Who Wins? Toyota Moves To Limit Franchises Will Encourage Mega-Dealership Growth

I'm not sure if that is in the best interest of the consumer though. Most of dealers in the DFW area already have a monopoly and treat you as if you are just a number.

"We don't order cars sir, you have to choose it off the lot"

"No sir we don't find the color you want at other dealers sir, you will have to do that on your own, we are too busy to do that.

To many a car is a major purchase and the attitude is "we will sell it to you only if we have only it in stock" encourages me to shop elsewhere. This is where Toyota dealerships in my area do not shine, they expect you to "settle" for what they have not what you really want.

It seems to work with the Lexus dealerships around and you get great customer service, but in the case of Toyota dealerships I have dealt with they act as if you are a number.

Do they typify the typical dealerships attitude? I hope not. But to treat you as if there is another sucker coming in right behind you if you don't buy this, then that is a problem.

don't you think that maybe they should earn your trust and business?

Great for them... Bad for the consumer... As a captive consumer in Las Vegas, while we only have one Lexus dealership, migrating to L.A. can save thousands due to competition... I suppose it's paying to have an existing Lexus dealership..

As a consumer, I want cars sold by the factory directly to the consumer on the Internet. I have not found dealer sales people who add any value to the sales process. I often end up educating them because of their lack of product knowledge. Some try to sell useless extra stuff after the close, stuff not approved by the factory e.g. overpriced rustproofing for a car that is already well protected against rust in the original manufacturing process. Some charge for goods or services that are standard or reimbursed to the dealer by the factory. I'd rather order direct and allow a dealer that I designate to receive a nominal commission fully disclosed up front.

This is another example of Toyota making good long-term decisions. In the short term, more dealers = more market share. When you've saturated the market with dealerships you maximize your sales. However, in the long term, the brand is damaged. When dealers market against each other for the same customers the perceived value of the product is lowered.

What mystifies ME is that Toyota, along with its dealers, is EXTREMELY profitable and yet they haven't experienced any backlash due to their success. One could argue that Exxon-Mobil and WalMart are both suffering negative publicity largely because they post the kind of profits that Toyota earns on a regular basis (Toyota has netted $10 billion+ per year since 2004).

Most sales personnel are trained to reead customers. If you imply that you are just browsing, naturally, they'll try to quickly answer all your questions and send you on your way to "think about it." Because there probably is another customer right behind you who is ready to buy. Its a Toyota. But not all dealers or sales personnel are like this I'm sure. I'm not saying its right, but subtlety is #1.

I hate Toyota dealerships. They will put any bum in cheap suit who has no idea what there talking about to sell cars.