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Toyota offers 0% loans up to 5 years! (update - may extend deal)

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Old 10-06-08, 03:13 AM
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Overclocker
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Exclamation Toyota offers 0% loans up to 5 years! (update - may extend deal)

BY BRENT SNAVELY • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • October 4, 2008

In the wake of disastrous September sales figures, Toyota Motor Corp. has unveiled a 0% interest rate on eleven 2008 and 2009 Toyota-brand models for up to five years, including Camry and Corolla, its two top sellers.

"With the conditions we saw last month we thought this would be a great opportunity to bring customers back to the showroom," said Toyota spokeswoman Zoe Zeigler.

The move is a sign that the world's most profitable automaker has been hurt by the nation's economic crisis.

"The more Toyota becomes like General Motors, the more it has to rely on consumer incentives," said Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research Inc.

Toyota's 0% offer varies by model, with terms ranging from 36 to 60 months, and is set to expire Nov. 3. Models covered include: Matrix, Corolla, Camry, RAV4, Highlander, FJ Cruiser, 4Runner, Sequoia, Sienna, Tacoma and Tundra. Toyota declined to say which models qualify for the longer terms, saying the offer varies by region.

Toyota has traditionally avoided extensive consumer incentives, and Zeigler said, "We don't anticipate becoming a manufacturer that is heavy in the incentive areas."

But in September, Toyota's sales dropped an eye-popping 32.3% as industrywide U.S. sales hit their lowest levels since 1993. Toyota said the housing crisis and gulf coast hurricanes hurt sales in many regions and the financial crisis on Wall Street squelched consumer confidence.

"They've got their hand on their wallets and they are not using their disposable income," said Don Esmond, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota's U.S. sales arm.
Source: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a.../1019/BUSINESS

I saw the ad for this on the TV this weekend. I've NEVER seen Toyota offer financing like this. I wonder how long will it be before one of the Japanese luxury brands offers 0%?
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Old 10-06-08, 04:44 AM
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Threxx
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I noticed this the other day. The rates on their more popular and/or more fuel efficient vehicles are 0% for 36, 0.9 or 1.9 for 48, and 2.9 for 60

The Seq and Tundra must really be dragging because not only are they offering 0% for 60 months but they're throwing in an additional 1 to 2 thousand dollars in bonus cash on top of that.

http://www.buyatoyota.com/Specials/s...ge.aspx?s_van=
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Old 10-06-08, 07:00 AM
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Automakers need to make money considering the times.. 0% financing is great imo and will motivate some to buy... I "betcha" other automakers will follow suit.. Kudos to Toyota!
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Old 10-06-08, 07:08 AM
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They did have a promotion for the tundra for 0% earlier this year but there was no rebate.

With the economy as it is they need to do this.
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Old 10-06-08, 07:57 AM
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Originally Posted by DASHOCKER
Automakers need to make money considering the times.. 0% financing is great imo and will motivate some to buy... I "betcha" other automakers will follow suit.. Kudos to Toyota!
+1 Plus, by having the offer they don't really have to haggle as much. "Well I could give you the discount but then I can't give you the 0% financing"
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Old 10-06-08, 08:06 AM
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If you guys do end up buying new Toyota vehicles at this percentage rate, avoid the Toyota Silver/Gold/Platinum plan than the saleperson will try to get you to purchase.. It is quite the rip off if you do not average 10k miles per year ... A great way for dealers to recoup $$$ from the deal.. I wasted 5k for this unecessary plan back in 2002
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Old 10-06-08, 08:16 AM
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What is it? A service plan?
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Old 10-06-08, 08:18 AM
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Originally Posted by Allen K
What is it? A service plan?
i think he's talking about the extended warranty.
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Old 10-06-08, 09:12 AM
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Originally Posted by Allen K
What is it? A service plan?
It is a service plan & extended warranty plan in one.. It includes a coupon book for free oil changes, tire rotations, 100 bucks off 30/60/90k service.. Said coupon book was only good for 3 years time. Lesson learned, but I worked out a deal with the dealer to honor the coupons..

Here is more on the Toyota Extra Care Plan

Vehicle Service Agreements

New Vehicle | Toyota Certified Used Vehicle | Used Vehicle

Toyota Financial Services offers three different vehicle protection plans for your new vehicle, all designed to help protect you from the costs of unanticipated repairs. Each offers a variety of extended service coverage options.

Toyota Extra Care new vehicle protection plans can be purchased at any time while your vehicle:

Is less than three years old1 and
Has fewer than 36,000 total miles, whichever occurs first.
New Vehicle Protection Plan Summaries

Platinum Protection2
Our highest level of extended service coverage for virtually every component group in your vehicle. Coverage terms range from 3 years/50,000 total vehicle miles to 7 years/100,000 total vehicle miles.

Gold Protection
Provides extended service coverage for most major components. Coverage terms range from 3 years/80,000 total vehicle miles to 7 years/100,000 total vehicle miles.

Powertrain Protection
Provides extended service coverage for engine, transmission, and axle-assembly components. Provides coverage for 6 years/100,000 total miles.

Protection Plan Comparison Chart
View details about Benefits, Components, and Pricing for all three levels of protection.

For more information, call 1-800-228-8559 or visit your Toyota dealer. To locate the Toyota dealer nearest you, use our dealer locator.
http://www.toyotafinancial.com/consu...ProtectionPlan
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Old 10-06-08, 08:23 PM
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I just saw a 0% Toyota commercial today. It said 11 different models were eligible.
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Old 10-10-08, 11:20 AM
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http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-a...49875U20081009

YORK TOWNSHIP, Michigan (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) could extend an unprecedented offer of interest-free loans on most of its lineup but expects to be able to hold 2009 sales flat in a slumping U.S. auto market.

"We could," Toyota's North American sales chief Jim Lentz told Reuters on Thursday, when asked if the automaker plans to extend its zero-percent loan incentive beyond the November 3 expiry. "We will see how things are going."

Lentz, who sees the U.S. economy currently going through a recessionary period, said the $700 billion government bailout program would benefit the auto industry by helping improve U.S. consumer confidence.

"That will help improve the mood of the consumer and help consumer confidence, which is what drives our industry," he said.

Lentz, in the area to mark the opening of Toyota's new engineering and safety testing facility, said he expects the U.S. auto sales market to be about flat in 2009 overall and does not see any further decrease in the automaker's U.S. sales volume next year.

"We do not plan on having a decrease in volume next year," he said.

Toyota's U.S. sales are down 10.4 percent through the first nine months of the year.

The Japanese automaker began offering interest-free loans earlier this month on 11 of its models -- including its best-selling Camry and Corolla sedans -- in a rare move that followed a surprising 32 percent slide in its U.S. sales in September, its steepest drop in decades.

The offer, which is aimed at assisting buyers sidelined by the credit squeeze, has helped increase traffic slightly at Toyota dealerships, especially in southern California, Lentz said.

Toyota, along with every other major manufacturer, was hurt last month by the severe credit crunch that rocked U.S. consumer confidence, especially in the last 10 days of September.

U.S. industrywide auto sales plunged 26 percent in September and the adjusted annual rate of sales, a key figure watched by economists, bumped along at a 15-year lows.

Lentz had earlier told reporters that consumer confidence is the biggest challenge to Toyota right now as the U.S. goes through a downturn.

"I don't think we are losing business in our dealerships because of lack of credit for consumers," Lentz said.

The global credit crunch and turmoil in financial markets are affecting the automaker's business "more from a consumer confidence standpoint," he said.

Lentz said Toyota dealers were in good shape despite the difficult period, and he does not expect to see any of the automaker's retailers failing.

The U.S. auto market will see a recovery in sales in 2010 with further improvements in 2011 and beyond, he said.

Toyota sees the U.S. auto industry's annual sales reaching 17 million units again in the middle of next decade, he added.

"We are in the middle of the storm right now," he said, but he believed the future of the industry was strong.
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Old 10-10-08, 01:13 PM
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anyone think this offer will extend upwards to the Lexus lineup?
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Old 10-10-08, 03:05 PM
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if they built a sports car I would be shopping them, they have 0. Too bad.
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Old 10-11-08, 02:43 AM
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its too bad that there is nothing toyota makes that is of any interest to me right now, except for trucks. plus a friend of mine works for toyota corporate so im sure i could have gotten even better, oh well.
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Old 10-11-08, 07:23 AM
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"They've got their hand on their wallets and they are not using their disposable income," said Don Esmond, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota's U.S. sales arm.

Perhaps it's just because my background is economics as I am more critical of such statements, but I frankly don't know of too many close friends around me who have any bit of disposable income toward a new vehicle of any kind. In fact, no income that I know of is disposable right now.

Last edited by Lexmex; 10-11-08 at 09:34 AM.
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