Greetings!
Some of you are familiar with my 4R special order story, but here's the full and complete version. The names have been changed to protect the innocent, er I mean guilty. Shit happens, so no need to drag these parties through the mud.
Short version:
- Went thru hell
- got new 4R with price and options that I wanted
Long version:
Back in November 2006, I placed a special order for a 2007 4R. It was different than what was in the region, since it was a limited v6 with XREAS, so it required a special order. A friend had told me that he was buddies with the GM of Dealer1. The GM put me in touch with one of his sales guys, and the process began. I put in my order for a 2007 4R v6 Limited w/XREAS. I didn't really care about the other options, but those few were mandatory. Dealer1 salesman (let call him Rob) placed the order and said to touch base back in a week or two. So I did just that and still no news about Toyota Japan accepting the SO and starting to build it. I checked again in December and still no update. I heard "Matt, it is a priority 1 in the system, it has not 'taken' yet. I should know more in about 30 days."
Months pass, seasons pass. Come May 07 I start wondering what's up with my SO. I've read about others on the t4r.org board that had placed their orders within the same timeframe as me and had already taken delivery of their vehicles. "That's strange", I thought. So I called up Rob and asked about my 4R. Still no news. So I ask him point blank - "What's the deal Rob? Drop the ball on this one?" He replies that "there is no 'ball' to drop. The best I can do is order it and preference it. Just because you want 1 special 4-runner does not mean Toyota Japan will build it. I give you info as I receive it." Sure, I understand that, but come on... there's gotta be at least a "No" from Toyota Japan by now, right??
So I wait a few more months... August 07 now. I call up Rob and ask if I can come by and talk to him as I didn't want to wait anymore for "my" special order and I was willing to settle on one without the XREAS. The wife and I drive there and we test drive a few 4Rs and finally decide on a 4R LTD v6 with no XREAS. But as we start to test drive one of the 4Rs in the bunch, Rob says that he "might have heard of a few models EXACTLY what I was looking for someplace in the region." "Oh Goodie!" I say and start to get excited [Mistake #1 - never let on how excited you are about the vehicle to a salesperson.]
We go back inside and Rob tells me that there's 5 or 6 of these EXACT MODELS up in Reno. Strange... Why would a dealer get this type of model if it wasn't available for the last 9 months? Something starts to smell funny here. So we start the negotiation process. Now remember, I knew a guy who knew the GM of Dealer1, so I thought this was going to be a painless negotiation process. I was wrong. Two hours later and I still wasn't feeling too good about this "Great Offer" that was on the table. Price was $37,650 after $2500 rebate. I was willing to take it for 36,500, but he wouldn't budge. I even removed my trade-in off the table to get more leverage since that was really low-balled on it's worth. I tell Rob, "Ok, get it" and he would go to Reno and get the 4R for me the following week.
I get home and still not feeling satisfied about this "great deal" that I'm getting. So I did what I did 7 years ago when I bought my last new car. I submitted an order to carsdirect.com for the exact model that I wanted. Price was very reasonable, so I was happy. The next day, Melissa (yes her real name) called me from carsdirect and was very nice and helpful about my order. I told her right out that there were 6 of these up in Reno and I would be thrilled to death if she could get one. (Sorry Rob, but it's a cut-throat business out there, even for us customers.) She calls me back a day or two later and said that yes she can get one of them in Reno and have it by next week. Oh boy!!!
I send Rob and email a day later and told him that I was working another deal, and not to get the 4R he had told me about in Reno. He asked in a following email if I was getting the options that I want. At this point I wasn't sure if dealers talked to each other or not, so I didn't reply...at least not until I took delivery. I felt bad in some strange sort of way, but there was no deposit put down and the entire experience with him and Dealer1 hadn't been an exciting one.
I do owe Rob one big "Thank You" for pointing me in the right direction as to where cardsirect could find the vehicle I wanted. Thanks again to my friend who pointed me to Dealer1 to get the ball rolling. Looking back on the first part of this journey, it feels like I was getting jerked around and I don't think my 4R was ever really special ordered. I mean I should have heard something, ANYTHING after 6 months, right?
Today at noon, Antioch Toyota delivered my brand new 2007 4Runner Limited with XREAS and other goodies TO MY HOUSE. First pictures are attached. Thanks Carsdirect.com and Antioch Toyota for making this a wonderful experience. Now why I didn't do this 9 months ago I'm not sure. But with the rebate added on, it sure made up for it. The price out the door with taxes, license, etc was $37,888.09 Comparing figures, I saved a bunch of money vs what Dealer1 wanted to charge me.
First mod to my 4R are currently being shipped.
Linear Mode
