I'm not going to name any names, but while I was shopping for my xB I found what I thought was a very unethical way of pricing used Scions.

This particular dealer was selling a "used" no option xB for $15,999! That's more than what I paid for my new one with a stereo upgrade. This used one had only 50 miles on it. Apparently it was bought at a storm damage clearance sale and had been repaired.

When I asked Scion salesperson what the deal was I was told that new Scions must be sold a "pure price" but the used car department can sell them at whatever price they want.
Basically, the used car department is hoping to catch some sucker who assumes that a used car must be a better deal and doesn't even look at the new ones.

Unethical? I think so! My salesperson agreed. Did anyone else run into this tactic when shopping for their Scion?

 

It is very common------------You can negotiate on a used box, but not on a new one.

 

yea, I've seen a used tC, no upgrades, with 5000 miles going for 18,000

 

I agree that it is unethical. However, if you go out and buy a used car without doing the minimal amount of research it would take to find out what a Scion costs new, and you are over charged, well, I say you probably got what was coming to you.

I see things like this all the time. Look at Scions in the Auto Trader or for sale on used car web sites. It happens a lot.

 

yeah thats way uncool

 

I agree that people should do their research, but I don't think that gives a large and well known Toyota/Scion dealer the right to try to take advantage of those who don't.

I sent a letter to the sales manager. I'm interested in seeing what their response will be.

 

yeah please post it up

 

I am also interested in their reply... those dealers are so sneaky and evil!

 

my Tc $17000 check car soup if anyones interested

 

I got a response today.

Their used car sales manager apparently doesn't even bother to do his research. His general answer was, "...this car must have extra equipment on it." I know for a fact that it has no add ons, it is totally stock.
He continued to say that the car was marked up due to high demand, just as the Prius is often marked up. I call total BS on that one! The day I went to this dealer they had 2 on the used lot and at least 5 new. I was able to go in, say, "I want the black automatic" and take my new car home the next morning.....supply and demand my ___.

 

Its actually a good thing for us, because it keeps the re-sale value very high. So if we were to get in an accident and total the box, we might actually get nearly what we paid for it. Or it would just get totalled out and we would get a new car.

If somone is serious enough to put 15 to 16k towards a car. They better have the sense to research it and be firmiliar with pricing.

 

I ran into this problem when I got my tC. I was looking at used tC's and found that the one I wanted was listed at $19,900.

I did my research though be fore I went into the dealer and priced out all the upgrades that the previous owner had put in (95% of factory addons).

I went in an offered them $2000 less than their asking price. They kinda laughed at me at first but I showed them all the upgrades and handed them a quote from scion.com on a new model.

Many times dealers make a lot more money off of used cars than they do new cars sincethey are ableto price them at whatever they want. I feel sorry for the poeple who get taken advantage of but it's their own fault. I do research on things I buy that cost more than $20. If they can't do the same for a larger purchase like a car... I guess they deserve to be taken advantage of.

 

it's good to research all major purchaces... having a home taught me that!

 

it also works in your favor.

if you want to sell your car, you know it can be sold for what you paid (or more).
it's like driving a car for free...or better yet, getting paid to drive the car...

 

Dealers have a choice if they want to have certified used scion which in that case they have to to be pure priced but I don't know of any dealers that will go that right because with used theres to many varibles plus SCION really is stricked on the pure price policy. If they catch you not following it they penalize u for it, they take 25% of your allotment away from you. Scion are very limited and if you see one on the lot you are lucky. So yes keep in mind toyota has the highest resell values out there so yes dealers will try to get what they can from used because there is more money to be made in that market and scion for dealers is a huge investment and really scion are not money makers. They are advertising tool for toyota to bring in new clients and to attact the young general that toyota usa failed with the matrix and celica. That is why the cars are priced so low and affordable just to do that. It cost dealers in the 6 digit range just to become a scion dealer. Yah its to bad if someone doesnt do there research but in the plus side it does keep the resell value of our vehicles alot higher too. its not easy to find a used scion and we know the reliablity of these vehicles too. 85% of scion owners so far nationwide are new to the toyota family so WELCOME TO THE FAMILY! Scion is Life =) scionlife

 

holy cow lol i Just did a kbb.com on a used scion xB 2006 with 12,000 miles and it booked at $15.9 lol.

 

^^^^ and how much was that new from the dealer with 1 mile??


LOL