New Selling Trick Toyota Dealers Are Using

In my case it was definitely out of warranty so it didn't matter but that makes sense

 

I just messaged one of the Ram dealers in OH and my question was Why are these trucks with 10 miles on them being sold as used?

This was the answer I recieved:

"Due to the inventory shortage we were only able to purchase these thru the company for inventory and had to be put into service."

 

I replied to a chat with "Alice" (more likely Adam!) and I asked her/him why a Tundra is listed as certified used with 4 miles? "Did it fall off the delivery truck, need repairs?" She/he just replied that she would need to look into it. I told her/him that I only wanted to buy new and ended the chat.

Very fishy ... they have to be making more money with listing as used then new? They are car dealers after all!

 

not sure of state dmv laws where U live

if matters are sketchy whether U buy or not

report to the correct authorities would be the thing to do

 

Those chats on dealer websites are usually service companies that pass on leads and aren't part of or even at the dealer. That's why you can chat 24/7. They know nothing about the vehicles themselves.

 

Can't be listed as certified used or used unless its been registered at least once.

 

Those chats aren't even usually real people. Just bots. That's why they will "look into it" and can't give any real answers when the dealer isn't open.

 

My best guess is that some of these less than a thousand mile vehicles are lemon law buybacks. Some might be damaged on the lot or broken into insurance claims. I bet some are finance rejections/problems/sad duck stuff. Some are demos. These are what you might say are the legit reasons for a 200 mile used car. But I think there is fuckery afloat. The dealers are pulling a funny funny somehow. There is an angle here. Something concerning dealer incentives and allocations, something involving upping loan interest/easy easy alternative credit BS. There might be creative accounting and tax reasons. Who knows. But there is fuckery about.

 

my taco had 2 miles on the odo when i took it for a test drive before buying it. this was march 2020, the last weekend before the lockdown started.

 

This

And this

By way of comparison, the year/time of the warranty doesn't start when the vehicle is built but when delivery is first taken. My frame warranty went from 12 years of first date the vehicle was put into service.

 

Lemon Law buybacks would show as such on a Carfax report and would have to be disclosed up front.

 

Plus there would be record of them having been titled, registered, etc previously.

I bought my 2006 Chevy Colorado (what a mistake) as a last year model with about 33 miles. Called the credit union to finance and said "it is a last year and has 33 miles on it, is this still considered new?" The lady said "33000? No way!" I said "nope, 33. It's never been purchased, titled, etc". She said "it's considered new even with 33 miles"

 

Most likely they were titled and registered with the dealer as service loaner vehicles, which would effectively make them "used" when they're sold again. Very common actually. For example, a dealer I used to work for would take certain low optioned cars or cars that had weird colors or option combinations, (essentially vehicles that were harder to sell or less desirable) and use them as service loaners. After a few thousand miles they were rotated out and sold as "certified pre owned." Sometimes these cars had factory to dealer incentives that we could capitalize on by doing this. That way the dealer doesn't have money tied up in inventory and isn't stuck with a handful of unsellable cars at the end of the year.

Heck there's a variety of secret financial incentives for the dealer such as fuel reimbursement, ect. that customers have no idea about, but they're in place to help keep the dealer afloat. It's not meant to be shady, it's just business. Btw, dealers make most of their money in the service department not in sales. There's not a ton of profit in selling new cars and if it's a small dealer they often depend on profit from the service department to stay afloat.

You didn't hear any of this from me.

 

In addition to what you said about the service department pulling more weight, I’ve also heard dealers make a higher margin on used vehicles than new ones. No idea if that’s true, just heard it from a few people I know who work in the business.

 

I suspect this is from buying them under KBB, at auction, etc then repairing minor damage, slap some cheap ass tire on, and a good wash and wax.. then proffit!

 

I've worked at a few dealerships and seen some stuff...

At one dealership they had an '80's S-10 that had been on their front line, on the outside of a long curve, and someone jumped the curb and hit it. The little truck was barely scratched and was intended to be fixed and returned to the sales lot ASAP. But the body shop got busy. The truck languished for years untill it was covered in dust and over a decade old... completely forgotten. Finally someone asked about it and on checking they found a truck with single digit miles on it and no record of having been sold. The body shop got an undeserved ass chewing and the truck was repaired... and sold for almost twice what it was originally intended to be sold for.

Chrysler got in a lot of trouble, late 80's if I remember correctly. They sold a bunch of cars with extreme miles and some even with heavy damage that had been repaired. The cars were used as test vehicles and most companies send them to be crushed afterwards, but some bright boy at Chrysler had the cars freshened up and sold as new. If I remember the story correctly the jig was up when a customer bought a new convertible and about four inches of bondo fell off his quarter panel revealing rust that could only have been there for quite a while. The ensueing investigation of vin numbers close to the subject car revealed vehicles with hundreds of thousands of miles on them and odometers replaced as well as other cars with damage.

But, that does not mean that a dealership couldn't "sell" a car to an employee and finagle a return so they could jack the price and avoid other costs by selling it used. My experience is that if it can be done to make money, it will be done.

 

The real MVP! That actually makes a lot of sense since dealerships moving more inventory get higher priority. If it is already "sold" then they're obligated to fulfill that.

 

Sir, these arent service loaners. I worked in a dealer service department for a year. The loaner cars were kept in service until they had at least 5,000 miles on them before they were sold. We are talking about vehicles here that only have as little as 5 miles not 500 or 5000 miles but 5 or 10 miles on them being sold as a used vehicle.

 

If that's the case it's kind of the same concept. For example, if a new body style is coming out or just a new year's model sometimes dealers will sell the vehicles to themselves to collect the financial incentive and "move the inventory." It could be a few hundred or a few thousand. However, the warranty starts as soon as the vehicle is titled. It can benefit the customer who has the opportunity to purchase the new "used" vehicle at a discount at the cost of a shorter warranty. You can still purchase or negotiate an extended factory warranty on top of whatever is left at the time of sale.

Class dismissed.

Edit: The longer the cars sit on the lot the more the dealer has to pay out of pocket every month to keep it. There is break even point and no dealer is going to sell a vehicle at a loss. They still stand to profit on that new "used" vehicle if you finance that vehicle with them, trade a vehicle in, or purchase any extra's like paint protection, tint, extended warranty, doc fees, ect.

 

Case by case I bet this is true but of course it's all about how much they acquired the used vehicle for and how much it cost to get it saleworthy