I bought a Toto Pacifica from Homeclick, as they had the best price, especially with one of their weekend sales. It did take a while to receive it (I'm thinking 5 weeks?), but it wasn't an issue as the toilet sat in the garage for another 5 months before being installed. Dunno if that helps at all.

I thought I would try to buy on line but after checking with local Toto supplier I changed my mind. Their prices is as follows CST744 $215.00......CST784.....$333.00....CST754...$319.00.....CST774....$368.00......These prices are plus sales tax and plus seat and includes delivered and set in my house. If it is chipped or broken I call them and they bring another new one and pick up the old....that is worth a lot.....Although the local supplier is slightly higher their service is worth a lot. I would try to negotiate with your local guy if possible............

I thought I would try to buy on line but after checking with local Toto supplier I changed my mind. Their prices is as follows CST744 $215.00......CST784.....$333.00....CST754...$319.00.....CST774....$368.00......These prices are plus sales tax and plus seat and includes delivered and set in my house. If it is chipped or broken I call them and they bring another new one and pick up the old....that is worth a lot.....Although the local supplier is slightly higher their service is worth a lot. I would try to negotiate with your local guy if possible............

See if there's another local Toto dealer nearby.

Totousa.com has a dealer locator. See the link below.

We bought all three of our Toto Ultimates locally and we got excellent pricing. (Elongated bowl Toto Ultimates $250 three years ago to $275 most recently.)

Don't forget to check for local water conservation rebates.

Good luck!

Bob

Here is a link that might be useful: Toto Dealer Locator

I would certainly rather deal with a local company for such a large and breakable object, and "is that the best you can do on the price?" is a standard phrase in my vocabulary (hey, it got almost a grand knocked off my hardwood floor) but I am about ready to go postal. The aforementioned dealer that raised their prices almost to MSRP has taken the attitude that mine is such a small total ticket that it's not worth their time - I had had every intention of ordering from them, but when I went in to place my order and the manager sprung those prices on me, I just about croaked. I've been in touch with 3 other dealers, one (the one that I mentioned before with outrageous prices) was snotty about "cheapskates", the second (a Yupscale showroom) was polite but would not budge on their "already great prices" (ha), the third has not returned my phone calls. (That's something I could rant about for days, it's an epidemic in the building-related-business world here.)

IMO if a brick-and-mortar store can't compete on price they had better be Johnny-on-the-spot with impeccable customer service. They have to give me a good reason to give them my money - to my mind that's where many local businesses that are doing poorly are missing the point, they need to stop laying ALL the blame on the big box stores and start looking at their own issues. Many people would pay a bit more for employees who knew what the heck they were talking about, for example.

Sadly, our town water dept. only gives rebates if you're replacing an old high-flow toilet. I even asked if they'd count a piece of junk low-flow that you routinely have to flush two or three times as a high-flow, but no dice! :-)

I just bought from ewins: 3 carlyle elongated toilets, with seats and sanagloss for 999.00. They were running a special offering free shipping and I paid no sales tax. The toilets arrived within 1 week and look great in the box(although I haven't installed yet)

I just ordered 3 Toto Ultramax from eWins for $799 with free shipping!!! (through their buy-it-now on ebay - search ebay for Toto Ultramax). They could ship same-day, but I don't need them for a few weeks, so, they're going to hold them for awhile.

They include the soft-close toilet seats, elongated. Great performance, and are one-piece. Got them cheaper than what I planned to spend on the Drakes. Wish I could have gotten Sanagloss, but, I think we can survive.

This is a steal!
Tim

where are you located? I was going to order from either Performance Toilets or Toilet warehouse for the Drake but the "local" guy is at $280 with the sanagloss - NJ
RA

Tim,

Wow! That was a great deal for three Toto UltraMax toilets.

That's the best deal I've seen in over three years of buyer reports on this forum.

Bob

I too am an avid bargain hunter, but here is something to consider. If we All shop locally and then buy most or all expensive items online, local businesses will close. Local businesses cannot survive without sales. In most cases they can't meet online prices on large items because of overhead -- rent, utilities, and employees, and the expenses that go with having the public in their stores. Eventually, we may all have to buy some large items over the internet after only seeing a picture online. I do buy online, but I think about that consequence.
Fifteen years ago I worked for Texas Instruments, demonstrating and selling computers and terminals. Often businesses asked me to bring equipment to their offices for demonstration. Many times, after lenghy demonstrations, the customer would buy at a discount store. The price was lower, but little or no assistance was available.
Texas Instruments shut down all such computer centers nationwide. This is a minor example, but I think it represents what could become a major problem for all of us.

This is absolutely not meant as a criticism of anybody!! It is only food for thought.

Wish I had a use for 3 Ultramax because that is a very good price indeed but I could only use one (a contemporary, one-piece toilet in a Victorian-style bathroom would be like wearing a spacesuit to a Renaissance fair! :-) the only Toto one-piece I've seen that would work is the very expensive Lloyd) and selling the other two would be a PITA. I had picked the Drake for DH's bathroom because it's the least expensive of the G-Max toilets.

RA - I'm in NH.

Tracey, was that another ebay thing like Tim's? Before shipping ewins' prices are excellent, but the shipping is steep. (When I compare prices I compare what it costs to get it on my doorstep, not the per-item price, because shipping costs can be a killer. I've gotten burned on that before.)

snowbaby, if you can afford to pay a premium of 40-50% (which is the average price difference I'm seeing) to shop locally, more power to ya. As I said, I'd pay a reasonable amount extra for excellent customer service, but if I'm not getting that either why should I pay SO much more to shop there? My charitable inclinations only go so far. I agree with you that it's skeevy to get "lengthy demonstrations", especially onsite, from one place and buy somewhere else, but a phone call or brief visit to a store to get quotes isn't a "lengthy demonstration". 9 times out of 10 the items I'm interested in aren't there to be examined before purchase anyway (I'm too plebeian for the showrooms and too exotic for HD), so I'm reduced to ordering from a catalog there too - at a premium price with fat restocking fees to boot. The only fixtures/faucets/etc. I've been able to see as-would-be-purchased were the toilets.

BTW, local stores CAN compete with online dealers. We patronize a small local computer company for hardware and some software. They give us good prices, not rock-bottom but still good, and even more important they never, ever drop the ball on customer service... and in return for that we've funnelled them many thousands of dollars in other business, including corporate purchases. I keep a stack of their business cards in my purse and hand them out if I hear anyone mention any kind of tech-related need. We've been customers of theirs since a few weeks after they opened in 2002 with two people in a closet-sized store, now they've got half a dozen employees and a new store four times as big - and everyone said Dell and that ilk would put them out of business in six months.

johnmari-I did get this on ewins ebay. I had my sights on the ultramax lot, but then I saw the carlyle one piece toilet lot of 3 and choose that because of the sanagloss, and it offered the skirted bottom, which meant less cleaning around the bolts at the bottom. Both deals were great deals, I believe. They aren't offering the Carlyle lot at this time, but I did find the ultramax lot. It's only good for about a day more, but keep watching, they may put more on.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ultramax lot of 3

Unfortunately, the lots don't do me any good at all, since a toilet that would look reasonable in the master would look completely idiotic in the other bath, and vice versa. I was actually hoping they'd had a free shipping offer on their website, but I'm not going to get that lucky. Thank you anyway.

I'm hoping to get a drake in the future--great thread, johnmari! :)

I bought 3 Toto Carlyles with SanaGloss from HomeClick, during one of their weekend sales, for $400 each with free shipping. They arrived well-packed, on time, with no problems. I called ewins and other online stores before ordering, and they couldn't give me a better price, due to the high cost of shipping to my area.

I tried to buy at local stores, but the best price I was offered was $700 each with tax! I couldn't see paying $300 extra per toilet to buy locally.

I did my homework online, then located a local dealer/showroom where we could look at the Toto, American Standard, and some others. We were quoted on one Carusoe and one Drake. The first was $168 (elongated, ADA height, no seat) the second was $292 (same details). Our budget for a toilet was under $250, and we only need one.

Our contractor sends a lot of business to this dealer, and took our estimate back to them for a better deal. We are getting the Drake for $238, with our contractor picking it up at the warehouse. He has installed many Toto (his favorite) toilets and agrees with our choice.

Our two sinks (we're doing the powder room as well) have come from eBay, but everything else is from Lowe's. Their selection is much better than HD and their customer service is too. I have no problem with buying online, I do it all the time, but for things like this I want to see it and touch it before buying! Lowe's is even installing the Armstrong vinyl floor.

We are having the countertops installed by another local company, whose price was fantastic. The company has a great reputation, and plenty of inventory to choose from. Even the contractor was impressed and will switch his business to this local countertop installer.

Our contractor is small-time (a big reason we chose him, we want the one-to-one interaction) so he doesn't send a lot of business anywhere, certainly not like the huge "factory contractors" do, so the discounts offered have been diddly-squat. The only thing Lowes offered that HD didn't that I wanted was American Olean tile, but a local tile store has the same thing for about 25 cents more a square foot and knows what the heck they're doing; I compared prices on all the stuff that I wanted that could be special ordered through either Lowes or HD (like the American Standard sink and faucets) and Lowes' prices were a good 20% higher across the board. I was really surprised. So the sink (which I haven't seen IRL yet, no one has it), sink faucet, shower plumbing, and much of the tile are all coming from HD as well, as the "boring" stuff like drywall and plywood unless the lumberyard downtown can come within a reasonable margin.

After about 15 more phone calls I located a place the better part of an hour away that will sell me the two toilets for about $700, which is about $50 more than Homeclick's on-sale rate and about the same as ewins, but MUCH less than the closer folks. It's a hike for me (driving distances is difficult), but I'll manage... They have several of each in stock so I'll probably go down in the next week or so. Homeclick's reputation for taking their own sweet time with shipping things they say they have in stock was a real worry; I bought my tub faucet on eBay 2 weeks ago and it hasn't been shipped YET which has got me super antsy.

BTW, just as a side note, three different places mentioned that the ADA Drake with Sanagloss was on backorder with the factory and they didn't know when they were going to get more (luckily we do not want the ADA height), so some of you may encounter delays if you spec that model.

hi Johnmari,

I'm one of those that had an "issue" with Homeclick. It was all over a shower part and a true PITA. However! I did get my toto ultramax from them and it arrived within 3 days and nary a scratch on it. Ultimately, Homeclick did make my shower problem right as well.

DFIL is moving in with us before Christmas, and we're also adopting next year. What does that have to do with the price of tea in china?

Well just when I thought the bathroom remodel was out of the way -- I have 2 more to do! We're going to finish the basement/garage and turn it into an apartment with a bathroom, and remodel the bathroom off our bedroom.

So instead of one finished remodel -- I have 2 more to go and wayyyyy more to do waaaayyy sooner than I thought.

I'm going to get Totos for both bathrooms, and will again order from Homeclick. I just can't beat that price with free shipping and no sales tax (TN is 9 1/2% now).

I confess I'm kind of looking forward to trying my hand at it again, and designing a new bath. I have my eye on the La Samanna vanity with vessel sink, mirror and fixtures at Lumber Liquidators (of all places)for our bedroom bath.

Anyone else speculating if "free shipping" will go out the window soon with the price of gas going so high now?

"Our contractor is small-time (a big reason we chose him, we want the one-to-one interaction) so he doesn't send a lot of business anywhere, certainly not like the huge "factory contractors" do, so the discounts offered have been diddly-squat".

I think that's the heart of the situation. Today the home remodeling/contracting business is white hot. So frankly someone wanting discounts on one or two toilets simply doesn't have much leverage. It's understandable to be frustrated and try to tie it to customer service etc, but unfortunately it's the law of supply and demand. So many buyers are demanding that the suppliers can pretty much dictate terms.

We had an interesting display of that recently. I remodeled a bathroom a year ago and at that time the contractor, who runs a small but very reputable operation, was so eager to work with us. He returned calls promptly, gently pushed for the business and was really on top of everything throughout the process. Fast forward to this past summer when I investigated remodeling our second bathroom with the same company. What a difference! He is never rude but he sure wasn't returning my calls as fast, took weeks longer to get an estimate to me and so on. We decided to wait anyway and in one indication of the changing climate, he never even called me back after sending the quote to ask me if I was ready to move forward! He and his staff were very honest; they told me the company is swamped and literally can't keep up with the business they have.

So best accept that the small time contractor/individual homeowner is at the bottom of the list right now and likely to be so for some time to come especially with the incredible damage from Katrina. I'd suspect contractors/builders/remodelers from all over the South will be sucked into that area, as I saw personally after Andrew.

Actually, my comments regarding customer service were that if a company cannot/will not compete on price, they have to compete _somehow_ in order to bring people in, and customer service is the best way they can pick up the ball. If they can't manage to pick up the ball some way or another, they had better not whine that people are turning to Home Depot and Homeclick and similar companies.

Personally, I think the "white hot" construction market is going to hit a serious cooldown outside the reconstruction areas. Even within the reconstruction areas, though, I don't think all is as rosy for the construction-related fields as some are making it out to be. A disturbingly large number of the people affected by Katrina are not going to be able to afford to rebuild - a significant proportion of those affected were a poverty-level population even before the storm, and many of those who were insured to some degree are not going to have the wherewithal to hire lawyers to fight the piddly settlements they're likely to receive from the insurance companies (it's not unusual in the case of natural disasters to get a fraction of the amount for which you were insured even if there is a total loss). If your family couldn't afford to leave the city under mandatory evacuation orders, how can you afford to replace all your stuff and rebuild the house that three or four generations shared? Others may have been just scraping by with the mortgage and wouldn't be able to make the payments on a FEMA or SBA reconstruction loan where their insurance fell short. (There is never enough grant money to help all who need it.) Banks are expecting a record number of defaults as people walk away from houses they can't live in, can't afford to rebuild, and can't sell for enough to clear the mortgage - this happened a lot after the Midwestern floods of 1993. I know three men in the building trades up here (NH) who went down to work in FL after Hurricane Andrew and were never paid the wages and living expenses they were promised; all three have said they will not go to the Gulf for fear they'll get screwed like that again. Quite a few people outside the reconstruction zones are going to be putting off, or cancelling entirely, large projects because of the explosive increase in the cost of gasoline and heating oil/gas (a major issue in the north) taking a big chomp out of the household budget, along with all the other "domino effects" like higher food prices. A close relative of mine was going to be doing several projects on her house this winter in preparation for putting it on the market next summer, now she's expecting she won't be able to do much more than slap a coat of paint on the walls. (She can't afford to stay where she is but she can't afford to move unless she gets a good price for the house.) Although we are in reasonable shape financially, we are still cutting back on some things other than the bathroom we were planning to do in the next several months to minimize risk to us. I expect the divide between the haves and the have-nots to widen even further, nationwide, even if the possible recession doesn't happen.

this is way after you all chatted, but just in case this is a newer site and i have had a great experience with on all of the aspects mentioned above: price, service, quality, etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: Toilet Warehouse

I bought two Totos last year from a wholesaler in Atlanta -Cowan Supply Atlanta - which came recommended by someone on this site. Their prices were at least $100 cheaper than the local supplier here in NJ. I was a bit nervous ordering from afar, but I was extremely pleased with their service. My Totos -- I think I bought Drakes -- arrived within a week in perfect condition. I was so happy with the result that I made my sister order her Toto from Atlanta too, and she had a similar experience. The company is online at www.cowansupplyatlanta.com. Happy flushing.

I live in Atlanta and have bought two Totos from Cowan- one for my house and one for my parents. That said, either everyone else dropped down or they came up- I bought a Sanagloss Drake for our current project, and ended up going w/ Homeclick during a weekend sale. Cowan would only give me 80% of list price, and their website was down back in August when I wanted to order. If I remember correctly, Cowan was $50 or so more. As always, the key w/ Homeclick is to only order what they have in stock, unless you have time to burn waiting.

I just read all these Toto threads and then started researching pricing ... only to discover the ebay ewins store has free shipping only to the lower 48 only!!!

How irritating...and no doubt expensive too!

Cowan Supply in Atlanta was highly touted by bargainhunter, a poster who's not been around for a really long time. But he was really smart and had some good sources. Chown Hardware is another highly touted source for people on the west coast.

Thanks for that tip .

Here's an interesting reply from ewins.com

"I am sorry at this time we are not able to ship our Toto items outside the US."

mmm ... last time I looked Alaska was a US State...!

I called around all the local stores in the Los Angeles area, and Smarden Supply had by far the best prices. Bought the Toto Clayton. Had my contractor pick them up. Needed the brass colored trip levers, and those were also deeply discounted!
Alisa Yang

I purchased a Toto Drake from Homeclick. The shipping was free, and the price was the best I could find (they seem to have sales every weekend). The toilet was packed very very well, but God help you if you need customer service from these people. I emailed them once to find out if it had shipped & if I could get a tracking number, I never got a reply, but the toilet arrived a couple of days later. Like I said the toilet was packed very well & arrived in 1 piece (well 2 since it's a 2 piece toilet) but was missing ALL of the hardware to install it and attach the tank to the bowl. I called Homeclick customer service and had a very hard time explaining to her what parts I needed. She said she would forward the problem to the parts department who would contact Toto and email me when they knew how long it would take to get the parts. Well since I had no confidence that she understood what I was missing my next call was to Toto customer service. The gentleman who took the call knew exactly what I was talking about and sent the parts out quickly via UPS. I got the parts in about a week froom Toto, I still haven't heard anything from Homeclick. I've got 2 more toilets to buy & I'll be looking elsewhere.

Yes, this is an old thread but I'm curious where the best buys are now! :o)

I had a terrible time even finding a Toto Drake ADA. I searched on line and either no Drake ADA was listed or they were on back order and one I particularly remember was back ordered until Sep 17th. I then started calling local distributors and got the same response, none in stock and back ordered for 3 months. I finally found 1 Drake ADA in stock and promptly drove down, was given a very fair price, $265 and the Soft Close seat for $40. I was so glad to find 1 in stock as we need it in 5 wks, the others could wait but I am on remodel overload and don't have the time to shop around any more. Fortunately this supplier also carries Perrin and Rowe and they make the faucets I want for my kitchen. I just put in a huge order and so glad I am almost done with ordering plumbing!!!

Well, I just purchased three Toto Drakes (ADA, Elongated, Sedona Beige) and it was in stock with 10% off and free shipping.
They had the cheapest price by far.
Ewins came in second.

I don't really have any local dealers, so that wasn't an option for me.

Stumpystump, who did you buy from with the cheapest price by far ?

stumpystump; I think the difference here is beige v. cotton white. I could fine Toto Adas in colors but that is not what I want. I am sure there is someplace on line that I missed and probably cheaper but my time is much more valuable then the money saved seaching around. I have to draw a line somewhere.

Sorry about that -- I didn' say who I purchased it from!!
I bought them from homeclick.com
Maybe a few people have had issues, but I checked them out I went for it.

Call me crazy, but when I have three or four major things that cost lots of money, I do think it's worth some time to research online for the best deal. (Best deal means good price and good company -- needs to be a combo)

My husband calls me the "Queen of Research" b/c I have saved thousands -- and I do mean thousands from a few phone calls and some hours online. I don't think that is too much to ask. Heck, a good search engine does the work for you.

All the variables can make the toilet a little tougher to find what you want in stock and with a discount, but it can happen.

Buying locally just wasn't an option, and I have NO problems buying online.

John,
We bought all toto stuff for our house from Todd at ewins. He was great to work with and even checked the warehouse to see if there were any better toilets that he needed to get rid of. They ship from Nebraska if that helps.
By the way, the quality of the toto faucets is remarkable.
We got 4 toilets, 3 faucets, 2 shower sets, 3 undermount sinks and 2 cast iron tubs.
Talk to Todd!

Anyone ever order from BuyPlumbing eBay store? They seem to have good ratings. Free shipping and good prices. Better than I'm able to get them locally, anyway.

Toto Drake round is $224 + tax, and elongated is $246 +tax where I live. Maybe buy it locally. Is the elongated comfortable? I'm afraid to try Homeclick after the negative feedback on customer service.

Anyone heard of plumbersurplus.com or lowcostplumging.com?
I'm looking for an ultramx ADA. Ewins has a long waiting time.

I've bought from plumbersurplus.com and have had great experiences both times. I haven't bought a toilet from them (yet), but everything has arrived quickly and my emails are answered promptly.

Jeff

I used lowcostplumbing.com to buy 4 grohe atrio faucets and all the plumbing hardward for the showers. They had the best prices on those items. I received both large boxes in less than a week. Everything was well-packed. Dave (?) who sold me the items, walked me through every item that I was buying for the showers, as I didnt know what all I needed. He also gave me all the model no's beforehand so that I could compare prices. I cant say enough about how great their service is.

jenny

I guess this thread is sort of 'dead' but wanted to share my experiences with Faucetdepot. I found that they had the best price on Ebay for the Toto Carlyle so I ordered it. My order was followed up within a day by a phone call explaining how delivery would work (they contract with a trucking company that will be in the area to deliver it). Within 5 days the toilet arrived, double boxed. They put the manufacturers box in a much larger box completely encasing it with high density foam. I'm very impressed with faucetdepot, will do business with them again. And, I love the Toilet =)

Check www.bathroomplace.net they have very competitive prices and have the latest models from TOTO.

Here is a link that might be useful: BATHROOM PLACE