Toyota tax and others

[AndyG]

Based in PNG we run a fleet of Toyota 70 series, about 150 utes, 3 doors and 5 doors, 6 cylinder non turbo, and they last about 400,000 km, permanently off road by Aussie standards. Must admit makes the puma with leather feel swish.

Anyhow, once again ****ed off with toyota customer service, or more accurately their take it or **** off attitude.
A little investigation and we can get 3 patrols again 6 cylinder diesel, for the price of 2 toyota, looking at 5 doors only at this point. Has to be a no brainer?

Its makeing me question our Cat loyalty now, as their C.S is minimal too (anyone want a multi million customer p.m me)

20 years ago it would be IBM in the scope

So product loyalty can lead to blind purchasing decisions.

There is of course the issue of spare parts and training in a remote location that locks you in.

[Bigbjorn]

Based in PNG we run a fleet of Toyota 70 series, about 150 utes, 3 doors and 5 doors, 6 cylinder non turbo, and they last about 400,000 km, permanently off road by Aussie standards. Must admit makes the puma with leather feel swish.

Anyhow, once again ****ed off with toyota customer service, or more accurately their take it or **** off attitude.
A little investigation and we can get 3 patrols again 6 cylinder diesel, for the price of 2 toyota, looking at 5 doors only at this point. Has to be a no brainer?

Its makeing me question our Cat loyalty now, as their C.S is minimal too (anyone want a multi million customer p.m me)

20 years ago it would be IBM in the scope

So product loyalty can lead to blind purchasing decisions.

There is of course the issue of spare parts and training in a remote location that locks you in.

When I was in the mining and construction machinery trade one of my shire council customers, the Shire Engineer, wouldn't buy Caterpillar plant. He expressed the opinion that the Cat dealer should drop the purchase prices considerably or supply spare parts free of charge. He reckoned you paid thrice for Cat spare parts. First time in the inflated purchase price and second & third time in the inflated spare parts prices.

I have no idea how much fat is in Cat parts prices but the firm I represented added 210% to landed cost into store to determine the retail price. Didn't give trade discount either.

[JDNSW]

Price of spare parts is a vexed question for anything. One of the major issues is that if the item is to be supported, parts must be available - yet a lot of them may be in stock for many years, or perhaps never sell any. This means you need to have a very substantial markup for all of them, which should be calculated based on expected time in inventory and expected interest rates, proportion never sold, and warehouse costs.

Companies such as Cat probably expect their dealers to stock a lot of spares that will rarely if ever be sold, as a lot of customers are going to expect any part they need to be available immediately.