Last year the average age of U.S. cars hit a record 12.2 years. That makes the Burns household quite average. We drive a 2010 Lexus RX 350. It will hit 200,000 miles by year-end. We also drive a 2013 Honda Fit. It’s nearing 150,000 miles.
We love them both. We’ve had them longer, and driven them further, than any cars we’ve ever owned.
Our cars are aging out
Replacing one of our cars, soon, might be a good idea. Greater fuel economy would be a plus. The RX gets only 22 mpg. The Fit gets 32. I have this nagging idea that it is better to be part of the solution than part of the problem.
OK, then. What car to buy?
One logical choice is to replace the RX 350 with a Toyota RAV4 prime hybrid. It’s slightly smaller than the RX but still large enough to carry stuff. It’s a plug-in hybrid. That means it has a larger battery than a regular hybrid. The extra kilowatt hours allow the car to go an advertised 42 miles on electric power alone. It can go more than 500 miles on a full tank of regular gas at 38 mpg.
It’s definitely not as glitzy as the Lexus. But we live in Texas Hill Country. Out here, ground clearance is at least as important as glitz.
My first stop was a large Toyota dealership in Dallas.
That’s when things started to get weird.
I told the salesperson I wanted to learn about the RAV4. I was undecided about getting a plain hybrid or a plug-in. Plug-ins were very hard to get, I was told, maybe one or two a year came in. I looked at an already sold regular hybrid. It passed muster for size. But I decided the RAV4 plug-in would be a better choice.
Next day I received an email from the salesperson: Mysteriously, a plug-in RAV4 was about to be available. Did I want it?
I emailed back that I wanted to know if the car would be priced much over MSRP. (Meanwhile, the Toyota website build and price page indicated that I should expect something over $42,000 without factory options.)
But a surprise was coming.
The dealer price, according to the salesperson, “includes Factory, Distributor and Dealer installed packages and accessories.” The total?
$56,496.
Kind of a leap there.
It turns out this kind of dealer pricing isn’t common, but it isn’t that unusual, either. A dealer south of Austin had a similar premium over MSRP. A nationwide search for new RAV4 plug-ins on autotrader.com revealed only 311 available nationwide.
Two were priced at stunning $66,397. (Queried about prices and MSRP, Toyota corporate communications was quick to tell me that the manufacturer does not control dealer pricing, but the company strives to maintain and build consumer trust.)
Toyota cars at Lexus prices
A few days later I visited Lexus of Austin. That’s where I had purchased my RX. A salesperson told me the plug-in version of the NX, which is built on the same platform as the RAV4, was available at MSRP for about $56,000. In other words, some Toyota dealers are pricing their RAV4s as though they were the comparable Lexus.
It would also be a three to five month wait for the Lexus.
No problem there. I was already thinking it would be better to keep what we have. We can wait until supply and sanity return to the auto market.
But there is an alternative.
The EV option
Go EV. Get rid of all that greasy kid stuff that comes with internal combustion engines. Go full electric. We could buy a Tesla model Y.
The model Y is about the same size as the Toyota RAV4 or Lexus NX. It has far more power. It has all-wheel drive. And the long-range version currently being sold has a range of 330 miles.
Then there’s the price: $50,240. Add a destination fee of $1,390 and a $250 order fee and the grand total is $51,880.
Subtract the $7,500 tax credit and the net cost is $44,380. That gets a car conceived and built in the USA. A car that costs less, according to many YouTube reports, to operate and maintain. It’s also a car that has a great environmental “dividend” — far less pollution.
Yes, but what about…
That leaves just one bit of angst: range anxiety. Are there enough charging stations?
Here, the Burns family is a good test. We live in a remote spot east of Johnson City. The nearest retail store is the Trading Post at the entry to Pedernales Falls State Park. Apple maps tells me our place is about the same distance to the nearest Tesla Supercharger station as it is to the Exxon or Chevron stations in Johnson City.
Have we placed our order?
No, I’m still in shock at how a rogue Toyota dealer became a sales agent for Tesla.
Related columns:
Collected Prius Columns: https://scottburns.com/?s=Prius
Sources and References:
Sean Tucker, “Average Age of Cars on Road Hits New High,” 5/24/2022 https://www.kbb.com/car-news/americans-driving-older-cars/
Autotrader search for Toyota RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrids: https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/all-cars/toyota/rav4/dripping-springs-tx?searchRadius=0&trimCodeList=RAV4%7CPrime%20SE&zip=78620&marketExtension=include&startYear=2023&isNewSearch=false&showAccelerateBanner=false&sortBy=derivedpriceDESC&numRecords=25
Austin Toyota dealer inventory of RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrids: https://www.toyotaofcedarpark.com/new-vehicles/?idx=low_to_high&_dFR%5Bmodel%5D%5B0%5D=RAV4%2520Prime&_dFR%5Btype%5D%5B0%5D=New&_paymentType=our_price&conversations_open=&gaw_campaign_id=9820399193&gaw_ad_group_id=149715119931&gaw_remote_client_id=6076413849&gclid=CjwKCAjwjMiiBhA4EiwAZe6jQ3jN60_7DBtZiCyee7F3U44lfUMLJI8kXJDzkUfFz5QWlG8wvh9r2xoCjtoQAvD_BwE
Toyota website build and price page: https://www.toyota.com/configurator/build/step/accessory/year/2023/series/rav4prime/model/4544/exteriorcolor/08X8/interiorcolor/FA20/packages/option1/?bap_guid=9707f0e5-111d-43f5-8d17-becac50d3744
Tesla website search for inventory of 2023 Model Y EVs: https://www.tesla.com/inventory/new/my?arrangeby=relevance&zip=78620&range=200&trtId=
Tesla model Y pricing page: https://www.tesla.com/modely/design#overview
Chevrolet dealer inventory of Bolt EUV premier models for sale in the U.S.: https://www.chevrolet.com/electric/shopping/inventory/search?cash=60000&dealerId=&downPayment=2500&emi=650&extColor=&intColor=&model=Bolt%20EUV&packages=&paymentType=CASH&radius=2000&searchText=&sortField=distance&sortOrder=ASC&trim=1FG48_2LZ&year=2023&zipCode=78636
Bankrate.com autoloan rates for May: https://www.bankrate.com/loans/auto-loans/rates/
Austin Telco Credit Union auto loan rates: https://www.atfcu.org/lending/vehicle-loans/auto-loans
This information is distributed for education purposes, and it is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, recommendation, or endorsement of any particular security, product, or service.
Photo by Taras Makarenko on Pexels
(c) Scott Burns, 2023
6 thoughts on “ HOW A ROGUE TOYOTA DEALER BECAME A MARKETING AGENT FOR TESLA ”
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Scott, if you go with the tesla you will never use the JC supercharger. You will likely install a wall charger (about $1K) at your house and ‘fill up’ whenever you want. You won’t have many days with enough local travel to require recharging before you get home. We live in Drippin’ and have yet to plan a cross-country trip that required us to go out of our way to reach a charging station. You can check it out using one of several apps that map routes for EVs.
Hi Randy,
Thanks. You’re absolutely correct. With a garage charger the only time the outside charging network would be used would be on relatively long trips, such as a drive to Dallas or Houston. All everyday driving would be within range of a fully charged car. I mentioned the Johnson City charger more for readers — to indicate that chargers are already very well distributed. If what I see on HWY 290 is any indication, in a few years people will be ordering special colors for their Teslas just so they’ll be able to find their car in big parking lots…
Whatever you do, don’t buy a white one. They are by far the most common color.
I just picked up a blue LR Model Y. It’s very nice.
Funny you should mention that. I had just been thinking that I’ve seen so many white Teslas that finding your car in a parking lot will be difficult in a year or two… So buyers can save time and aggravation by paying an extra $1,000 for a color!
Scott….Had almost the same exact experience earlier this year when when car shopping. Stunned by price arrogance from Toyota and Ford(Mach E) dealers in the Metroplex. Went with a Model Y for all of the reasons you cite and feel very good about it. It was a no brainer. Should also point out it was exactly the same a year ago and was lucky to get an Audi Q5 PHEV with no dealer up charges. Love both vehicles, the economies/benefits they offer, the tax credits…etc. Plus these cars, especially the Tesla, are much more fun to drive!!!
I guess we’re not alone! My decision, after this, was to sit this out.