Marysville Toyota Negotiation Free – Fair Pricing

It’s not uncommon over the past two years to see new vehicles priced well above their Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). Even the prices of used vehicles are soaring! The supply chain, impacted by the pandemic, caused a record shortage of new and used vehicles, resulting in many dealers choosing to mark-up their vehicles well beyond the MSRP. Marysville Toyota began just one year before the Covid Pandemic changed everything. But the philosophy behind the company remained unchanged, even by these tremendous market forces. 

From their inception in July 2018, Marysville Toyota leadership’s foundational principles require respect for its customers and employees, requiring a vehicle to never be priced above its MSRP, with no add-ons or dealers installed equipment inflating the price. Customers have voted with their patronage making Marysville Toyota one of the fastest growing Toyota franchises in the Portland Region, encompassing Washington, Oregon Idaho, and Montana. The highest Google scores of all franchises in the Seattle metropolitan market speaks for itself.

Owners Jim Colon and Perry Watson III co-owners of Marysville Toyota with their unique sales model, knew their ethos of respect-first hit a chord with customers when their Google scores shined. But the first sign of success was in their pool of applicants for employees. They were pleasantly surprised when so many women submitted an application to work there. In an industry where dealerships only employ 9 percent female employees, Marysville Toyota total female employees represent 45%. 

“We were focused on what the marketplace wanted,” Watson said, adding they conducted a survey before opening to discover the barriers and perceptions people have around car shopping. 

The survey said that people don’t like to negotiate their car’s price, they don’t like to be shuffled off to the finance office, and they wanted the whole process to go a lot faster.  

 Colon and Watson set about to create a different kind of auto dealership. The model is called “The Power of One.” Work with one person from beginning to end, without being handed off to a finance closer — their finance experts work in the background finding the best solution for each customer. There will be one best price for every vehicle. Everyone receives the same deal. And from the time the buyer chooses the vehicle they want, their goal is to get the customer on the road within one hour.  

Josh Hawes drove all the way up from Bellevue to pick up his new Tundra.   

 “A good friend of mine is the general manager at a dealership in Tacoma. I feel like I am getting the same experience here as we purchased from a friend. 

“All of a sudden we had a female centric team because that negative, negotiation, commission-based aggressive sales environment was gone,” Watson said.  

Six out of 10 of their sales representatives are female. And the management team is also 57% majority, female led. Women make up only 9 percent of an average dealership’s staff, and most of those are in support roles.  

 “It is a female centric dealership. It is such a beautiful vibe here. It’s vibrant. So professional. So open,” he said. Indeed, the building is wide open, with massive glass panels letting the light in, and a warm, neutral palate creating a warm atmosphere.   

 He takes umbrage at the stereotypes Millennials and Gen Z people don’t want to work because 63% of their staff comprise that demographic.  

 “We have a very young staff,” he said. “They are phenomenal.”   

But the company acknowledged that their staff value their time off with a flexible work life balance, and that they don’t like keeping their personal lives separate from their work lives. They have created a close family of 65 employees.   

“It is not always easy. But it has been worth it,” he said.  

 Rachel Pitman, who manages the used car department, agrees that Marysville Toyota is a different kind of place to work.  

 “I love it here,” she said. “We have a ton of women. I feel like everyone is just kind, thoughtful and respectful. It’s simply different than any other dealership or place I have worked for. I feel really spoiled.”