TALKING WITH DEALER ON TACOMA ... PRICE NEGOTIATION TIME

and people are rude in general not just to sales people.

 

Ok , as guilty as the next person. So there average . That's fair. Heck there are rude people in all walks of life. But pointing out any group and making a blanket statement on that group is just wrong.

 

That's pretty damn good advice right there and pretty much what I do every time I buy a vehicle. This is coming from someone who has friends and family that own and/or manage dealerships.

End of the month is true in some cases. The rain part really had me laughing. So true.

 

I don't think " people are rude in general ". I think there are those that are rude and the majority are not.

 

The world revolves around them, and them only....

 

That depends on which side of the counter your on. Anyway that was a while ago.

 

Damn! When @smitty99 agrees with what you post, it's a good day

 

This site has been around for eons: https://www.carbuyingtips.com/carintro.html There are quite a few more ads on there then when I last followed it (I'm suspicious of them linking suggested financing options, and car buying sites... etc).

I followed this suggested method a while ago and got a really good price on my wife's car. At the very least, when negotiating, just saying something like "if you could bite into your holdback a little bit..." it tells them you did some homework and know where some of their secret profit comes from, so they might be less likely to not give you their lowest price.

Ironically, I didn't do this when buying my tacoma this past spring. the vast majority of my research was reading the "what did you pay for your tacoma" thread linked a few posts after the OP and getting a Trucar price. Then the internet sales person (dealership a bit aways) made what I thought was a really good offer, I had a local dealer match it and off we went.

 

$39k is a little high, bought a 2017 DCSB manual transmission, in quicksand. Tonneau cover & premium tech package, with a TRD Pro grill, weather tech mats, step up bars & chrome exhaust tip for $38k even out the door

 

You got a MT. That would be a dramatic price difference in your favor.

 

Now mine isn't as fancy as the TRD model, but my SR5 had a sticker right at 31899. I went to a dealership away from the City who were incredible and truly nice both on the phone and in person. Most of my deal was done over phone because they knew I work for a fortune 50 and have very little time to play and negotiate. I didn't even have to haggle and they came off 3 grand off the msrp and that was over the phone. If you are in Dallas Fort Worth area give Jerry Durant in Granbury a shout. I loved these guys and was the easiest deal ive ever done. Now keep in mind I came in pre approved with a rate that no dealer could beat with my own financing. No matter they were super nice. SR5, Tow package, blue, V6, and some other gizmos. 28k and change out the door. Again, maybe they won't come down off the TRD stuff. But you can always ask.

 

Great dealers will give great deals to everyone and great customer service.
They all know that part of there allocations are predicated both on CSI and SSI. Toyota does not mess around when it comes to this.
Plus remember there are an inordinate amount of loyal Toyota buyers that just come in and pay asking price on new and Certified pre owned inventory.
Thus the reason most Toyota buyers are happy .
Typically those that pay full price are much happier.

 

I have never been rude to a dealer or salesperson...but I have been very firm in my language for certain. The comparison to a waiter or grocery store person is not a good one in my opinion. A car salesperson is trying like crazy to take every $ from you since there is a direct relationship between that and his/her paycheck. A waiter may try to upsell you an appetizer or wine...but I have never been pushed hard or given the Always Be Closing treatment at a restaurant. I have never been bait and switched at the grocery store. Good car salespeople are expert at misdirection (i.e. focusing on the the monthly payment, etc. vs. actual price being paid or actual price of your trade in, etc.) This doesn't make them evil, but it puts most consumers at a disadvantage.
There are not massive internet threads on how best to negotiate dinners or groceries...there are for car sales...why is that? Because it is a different animal and it is a different breed of person vs. a waiter or store clerk.
A waiter is steering you toward the best meal or best wine usually. Is the car sales person in general steering you to the best vehicle? the best financing? the best trade in value? No, it is their job to steer you to the vehicle that gives him the highest commission, the worst financing (not salesperson, but finance guy in that instance), the least trade in value, etc. Their interests are not your interests generally. No matter how great a dealership it is (imho)...at a restaurant, the waiter's job is steer you to the best meal and experience so that you CHOOSE to tip them higher. Completely different mindset. Doesn't make car sales evil, just different.
Fortunately, with the internet we have more information and power if we choose to use it. With electric and self driving cars...this will all likely be moot in 20 years anyways as the future is not car ownership...its the self driving Uber/Lyft model. But, they will have to pry my steering wheel from my cold, dead hands on that day

 

No reason to be rude or disrespectful to get the message across to them politely. But certainly confidently and firmly when needed.

- I know the game (at least decently) and know you want nothing more than to use diversion, deception and misinformation - as well as try to sell me hyper mark up on useless add ons - to get every penny out of me you can. Window etching at $800? Scotchgard at $1k? A $200 alarm for $900? Keep it.

- Don't worry about trade ins or financing. Just tell me the price for (or if you agree to the price for) the vehicle I want. Period. Then we'll discuss trade ins, financing, etc.

- I know you want the financing on this, and would love nothing more if I didn't have it pre-arranged so you could make additional money from me. Sorry, paying "cash". Unless you can beat my pre-approved rate through my bank. Otherwise....who do I make this check out to?

- No, won't be trading anything in. Unless you want to give me $XXX for it right now toward the purchase price we've already agreed to.

- I know what I want, and the fair price I'll pay. Save your "these are selling like hot cakes" garbage.

- If you don't want to sell me this car at minimal hassle at a fair price, there is another dealer who will. And I will find them. It's not that hard.

- I know invoice is not what you "paid" or must pay for this car. You can sell this to me at invoice, still make a nice profit, and if you do your jobs, get some additional really sweet performance incentives from the manufacturer. Don't worry, I know you won't have to close your doors, or your salesmen's children will not be going without shoes because you sold to me at invoice or even well below invoice. Even "losing deals" are winners for you if they help you reach your manufacturer performance goals.

This is why end of the month is preferred time to buy....they're trying to hit those goals before end of month. And if you can find the dealer who is close to - but hasn't yet reached their goals - with the vehicle you want, and you know how to play their game a little, you could be getting a VERY sweet deal that they DO technically take a loss on. But that huge performance incentive check they just scored because they hit their goals with this negative sale should salve their wounds juuuusssst fine.

Treat me with a little respect and not like an idiot, and you'll get it back in return. But, try to fleece me by misdirection, lies, taking advantage by trying to sell me super marked up add ons put on the vehicle that I never had a chance to object to and don't want, etc., and then things might get a little testy. Or I'll just walk out leaving you scratching your ass looking for the next sucker. Don't worry, he'll be along soon. And maybe he'll pay you MSRP plus that $900 window etching that took all of 30 minutes labor / $50 to etch into the window.

Think of it like this.....the dealership has two profit "buckets" ....not counting service and parts. But don't forget about those buckets either. Let them know you know about those buckets as well. And if they treat you right, you'll contribute to those other profit buckets too!)

One bucket is individual vehicle sale bucket. Fleece a buyer for MSRP and add ons...all the money goes into this bucket.
One is total vehicle sales bucket. Sell a lot of vehicles, meet manufacturer incentive guidance....huge check goes in this bucket.

Both buckets drain into the same account (total profit).

They can afford to run a little short in the individual sale profit bucket if the total sales bucket is going to get filled to the brim as a result. In fact, total sales bucket may just freakin' overflow as a result of running a little short in individual sale bucket. And these dealerships that "couldn't pay the bills and keep the lights on if we sold our cars at invoice" (implying that's what they pay for the car...well, bullshit) will be dancing in the streets after having done just that.

It's called "don't trip over dollars to pick up dimes". Trust me....they won't. You keep your dimes ($100, $1k, $3k...whatever) and they'll be getting their dollars (6 figure incentive checks).

 

All of the buying advice is great, especially about guarding against all the crap they try to add. It is very typical for them to take a bath on the car price and make up for it on extras and financing. Make sure you are EDUCATED before buying... Know what they are going to try to sell you before it happens. HOWEVER, I will say that this advice is woefully incomplete if you are one of the vast majority who will buy their truck with a trade in. Ask any dealer and they will tell you that they typically make more money off of the trade in than the do the new vehicle, often a LOT more. On a typical deal you might negotiate them down to a $500 profit over their cost (not invoice, but their cost) which they are willing to accept because they buy your old truck for $12,000, put $500 into it, and sell it for $18,000. So, while you were so savvy negotiating $1000 off the price of your new truck you accepted $3000 less than you should have on the trade.

Dealers know that with the Internet people have access to lots of new car information and come ready to squeeze them. Most people don't know what their trade in is worth, and even if they think they do (from looking up blue book) they don't. They most often don't understand how condition affects value and, specifically, know what fixes their trade in needs and how much the dealer will spend to make those fixes. Its easy for the dealer to tell you "yes, that is blue book, but you see these scratches here, it needs new tires...." and throw out a lowball number. Since the consumer doesn't know how to question those adjustments they at a huge disadvantage.

Its been a while so I don't remember the exact numbers, but when I traded in my 2007 TRD Prerunner it was 8 years old with around 50K miles on it. The guy offered me something like 12K for it, which sounded good because I only paid 18K for it 8 years earlier. But I had done my homework and gotten estimates from friends who worked at a body shop on what their own cost would be for some body repairs (the back bumper had a dent). I had not only looked at blue book values but also looked up trucks on their lot and at other dealers. I looked at the sales guy and told him him "look, I know that you are going to put around $1000 fixing the bumper and some other little stuff, you are going to list the car for 18K probably sell it for 17K. I think that 15,000 is a reasonable trade in value." Again, not sure I remember the numbers exactly but I think I ended up getting 14,500, 2500 more than his first offer. I later checked and they actually listed it for 19K, more than I had paid for it new, so maybe I wasn't as smart as I thought.

The point is, the advice given is good, especially regarding all of the add-ons they try to give you after the sale. but it is just as important to be armed with a lot of knowledge about your trade in if you have one.

 

Regarding sales people, I have had friends and former students who were in dealership sales. Most left within a few years. There are very nice human beings in car sales. The ones who are best at screwing over customers get promoted to sales manager and ride over the rest with a whip. The system tends to either weed out good people or change them over time with a few exceptions. Some who are really talented learn to navigate the difficult balance between looking after customers and pissing off the sales managers by selling a lot of cars to make up for it.

 

Great post...supposed to pick mine up tomorrow. I'm north of Sacramento...sticker is $41,046 for a 17' Limited and they came down to $38,452. Also gave me $22K for my 07' Dodge Ram Crew Cab 3500 Laramie. I'm thinking it's a decent deal.