Things I've learned from my purchase

It's not an investment.
Pay whatever you're comfortable paying.
It's only money.
Be happy with your decisions, or make different decisions.

 

Fully agree!! My (SET) came with paint protection-SCREW JOB, distributor added window tint--SCREW JOB, carpeted floor mats with logo--SCREW JOB. But I bought my SR5 V6 DCSB early in the life of the 3d gen and the color and package I wanted had to come from another dealer. I added the Raptor rails, Weather Techs, OEM mud guards, OEM SS exhaust cap, and OEM door sill protectors at way less that what the dealer wanted for these out the door. I now have around $31K in the truck which is way too damn much for a Tacoma...but it has been a great vehicle so far (17K miles).

 

True, I had to order mine bcuz I refused to pay for extra crap I don't want. OP, we all can nitpick ourselves over a deal that perhaps we could have done better on, but just enjoy your beautiful truck. It's good that you want to pass on what you learned to others, and next time around you will have more knowledge and experience to work them over with.

 

Is it normal to read and re-read all the paper work when you get home...and then pull out a calculator and double check everything? I do this. I like to double check the car dealer fuzzy calculus.

I've found it useful to round numbers up or down. Also it helps to start with any advertised price or the base of a negotiated deal in order to keep track of fees.

I swear the next time I buy another car in 10 years or so I'm gonna bring a calculator. There's grey areas between the thousand dollar increments.

 

I brought a financial calculator when I bought mine. If nothing else it makes a good "don't fuck with me" sign. Ironically enough it came in handy when I had to explain to the finance lady how she was fucking me over to get her to take no for an answer on the damn undercoating.

 

One thing I've discovered is how to refinance a car. My State Farm agent told me about it after I bought the Taco. It was easy to roll into and there was no cost to do it. And it saved me 2 percentage points at the time. Also they pay the difference between what your car is worth and what you paid if it's totaled. It's essentially GAP insurance for no cost.

 

Many sales transactions for any number of big ticket items have both buyers remorse and sellers remorse.

"I could have paid less for this" / "I could have sold that for more"

As long as you ended up with what you wanted, it's a win.

 

Huh? There's no "tech package" last I knew. There's the Premium & Technology Package or the Premium & Technology Package with JBL. Difference is the JBL upgrade. You can also just get a base TRD OffRoad or Sport without the P&T package, but there's no "tech package" as such.

You're always paying the destination fee, doesn't matter if the truck's on the lot or one you order.

 

I've bought and sold 34 vehicles since I started driving back when I was 16 years old. You can ALWAYS get a better price somewhere. Depends on how much time you want to put into looking for it. A few months from now, you won't even think about how much you might have been able to save. Enjoy the truck, that's what's it all about!

 

We the buyers have the greatest negotiating power if we're buying when we don't *need* to buy -- that enables us to easily walk out the door if the deal isn't right. It also enables us to wait for the right deal, even pitting dealers against eachother for an ordered configuration.

 

some things are under certain circumstances, we had loyalty points with the dealer i bought my taco from(family had purchased a 06 camry, 2nd gen tacoma, and a 2011 scion tc from there) and i got the 8yr 100,000 mile warranty for 200 dollars lol

 

I may be wrong but I think YOU (the buyer) pay the $900 destination fee no matter if you order a vehicle or not. I am pretty sure it is in your price somewhere, even if it is not itemized out!

 

It's part of the MSRP and is listed on the window sticker.

 

The deal you get is dependent on the amount of effort and time you're willing to invest ahead of time. If you shop multiple dealers in a wide area and make them beat each others price on the truck you want, you can get a better deal but will invest more time and effort. If you walk in to one dealer and buy the first truck you test drive with add-ons you don't want, your deal wont be as good. But in the end, as long as you get the truck you want and your comfortable with the price just enjoy it and don't second guess yourself.

 

True!
I just drove 1.5 hours away from Raleigh/Durham on Monday to get a MUCH better deal than anyone had locally.

 

I discovered this recently. My wifes car decided to become unreliable 6 months after I bought my Tacoma. I found a dealership that was running a sale for $5k off their 2017 Ford Escapes. I was really thinking about getting a quality used car, but then the dealership dropped the price another $3k. So a 2017 Ford Escape for $15,900. Of course I go to the dealership when it opened the next day. They did everything imaginable to steer me away into something else. Luckily I wrote the VIN# down and I was the first customer of the day AND I was aware that the price drop happened at the end of the previous day.

Turns out that even though the price drop was from full MSRP, which includes the destination fee, they ended up charging me for it. The salesman pointed it out to me without me asking but I told him that it's like paying twice for this charge. We went back and forth and my thought was "well the $850 was only about 10% of the overall discount, if they pull anything else I'll walk out the door." This delivery/destination fee was the only compromise I had to do and, at the end if the day it was worth it.

Essentially I wound up paying less OTD price for a brand new Ford Escape than my best negotiated price (pre-out the door) 2001 Ford Ranger when it was new. If you can draw from past experience on a car deal it can help you determine if you got a good or great deal.

Each person searching for a car will have different needs and wants that will determine the best criteria for what a deal is. For me the last thing I wanted was to have another car to make payments on, so the best rock bottom price for a base model Escape was driving my decision.

I like to hold on to my cars because there is value to having no car payments. I also like to pay cars off early, even if I have to live on Ramen noodles and PBJ sammiches.

 

I agree with this part. It is a depreciating asset! The amount of people who buy new autos and never actually get to own the vehicle amazes me!

 

Personally I dislike the concept of "not having a car payment". I prefer to keep an even cashflow and thus always budget a "car payment" even after paying off any loan as quickly as I can -- the money then goes into a savings account earmarked for maintenance, repairs, and next-vehicle downpayment whenever that happens to be needed.

 

It's right there in my profile.