The short answer is no - I do not know for fact how all dealer trades work. My folks purchased a new Avalon a couple of years ago that the dealer had to trade for and it did not work anything like you describe. They sent a driver to the dealer in Indiana to pick it up, and drove it back to the selling dealership here in Michigan. They were going to charge them $250 to have it brought back on a car carrier/trailer. They declined. Pretty simple.

The situation you describe sounds like a similar deal (or should I say "scam") another local "reputable" dealership pulled on me several years ago. I won't bore you with the details but it boils down to being dishonest and deceptive with the customer. They were hoping they could string me along so that they could either find the vehicle I wanted, find a dealership that was willing to trade for the vehicle I wanted (dealerships are not obligated to trade with other dealerships and are likely not to if they have a popular model/trim level), or wear me down until I settled for something they already have on the lot.

I hate to stereotype, but it is dealerships like that give all "car sales people" a bad name. I hope there is some other legitimate reason why the dealer is being evasive and everything works out for you.

 

The short answer is no - I do not know for fact how all dealer trades work. My folks purchased a new Avalon a couple of years ago that the dealer had to trade for and it did not work anything like you describe. They sent a driver to the dealer in Indiana to pick it up, and drove it back to the selling dealership here in Michigan. They were going to charge them $250 to have it brought back on a car carrier/trailer. They declined. Pretty simple.

They did mention early on that if they found the right vehicle at another dealer close enough, they'd send a driver to pick it up. I can only assume that because they didn't do that, it was found at a dealership several hundred miles away.

I'll know in a few days if they were trying some sort of scam. I kind of doubt they are. I suspect they're just apathetic and too busy working new sales leads to take the time to track down where a "sold car" is.

 

I don't know about where you are, but around here it's standard practice for dealers to NOT tell you where your car is coming from if it's a dealer trade. Seems to be that they're concerned that if they tell you where your car is, that you'll just take your business to that dealer instead. I've run into this a number of times, most recently on an Audi - all they'd say is that it was not too far away, but there was no way they were giving me an exact location.

With my RAV4 I didn't run into this as it wasn't a dealer trade, but I was surprised as to how little they claimed to know about where the car was while I was waiting for it to come in on the truck. They couldn't or wouldn't even give me a VIN until it had rolled onto the lot.

 

A legit dealer trade shouldn't take more than a day or 2. The dealer locates the car, negotiates a trade, and then goes and picks it up. Any time a dealer gets you to "order" a car, they have effectively taken you out of the market. In other words you won't be buying from a competitor. They then hope a car shows up that you will buy.

 

I will agree with bmorton. My folks did not know the specific dealer the Avalon was coming from, but they did know it was coming from Indiana. I guess if they tried hard enough, they could have searched themselves and found it.

But it does not change the fact that they are being evasive with you and you certainly do not appear to be a priority. If they actually had the vehicle located and negotiated for trade, you would have it by now. If the vehicle is indeed that far away, there would be more latitude to give you information on its disposition. There is some other motive or circumstance they are unwilling to reveal. Your the customer - they should treat you like one! Just my opinion.

 

I'm definitely putting my foot down Monday. They're either going to tell me where it is, and its VIN, or we're done.

Complicating things, they offered us a ridiculously low trade-in price, so we decided to privately sell the car we're getting rid of. It sold to a friend of a friend before we even got around to placing an add in the paper. They already arranged to sell their car too, and want to do both transfers Monday.

 

njl - I know it can be frustrating to have to do that, but I hate to give my business (especially major purchases) to businesses that just don't understand the customer relationship. I don't expect them to expose everything - they have a business to run and some things are to remain confidential. But I do expect honesty and some degree of transparency, especially if I have made a commitment to buy from them.

In the city I live in, we have all car brand dealerships represented (in most cases, many times over). Unfortunatrly, we have only one Toyota dealer here in town and I have had poor (I am being overly nice here!) dealings with them on 3 separate occasions. So I drive 30 minutes to the next closest dealer and they are great. My point is that some dealerships just operate with a non-customer centric mentality. I have no idea how they stay in business. In my case, the local dealer is the smallest Toyota dealer I have ever seen (literally) and they probably get away their attitude because they are the only "local" Toyota dealer. Needless to say, they are not in Toyota's Presidents Club.

Everyone has thier own tolerance level for this sort of thing and over the years, my tolerance level has probably deteriorated. If I have $30k+ to drop on a purchase, the last thing I need is shell games and attitude.

Good luck ---- again.

 

RELAX

Nj, you should relax a little. If you want a RAV4 and your dealer can get it wait a little, keep calm. Putting your foot down means nothing except you won't get your Rav4. It is a sellers market for the most part. If you don't take the car then, someone else will. Also, things do not go exactly by the numbers at the port etc.

If the price was good and it is what you want, give it two weeks!
It will take you two weeks or two months to find another one and how do you know that dealer is "honest". It is a business and they mix keeping customers happy and sales flowing. Most of the people on these sites get their cars but not as fast or as smooth as they like.
Good luck

 

The colour"Everglade" ,base V6 which we wanted was not available on either of our dealer's lots. They found one in the next province and told us it would be ready in 3 days for us to pick up. One day to get it , one day for dealer preps and the third day deliver to us. All went as planned. We were told where it was coming from and the dealer's name. Nothing was hidden from us.

 

I think I did about average as far as negotiating a price.

How's $26k on a V6 Limited 2WD with
side curtain airbags
JBL stereo
daytime running lights
and some kind of floor/cargo mats (got them to throw it in, and didn't specify an exact type)
+ state sales tax, registration, and state tire and battery fees?

According to Edmunds, that's right on their TMV "What others are paying" price.

The real problem is its taking longer than they said it would. They're unable or unwilling to provide any details on the status of the order. And we have a buyer eager to take our old car Monday, so we're going to be short until the new one either arrives or we find one elsewhere. If they'd just give an update like "it left the original dealership last Thursday", I'd be happier.

 

price

I would have thought $24500 before tax and stuff would be a good price for 2wd with no sunroof

 

Re: price

I would have thought $24500 before tax and stuff would be a good price for 2wd with no sunroof

According to Edmunds, that'd be below invoice.

BTW, I went by the dealer today and talked to the sales manager. It was like I was in a totally different dealership. He gave me the VIN, told me where my RAV was coming from and when the dealer trade was "ordered", and said he could call the port tomorrow to see if its passed through there yet. He even offered a rental car when I told him about our situation with likely losing the car we're selling tomorrow.

One thing he said did confuse me though. He said there was one non-requested option already on it for which I wouldn't be charged: Color matched fender flares. According to the brochure, those are standard on the Sport trim, and not an offered option on the Base or Limited. I guess they could be a dealer/port installed option?

So I'm hopeful now that it could be here in the next day or so, and I can call the dealer it came from and ask them when it left their lot. In fact, I already have called them, but found they're not open on Sundays.

At least the VIN does check out as a RAV4 V6 Limited.

 

price

Well invoice is $24080 without mats for 2wd V6 Limited, Look at MSN web site . don't confuse TMS with invoice I am suprised you found a limited with no sunroof

For about $26k you shold be getting AWD with no tow

Enjoy your RAV4...wow fender flares on a Limited. The only one in the world I think

 

A dealer trade doesn't always mean that your car is coming from another dealer, the trade may just be on paper, and the car allocated to the other dealer is now going to be delivered to your dealer instead when it comes off the boat, which they may or may not have known the exact date of when they made the deal with you. In which case they may be waiting on it to clear the port. Another possibility is that the other dealer actually does have the car and they are either just being lazy and have draged their feet on shipping it out or they have sold it are trying to find another to fill the trade request. If you haven't started the paperwork with the VIN# from that particular car then it really doens't matter where you get it from, just so long as you get one.

 

Re: price

Well invoice is $24080 without mats for 2wd V6 Limited, Look at MSN web site . don't confuse TMS with invoice I am suprised you found a limited with no sunroof

For about $26k you shold be getting AWD with no tow

Enjoy your RAV4...wow fender flares on a Limited. The only one in the world I think

MSN's cars site doesn't seem to take into account destination ($605) or the stupid South East Toyota distributor fee ($673).

I knew I wasn't going to get a super deal ordering one rather than taking a base 4-cyl 'off the lot' (which I was told I could do for a couple hundred over invoice...probably plus a few junk fees), but I really wanted climate control and figured I'd be happier with the power of the V6. We never get snow, so I didn't figure 4x4 was that important.

 

Very glad things appear to be coming together. Sounds like you found the right person to deal with at the dealership.

Not to change subjects - but I would be awful curious to find out how you got flares on your Limited. That is GREAT!!!! I personally think the flares make the RAV a better looking vehicle and have always looked at the Sport versions because I didn't think you could get the fender flares on the Limited.

Keep us posted if you learn anything more on this.

Enjoy your new RAV.

 

Latest now is that for whatever reason, SET never picked it up, and it's still sitting at a dealership in the next state some 375 miles away. Drivers were dispatched this AM to go get it.

I've heard/read different things about break-in (dealer: the RAV4 needs no break-in, Toyota runs the engine for several days; this site: Toyota revs the engine briefly at the factory to make sure the piston rings have seated/worn-in properly, but the manual still cautions against certain things during the break-in period).

Does it make a difference for the longevity of the engine if it's first miles are a 375 mile road trip (followed very shortly by another road trip)?

BTW, according to the dealer where it's sitting (just talked to them) the fender flares on a Limited are a port-installed option and for whatever reason, they ordered this one that way.

 

Hmmmm... I may have to start a new thread for this one. I am a little confused. I really think it is cool you can get the flares on the Limited, but how do you go about ordering them if there is no order code or option for them in the order guide (or is there???)?

And installing them at the port of entry... I envisioned that to be nothing more that a big shipyard where they stage sea crates and goods coming off ships and put them on trucks and trains to get to the final destination. So there is a small body shop there too?

Don't get me wrong, I am not being suspicious - I am now very curious and since I am likely to buy an 07 RAV (still waiting to see the CR-V - but the spy pics don't turn me on at all!) I would love to know how to get flares on a limited. I may have to re-author my own selection matrix :lol:

Can I order 18" sport wheels too???? And what about the door trim that appears on the Canadian RAV's? I know - I am pushing it a little far now....

Keep us posted and thank you.

 

My understanding is the import car manufacturers all have the equivalent of a body shop (and more) at the "port" or facility where their cars are stored after import and before being trucked off to dealerships. AFAIK, it's not unusual for imported cars to need minor paint or body work from damage suffered during shipping, and this is done at the "port" facility.

How you order something that's not listed as an option is a mystery to me.

 

I know the answer

OK NJ, now that I thnk I know your buying the SE region, I know how you get the flares on Limited. SE is a privatly owned region I have been told. I track cars stock there using zip 33423 since SE site shows all cars in and coming for all SE dealers.

SE adds much stuff to cars that is not on Toyota list:special wheels...you can get a base with 18" Enkie wheels for example, etc. Much of the items are at rip off prices but I did see a non Sport truck listed there a while back with flares so I assume they put them on. You can see much of this on cars listed at the site. Oh yes and the $600+ prep service etc!

And yes, having looked at many East cost dealers prices on the web, I can tell you SE has the worst prices and the highest fees...I agree with the $399 number you mentioned as it is a SE thing. And the MSN site does include the $605 shipping charge.

So your getting your RAV4...be happy, it is only money. Good luck with it and enjoy it!

 

Re: I know the answer

OK NJ, now that I thnk I know your buying the SE region, I know how you get the flares on Limited. SE is a privatly owned region I have been told. I track cars stock there using zip 33423 since SE site shows all cars in and coming for all SE dealers.

SE adds much stuff to cars that is not on Toyota list:

So your getting your RAV4...be happy, it is only money. Good luck with it and enjoy it!

I'm almost as far SE as you can get without leaving the US, so I don't have much choice but to buy from a SET dealer unless I want to do a major road trip.

It sucks that SET adds a "middle man" fee, but I assumed the rest of the country had their regional distributors too. Is it just the South East where someone managed to get a monopoly on Toyota imports?

And yeah, while using the SET provided "dealer inventory search" web site (go to any South East Toyota dealer's web site, and they all have the same new car inventory search results), I noticed that a good % of the RAV4s have a bunch of high priced "crap" (undercoating, paint sealant, first few oil changes, etc.) added as special SET packages. I didn't want (mostly didn't want to pay for) any of that fluff, and apparently managed to get a RAV4 without any of it.

I do hope the port does as good a job on the flares as the factory. It seems like they're just additional parts where things could go wrong, come loose, etc. and produce more noise.

 

Re: price

Enjoy your RAV4...wow fender flares on a Limited. The only one in the world I think

Nope - fender flares are part of an option package on the Limited V6 in Canada. Mine has them. Edit: added a couple of pictures to my album for those who haven't seen a Limited w/fender flares yet.

Personally I think it would look better without, but no choice up here. Certainly would stand out in the US with the flares on a Limited, though.

 

COLLECTOR'S LIMITED

NJ, you will have a collectors car... the only RAV4 2006 limited in the USA with flares!

 

I took delivery yesterday even though it had about twice the expected miles on it. I can only hope it was either procured as a dealer trade at the original dealership for a sale that fell through, or an employee was driving it for a few weeks. It had to have about 400 miles on it before my dealership went to pick it up.,,and of course nobody said anything about that til we were filling out the paperwork yesterday I'm still trying to get in touch with the original dealership to try to find out how it got so many miles put on it.

It does drive nice though...seems much quieter than the I4, and though I've been very gentle with the accelerator, I can tell it has ample power.

I have one MP3 CD that I burned anticipating its arrival, and I've noticed one track so far that terminates unexpectedly...but I haven't checked it yet in a PC to make sure it's not a bad CD or bad burn.

 

consider this... the car may have been damaged during transport and stuck at the dock processing center getting repainted. because this is a new body, they may be waiting on parts.