Ordering A Solara

[ItalianRN]

Has anyone ordered a Solara from the factory because they didn't have what you were looking for within the 5 SE States? I just went to a dealership that was recommended to me & I'm pretty sure that this guy was so full of it. I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

When he couldn't find what I was looking for, he tried to sell me what they had & then he even tried to sell me an Avalon. He told me that if I ordered one to be made at the factory, there is no additional charge. Then he said that it may have a more expensive price tag when it comes in because it takes 90 - 120 days to receive it. He also said that I can't put money down on it in advance. I had to wait till the car came in next year.

I have a good credit rating, & he said my Int. rate would be in the 2- digits. He said if you have a 740 beacon, you would get a 7% rate. That's when I KNEW the guy was full of it. I told him that I have a Toyota ad from yesterday's paper (Sunday), with a 0% if you have a 740 beacon. He didn't say a word.

I asked him about the tint & he said they send it out & he didn't know anything about the type of film they use. I did my homework. I know quite a bit about the different types of films that are used. I won't get it done by Toyota.

He also asked me if I wanted to add on things that were part of the Standard equip on the V6 SLE. He was a Director of New Car Sales but he didn't know squat about the Solara. Thank God I did.

Can't you put a down payment on the car when you order it to lock in the price? You do that with anything else you custom order.

Do the prices go up or down in January / February. I'd rather just put a down payment down & secure the price.

I won't buy from this guy. He price was over 28,000 & the only extra things were the VSC with TRAC & the car mats. The dealer fee was $700.

I told my co-worker, who recommended this place, & he was so apologetic. I don't blame him. He was just trying to help me.

Any thoughts on ordering the car?

Thanks.

Annette

[iinokturnolii]

i had to order mine since i went to a few dealerships around the bay area there were no black on black 2006 v6 se sports. it took me about 4 weeks to get mine. but you said the guy said it would be extra cost to order one? that is crap! there were no extra charge for me. they tried to sell me other ones that were there also, but they gave up when they found out that that was the only one i wanted. so try ordering it from another dealership. they will prolly not bullsh!t you there good luck!

*edit* i own a:
2006 V6 SE Sport w/Leather seats
$26,600 out the door.
Good deal? I really dont know...

[Astro]

Yeah, I'd order it. You're buying the car you want, not what the dealer wants! If I had to, I'd wait a month or more. But, I'd keep my eye open if another came up. Also, make sure you order it with a lip kit, or else it'll be hard to get. If you don't want it, you could always sell it...

[MCOjerry]

Annette, where in FL are you? I'm in Orlando, and can tell you that most of the Toyota dealers here SUCK and are BIG rip off artists.

I was at Toyota of Central Florida a couple of weeks back, and they had one of those scrolling message macines that said that the interest reate for a 740 beacon was around 7%...OK, that's HORRIBLE! 740 is a great score, and if that's as low as they can go?!? The other proble with the beacon score, is that if you live in the south, it's usually your LOWEST score. Equifax is a southern based bureau (Atlanta, I think), so most souther companies that report, report to Equifax, and may not report to the other two bureaus. That's not very fair, but it's the way credit works, and living in the south makes it worse.

You should not have to pay more for ordering a car, and they are going to require you to put money down, so if you are doing that the price should be negotiated already. They shouldn't be able to raise it on you sole based on when it's delivered.

My suggestion is to go to your credit union (if you have one) and check out their rates, they're usually good. Another option is Capitol One http://www.capitalone.com/autoloans/aut ... _03_T_ALNU I'm not sure how good they are to deal with, but for a 36 mo loan, rates are 5.99 and 60 mo is 6.35, with good credit. With either of these, you go to the dealer knowing what you're approved for, and tell THEM what YOU are going to pay. If you finance through them, they will find a way to make sure they hide money here and there, and they will not give you a deal. If you go with a blank check and say; "I'll give you $XX,xxx for this car right now", you have more bargaining power.

Damn! Dealer's SUCK! I just don't understand why they don't get that better treatment will mean more satisfied customers!

Anyway, if you are in Orlando, I can tell you that you won't find a GOOD Toyota dealer...sorry.

[MCOjerry]

i had to order mine since i went to a few dealerships around the bay area there were no black on black 2006 v6 se sports. it took me about 4 weeks to get mine. but you said the guy said it would be extra cost to order one? that is crap! there were no extra charge for me. they tried to sell me other ones that were there also, but they gave up when they found out that that was the only one i wanted. so try ordering it from another dealership. they will prolly not bullsh!t you there good luck!

*edit* i own a:
2006 V6 SE Sport w/Leather seats
$26,600 out the door.
Good deal? I really dont know...

Who's to say what's a good deal anymore...the dealers add on so much worthless stuff before you even get there, and mark up the prices ridiculously. I paid $31000 for my 06 V6 SLE convertble. It was too much, but I really wanted the car, and it was the only one they had

[Turbosolara]

what about try carsdirect.com? i think when you place your order, it is not directly from the factory but they just try to relocate the vehicle for you thru out the region.

[FLUXEMAG]

The more pivot points you offer a dealer to negotiate on, the more likely you are to miss an extra charge that is just for their profit.

If you trade in a car and finance it there at the dealer, you now have at least 3 pivot points, the rate, the trade, and the selling price. If they conced one, the other goes up. If you lease a car, your actually adding a 4th pivot, the estimated value of the car when your lease is up. Ordering the car from the factory should be the same, but salesmen will use it as a tit for tat thing to get you to concede on another pivot.

My advice, order the car from the factory through fleet sales with no trade in and independent bank financing. Then all they have to get you on is the sale price (and the warranty).

[iinokturnolii]

i totally agree with what you say... i do love this car. and the price is something you just cant think about too much or your will get pissed off at it... lol... i never really thought about it that way. THANKS!

i had to order mine since i went to a few dealerships around the bay area there were no black on black 2006 v6 se sports. it took me about 4 weeks to get mine. but you said the guy said it would be extra cost to order one? that is crap! there were no extra charge for me. they tried to sell me other ones that were there also, but they gave up when they found out that that was the only one i wanted. so try ordering it from another dealership. they will prolly not bullsh!t you there good luck!

*edit* i own a:
2006 V6 SE Sport w/Leather seats
$26,600 out the door.
Good deal? I really dont know...

Who's to say what's a good deal anymore...the dealers add on so much worthless stuff before you even get there, and mark up the prices ridiculously. I paid $31000 for my 06 V6 SLE convertble. It was too much, but I really wanted the car, and it was the only one they had

[scottct1]

I ordered an 07 Solara Convertible in May of this year. I was told it would be in the first week of July. I did not receive my car until the 2nd week of August. I did not have to pay any extra to get the car from the factory with the options I wanted. That being said, I was told you can't "order" a car from Toyota, but rather they can allocate on to you with what you want on it. Not sure what the difference is really but that is what I was told.

On a separate note, that 07 Convertible has LITERALLY been at the Toyota dealer more than it has been in my driveway since owning it. I hope your car is not as problematic as mine is. I have had 5 different safety issues already. (Airbags, front suspension twice, speedometer not working, and something with the lights.) I told the dealer this is the last time I am bringing it back and then I am lemon lawing the car. The really sad thing is I love the car. I went looking at other cars and I don't see anything I would like other than the car I have. I really hope they can get all the bugs out this time! It has been at the dealer over 11 days this time, and they still don't know when I am going to get it back. Nice to buy a Solara and get the privelege of driving a Yaris!!

[MCOjerry]

^^OUCH! Still having probs? Not sure if Lemon Law will work, not all the same problem

If they let you, tell them you want them to give you a new one. It's not likely that that one will have the same issues. Best of luck!

[chuchurocket]

i live in Canada, so i dunno whether it's the same or not, i ordered my solara in mid september/03, when the gen2 first came out. the dealer i went to had no white 4 cyl avaliable, so they told me i could put a deposit down, and expect 3 months of wait time, i ask them what if i decided that i don't like the car when it arrived? dealer told me that i can get my deposit back for any reason no question asked whenever i want it. so i went along with it, and the car arrived in only 1 and half months (Oct/31/03 to be exact). when i was placing order for the car, the dealer asked NOTHING about how im gonna pay for it and they asked nothing about my credit rating, all i did was told them i wanted a 4cyl white colored solara, and signed a cheque. so if you ask me, yeah ur dealer is full of it

[Down2TheC]

Try this...
http://www.autonation.com/

They hold their dealers to a better standard and you might find one nearby. They'll usually move cars between dealerships to match you and the car you want. Much quicker than an order. But if it's a really hot seller then they probably have them rolling off the production line anyway.

That said, I'd think you'll lose some bargaining power if you walk into your local dealer saying that you want them to bring a car in from TX. They want to sell what they have.

I pre-ordered the ragtop before the press release in '04. But that was a different situation. Total leap of faith.

[linmk2]

Some time ago I worked for a Toyota dealership, so I will try to explain the "allocation" process. You can not order a car from the factory. The factory's only customer is the Toyota Distributor. There are a number through out the US. In my case, it was Gulf States Toyota located in Houston. GST, provided cars in Texas, Lousiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and perhaps one other state. Toyotas are sent to the Distributor from the manufacturing location. Here the Distributor may add it's own touches, such as pin stripes, alarms, sealant packages and the like. Each dealer, within the network gets allocated, a certain number of cars. The allocation is based on a number of factors. Dealer location, previous sales history, and at times, at least in the past, on CSI. Hot cars in short supply go to the favored dealers. As to ordering, each month an allocation is sent to the dealer. He can ask for a certain car with the equipment the customer wants. Sometimes, such a car is waiting in the distributor pool. Other times, the distributor has to wait for the car to come into the pool. Not as easy as American cars where you just order from the factory.

[ItalianRN]

Yeah, I'd order it. You're buying the car you want, not what the dealer wants! If I had to, I'd wait a month or more. But, I'd keep my eye open if another came up. Also, make sure you order it with a lip kit, or else it'll be hard to get. If you don't want it, you could always sell it...

Do you think the price would be lower if I wait another month or so? What's a lip kit?