Car buying advice...

[Tod osier]

We are looking at cars, the plan would be to buy new (2023 RAV4 hybrid) and to keep the current commuter car for the son (i.e., no trade). I'm seeing something I haven't seen before and wondering what it means... the local dealers have a disproportionate number of RAV4 hybrids in inventory listed as "vehicle in transit" or "vehicle in build phase". They have a ton of these vehicles with VINS, but not on the lot, whereas that isn't the case for other models.

Is my interpretation that this is a good situation if we are happy to wait it out for a 2023 and that they are pushing up against the 2023 window to sell these? Only person that is feeling pressure to purchase one is our son . We are for sure waiting until the October Toyota deals come out to see what is happening with those, right now there is only a factory financing deal. Thoughts?!?! I haven't started talking to salesmen, but am ready to do so.

 

[TreeDog]

Toyota allocates vehicles to dealers. You can't custom order one. So what the "in transit" means is that that particular build vehicle has been allocated to that particular dealer. Sometimes they have already been sold. I would check with the dealer and see if those vehicles have been spoken for. RAV4 hybrids have been pretty desirable and thus not much wiggle room. With interest rates and end of the model year though, you might have a chance.

 

[Tod osier]

Toyota allocates vehicles to dealers. You can't custom order one. So what the "in transit" means is that that particular build vehicle has been allocated to that particular dealer. Sometimes they have already been sold. I would check with the dealer and see if those vehicles have been spoken for. RAV4 hybrids have been pretty desirable and thus not much wiggle room. With interest rates and end of the model year though, you might have a chance.

Yes thanks! I've bought several toyotas over the years and feel like I have the purchase technique fairly well honed. We usually just buy off the lot, but have had at least one traded from a nearby dealer. I'm seeing that they are going to sell near MSRP, so I'm not looking for deals better than that. Given what you say, my logic seems sound that they are expecting a bunch of these cars, so I should be able to do OK as far as getting what I want if they aren't all sold.

It just seems odd that the one vehicle that we are looking at - there is a glut of them apparently coming in. I'll find out if they are spoken for.

 

[5MilesBack]

Make sure you do your research on those hybrids. My wife wanted a hybrid Avalon, but after the research it appeared that there wasn't as big a difference in MPG as they want you to believe, especially given colder weather and higher elevations. Throw in the cost to replace one of those batteries after the warranty expires on them and that completely flips the equation. My wife ended up with the gas model.

 

[bojangles808]

Make sure you do your research on those hybrids. My wife wanted a hybrid Avalon, but after the research it appeared that there wasn't as big a difference in MPG as they want you to believe, especially given colder weather and higher elevations. Throw in the cost to replace one of those batteries after the warranty expires on them and that completely flips the equation. My wife ended up with the gas model.

Yea check fuelly. we have RAV4 xle premium and it has averaged 36 mpg since we bought it. I've hand calculated too to confirm. It's mostly hwy miles though.

 

[WRO]

We tried to buy a sienna, put a deposit in a year prior and finally just gave up after a year and bought a odessey.


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[HighUintas]

We are looking at cars, the plan would be to buy new (2023 RAV4 hybrid) and to keep the current commuter car for the son (i.e., no trade). I'm seeing something I haven't seen before and wondering what it means... the local dealers have a disproportionate number of RAV4 hybrids in inventory listed as "vehicle in transit" or "vehicle in build phase". They have a ton of these vehicles with VINS, but not on the lot, whereas that isn't the case for other models.

Is my interpretation that this is a good situation if we are happy to wait it out for a 2023 and that they are pushing up against the 2023 window to sell these? Only person that is feeling pressure to purchase one is our son . We are for sure waiting until the October Toyota deals come out to see what is happening with those, right now there is only a factory financing deal. Thoughts?!?! I haven't started talking to salesmen, but am ready to do so.

I went through this mess in April this year. I live in Utah and the market for the RAV4 hybrids is nuts. All of these vehicles they have listed on their website are nearly all presold and in most cases the wait for one around here is a year or so, unless they have your name and call you when a buyer backs out.

It seems all the new ones are sold for MSRP including the delivery charges and sometimes a BS fee the dealer wants to add on that is a non-optional addition of some type of accessory you really don't need. As for used RAV4 hybrids, it's even worse. They're selling used ones that are 2 or 3 years old, with 30k miles on them, at today's MSRP... And the Kelley Blue Book value backs that up!!!

Unfortunately, today's market for RAV4 hybrids is on the dealers side.

I ended up with a 2021 CR-V hybrid because the market is a touch less nuts and it has an audible blind spot alarm, which I need.

For gas mileage for an SUV hybrid.... When I'm driving to work in SLC, which is a mix of interstate and some side roads, since April I've averaged about 44mpg. I use the regen braking paddles very often... It boosts mpg and reduces brake wear a ton. I'm also easy on the accelerator. For driving up through mountains, several hour long stretches of interstate at 75-80mph with hills, the average is more like 32. Cold weather and using the heater drop the mpg a bit too.

For an overall average, in nearly 10k miles since April, I've averaged 40.5mpg and that is including my many road trips around the state. I generally do try to drive so that I get better mileage. We'll see what my average ends up being after this winter.

I would say if the bulk of your driving is the type that drops the gas mileage, I'd go with regular gasoline engine. When I move in a few years, it's possible I'll go back to a regular gas vehicle because driving locale will be different.

 

[wyosteve]

Just out of curiosity, why all the interest in 'hybrids'? Seems to me you then have 2 'systems' to worry about-the gas and electric.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I don’t really understand what you’re getting at. There are no deals on hybrid ravs. If you want one, go into the dealer and see what they have on the ground and what they have coming in that’s not sold. You might also look to see when the 2024 will be hitting the lot. If you’re not in a hurry, you could get the newer model year, possibly some minor upgrades and a slightly higher resale down the road.

 

[cjones37]

Was car shopping last year. My experience was that most dealership websites had inventory listed as “in transit” and a lot of vehicles sold before they even arrived to the lot. Was tough if you weren't exactly sure what you wanted and wanted to test drive. Hope that has gotten better for car shoppers.

 

[Tod osier]

I don’t really understand what you’re getting at. There are no deals on hybrid ravs. If you want one, go into the dealer and see what they have on the ground and what they have coming in that’s not sold. You might also look to see when the 2024 will be hitting the lot. If you’re not in a hurry, you could get the newer model year, possibly some minor upgrades and a slightly higher resale down the road.

Lotta good stuff above, thanks everyone. What I wanted is to understand what it is that there are soo many vehicles listed, but not in stock . I've never bought a vehicle when demand outstripped supply, so I'm just flat out naïve on how it works. I've been lucky, I've always took it slow and got exactly what I want (within what can be had) for a good price, rather than paying MSRP or MSRP plus for something close.

I just got back from the dealer and was able to glean some info that confirms what I was wondering about. The sales guy (one that I've worked from before who is better to deal with than average) said for the past couple years that they were allocated about 2 RAV4s per month and this next month they have 18 allocated, a mix of 23 and 24, so things radically changed. I don't know if they are on a boat, or in Japan or what. I need to get drilled down when we can see one, but it seems like the market has changed. The other local dealers appear to be in the same situation.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Lotta good stuff above, thanks everyone. What I wanted is to understand what it is that there are soo many vehicles listed, but not in stock . I've never bought a vehicle when demand outstripped supply, so I'm just flat out naïve on how it works. I've been lucky, I've always took it slow and got exactly what I want (within what can be had) for a good price, rather than paying MSRP or MSRP plus for something close.

I just got back from the dealer and was able to glean some info that confirms what I was wondering about. The sales guy (one that I've worked from before who is better to deal with than average) said for the past couple years that they were allocated about 2 RAV4s per month and this next month they have 18 allocated, a mix of 23 and 24, so things radically changed. I don't know if they are on a boat, or in Japan or what. I need to get drilled down when we can see one, but it seems like the market has changed. The other local dealers appear to be in the same situation.

Yes that’s correct. They’re all posting cars in transit now because they don’t want to show 3 new cars on their website. If it’s a stock photo, good chance the car isn’t there at the dealer. Call around, some of the fringe Toyota dealers outside the big city might have more availability of new ones. Good luck!

 

[Tod osier]

Just out of curiosity, why all the interest in 'hybrids'? Seems to me you then have 2 'systems' to worry about-the gas and electric.

We have a prius to commute in and it was been flat out great. It is a 2015 with 60K on it and lifetime MPGs are in the mid 50's, all we have done to it is we have changed oil and seems like filled the gas tank 11 or 12 times.

 

[sodaksooner]

We have a highlander hybrid and it gets 31 to 32 mpg. Has been a great vehicle. Toyota has been doing hybrids for a long dang time. Out of anyone I would guess that they have it figured out. We had to wait about 6 months for our highlander which is just over a year old.

I commute a lot and just picked up a Subaru Crosstrek. Think RAV4's are flying off the shelf? Got to a Subie dealer. It's like a ghost town. I went in expecting to pick one up and every one that the dealer had allocated for the foreseeable future was already sold. They just had me order the one I wanted and said it would be about the same amount of time to wait and I could get exactly what I wanted. It's been about 2 months and it is built and in transit. Should be here next week. All that to say, check with the Toyota dealer and see if you can order and what the timeframe is.

 

[AZ8]

Just put a deposit on a 2023 Ram 2500 that shows "In Transit". Dealer shows it coming in "within a month".

I'll see how it plays out. Will I have a truck in my garage by Halloween???? Time well tell! lol

 

[Ucsdryder]

Just put a deposit on a 2023 Ram 2500 that shows "In Transit". Dealer shows it coming in "within a month".

I'll see how it plays out. Will I have a truck in my garage by Halloween???? Time well tell! lol

Are they still doing 20% off msrp?

 

[AZ8]

Are they still doing 20% off msrp?

Not for 2500/3500. I got some dealer incentives totaling $6000.

 

[Rick M.]

My local Toyota is on a waitlist. I've been on it for six months. I was told the wait for a Corolla is about 8-12 months, a Prius is over a year, and Prius Prime is at least two years. Pretty wild when you can't even get into a Corolla.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Use auto trader advance search. Find the exact car you want in stock.
Make the deal online. Fly out and drive it back.

 

[Crusader]

We are looking at cars, the plan would be to buy new (2023 RAV4 hybrid) and to keep the current commuter car for the son (i.e., no trade). I'm seeing something I haven't seen before and wondering what it means... the local dealers have a disproportionate number of RAV4 hybrids in inventory listed as "vehicle in transit" or "vehicle in build phase". They have a ton of these vehicles with VINS, but not on the lot, whereas that isn't the case for other models.

Is my interpretation that this is a good situation if we are happy to wait it out for a 2023 and that they are pushing up against the 2023 window to sell these? Only person that is feeling pressure to purchase one is our son . We are for sure waiting until the October Toyota deals come out to see what is happening with those, right now there is only a factory financing deal. Thoughts?!?! I haven't started talking to salesmen, but am ready to do so.

I'm in the same "boat" as you, only I'm shopping for a 2023 4Runner. Started the process and got "educated" over the last couple of months, same as you, learned about the allocations to dealership and the "in transit" scenario. All the dealers around here will take a deposit, $500-1k or so, to be able to select one of their allocation. It then goes towards your purchase price. I am holding off, wanting to buy after 1st of the year, but am shopping regularly to stay current. I, too, am willing to go to another state to buy if I can find the model with options I want. It's a bit of a gamble to wait and look but I'm going to give it a shot, not ready yet to compromise and buy something not equipped the way I want.

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