Friggin Toyota

We are in the process of buying a new vehicle. Stephen hates, hates, hates the van so we have decided that an SUV is what will work for our family for the next several years. We were looking in June then put off the process after we asked for their best price and the have us a price that was not much lower than sticker price. Both Stephen and I hate the game that you have to play when buying a car - they tell you the sticker price, you offer a lower price. They come back and you give them another offer then back and forth ad nauseam. And with three kids in tow, it is definitely not a fun process.

So, we renewed the vehicle shopping process but this time we decided to go through a car broker. The broker charges a set fee and she will negotiate the price of the new car for you, negotiate the best price for you for your trade in, do all of the paperwork and deliver the car to you. Her price seems very fair for doing all that, especially since in the testimonials on her website, she beats the best prices at the dealerships.

We contacted her, told her that we wanted a Toyota Sequoia with certain options. And we wanted a Blue one with beige interior. She checked and found none in nine states so decided that we would just order it custom made from Toyota and it would take a few weeks. We contacted a dealership to get their best price (they give deals to Big Software Company employees and the price was a couple thousand cheaper than than the first dealership). This broker then beat that price, even with her fee.

So, we ordered the car two weeks ago. Or so we thought.

She called today to let us know that Toyota is not allowing dealerships to have any "allotments" for Sequoias because basically they cannot sell the ones they have out there already. Aargh! She is working with a dealership in Portland that will hopefully get an allotment soon. We should know by Thursday. If not, it is back to the drawing board. Well, we could take a Sequoia that is on a lot somewhere but most of them have the captain seats in the second row (we want bench seats) and are either white, black or silver.

Maybe this process will show Stephen that the van is not that bad afterall.