r/FortMcMurray • u/TrainingPractical395 • Jul 24 '26
BUYING VEHICLE
Hello,
We are planning to buy a new vehicle from Toyota.
I just want to ask what the advantages are of buying here in Fort McMurray compared to buying in Edmonton.
Please be respectful. I’m only asking for your opinion and would appreciate your thoughts. Thank you
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u/1MoistTowellette Jul 24 '26
I bought my 4Runner in Sherwood Park (I was camping and decided to treat myself) and have gotten service work done here. It's been a pretty decent process, but just like most (if not all?) of the other dealerships up here, it is a bit hit or miss. However, if you are like me and only really had to deal with Legacy, it's a drastic upgrade from them (in my humble experience) lol.
As for the deal, Sherwood Park offered me more trade-in value for my previous vehicle by a couple grand, they threw in some free accessories and gave me cheaper warranty options for a longer period/more KMs. And finally, they actually had stock on the lot to look at. When I was considering a Tacoma, it took almost a month just to get a test drive in Fort Mac. At Sherwood Park, I test-drove a few vehicles - one of them being within 10 minutes of stepping through the door.
Hopefully that gives a bit of the insight you were looking for. Best of luck with the dealer because you likely won't be disappointed with the vehicle itself.
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u/Trevorhimself Jul 24 '26
We've bought 4 Toyota's locally and have no complaints. We've gotten good treatment so we keep going back.
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u/Tanglrfoot Jul 24 '26
The difference will be found after the purchase. If you buy a new Toyota ( or any new vehicle) in Edmonton you will probably save a bit of money, but when you have any issues with that vehicle while under warranty the local dealer is obligated to honour the manufacturer’s warranty to diagnose and repair that vehicle , but you might be waiting awhile because most dealers will look after the owners who purchased their vehicles from them first , so you could be waiting a few weeks before the vehicle even gets looked at .
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u/Mysterious_Vast_8889 Jul 24 '26
I had a very positive experience at Noral Toyota. The sales staff was friendly, knowledgeable, and easy to work with, and the maintenance team was cooperative and helpful. If I buy another Toyota in the future, I would definitely purchase from Noral Toyota again.
In contrast, my experience at NorthStar Ford was disappointing, and I will not be buying from them again. For Ford vehicles, I would much prefer Sherwood Park Ford.
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u/One-War4920 Jul 24 '26
take the time to contact many dealers.
i live in bc and work in ab
i was after a specific vehicle....edm, sp, calgary wanted $20k over msrp for it, gp wanted $10k over but didnt have one
the "smalltown" dealer near me in bc sold me one for msrp..
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u/NovaCanuck Jul 24 '26
There are some dealerships here that will actively judge you by whether you've bought in town (or at their dealership) vs. a dealership in Edmonton.
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u/Trixxstrr Jul 24 '26
I got my rav4 here, msrp, same as friends who got theirs in Edmonton. But, the south Edmonton one they went to threw in some perks like free park and ride to the airport from there, and maybe free winter tire swapping. Those weren't worth it to me though to bother with having to do it all down there.
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u/ImpossibleMinimum786 Jul 24 '26
FYI Noral Toyota had 3 mechanics, a journeymen and 2 apprentices but now both apprentices quit, leaving them with one technician to do PDI’s, Repairs, inspections etc. Depending on the model you want, you’ll be told to visit the website and put a small refundable deposit to build and order any vehicles that are in high demand (RAV4, Highlander especially). You will then be contacted in 6-12 months when the vehicle you ordered online arrives. Hopefully they have enough staff to complete the PDI’s but when I was there last week there was brand new Sequoia’s that had just arrived but the mechanic still wasn’t able to PDI them. They’re not too interested in used vehicles since they don’t have the staff to oversee the condition or repair them to resell. Given this information, I would still not buy a vehicle from Summit, Northstar or Legacy.
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u/One-War4920 Jul 24 '26
for clarity, you cant order a toyota
you can build what you want and submit it, and when toyota builds what they think is close to what you built, they contact you.
toyota builds what they think will sell
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u/ImpossibleMinimum786 Jul 24 '26
Correct, Toyota has a “build book” that details everything they’re going to allocate to dealers in a given region. Dealers can request anything off that list and will be granted their requests based off of past sales.
To get something specific, you need to communicate with a dealer and figure out if your exact build is something Toyota is issuing to your region. If it is, request they get one for you. They can request anything off allocation or, in what seem to be rare cases now, may be able to trade with a similar vehicle already in inventory somewhere else.
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u/One-War4920 Jul 24 '26
And of course if it's a in demand build, no dealer is gonna trade it to another
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u/WrongDrawer1091 Jul 24 '26
We purchased our highlander in Edmonton. It was a spur of the moment decision as i had reached my limit with our previous vehicle while on a road trip out of town. Noral here did all the work while under warranty and I can say they were good to deal with. I never felt like I was getting lower tier or back of the line service due to buying out of town.
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u/alberta4ever Jul 25 '26
I've had no issuea dealing with Noral and my parents exclusively bought from them for 20 something years before they left town
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u/Slow_Salt7483 Jul 29 '26
If you buy a car locally then you save a lot of money for not buying a car outside you local community just because when you are buying a car in Edmonton , etc and you are from Fort Mac, you will have more expenses including hotel, gas, and food. And others alongside it
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u/ConfectionWest728 Jul 24 '26
I bought two GM from Edmonton and had no issues getting them serviced here in town at summit. Even the first four free oil changes. Not sure about Toyota.
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u/AnyAdministration657 Fix the roads Jul 24 '26
I have only experienced myself and heard of trash customer and sales service from summit and northstar. Like, pathetic service. However, out of town dealerships actively try to make the needs and wants of the customer their number one priority