This shouldn't be the only determination of a "good" price.

 

Same, this really should be the future of car buying. Replace salespeople who are more interested in commissions and gimmicks (like convincing people that getting a "discount" on MSRP is a good deal) with knowledgeable, customer-oriented staff, under a business model that is more interested in getting customers the products and options that they want. I think Lexus is well-positioned to adopt this model.


Same deal with my Cayman, found the car I wanted across the country, FedEx'ed paperwork on the dealer's dime and had the car a week later.

In this day and age, buyers are severely restricting their options for on-lot vehicles if they're not willing to buy remotely.

 

Dealerships have learned how to do this due to COVID, and consumers have learned that this is a good way to do it.

When we got the Pacifica, I went in and drove it and negotiated the deal in person (which I usually don't do) and had them look at my 2017 Pacifica trade. Then they delivered the new van to my home, and brought all the paperwork. Its really not that much paperwork, especially for you since you didnt have a loan. I signed the paperwork on top of the trash can in my garage. Then he took the tag off the old one, put it on the new one, and drove the old one away. Easy peasy.

When I got the Mercedes I did it in the dealer, all the forms are electronic signature, I never signed one document by hand.

I mean, if people can buy and sell real estate remotely (and they do it with me every day) they can buy a car remotely.

Best part about signing the docs in my garage? No finance office, so no trying to sell me bull**** I don't need.

 

No matter where you are (home or dealership), theres one simple way to deal with that............

 

Says the guy who bought the paint and fabric protection on his new car

I of course always say no but sometimes they are VERY aggressive and I have had to get up to leave to get them to drop it. I havent had that experience when buying luxury cars, but the 2017 Pacifica I litertally told the woman if she said one more word about anything other than the finance paperwork I was done. She just would not quit. Being a salesman myself I am very tolerant of people trying to sell me things, but they often go way too far.

 

I said no to everything else....the usual sales pitches.

 

They got you on that one though, thats a big money grab.

All in all, I'd just rather not be put in that position.

 

Actually, no, they didn't "Get" me on that one. They included free washes with it....which is one thing I wanted. I'm getting too old for the constant Scrub-a-Dub routine from stem to stern, though I can still do it if I work slowly and take rests.

That's one area, BTW, where I disagreed with my brother. He likes those Nitrogen-tire-fill packages. IMO they are a waste of money.

 

A lot of that depends on what the quality of the car washes are. No car dealership I’ve ever done business with washes a car the way I want a car washed, so I’d wind up not using them anyways.

Nitrogen is another one. Air is 78% nitrogen, makes no difference.

 

After salted roads, any wash is better than nothing LOL.

One reason I'm willing to use automated washes, though, today, where I didn't like them in the past, is that the highway crews don't dump sand on the roads any more in my area. That practice seems to be gone....today, it's salt, brine-stripes, or chemical de-icers.

Trust me....that sand and gravel was a real PITA. . It got up inside cracks, nooks, wheel wells, mirror-housings, You-Name-It, and, when wet, stuck to the paint like a magnet. You had to be thorough, and I mean VERY thorough, to flood and rinse ALL of it off (which, to get everything, could be very difficult), before doing the regular wash....and automated car-washes could grind the sand-particles into the paint and glass like sandpaper and cause scratching.

The sand and gravel also got kicked up by the tires of vehicles passing you and/or cutting in front of you, and caused damage to your vehicle's paint and trim. I'm more than glad to see it gone.


Yeah, I've argued that with him about that till I'm blue in the face. He's convinced, though, that nitrogen doesn't leak like regular air does. And, for whatever reasons, they use nitrogen in racing.

 

Anyhow, back to topic, Toyota isn't necessarily alone. A number of manufacturers (and dealerships), partially because of the pandemic, are doing, or experimenting with, home-deliveries.

 

I use an automated wash too, but they're not all created equal...

 

I don’t understand what is the big issue with buying on line. If that is what someone wants to do, then good for them. More choices for the consumer, the better.

I also don’t understand what is the big hate about dealers. If you don’t want something, then say it..

What I do dislike and find very unattractive are those that just want to squeeze every single dollar out of the dealer so they make no money.

 

Steve, this from a September 2020 Popular Mechanics article:
With nitrogen, your tire pressures will remain more constant, saving you a small amount in fuel and tire-maintenance costs. There will be less moisture inside your tires, which means less corrosion on your wheels. However, if your tires were filled with nitrogen (usually denoted by green valve-stem caps) and you’re low on pressure, don’t be afraid to bring up your psi with regular old air.

 

i agree with this.

while the dealer tactics and 'incentive' model is pretty distasteful to me, i do have compassion for the poor salesperson trying to provide a living for themselves or their family. i am never about squeezing every dollar our. that said, i'm not walking in and paying what they say like i did with my first car!