Recommendations for Twin Cities eastern Toyota dealerships?

My poor old 2013 GMC Acadia just crossed the 200k mark. It has been my goal for as long as I’ve owned vehicles to get a GM car across the 200k line on the original motor and I finally managed to do it with the Acadia. Sadly, it’s not with the original transmission, but that’s transmission fluid under the bridge.

So now I’m on a wholesale changeover to other vehicle brands and I’m going to look at Toyota.

Anyone have recommendations for the best dealer to work with in the eastern half of the Twin Cities? Also willing to consider other dealerships if they are truly outstanding.

Maplewood Toyota

When it comes to new car dealerships I don’t know what can be different. They all will be union so shop rates will be within a couple of bucks of each other. I’m guessing they all work within a percentage or two on markup on the vehicles. Beat up the metro guys and then give Dave Marquart a call. I think he has a Toyota dealership in Eau Claire or Chippawa Falls. He also owns The Boat Center.

Good luck in whatever direction you go.

There is a difference. I’ve bought a few cars recently and buying from dealerships that offer a non-negotiable, lowest cost available model is a much better experience. All you negotiate is your trade.

I recently bought a car through Belzer and with all my research, the non-negotiable setup was the best cost. It was also easiest to buy from.

I don’t know any Toyota dealers but I’d recommend this model over the tried and true old school sales model.

Avoid morries at all cost. They have been the worst place I’ve ever purchased a vehicle.
I needed warranty work a month ago and they were out till the end of June for a loaner. No biggie they said my truck would be done in 2 days. 5 days later 7 voicemails I left them and no response. I go in and notice my truck hasn’t moved. They tell me they are backed up it’ll be done in 2 days they promise. That was on a Monday. That Wednesday they tell me Friday. Friday I got a call they can’t look at it for 2 more weeks. I asked why keep telling me 2 days. The lady told me corporate does all schedules and completely ignores what the service desk is telling them. While I was in there I was 1 of 5 pissed off customers. I ended up having it towed to a different non morries dealer and told them I’d never be back or buy another anything, and for the hell of it i looked up there reviews, and they are poor. Now I’m battling to get my tow out of there back paid but that’s just endless phone call after phone call.

I bought my 4Runner (used) from walser Toyota in Bloomington, 494 frontage road west of France. Very good experience with Kela Smith. Price was comparable to other dealerships, trade on my Honda Pilot was what I could have sold it for myself. Looked there for my wife a couple months ago but she liked the Hybrid CRV more than the RAV4.

I contacted all of the Duluth/Virgina dealerships and none would negotiate period. I started reaching out to the dealers in the cities and found that Inver Grove Heights Toyota worked with me but I got a better deal from Wausau Toyota. This was during Covid so it’s been a while. IGH was within $1000 and at the time I got close to $5500 off sticker from Wausau for whatever that is worth. This was on a Tundra.

Bloomington Toyota off 494 East of 100 is the largest volume Toyota dealer in the Twin Cites.

SIL bought a Tundra last fall in the metro. I believe all he did was build the truck online and submitted it for quote to all dealers within a nearby radius. He based his decision on price and responsiveness. Did not have a trade so it was pretty straight forward. Don’t know which dealer he ended up using.

Sounds like the perfect time to look at ridgelines

If looking used, I’d avoid stealerships at all costs.

If you are looking at new, I’d use Joe’s strategy listed above. That’s what my wife did with a brand new Jeep Cherokee L and it was pretty seamless.

Avoid Burnsville Toyota. They are trash

For Toyotas on the east side of the Cities, I’ve heard good things about Rice Lake Toyota in Roseville. The staff’s friendly, no high-pressure sales tactics, and they’ve got a solid service department. Another one is Morrie’s Burnsville Toyota—they treat you well and their prices seem fair.

Why limit your radius? Go to whoever is local and find what you want for model, trim package, accessories and shop around. Mankato is my favorite toyota dealer as they do most of our recalls, maint, etc with ease (closest to us). After shopping in a recent search for a landcruiser for the wife, and rav4 for the daughter, okaboji, and a small dealer in Kansas (who shipped the Land cruiser to us) were the best dealers to work with , both took the time to search alocations for the options we wanted, colors etc.. You may have a better experience than me, but the dealers in the cities suck. It was the same at every one that I called, “what we have is what we have, and the price is non negotiable (even though they all had dealer mark ups above MSRP)

We are a Toyota family Have been for a decade.

What was your story as to why you say this?

PmB wrote:

Avoid Burnsville Toyota. They are trash

The oil level was off on 2 different oil changes. The oil filter was over tightened. They damaged my rims when installing new tires. They can even get the simple poop right.

buckybadger wrote:

If looking used, I’d avoid stealerships at all costs.

I actually recommend buying used from a dealership to my customers.
When it comes to used cars, they only keep and sell the good ones. The ones with issuesor damage go to auction, get purchased cheap, get a bandaid, and end up on a used car lot.
If it’s on a used car lot you can bet it’s has or had gremlins. Also used car lots fix issues as cheap as possible.
Though you may pay more a dealership, odds are that your getting a much better vehicle than from a used car lot.

When we sell a used car, it comes with some warranty and assurance it was looked over and fixed prior to hitting the lot. Billy Bob down the block… yeah, when it breaks in half, you own both half’s.

Appreciate all the suggestions.

As to why stay in the metro and not shop state/nation-wide, the main reason is I feel like when it comes to service, I get the “You didn’t buy it here” cold shoulder on the after-sale support and warranty. Which for me is a key thing because I keep the vehicles for so long.

But it may come to going outside the metro, so I don’t rule it out. Toyota is always in demand, so we’ll see if I like the models I’m looking at and then if I can get the model/options I want.

We’re going to look at the 4Runner and the new Land Cruiser. I’ve never spent any time in the new version of either one of these vehicles, so I need some time to really look them over. I like that both have a hybrid system. The biggest disappointment for me in all the SUVs I’ve owned is the mileage sucked. Hoping to improve on that.

Again, thanks for the suggestions.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

As to why stay in the metro and not shop state/nation-wide, the main reason is I feel like when it comes to service, I get the “You didn’t buy it here” cold shoulder on the after-sale support and warranty. Which for me is a key thing because I keep the vehicles for so long.

Do they really do that if you didnt buy it there? I always thought that was their biggest money maker was service. Basically a snowblower that needs a carb rebuilt 3 hours before a foot and a half of snow

Youbetcha wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>TheFamousGrouse wrote:</div>
As to why stay in the metro and not shop state/nation-wide, the main reason is I feel like when it comes to service, I get the “You didn’t buy it here” cold shoulder on the after-sale support and warranty. Which for me is a key thing because I keep the vehicles for so long.

Do they really do that if you didnt buy it there? I always thought that was their biggest money maker was service. Basically a snowblower that needs a carb rebuilt 3 hours before a foot and a half of snow.

Not one dealership has ever treated me that way besides morries and I bought my truck there. I had it towed to a dealership that I didn’t buy from and they were awesome.

You won’t need support or warranty, it’s a Toyota

I always brought my truck to one of two local dealerships, neither where I bought it, and never thought there was an issue at either. Maybe at the busier one salesperson could have gotten me bumped in line or something? I’m not sure what more they could have done really. It seems like they all take their survey reviews pretty seriously and try to be as helpful as they can be.

My Wifes last 2 Toyotas came from out of state. I find what I want in a late model low mile Toyota, usually still under warranty. Search Car Gurus with the advance search and add 500 mile radius. Flown to Ohio to pick up one and middle of Wisconsin to get the other. Saved $4000 on one and almost $9k on the other doing this. No problems getting it serviced local at a Toyota dealer. But with putting more then 100k on each before we sold them never had any problems.

grubson wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buckybadger wrote:</div>
If looking used, I’d avoid stealerships at all costs.

I actually recommend buying used from a dealership to my customers.
When it comes to used cars, they only keep and sell the good ones. The ones with issuesor damage go to auction, get purchased cheap, get a bandaid, and end up on a used car lot.
If it’s on a used car lot you can bet it’s has or had gremlins. Also used car lots fix issues as cheap as possible.
Though you may pay more a dealership, odds are that your getting a much better vehicle than from a used car lot.

Everyone has their own stories, but my best luck has come buying private from someone who takes care of their stuff. I have taken vehicles to a lifelong family friend’s small shop and have them put it on a lift, highlight things to me if there are issues, and use it as a way to either negotiate or simply pass on the vehicle. I’ve repeated this process on my last 3 used vehicles and had great results at solid prices. I like to target vehicles that are 4-5 years old and run them up to 100-150K miles while the wife likes to buy brand new every few years.

I’ve had great luck buying certified pre owned vehicles from dealerships. Private party car purchases have too many unknowns, even if you inspect them.

To each their own, but I’ve bought trucks, SUV’s, high performance cars and sedans as CPO and never once been burned.

You find a private party vehicle that works well mechanically but who’s to say the guy didn’t like to drive around with no pants on and now you’re using that seat covered in his ball sweat. Gross.

The problems with stealerships is a real problem in the Duluth area in regards to Toyota. I contacted Kolar and had 3 questions thru online with their website. They did not answer any of my questions and the first was have you ever bought from us before ? We bought our Rav4 from Ashland ! I contacted them and they answered the same 3 question within 10 minutes. Put $500 down and got it ordered up right then and there.

Bucky, buying private party from someone you know is always best. Getting it inspected by someone you trust is a very good idea too.
I assumed you meant a used car lot. I haven’t ran into many of those worth buying from. Most are criminal at best.

Matt Moen wrote:

I’ve had great luck buying certified pre owned vehicles from dealerships. Private party car purchases have too many unknowns, even if you inspect them.

To each their own, but I’ve bought trucks, SUV’s, high performance cars and sedans as CPO and never once been burned.

You find a private party vehicle that works well mechanically but who’s to say the guy didn’t like to drive around with no pants on and now you’re using that seat covered in his ball sweat. Gross.

No ball sweat on dealership pre-owned cars?
You don’t want to know, ignorance is bliss.
That’s like worrying where the change in your pocket has been….. yuk.

I have bought from private party, small car lot and dealerships just depended on price range and what I was looking for. My last purchase was from a dealership and the truck(almost 40k out the door) didn’t even make it home without an issue but the dealership stood behind it even though it was “as is” and fixed it. I try to go buy the rule if the vehicle looks clean inside and out like it was taken care of then the previous owner probably did proper maintenance as well. Dents and scratches happen but I work on vehicles everyday and you get a sense of the ones people take care of and the ones that get neglected.

grubson wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buckybadger wrote:</div>
If looking used, I’d avoid stealerships at all costs.

I actually recommend buying used from a dealership to my customers.
When it comes to used cars, they only keep and sell the good ones. The ones with issuesor damage go to auction, get purchased cheap, get a bandaid, and end up on a used car lot.
If it’s on a used car lot you can bet it’s has or had gremlins. Also used car lots fix issues as cheap as possible.
Though you may pay more a dealership, odds are that your getting a much better vehicle than from a used car lot.

X2

Much rather get used from dealership than private party also, unless trusted mechanic looks it over first and gives the ok.