Buying new Tacoma. Never bought a new vehicle before, need some advice.

Really no need for an off road. I feel like the extra money can go towards upgrades, investing, etc

 

Can't say about all tacoma levels but insurance rates were all over the place where i live. Geico gave me the best rate for every 6 months on the tacoma. They were the lowest also on my tundra for the last 2 years.

 

Nothing wrong with the 2GR motor albeit it lacks torque on the bottom. However it makes up for it in the top end with lots of power.

 

Getting a 2020 SR5 is a good way to go, as it has some nice extra stuff over an SR or 2019. And it does not cost a whole lot more than an SR.

Nothing wrong with the V6. I think it's proven as a Lexus engine for the last 10+ years.

Toyota safety sense does not bother me either way.

Less than 10k down is best. $9500 would be good, and the IRS won't look into it.

 

If you have other insurance (renters/home owner) you may want to see if rates improve if you bundle. I have all my insurance (home/vehicle/umbrella) all with the same company. It was cheaper than having the policies scattered about with different companies.

As others have said rates depend on a lot of factors. Where you live, how old you are, credit score, driving record, deductibles, and amount of coverage.

 

Be prepared for the Dealer to try to sell you all kinds of worthless crap you don't want or need.

Read my Thread. "New Truck Dealer buying Scam list to prepare buyers". I buy a lot of New cars and have witnessed quite a few Scams in my day. I've listed the ones I'm familiar with but new ones are created all the time. The first one is NEVER buy the extended warranty at time of purchase, you can buy it later for much less or in my case, never.

 

And please tell me why

"Less than 10k down is best. $9500 would be good, and the IRS won't look into it."[/QUOTE]
The IRS would look into what one puts as a down payment on a vehicle?????????????

if this was the case -- I must be on "America's most wanted list" as I put everything "down"​

 

Lol.

 

I like the new 6 and auto tranny. They are fine and will last forever. I didn't enjoy the bearing sound and tightness till I hit around 12k miles on the Gen3, and then it mellowed out nicely. These are the most dependable and trouble free vehicles on earth.
I have a soft spot for 4 bangers with MT. More fun to drive and a bit demanding to stay in the sweet torque range. They don't bring them into Hawaii, so no option here.
At super low interest rates, the loan is your friend. My last couple of Toyota finance loans, it actually went through a local bank even though Toyota was writing it and subsidizing the low rate.
I keep vehicles a long time, or pass them off to family or friends. I always buy the extended platinum warrantee, and it usually more than pays for itself in the long run. They are highly discountable. Most other stuff they'll try to sell you on closing is bullshit.

 

Its called a 8300 form. for payments over $10k

The IRS would look into what one puts as a down payment on a vehicle?????????????

if this was the case -- I must be on "America's most wanted list" as I put everything "down"​

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This is for reporting "cash" transactions. I doubt many walk into a dealership and pay their down payment in cash!? I am sure it happens, but not that often? If you are walking around with that much cash in your pockets, I feel you need better guidance on finance than can be had here
Here is what the IRS says this form is used for
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/smal...300-and-reporting-cash-payments-of-over-10000

 

I have a 2017 TRD sport with 73,000 miles.
It was the last year before all the safety sense. I love this thing. I’ve recommended them to several people. Now there’s 3 Tacoma’s at work. I had a 2015 2wd and traded it in on a new 2017 Trd sport 4wd. If you’re going to keep it I’d say get the offRoad 4x4!

 

I'm happy to have less safety sensors on my '17. Too much shit on it as it is...

 

Im in Colorado and the locker gives me the ability to run Jeep trails so yea I guess if you dont go off road it's really not worth it.

 

There are a lot of nuances in the new vehicle purchase process. If you can, bring a trusted person along that has some experience.

 

This is great advice -- Many sales butheads will spot a greenhorn buyer very quickly and try to take advantage of their inexeperience

 

Floridian here.
As others have said, you will pay based on your home county tax rate regardless of where you buy.
I got the 17 OR for this vehicle, and would probably go to a lower trim if i had to do it again...

Read up on suggested tactics to expect with the dealers... The ad-ons, the stupid 4 square paper they use, the extended warranty (buy it later from a another dealer), prepaid maintenance...

 

I've had sr5 toyotas for years. If you hardly, or never go hard core off-roading you don't need to spend extra for it. SR5's have always given me great service, and resale without a lot of unneeded off-road accessories, yet they are still very capable of going in places you wouldn't take many vehicles.

 

Will read into that!

 

FWIW a few months ago I bought a brand new 2019 TRD Sport, silver, manual, access cab, tow pkg for $30,552 plus taxes/licensing/etc. Did it over email if you can believe that! I live in WA and none of the local dealers wanted to work with me, either on price haggling or over email, and I wouldn't give any of them my phone# so I found a dealer in OR that was happy to email me daily and answer all of my questions. I found the truck I wanted, it had everything I wanted and so after agreeing on a price I bought a one-way bus ticket for ten bucks and showed up in town. The salesman met me at the station, we went to a local pub and he bought me lunch and a beer, and about five hours later I was driving my brand new truck home! (First thing I did was replace all four tires with General Grabber AT2's. In unrelated news, I heard that someone has four brand new stock 165/65-17 tires for sale at a great price...)

I got myself pre-approved for a loan at a local credit union for about 3% and the dealer used that since my interest rate at the time was better than Toyota could do. I put $5k down (check, not cash.) I would certainly go with the zero percent rate you have available! Then you don't need to worry about paying it off early since it's free money, but you certainly can if you want, there's just no financial reason to do so unless you want to get out of debt earlier. My first payment the following month was $10k so that's why I didn't buy their GAP insurance (see below).

Since I was getting financed they tried to add all sorts of things in to the total package but I had already agreed to a final price "out the door" before going into the finance room so they had very little wiggle room and I was firm. They will try to wear you down and it is tiresome but stand firm! I tried to get them to register it in another county due to lower taxes but they refused and I didn't push since they would have let me walk. I didn't take the extended warranty or anything else they offered except for the general maintenance plan for five years of oil changes, etc, because I didn't want to get messy (let the flames begin!) but after it is out of warranty I'll be doing everything myself.

DO NOT BUY GAP COVERAGE!! During the finance deal they will try to sell you "GAP" coverage, which is insurance from the dealer itself that covers the difference between what you owe and the value of what the vehicle is worth if it gets totaled. Since you get a zero percent interest rate and are putting $5k down, you almost eat up the depreciation difference already. If you can either put $10k down or make a $5k first payment, then you don't need to worry. Fun fact: most people don't know that if you pay off your vehicle early and you had purchased GAP coverage, that the dealer owes you a refund of the difference because it is amortized into the loan! They won't tell you that (the bastids!) and are making a ton of money off people, sadly, so spread the word everyone!

Don't let them get their way and be prepared to walk out the door without a vehicle from them. After spending all of their time you'd be surprised how amenable they suddenly become when you are turning around and walking away. That happened to me at the first dealer I went to and when the salesman came running and found out I was tired of waiting for him to "negotiate" with the finance officer, he started agreeing to almost everything I had been wanting an hour or so earlier. I calmly told him "too little, too late" and what I thought of how they treat their customers and how my time is more valuable to me than their time and this could have been a simple process but they made it difficult. And I left.

Good luck in your venture!