I am a resident of North Carolina considering replacing my '05 Prius. I have an aversion to franchises of Southeast Toyota Distributors because of the added extras by SET that appear to be out of the dealers control (ToyoGuard, additional option packages, admin fees, etc.). Anyone have any thoughts about whether looking for a dealer in southern Virgina or eastern Tennessee would be worthwhile? Heck, I have family in New England so would even trade up there if I could negotiate a deal from here.
All of them around here will be SET dealers, that's the franchise, but the cars don't all have the extras and packages. I just searched my local dealer--has a 2011 1223 with just mats, has a 1225 with sunroof package and also just mats. No Toyoguard in either. Admin fees are all at the discretion of the local dealer, and just about universal on all makes. If you do a Build Your Own and then search all inventory in SET you can even exclude items you don't want. Also, fyi, when I selected mine I waited about a week+ to get the options I did and did not want, and they worked with SET to get one the way I wanted it from the port rather than as a dealer trade.
Brian, I did the same as Jim256. I searched the internet and found the vehicle that I wanted in the pipeline to Hendrick Toyota in Fayetteville when I could not find the one that I wanted at Toyota of Wilmington. The car I found had not reached the port of Jacksonville yet so I was able to select only the options that I wanted. I had to wait about two weeks for the car. Dwight
My experience if it helps. Gulf States is the Regional Distributer where I live and my thoughts were just like yours. My way, my options, my color,ect... Going through the Fleet "Manager" I found that vehicles coming from port are sent to a "make ready" at regional with options earmarked and destinations determined. If a Dealership wishes, they can grab one of these, Level, Color, ect., and do it your way with or w/o the non-factory options. Talk to said "Fleet Manager" and tell him what you want. They don't always like to, but they can do it. They did it for me and at a price considerably lower than the "sales guy". They just prefer talking you into buying what is already on the lot because the owner is already vested in this inventory. It's your money. I shopped 12 local dealerships and had only 4 offer this, and 3 actually competed with the price. Good Luck!
I used Toyotacertified.com and found many cars throughout the country, including North Carolina. I eventually bought from a dealer in Toledo, OH as the pricing beat out anything in my area.
Brian, you can punch in different zip codes at www.aaa.com where you can build a car & get up to 3 dealer quotes. Around here 2010's are under invoice & 2011's are at invoice.
