What are you paying for 2020 Tacomas?

I think the idea behind it is more for the consumers who want "no haggle" pricing at dealers that usually don't do that. It seems to give you a fair price for very little hassle, but you can probably do better if you want to try a bit harder. While it is a reasonable price, I almost feel like it locks you into that price and makes it harder to get them to go lower as well though.

 

There were massive discounts and incentives at the start of the pandemic. If you look at the people who bought at the start of the pandemic, they were getting close to 18% off MSRP because the dealerships were worried. Then Toyota rolled out their 0% APR for 60 months or $1750 rebate incentive and the Tacoma's started flying off dealership lots in May. Only under unprecedented times, would a vehicle manufacturer offer 0% financing on one of their most popular models. Add on to it the low requirement to qualify for the 0%, from what I've read it was around a 640 credit score, so pretty much everyone was being approved. Typically you need an 800 or better credit score to qualify for a manufacturer's best advertised finance rates.
So if you bought in late February - May, you got deals that you won't see again until the next pandemic. Toyota did their job, selling vehicles to create more demand than supply, they have stabilized their prices and the deals are pretty much gone. Even as inventory of Tacomas comes back, you won't see incentives and deals like you did during the pandemic. The Tacoma is one of the most popular truck models in the US and the dealerships and Toyota know people will buy them no matter what.

 

Honestly, the best thing you can do is figure out what you want to pay, be firm and be willing to travel. I've found that the dealers close to me are less likely to throw me a good deal than a dealer far from me. The dealers close to you may take you for granted or assume they are your only option. When you contact dealers that are far away and tell them you are willing to drive 10 hours or fly to get a truck IF the deal is right they know they have to earn your time/money by giving you a good deal. Also, this tactic works much better on a dealership that has a lot of inventory vs one with 2 trucks on the lot, for obvious reasons. Also, shop at the end of the month and check CarGurus to determine how long a truck has been on the lot. If a truck has been at the dealer for 5 days they are much less likely to deal than they would be on a truck that's been on their lot taking up space for 80+ days.

 

as far as i can tell, i don't think it really leads to a special price, or discount. lead-generating methods are usually geared towards making someone feel like they're getting something, a give-away or a special price, in exchange for their contact information - which leads to a pitch. in this case, it seems like the only meaning behind "no haggle price" is that the customer never questions the asking price, thinking it's already discounted. i hate haggling, but i also wouldn't automatically equate the dealer's asking price with a "reasonable price," merely because the customer never asks for it to be lower. if you're paying the asking price (like, MSRP minus a factory incentive), you aren't getting a discount, or a "deal." my impression is that all going through Costco gets you is delivering your deets to a salesman.

 

Costco price for me came in 3-5k lower than the 4 dealerships I had reached out to via email, could have been coincidence but that's what happened.

When I initially filled out the costco form, I got an email from them with an authorization number and a message saying the dealership would reach out to me. There's also a checkbox somewhere that says "allow costco to follow up with the dealership" or something. I assume Costco has a pre-negotiated discount w/ the dealerships, and also assume they probably audit now and then, but that's all speculation.

 

That was my take also when I was using True Car back in March. As soon as I logged in the site, my phone started blowing up from the internet sales people at the dealers. When I would discuss price with them, they could not come close to the price True Car indicated. I ended up finding this thread while researching and got an idea as to what a "good" deal was. I then used that info in my counteroffers to get to the percentage off MSRP I wanted.

 

maybe the area i live in is just a really tough market for cars.

 

Shop outside your area.

 

If you were looking in late march to at least april you were going to get your best deal. I live in el paso and I did all my research on the intranet department in several states from colorado, new Mexico across several of those dealers after my local dealer wasnt going to give me the best price so I had ultimately went online to dealer in dallas area and I was able to get them down 5k from msrp sticker. They emailed me a deal in writing and I put a deposit on my credit card then flew down there signed paperwork when I got there and drove back. This is my 3rd truck that I bought totally online. My 1st toyota tacoma was the only 1 that I bought by going into the dealership but intranet sales were non existent at that time. That was back in the 90's

 

Back in mid march I worked a out the door price of 27,500. I got a 2020 black sr access cab 4x4 with convenience package, floor mats, bed mat, and 5" oval step tubes. I contacted 50-60 dealers in the tri state are asking for an out the door price on a 2019 leftover or a 2020 of $25000 . Slightly used ones were basically going for the same price. My only stipulations were it had to be a 4x4 and it had to have jump seats (aka No Utility Package). I could have possibly saved $500 if I argued enough about the tube steps which I really didn't want. I didn't want black, but for 3 months I tried to get Out the door pricing of $25000 from New York to Virginia. No dice. The next best price I had all inclusive was $29,750. I wasn't hung up on color or features being as I wanted to get the cheapest price I could, I really didn't want black, but that's what I ended up with. In my area the same truck all inclusive was right around the 30-31k point

 

clearly.

i don't think that's how the Costco thing works though.

 

You keep saying that, but I don't think it is the point of the Costco system. I don't seem to be able to sway you though, so I'll let you believe what you want.

Yes, "pre-negotiated discount" is probably a good way to put it. And yes they do audit afterwards to see what you paid, so they do check up on it to make sure dealers aren't screwing you over.

 

It’s supposed to be $500 below invoice. But A. I think the invoice price can be adjusted and B. in my case they added the $1100 fee.
I feel like I did read somewhere that The dealership wasn’t supposed to be able to add extra fees to the Costco price but I never really looked too much into it because even if they took away the $1100 fee the Costco price was not as good as the deal I was already offered.

 

Seems like it's a per dealership thing, there was a $100 doc fee on mine, and destination fee was around $1100 (but thats part of MRSP). After the Costco email and offer from the assigned dealership I reached back out to some of the previous dealers I had talked to before and asked for their "costco price", and it was still 2k higher than the Costco assigned dealership. Though I kind of feel at that point they're probably just making up a number since its not going through Costco. I did a fair amount of reading online and the general consensus (across all vehicles) seemed to be that the Costco price was _usually_ "better than average but not the best you can get". E.g. usual discount from cold email was 4-7%, Costco (for me) was 10%, and some users were reporting 12%+ here.

Also might be worth mentioning that I ended up having someone else price match the Costco offer, and when I tried to hit Costco up for the "50% off $200" coupon that came with their program, they said I did not qualify because I would have needed to call them and have them transfer me from the original assigned dealership, to the one I actually purchased from. I could probably have called them and got it, but it's 2020 and who calls people anymore.

 

yep, bought my 2019 Sport through Costco last September. i was told by a friend who'd bought several autos through them, that Costco is very stingy with who they authorize and the sales people must go through some sort of training (don't understand what training they would need) to become an authorized dealer. plus costco will check with you afterwards to make sure the salesman was straightforward on price and did he show you invoice/dealer costs/costco costs, etc... which they did check with me through email on how i was treated after the sale with a form to complete.

anyway, if you're not inclined to "haggle," it's a pretty easy deal. sticker on mine was 40.6K+/- and with the rebate of $1500, got it for $35K+/- before taxes/fees

 

i'm sure there are people that have managed to get a good deal out of the arrangement. that wasn't my experience, but that's anecdotal. however, we are talking about car salesmen. if you've ever worked in sales, it's all about leads, and there's only one thing that motivates them. i don't think Costco is delivering them enough volume that their going to eat loses, and Costco sure isn't taking the hit for them.

 

there ya go. maybe i just need to find a better Costco.

 

Here’s my Costco pricing if anyone needs to compare. Only 1400 below MSRP

 

To me the starting price of 39k seems high to me. The sticker on mine was just a hare over 35 b4 getting them down to 30k. Mine is TRD 4x4 with technology package, blackout package, truck bed lights, wireless phone charger,carpet floor mats. And day b4 I got there the salesman had my windows tinted and threw in locking wheel lug nuts

 

Also it's a v6 double cab with long bed