Dealer recommendation for a new truck buy?

So, after an accident I am looking to replace my 2010 Tacoma with a new one identical to it. I know roughly what I should be prepared to pay, based on what I paid last November, and edmunds.com. I know exactly what I want and do not want in my truck. Simple enough, it would seem.

I am just getting started on the "looking for my next truck" process, I just got word two days ago that my previous truck was officially totaled, and the amount of money I can expect from that.

So far I have emailed a local dealer that I bought the previous truck from inquiring about the availability of what I want, do they have one, can they get one, etc. and got no response. Found another dealer not too far away that had my exact truck listed on their website, I contacted them, it was gone, they can't find anymore like that one. That is what they told me. Located two dealers on autotrader that had what sounded exactly like what I am looking for listed on their websites, so I send them messages inquiring "are these trucks still available, if not, can you get me one", usual stuff. I have told these people exactly what I want and that all I want from them is "do they have or can they get" what I want, and I was clear that I do not want to negotiate, I want their absolute best and final offer, and that I will regard all quotes as such. One guy emails back a quote that is $1000 too high. Other guy calls me by phone after I specifically indicated that I want to do this with email, please do not call. I do not want to talk to anyone about "options I may want" or anything else, as all that has already been communicated.

To the chase, can any of you knowledgable experienced buyers direct me to a dealer or two (or more!) who will just do what I want, i.e., tell me if they have the truck I want, if not can they get me one, and what is their absolute, 1-shot, final best price for the truck? In other words, I am looking for dealer recommendations for a quick, easy, painless as possible, good price transaction so I can get back into my truck asap without a minimum of bs.

I am located in southeast Ohio, so Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky locations would be best, but I will go much farther if necessary. I could weed these places out one by one, but I really want my replacement truck, quickly, with no bs or hassle, and I was wondering if any of you could help me out with a dealer name, and maybe an actual contact person, who just wants a quick, simple deal, at a fair price, like I do.

Much thanks in advance for any help. I hope this is a suitable forum for this question, I looked at a couple of the regional forums and thought my question would get better exposure here.

One last note, if there is a better procedure to buy a new truck than what I am trying to do, I will welcome all advice as to how to proceed. Thanks again.

 

why are you afraid to talk to people?

 

^it sounds like he knows exactly what he wants and how much he wants to pay and doesn't want to be duped into paying for extra junk he doesn't want or need

 

ok? then stand up for yourself and dont let people push options on you that you dont want.

 

Asking sealers to quote you their rock bottom price will not get you the best deal. No salesperson is going to cut their profit to the bone without some pushing on your part. Any dealer should be willing to find the truck that you want. Go in there, face to face, say this is EXACTLY what I want and what I will pay for it. If they give you shit, goto the manager, if they give you shit go to the owner.

 

^ what he said


I also don't think everyone will take you seriously if you insist on email only.

 

how far are you willing to travel? i know a great dealer in Delaware that has just about every combo imaginable. They had a black DC TRD offroad for me when no one else within 150 miles had one .

 

Not afraid. It is just so much easier for the dealers to work their flim flams if they got you face to face, or on the phone. I just personally do not like phones, especially doing business on them. A personal quirk.

In this internet age it should be possible to do what I want to do, how I want to do it, and locate a dealer who has the same outlook. Like I said, I will weed them out one by one, just looking for a shortcut to a good place to deal with, if any of you know anything that could help my process. Also if my intended process is fatally flawed in some way, would appreciate knowing that, too. I have only bought two new vehicles in my life, the first was 32 years ago, last was 9 months ago, so if I am approaching this the wrong way, constructive advice is most welcome.

 

try truecar.com . i used them. they pre-negotiate the deal for an exactly configured truck. you dont have to talk to anyone on the phone and everything comes to your email in writing from local dealers.

and its free.

 

I do believe that you are correct.

 

capital toyota. chattanooga tennessee. ask for phillip. tell him matt bandelow refered you

 

I did a search on the Toyota website for dealers within the amount of miles I was willing to travel for my truck. Then I went to the dealer websites and checked their inventory on the specific truck I was interested in. With Toyota it was pretty simple because everything is basically packages. I wanted a Access Cab Sport in either Silver, Red, or Magnetic Grey, so I narrowed it down to what the dealer had in those configurations. Most of the Toyota Web sites I went to had a generic Toyota search engine that worked quite well, others made it not so easy. After I found the vehicle I was looking for I asked for a quote via e-mail,( I set up a temporary e-mail account just for this purpose so after I was done I did not have to worry about getting e-mails/spam for the rest of my life). In my case I had 3 dealers in the area had the exact same vehicle I was looking for and I just printed out the quotes and went with the dealer that gave me the best price. I live in an area that has many Toyota dealers so it was not that difficult to find the truck I was looking for.

 

zombiekiller, Delaware is not too far.

I understand the dealers will most likely not give me their best price right off the bat, but I don't see how it hurts to let them know that their offers will be considered as their best offers...if that is wrong, please correct me, I am trying to learn, I am a quick study. Naturally, if I get to the point of actually having a few quotes, I intend to play them against each other...

Would there be general agreement that if I do my homework and approach a dealer and tell them what I am willing to pay, that would be better than asking them what the minimum is they would be willing to sell for?

 

gotlift37, thanks for the reference. I will check them out. I have relatives in TN, actually I am borrowing one of their vehicles right now, so I will be back in that area soon anyway.

zombiekiller, thanks for the truecar.com, I hadn't heard of them, will definitely check them out, sounds like my kind of way of doing this thing.

Gregg, that is one strategy I am pursuing also, I mean I am aware of the Toyota website and all. When you say you got quotes from local dealers and went with the best one, did you have to do much to get the best individual quotes, or was one of them just clearly better than the others? I realize that the exact configuration (what's popular, and what's not) and geographic location (how many dealers nearby can/willing to get what you want) will have some bearing on that...

And it may well be true that I will get less consideration by trying to do this with email, my thinking is that I should get equal consideration, if the dealer doesn't want to do this simle method of communication, especially when I know exactly what I want, how are they going to treat me after they got my money? I see my email method as kind of a preliminary test to see just how willing the dealers are to work with me. It seems like good reasoning to me (but I gotta admit that I have "reasoned" my way into a lot of untenable situations in my life), any insights as to the validity of that are also welcome.

 

Best I've found is the American Express Auto Purchase Program. But I think you need to have the Amex card. You spec out what you want, and it comes back with 3 dealer quotes (based on the zip you entered). I was looking for a car recently and this was by far the best pricing I found...and no haggling.

 

Here is what i did.

went to truecar.com

configured the truck that i wanted in the color that i wanted.

printed out the best price within a 150mi range from my house ($1500 or so below invoice).

did more research on edmunds, etc to make sure the pricepoint was near the best that i could do 9 it was within $50 of the best price for my region according to multiple car sites).

walked into Price Toyota ( 8 miles from my house in new castle, DE).

Sat down and asked if they had a black DC TRD OR.

they said yes, then i slid the printed pricepoint from another dealer.

i said, i'll pay this and i need 9K for my trade. I already have financing. Please go talk to your manager and let me know.

an hour later i was home with my new truck.

if you end up coming this way to buy, shoot me a PM. I'll hook you up with the same salesperson and buy you a beer while you're visiting. Price toyota moves just about the most trucks in the mid A region. they have a ridiculous selection.

 

So far this truecar.com looks very positive! Thanks for the info!

 

i found it on cnn money.

i also have not received one single spam e-mail as a result of using the site, which is awesome.

good luck!

 

No matter which dealer you go to ask to deal directly with the fleet manager.

 

Thanks again for the truecar.com tip, zombiekiller, it is going to work out extremely well for me. My local dealer found the truck I want in Michigan, he is going to get it, and Saturday it will be mine. And it is at the lowest price that came back from truecar, which is $500 under dealer invoice, which is even under dealer cost (I am not sure what that means, "dealer cost" vs. "dealer invoice"), all the way down the left hand side of the bell curve that truecar gives you. I don't see how it could be any cheaper, there must be other dealer incentives involved, but I am getting what I wanted at a great price, with no hassle, and only a minimum of communication, mostly via e-mail.

So i have learned some valuable stuff, and gotten a great deal, and done it mostly my way, with invaluable help from TW and the good people on it that make it work. Man, I love the internet...