25% off Toyota Genuine Parts - Serra Toyota 3/1-3/15

How much washer fluid does the 12 ounce bottle make?

When I was young, Malco (anyone remember the "Malco Gasser"?) sold 4 oz. glass bottles of "washer concentrate".
The price was ridiculously high and didn't yield a quart of installable fluid.
 
That's weird because our WalMart's price for the genuine Toyota filters is 15% higher than over-the-counter at our local Lexus or Toyota dealers.

Pays to shop around.
I think it's common now, as I have seen this in 3 places--trusted Japanese indie, formerly trusted domestic indie, Midas, Lexus and BMW dealerships (Lexus charged over list in 2016, indie just now). All charge above list price now on parts. I don't consider it dishonest, if it's the industry standard, just like bogus shop fees and taxes [not dishonest if the law tells them they can and everyone does] (I'm not one of those folks who are always against industries trying to make a living, seriously). What is now more than ever, important in a maintenance strategy, is to have a trusted indie (or dealer if you must) install customer provided parts. We could say, why would they? Dunno, but they still do.

Toyota parts are so expensive, that I have ordered from Japan, say on a cup holder that was $120 in 2016 online yet $200+ in 2022 or 2023. It actually only took 8 days and once again down to the 2016 price. Just had to wait. This was eBay, which many I'm sure are not comfortable with. But factory sealed with Toyota OE label. Explanation I've gotten is North American distributor (and markup) cut out of the picture. Too bad parts.com is gone they were legit on OE parts. They had a network of dealers willing to be their providers, sorta like RA.
 
So the latest 25% off sale ended Monday (June 9th). I had placed an order for 2 sets of wipers (actual OEM not the Sightline junk) with Serra Toyota of Decatur (AL) and now have the items in hand. If I am calculating correctly I was able to get the wipers about 48% off list price (25% off sale plus the usual Serra Toyota of Decatur (approximately) 31% off list price discount). And FREE shipping. Better deal than RockAuto, right ?!?

I was rather surprised that I was not charged either Alabama sales tax or the sales tax of my state (as expected with Amazon). So I researched the matter on Grok and ChatGPT. You guys probably already know all about this, but apparently states usually do not collect their own sales taxes (or sales taxes of the destination state) on (internet) sales made by in-state entities to out-of-state residents IF two conditions are met (Per the 2018 Supreme Court ruling, South Dakota v. Wayfair):

- The entity making the sale lacks any kind of physical presence (the legal term is "nexus") within the destination state, AND

- The overall volume of sales to a particular destination state does not exceed (either) $100,000 in annual sales (or) 200 total number of annual transactions thresholds (the legal term is "economic nexus").

Some states (such as Alabama) also impose what is called a "common carrier exemption" requirement. That is, entities must utilize a "common carrier" (UPS, FedEx, USPS etc.) to make deliveries to out-of-state buyers (while also separately stating any shipping charges as a distinct line item on any invoices) in order to avoid having to collect (their) state sales taxes. Buyers themselves entering the borders of another state to make an in-store pickup are subject to the sales tax of that state.

This is one reason why entities such as Amazon.com collects the sales taxes of (their) buyer's state - Amazon may or may not have a physical presence within a particular state (warehouses etc.) but they (of course) exceed the overall sales volume thresholds. Amazon.com is also very visible to (state) Department of Revenue agencies. A out-of-state car dealership is perhaps not quite so visible.

Under such circumstances out-of-state buyers would still be legally responsible for self-reporting the transaction and paying the sales tax (or what is called a "use tax") of their state, but you know......
 
Enjoy 20% off from now through 7/7/2025.

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