MT costs over 26k before taxes and registration. And it's hard to even find a base model, as many have the bespoke upgrade that I don't care for. Hopefully one turns up soon as I'm ready to finally have a car...

This is so true, just stay away from the "Toyota of Orlando" dealership. All of the FRS' in their lot are practically fully loaded with a bunch of extra crap, $400 window tint, $400 paint protection, $900 bespoke, etc. Almost all of them are marked over 29k. I ended up getting mine somewhere else for less but it still had the bespoke system haha

[m.wood0213]

ppl are adding stupid costs to the twins because they can and know someone somewhere will buy it.

[@Art_Mighty]

Originally Posted by losjackal

Indeed, but I don't believe Scion has "fixed pricing". From what I've read, dealers are free to set their own price, but once they advertise a price that is the price you will pay for it. In other words, they are promising no hours of haggling down the price. Saturn was previously famous for this pricing policy.

Dealers shouldn't need to pad the sale if the posted price is MSRP. That is, unless they are trying to cash in on the rarity of the car. Otherwise, I believe they are still free to play games with the value of a trade-in, etc, to get you to buy from them.

This...

"Price Fixing" is illegal so the reality is that dealers can charge whatever they want for a car and add whatever items to it to pad their profit. Scion's "Pure Pricing" is just a marketing ploy, a suggestion to the dealer but it's pretty clear there's no consequence to dealers who "market adjust" their cars.

[r311music]

Originally Posted by DCStorm

This is so true, just stay away from the "Toyota of Orlando" dealership. All of the FRS' in their lot are practically fully loaded with a bunch of extra crap, $400 window tint, $400 paint protection, $900 bespoke, etc. Almost all of them are marked over 29k. I ended up getting mine somewhere else for less but it still had the bespoke system haha

Yea I won't even step foot in that dealership. I'm currently working with an Autonation dealer, as they seem more interested in selling at MSRP plus the $699 dealer fee. I can deal with that, as that's what the market is willing to pay. They never have more than 2-3 on the lot. Toyota of Orlando currently has 20+ sitting on the lot since they are way overpriced for the area.

[Fluxx]

They got me for $299 on document fees. I paid $25,550 for the car. They did try to talk me into adding a spoiler (which I didn't want under any circumstances), the Bespoke stereo (which I also didn't want), and a TRD exhaust. I bought none of it. I did like the sound of the TRD exhaust though, but when I drove the car that had it, it didn't feel any different than mine, although it did sound better.

[subascion86]

I'm the guy that started this thread and I just want to thank everybody for all the great replies.

I've really learned a lot already and feel like I'm much better prepared for the buying process. This place blows away all the other forums I've been on by far!

[PSORngr]

I just bought one a week ago (also in the Atlanta area). Cobb County Toyota up in Kennesaw (near Town Center Mall) didn't have any sort of doc fee. I think all of their cars did have window tint ($399) and Borla cat back exhaust ($699) installed though. Then again, if you want an exhaust system installed $699 for the Borla is a good price since Borla sells it direct for $890.
It sounds really nice too.

[MotorboatinSonOfA]

I'm buying a Raven FR-S MT with ZERO options. This is my second time around when it comes to buying a car (my last purchase was also an FR-S, it's a long story) and I've learned from my mistakes.

Although dealers do add on several fees, you have to keep in mind that although these cars are selling pretty well (afaik) they are still not "rare" vehicles. If you're willing to be somewhat patient, you can negotiate a better price. Just remember that they can always order you an fr-s with the options you desire, they're not going to stop building these cars anytime soon. Going into the dealership puts you in their playing field where they can easily convince you to pay more than you expected, for what you didn't originally ask for in some cases.

This time around, I seem to be doing much better at negotiating the price of the vehicle.

My strategy so far:

1. Reach out to about 5-10 dealers (via email) that you're willing to drive to (in case they do give you the best price in the end) asking for them to send you an out the door price with everything broken down in detail. Tell them you're going to purchase the car from the dealership that offers you the lowest price.
2. Contact a dealer of your choice that provided you a higher price than the lowest offer you've received (price A) , letting them know that you received a better offer (this step I did via phone).
3. Wait for that dealer to give you a better price (price B) than the lowest that you received originally, making sure to follow up if they "cannot" lower the price more. To convince them you can tell them that you won't be buying from them because they weren't able to get you the best out the door price.
4. Reach out to another dealer (by phone or email) letting them know that you've been quoted a lower price (show them the new lowest price that you got). They should get back to you with an even lower price (price C).
5. Contact the first dealer that gave you the lowest price (price A) and tell them that you found a lower price (price C), in order to see if they can give you an even lower price (price D).

Right now I'm waiting on 'price C'.

Summary: The basic strategy is to keep on getting a lower price than the last dealer and then eventually get to a price point that you're willing to pay.

I've already gotten the car to a few hundred dollars over MSRP for the OTD price. I'm in the Southeast region and when I was contacting dealers, the Toyota of Orlando (near Mall At Millenia) said that they wouldn't provide any pricing over the phone or email, that I would have to be there in person to get a price. I didn't even bother with them after that although I may show them a printout of the quote that I got to see if they can offer me something lower.

For this purchase I have yet to walk into a dealership and I've already been quoted an unbelievable price (IMO).

Some other tips:
1.Use your own financing (ex. From your bank), this prevents you from having to compare financing offers from dealerships as some may offer you different terms and interest rates which may cause you to pay more money.
2. Don't give in to their marketing ploys. They'll tell you they only have one car in stock and that they can't get any more.
3. Don't buy the car after going to the dealership in person (unless you've already negotiated the lowest price possible by getting dealerships to compete to provide you the lowest price). It's easy to fall victim to this kind of thing, I did with my first purchase. I wasted time negotiating the price at the dealership and got options I didn't want on the car. I went in telling myself that I wouldn't leave with a car as I was only there for a quote and I left with a car!

That's all for now, sorry for the long post. Ask away if you have any questions

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

[Frstorm]

Motorboat, all I did was was go in there with my options printed off online through scion and said this is the price I want with these options, they said destination charge was required I said destination charge was 845 why not throw in the spoiler for free then and they said sounds good. Signed the papers, two weeks later car arrived I picked it up they then realized on my way the car had a different vin number so I went back and they thru tint in for free for not being upset about having to resign the paperwork. Mind you the sales man was awesome and that was alot less work than you described

[r311music]

Originally Posted by Frstorm

Motorboat, all I did was was go in there with my options printed off online through scion and said this is the price I want with these options, they said destination charge was required I said destination charge was 845 why not throw in the spoiler for free then and they said sounds good. Signed the papers, two weeks later car arrived I picked it up they then realized on my way the car had a different vin number so I went back and they thru tint in for free for not being upset about having to resign the paperwork. Mind you the sales man was awesome and that was alot less work than you described

Consider yourself lucky. I'm sure the region you buy you car in has to do a lot with how much they are willing negotiate. Florida is a hot market for these cars, so dealers try to get away with as many extra fee's as possible. I'm hoping my strategy of being patient pays off. It just sucks not having a car during the wet season here in central Florida...