Having driven the competition, our choice really came down to three models: the RAV4, the Forester and the Outback. I tried to bring the Tiguan into consideration, but I had misinterpreted some of Bob’s comments. What I heard was “it is less desirable”. What she meant, as I later came to understand, was “it would have to be free”. Ah, mawwiage and twue wuv.
For round 2, we decided to first give the Toyota a second chance. Keith at Sterling McCall had been responsive via e-mail, far more so than anyone over at Mike Calvert, and less annoying/entitled than the guy out at Fred Haas Toyota World/Country who USAA connected us with, so we headed over to Sterling McCall for a test drive. Unfortunately, they only had a RAV4 Limited in Black, so this was a “see if it can make a better impression” visit, rather than a “let’s buy this one” visit. It was also where Bob got to do her “Tour de Parking Lot” with the Venza. As an aside, the “panoramic” moonroof in the Venza has nothing on the Subaru, let alone the VW.
So we drove the RAV4 and poked and prodded it a bit, reconfirming the features we had liked and testing the ones we didn’t. Because its spare tire is on the rear gate, there is a ton of storage space underneath the “floor” of the rear cargo compartment. Also, and this may have been what made it our first choice, the rear seats are spring loaded with a remote release such that you can pull a lever in the rear cargo compartment and the seats fly forward and lie flat. No more having to set-up the seats if you are carrying long things or a lot of cargo.
After that, we wanted to test drive a third generation Prius, so we headed for the nearest place that had one of the three Priuses left in stock in Houston. I am not kidding. There were three Priuses left in the city. Along the way, however, we passed Gillman Subaru Southwest and decided to drop in to do an instant comparison vs. the RAV4. This time, I was able to find a comfortable driving position, though we didn’t leave the dealership, and the Outback was still as spacious on the x and y axes as we remembered, and the z-axis was “tight” with the moonroof. The Forester is improving its lot as a result of this “drive by”, but the Prius awaits (in Katy), after a quick stop at Panera Bread for dinner.
BOB WILLINGLY GOES TO KATY TO LEARN ABOUT “MARKET ADJUSTMENT FACTORS”
In order to understand Bob’s commitment to the process, one has to realize that the nearest Prius was in Katy. And there was only one. Well, technically two, but it passed us on the frontage road on a test drive. Or it had been bought, and the new owner was doing a “check ride”. It’s hard to say; we never saw it again. So, not only was Bob willing to go “really far” (i.e., beyond the 610 loop), but she was willing to go to “East San Antonio”, aka Katy, to see a car that wasn’t really in the running.
We got to the dealership wondering where we would find the Prius, and lo and behold, it was right there on the main show floor. Well, that was hard. So, I opened it up and sat in the driver’s side. Here I should mention that the reason why the Prius was never really seriously considered is that my thighs did not fit on the prior generation model. We had rented a second generation Prius while visiting Las Vegas a while ago, and I simply could not get the steering wheel and seat far enough apart for me to get my legs into the seat without having to squeeze under the steering wheel, scraping the tops of my thighs on the bottom of the steering wheel. Once I was tucked into place, the car was fine. Just ingress and egress were what was challenging. The third generation Prius has fixed that with a greater range of motion in both the seat and the steering column.
Beyond the improved driver’s side room, there is not a lot that seemed revolutionary on the interior of the car. There was a button to engage an “electric only” mode that will get you about 20 – 25 miles before exhausting a fully-charged battery. Don’t turn off your car, though, when you are filling up, or you may not be able to start it again. I’m not really sure how that hangs together logically (with the gasoline motor off and the battery seriously depleted), but the salesman said it, so it must be true!
About the time that we had done our quick “poke and prod” on the car, a salesperson finally showed up. At that point, I had gotten to the window sticker and learned that the tint job was $500 (typical retail for Toyotas is $200, despite almost all models coming with some basic “privacy” filter on the glass). At 2.5x retail, that tint job had better have been “no-E”, instead of “low-E” to even pretend to be worth the mark-up. The salesman was quick to inform us, though, that there was a $2,000 “market adjustment factor” on the invoice. So, take full retail, add the profit-padding tint job, and then quit pretending from there for another $2k. At least they could have called it “super ScotchGard” or some such. As Chevy Chase said in Fletch, “Do you have to use the whole fist, Doc?”
GOING, GOING, …
So, after our Prius adventure and being able to compare the Forester, Outback and RAV4 vaguely side-by-side, we settled on trying to find a RAV4. About this time, we started hearing rumors of the CARS program coming to a halt “soon”, as in, “don’t expect it to be around too much into next week.” Since the Obama administration altered the program’s rules to allow people to order cars, this shouldn’t have been too big of a deal, but you still needed an executed sales contract. To have a sales contract, you had to have a VIN. Apparently, Toyota cars do not get their VIN from the factory, but from the regional distributor. As a result, what was in Gulf States Toyota’s pipeline was it, and dealers were apparently scrambling to find just the right cars for their customers.
Anecdote: We got a call on Thursday about 1pm from Justin at Ron Carter Toyota (recommended). He had a modestly equipped RAV4 Limited that he was willing to knock $2k off the list price in Blizzard Pearl (I had submitted an offer about that price via their website the night before). We said, “we’ll take it, assuming it checks out. Can we give you a credit card to hold it?” He asked how long it would be before we could get down there, and I said mid-afternoon (I had to finish some things). “Wait, it’s out on a test drive; let me call you back”, which then turned into, “Sorry, it looks like it is being sold, but I can call you if the deal falls through.” Grr. Looks like we are now fighting serious availability issues.
Next up was Star Toyota in Bacliff (South of Clear Lake, North of La Marque). They had a Blizzard Pearl Limited that wasn’t too heavily optioned (my thoughts of RAV4 Sport models are right out the window). We headed down there, did the test drive, and then tried negotiating. “The price is what’s on the sticker” is about how it went down, though there were some ins-and-outs for the dance.
Lesson #8: To the extent possible, know exactly how much the car cost the dealer if you are going to negotiate. The salesguy, David Pham (definitely Not Recommended), tried to tell me that they didn’t have as much profit potential in the car as my counter-offer. It facilitates the discussion to be able to indicate otherwise. For those with limited negotiating interest, I highly recommend the book, Getting to Yes. It’s a practical guide on how to negotiate a particular way that should prove practical and reasonably effective for most people in a Western context.
After that, we went on a wild goose chase over to Baytown to find the dealership (Community Toyota) not only didn’t have the inventory we wanted to see, but also that both of the sales guys we were supposed to talk to had left for the weekend a while ago. Double-grr. Oh, yeah, CARS is ending on Monday. Triple-grr.
So, with RAV4 inventory looking depleted, except in the 4 cylinder models, it was time to work the Subaru angle. That night, I sent off a blizzard of e-mails to all five Houston and Austin Subaru dealerships. White Outbacks seemed non-existent except in $35k+ trim, but there were a couple of Foresters that seemed suitable (one local and a preferred one in Georgetown). Let’s see how the fish bite. Tiguans seem to be plentiful at Demontrond Volkswagen on 1960.
SO, ARE YOU GOING TO TELL US WHERE “PHARR” COMES FROM?
Friday morning, I went through the inventory at all 17 Houston area Toyota dealerships one last time. There was the RAV4 at Star, and then a couple of others popped up in various dealerships. Cool. We may have some bargaining power after all. If not, we are going to be happy Subaru owners. Maybe.
The first dealership to get back to us was Champion Toyota. The vehicle was optioned out a little more heavily than we would have wanted, but Brad was willing to take $2k off the sticker, which made it more than $1k less than the vehicle at Star. Again, “Can you hold it for us?” This time, the answer was “No problem, when can you be here?” It was noon, and we hadn’t eaten. “How about 1pm?” He said that would work, but they had to get the deal approved by 3pm and closed (funded) by 5pm, per corporate policy. A quick stop through a Wendy’s drive through for some lunch and the bank for the title to the car, and we were off.
It turns out that the car had just come recently on a dealer trade from a Toyota dealership in Pharr, Texas (down on the border, near McAllen). The car was driven the 350+ miles from the Valley to Houston, so it had more than 400 miles on it when we took possession. However, we did complete the deal and took possession of a 2009 RAV4 Limited in Blizzard Pearl.
