Toyota VenzaToyota
Welcome to Chapter 6, Volume II, Subsection A in Deals of the Week: The Fine Print, or All Toyota Venza Deals Are Not Alike, and Choosing the Best One and Working It to the Max Could Be Worth at Least $1,000 to a Tenacious Buyer.
Take the 2012 Venza with front-wheel drive at $29,425 (plus $1,735 fright and AC tax). It's in play with up to $4,000 in "stackable" factory-to-consumer rebates – stackable meaning it's possible to combine the $1,500 consumer cash incentive with the $2,500 non-stackable cash discount. Yes, the non-stackable is in fact stackable, according to the fine print. (If you take only the $1,500, Toyota has 0.0 per cent financing for 36 months, too.)
As www.carcostcanada.com president Paul Timoteo notes about the Venza, "With a $4,000 cash rebate and a dealer discount of $1,500 to $2,000, with just a little coaxing, that brings the price down to the mid-$25,000 range. That's in Mazda3 five-door or Ford Focus five-door territory, as soon as you equip them similarly. That's a ton of value."
In fact, Timoteo himself took the plunge.
"So, you know if I bought one, they have to be a great deal. I just bought the base model, which comes pretty decently equipped," he says.
And the front-drive Venza is a better deal than a more expensive Venza with all-wheel drive (AWD). Here we get to more of the fine print. You see, the base Venza AWD lists for $30,875 (plus $1,735 freight and AC tax) and is being peddled with stackable discounts that come to only $3,000 – a $1,500 consumer cash incentive with a $1,500 non-stackable cash discount which, as it turns out, is stackable here.
Apparently the front-drive Venza is a harder sell than the AWD version, thus the difference in sales sweeteners. Yes, it's important to research your next new vehicle purchase. A little digging is often worth a lot of money saved on the deal.
Deals of the Week did a little digging into three other interesting offers, including the $3,000 discount on a $41,000 Nissan 370Z coupe. The Z-car is a lot of sexy muscle for the money. The right dealer might be willing to toss in $1,500 to $2,000 in discounts, too. So again, it's pretty good value.
Then there's the Chevrolet Cruze compact sedan. If you are currently leasing a vehicle, GM Canada has two programs worth a look – one for current GM leaseholders worth $1,000 (the lease loyalty program), the other (cash for leases) worth $1,500 for those who get out of their lease using www.leasebusters.com – with or without the help of a GM dealer. You'll find more details in the fine print.
Finally, Deals of the Week spotted a $1,500 discount on the most expensive version of the Honda Odyssey minivan ($47,090). The non-stackable cash offer is not huge, but Honda has rarely been in the business of sweetening its family van – generally believed to be the gold standard in minivans, and priced accordingly.
As usual, Deals of the Week obtained pricing information from www.carcostcanada.com, among other sources. Here are the numbers.
2012 Toyota Venza
- MSRP: $29,425.
- Freight, dealer prep, air conditioning tax: $1,735.
- Dealer discount (estimated): $1,500.
- Taxable subtotal: $29,660.
- Total price with 13% HST: $33,515.80.
- Factory discount: $1,500 (consumer cash incentive factory-to-consumer rebate)
- Factory discount: $2,500 (non-stackable cash discount factory-to-consumer rebate)
- Final price: $29,515.80.
2012 Nissan 370Z Touring coupe, manual
- MSRP: $40,978.
- Freight, dealer prep and air conditioning tax and Green Levy: $1,840.
- Dealer discount (estimated): $1,500.
- Factory discount: $3,000 (stackable trading dollar factory-to-dealer rebate).
- Taxable subtotal: $38,318.
- Total price with 13% HST: $43,299.34.
- Loan rates as low as 4.5% for up to 84 months.
2012 Chevrolet Cruze LT w/1SA
- MSRP: $18,755.
- Freight, dealer prep, AC tax: $1,595.
- Dealer discount (estimated): $1,300.
- Factory discount: $1,500 (Cash for Lease factory-to-customer rebate).
- Taxable subtotal: $17,550.
- Total price with 13% HST: $19,831.50.
- 2.30% lease rate for 36 months.
2012 Honda Odyssey Touring w/Navi and RES
- MSRP: $47,090.
- Freight, dealer prep, AC tax: $1,740.
- Dealer discount (estimated): $1,800.
- Factory discount: $1,500 (Non-stackable Trading Dollars factory-to-dealer rebate).
- Taxable subtotal: $45,530.
- Total price with 13% HST: $51,448.90.
Pricing information source: carcostcanada.com. Calculations based on Ontario customers. Please note that while the information above is accurate at the time of publication, incentives are given at the discretion of individual dealers, and may be changed or discontinued at any time. Dealer discounts are negotiated with the customer on a case-by-case basis.