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I'm a WRX driver that gave up on waiting for the next generation STI, so I decided the WRX is for winter driving duty and I wanted a fun summer vehicle.

At the end of August I decided to purchase a Supra, went to the local dealer for a test drive, and he threw me the keys to a new 2021 and sent me on my way. ~5 miles of driving was enough to sell me. (I was gentle with it if you bought it after my test drive. I just didn't like the color.)

Long story short / tl;dr: A month later I *almost* got what I wanted, and this is by far the worst overall car buying experience I've had.

This is such a sexy car despite the hassles I've had buying it.

Abbreviated (!) full version of the purchase:
After settling on a rough price for a phantom gray, I saw that the A91 was a similar price and asked if the dealer could get one after I got spooked on the "hand wash only" of the phantom. They said they couldn't get the A91 and referred me to a second larger dealer who was supremely confident they could get the A91.
Dealer 2 could not. It took weeks to go from "no problem" to "we've been ghosted on this A91". OK, I get it, I wasn't truly expecting it to be easy since I've been reading and enjoying this forum since August.

With both of the dealers, I'm adamant that I get a car with no test driven miles on it, and I'm willing to wait a reasonable time for it. I want to break it in with a specific procedure for the first 100 miles and know the car hasn't been abused.
Dealer 2 falls back and tries to get a regular nocturnal car from the dock with the two PPF packages (instead of the easily available hood only). This turns into another week or so of delays at the same time the A91 was getting held up for everyone.
Dealer 1 says they can transport a car on a carrier from a nearby dealer and the car has no miles on it, especially not test driven miles. OK, sold. I cancelled the order with dealer 2 since they took a month to not get me anything. I understand it's not entirely their fault, just bad timing.

I go to pick up the car yesterday - it looks gorgeous. I sign all the paperwork and the dealer has me drive over to the gas station around the corner to fill it up because he knows I want to break in the car my way. I gas up, go back to the dealership and notice that the odometer has *87* miles on it. This is so 2020 that I sit there trying to figure out how this all got so screwed up while I kick myself for trusting the dealer. So I get my phone hooked up to the car, and try to decide where to do some joyriding since it's my car now. The navigation doesn't work at all and needs "USB with code" attached to enable it. I ask the sales guy to come out and take a look at it, then ask why the car has about 85 more miles on it than I'm expecting. "I don't know, we must have been lied to about the car." I don't even know how to respond.

I ask them to look into the navigation and get back to me, then take a drive. 10 minutes later I get called to come in to have the navigation fixed. *Two hours later* I'm still sitting in the service center as they try to figure out my BMW. They are now waiting for something on their end and I'll have to go back. I've also asked them to call up the lying dealer they got it from and find out if the car was test driven and/or how it was driven for those 87 miles. Honestly I don't expect anything but lies in the chain at this point so I'm a bit resigned to having a car that some yahoo probably launched a few times and beat on for fun. I wanted to keep this car for long term, but I may change my mind in a few years. I'm probably overreacting, but I truly didn't get what I wanted despite clearly stating it over and over (I'm leaving out other relevant side stories at that).

Both dealers I dealt with directly were actually pretty good to work with and I think they did their best to be accommodating. However, in the end they couldn't deliver properly. Every other new car purchase I've ever had has been far more pleasant, and this is the most expensive car I've bought. The purchase experience was as bad as the vehicle is good.

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[ogun228]

Hi and welcome.

I too had an experience that I want to forget when buying mine.
I bought an available car sitting in the lot with all the "body in white"
protective wrapping. I had 56 miles...no problem but the entire experience
was a bummer...The sleaze feel was very strong. approximately 20 or so sales people.

I came with cash and it still took me 5 hours to complete the transaction and drive out
with the car. I felt taken advantage of, nickeled and dimed at every turn beside being
stiffed on my trade in etc. Quite a different experience from Porsche dealerships. When I asked
for some water, I was directed to a vending machine. To me they were a bunch of low lifes.
They even tried to include inflated registration charges.

Needless to say I have yet to fill out their request for a good rating; probably won't ever do it
and to boot I don't think I'll get the car serviced there no matter how free it may be, as the
sales person intimated that a tire rotation was required at the service time. What?

Anyway this was by far the most unpleasant purchasing experience I've ever had.

 

[Grendel-13]

I had other issues when I bought my Supra last year. A week after I could glance at the car at the Chicago auto show were they didn't have a floor model to get close too, I went to a dealer about 15 miles away I was a big Toyota dealer so I expected them to know something about them. I went in and asked them about the Supra and told them I wanted to order one, and asked when I could. The sales person wasn't even sure what one was and got the manager, The manager didn't know much also. at least he knew what the car was. He took down my name and said he would call me when they had more information. So a few months pass. It's early June and I see info online that the Supra should be ready to order within a week.

I hadn't heard anything from the dealer, so I decided to go back to the dealer. Repeat of same thing I heard in February, and they took my name down again. So on the way home from the dealer, just for the heck of it, I stopped at a much smaller dealer closer to home. I had skipped it in the first place due to its size, thinking that a smaller dealer wouldn't be interested in the Supra. So I walk in the door, and the Truck sales manager is at the front desk, car sales manager was off that day. So I asked him if when I could order a new Supra, expecting to wait another week or two. HIs answer right away was sure we can order that car today. He even knew what one was even though he dealt with the trucks. This was a dealer where the sales people are non commission.

So I happen to get a sales person on his first day. I'm thinking Oh no! They had some one work with him to help with the sale. There was no haggling on the price, I got it for list, which at the time was good. Many dealers I read about were already bumping up the price above list.
SO the sales person got to have some bragging rights. He was able to sell a Supra to his first customer on his first day. I told him don't get used to this, most car sales aren't that easy. I then had to wait till the beginning of October for the car. I did a loan outside of Toyota, because their rates sucked. The car came in just in time for the loan, as it was only good for 30 days, then they would have had to do a new credit check. When I went to the dealer to pick it up, I was out the door in 2 hours. Only 7 miles on the car, I had been at the arrival point for an extra week because they had to update some software for the display, So sometimes the bigger dealers are not all ways better. This dealer even has two mechanics trained on service for it, so I didn't have any problems with this years first service.

I'm sorry you had such a bad purchasing experience, I just happened to luck out with this dealer. I've had other dealers on other cars where I have walked out on the salesman. I would have been completely pissed if mine would have had 85 miles on it before I bought it. They let me drive mine before I did the paper work.

They list the tire rotation, but the service advisor knew they can't do it on the car. Most sales people don't have that much in depth knowledge of the car they are selling. I almost always know more than they do when we are dealing on a car. Sometimes they become a lot more knowledgeable after selling me a car.

 

[WLDMKV]

Fixed the License plate issue with side plate mounting bracket from Perrin.
Much better...

 

[Paolo]

Fixed the License plate issue with side plate mounting bracket from Perrin.
Much better...

Hey mate can you provide a link?
Have also premium plates and would like to move it from obligatory front where it's currently installed.

 

[WLDMKV]

Hey mate can you provide a link?
Have also premium plates and would like to move it from obligatory front where it's currently installed.

https://www.carmodsaustralia.com.au/license-plate-relocation-kit-toyota-a90-supra
That's the mounting plate I used and just modified the backing bracket.

 

[Paolo]

Thank you.

 

[genoxy]

Welcome! Always nice to see another Aussie here!

Bimmercode is great, if you're after more things to do Carguy11 has some YouTube videos with walk throughs

Licence plate Drilled into the front bumper is definitely a crazy idea for the Australian market, feel sorry for anyone who had that done... I got the CravenSpeed side mounted one and loving it, took about a month to arrive though

Where you've got it now will block air but it's ok and functional unless you're gonna track it, I had it cable tied in the same spot until this arrived

https://www.cravenspeed.com/the-platypus-license-plate-mount-for-2020-toyota-supra/

 

[ogun228]

Ok, fellow owners, it's been a whole month. I have been waiting to have
a bit more time with the Supra to be able to talk about it in an intelligent
manner. So, here goes, with the caveat that the following are expressions of my opinions
and as everyone knows, everybody has one.

I spent the first 17 days of my ownership trying to get over and deal with the constant
assault on my senses, both visual and auditory, coming from all the safety systems that
are "ON" by default. During my drive from the dealership, I couldn't shake a sense of
dread that I might have made a mistake in purchasing this car: the constant distractions
of blinks,bongs, warnings was driving me crazy. To boot, the over light electric steering
made me question every one of my steering inputs as the quick and light character of
the steering frustrated me.

One by one I tried to evaluate the usefulness of these driver aids and my need for any
of them and got rid of most except for the proximity warnings when I park in my stall
in my building's underground garage. See, the Supra is a full 2 inches wider than the car
I drove for 10 years and I am still adjusting to parking it properly without risking damage.
I ended buying garage pole and wall padding from Amazon.

Eventually I realized that I could turn all of this crap and even the screen to "OFF"
and start really getting to know the car and its dynamics without interference or
warnings from the Nannies.

As I stated in a prior post, I have realized that this car wants a gentle not a heavy hand
and once I understood and processed this, the goodness of the Supra began to be revealed.
I am still getting used to the overly light steering in both normal and sport modes and I wish
there were a way to tighten this a slight bit to make it perfect...The road holding is excellent
although I experienced a slight tail wag that I easily recovered from but not without briefly
blanching. I like the quiet and comfortable ride in both modes and revel in the thrust of
acceleration when prodded. What a car!

We are still making friends and I expect that to continue for a while: it took me one week
of constant adjustments to get the driver's seat to that perfect and permanent position. I have
determined that driving in Normal mode was good enough for most of my outings and I am
getting a kick out of reading 23-25 mpg on the readout and spending < 25 bucks at the pump on 93...
I am now at 1140 miles in 30 days
which translates to slightly less than 40 miles a day for the break in and familiarization processes.
I have taken it to 102 finally and can report that it handles fine there...I am still a bit ginger in my
approach to curves since I have not yet gotten used to the body rolls and motions in curves but
I must admit that no matter how slightly unsettled the car feels in the curves, it recovers with
an assuredness that is addictive...

The Supra feels planted, handles road imperfections with aplomb and in my opinion makes me
not only a better driver but also a more considerate one because it is so easy to drive normally
while the storm is only a pedal push away.

The journey continues and I have lots to learn and get used to with this car. I have not yet
developed any muscle memory and still have to think things through but I am confident that
will come in time and that we will become the best of friends without the supervision of nannies.

 

[ogun228]

Huddleston said:
Welcome! What are your thoughts on the driving dynamics between the two cars?


This is like asking to compare a kiwi to a prune because they are both fruits but I am
going to try>

The car I traded in for the Supra was a 2009 Porsche Carrera S cabriolet with a dual
clutch transmission and Sport Chrono ( Normal, Sport, Sport+, and launch control)
Power 385 hp and 310 torque. 0-60 in 4.2 and max speed 188.

This was the 1st dual clutch generation and the last naturally aspirated 911 engine
as well as the last hydraulic steering.

This car was a dream to drive in all modes and the only nanny was the traction control.
The company up to that model always emphasized driving dynamics over luxury and/or
comfort. For example, the communication system allowed phone pairing and navigation
and that is all. Whatever other info needed was accessed via the left top stalk.

Driving this car made me understand what great handling is about, with virtually no body
motions or rolls, planted like mad and urged the driver to revel in late braking and fast
out of curves. I drove it year around with dedicated winter wheels and tires.

Now comes the caveat, a big one: with all of its greatness, the 911 is a very expensive
ownership proposition, judge for yourself:

In the last 7 years of ownership, I have spent $28,407 in maintenance although I must
mention that I changed the oil every 5 k and of the above amount $ 3.5 k were for
replacement of the High Pressure Fuel Pump and the alternator. Quite a bit also was
paying for tires as 911 are notorious for eating rear tires and maintaining 2 sets of wheels
and tires as well as paying for their storage. No matter the amount of smiles per miles, this
is serious money.


Now the Supra:
It is my first experience owning any Asian car.

In my opinion any car comparison must take price into account. Suffice it to say that to replace
my Carrera with an equivalent new model as well optioned as the Supra would cost me 165k at
a minimum. A new Cayman GT4 would be about 95k.

There is no way, in my opinion, that these cars are 100k and 40k better than the Supra and as
a former owner of 2 911 Carrera's, I am saying that the 2021 Supra is every bit as good as a
Cayman and in my opinion, more desirable overall...There I have said it.

My former car had a cachet, a flair that few cars have and made the driver feel great just being
in it and knowing that most other people admired the car and envied you...The Supra appeals to
a different demographic, younger, more inclined to experiment and modify but the bottom line
is that for all its goodness, the Supra is a TOYOTA, albeit an exceptionally good one.

I am happy to bid goodbye to 350 bucks oil changes, 1300 set of tires every 2 years or so and enter
the world of reasonable maintenance costs.

My parting word for this comparison is this: I never thought that I would not miss the 911 as it was
the best car that I have ever owned or driven but honestly I do not miss it and have not regretted
making the swap. I only hope that I will continue to feel this way.

 

[A_Warm_Gun]

Guten tag Supra faithful.

Just bought my dream car and pleased to be here among other likeminded folks with great taste. Happy to join the struggle against the
onslaught of SUV's, crossovers and other boring cars.

 

[pav911]

Hi. Have you got any mods planned?

 

[A_Warm_Gun]

I shall proceed slowly. Not in a big hurry to sabotage my warranty. Mostly cosmetic instead of performance mods. Probably do some carbon fiber hood vents to replace the plastic plugs already on there. Throw some strut bars on. I was hoping GAZOO Racing and/or TRD would be offering performance parts that wouldn't put my warranty at risk but I don't see much available RN.

 

[Dannyvandelft]

I shall proceed slowly. Not in a big hurry to sabotage my warranty. Mostly cosmetic instead of performance mods. Probably do some carbon fiber hood vents to replace the plastic plugs already on there. Throw some strut bars on. I was hoping GAZOO Racing and/or TRD would be offering performance parts that wouldn't put my warranty at risk but I don't see much available RN.

TRD has a very nice, but VERY expensive Carbon Fiber package and wheels you can order from Japan.

 

[kiroshino]

There is no way, in my opinion, that these cars are 100k and 40k better than the Supra and as
a former owner of 2 911 Carrera's, I am saying that the 2021 Supra is every bit as good as a
Cayman and in my opinion, more desirable overall...There I have said it.

Keeping in mind that I've never sat in a Porsche let alone driven one, that's unexpectedly high praise. That makes me ecstatic knowing that despite all of its flaws (perceived or otherwise), the Supra is still a great driver's car.

The Supra is bound to be one of the more expensive Toyota-badged vehicles to maintain, since it borrows most of its parts from BMW. That said, I'm not sure if you'll see much lower maintenance costs than your Porsche. I expect tire consumption and replacement costs to be similar (they come with summer tires, so you'll either need to maintain two sets or replace with all-seasons). Our first two oil changes are free, but there's speculation that it will cost around $200-$250 at a dealership (granted those in the UK are paying £375, which is about $485 USD). For reference, my 2017 Corolla costs $70 (synthetic) at a dealership before any discounts. Older economy cars that don't use synthetic oil typically costs between $20-$40.

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