When the misfortune of a glancing intersection interception resulted in unrepairable frame damage to the front corner of my wife's 4 year old Toyota Dog Hauler, aka Sienna, we were in the same position of immediate need. The replacement Toyota van is now sluggish and very expensive at $47K, plus the generous dealer adds that pushed this rolling dog crate well over $54K. With one to choose from, no time to decide, as they literally had another customer waiting to buy it, if we passed. Pass we did, it sold instantly, and we moved on to the Honda dealer. They also had one available, with a minor pack of only $9K over sticker no negotiating, I refused, after decoding how many hours of my time equaled $9k in net income, to give to these villains. We gave up all hope and visited the Chrysler dealer, which had not seen our faces since the lease return of our last Town & Country 13 years ago. They actually had a minor selection of what seemed to be well-built Pacificas, were considerate and agreed to sell at MSRP plus a few silly adds (can't drive without etched glass and nitrogen in the tires, after all). At the end of that day, all I felt was relief, resignation and commented that this experience was a much fun as buying a new dryer. This situation has sucked all the enjoyment out of getting of a new vehicle, and exposed the faults of JIT production and the corrupt, century-old dealer model. Why can't I just order a new van on the internet, pay a retail price, and have it delivered when built? Oh yea, Tesla doesn't make a van.
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