tips for financing new allocated Tacoma?

When you get to the F&I guys office-
you are dealing with the best and highest paid salesman in the organization.

 

My dealership tried to push a lease on me without actually running my credit or contacting my credit union. I never liked the idea of leasing a car. I'll lease a phone, phones I upgrade every few years. But a floating 30k+ lease, yikes.

That being said, ya do your homework. Check your credit, get pre approved for a loan from your credit union and negotiate your monthly payment as your bottom line. I was offered all the extra shit to add to my financing and I didn't wanna pay interest on it over X Years. I put a down-payment in, Gave them my shitty Nissan titan as a trade in and financed the rest

 

My dealer was one of the better ones and I didn’t have to take a bunch of crap to get a base OR 6MT.

that said, I paid about $100 more than I needed to to have the tailgate lock installed prior to delivery. It was worth it for me for the convenience, and, it is now covered under the bumper to bumper warranty. Not that it is prone to failure but a nice bonus.

extended warranty I bought at another Toyota dealer with a super price. Bed mat, I waited for one of those sales folks tell us about here on TW. No need to get a tonneau at the selling dealer as tempting as it is. You might like a different brand anyway. Bed lights, bought through parts.Toyota.com and I put them in myself.

 

If you can get a great rate don't bother with a large down payment

 

I threw some cash at it as a down just to get my monthly into a more comfortable spot for my budget. Also I had a trade in that they gave me way more than it was worth because they were hot for used vehicles back in July 2021

 

I went with the dealer finance and they got a better rate than anyone. Just remember the loan person at the dealer is the final salesman and will try to sell you all kinds of insurance against dents and flats and bull shit. Just go in with a no ready and buy it for msrp.

 

If you are pre-approved with your bank and have a low interest rate, get a pre-approval loan document for dealership finance.

When I signed the pre-approval to buy I didn't realize it gave them authorization to run a credit check.

My bank also ran a credit check so I was dinged twice for two credit checks.

If you can, lock your credit record. This is done if you are paying to have your credit monitored like with Experian.

The dealership did not like that I was using my bank for the loan and asked me & my wife what our interest rate was. I forgot to tell my wife not to reveal the actual rate (1.8%) and the finance guy came across as surprised that I was able to get a low rate. His response, "we could only go 3.0% anyway".

Lesson for me...do not sign paperwork that authorizes them to run a credit check. If you do...lock your credit record so even if they try, it won't let them run a credit check.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, I received a letter from Toyota saying I was denied a loan through their Finance. I was like, WTF?

I broke up with you Toyota Finance, not the other way around.

 

This is super helpful! Yeah, I actually have a freeze on my credit by default but will definitely make sure to lock it after the financing with the credit union.

 

Multiple auto credit inquiries within a 30 day period only count as one for scoring purposes.

that said, advice here is sound. Get approved at a bank, credit union, USAA, or all 3, and walk into the dealer with confidence. If they can beat it, great, if not, no worries. And don’t buy overpriced items in the box.

 

You should tell the dealer you want no accessories added, don’t bolt anything to your truck. After having it for a bit you’ll know what you want to get.
You can shop around. The paint protection, the 3M, all that stuff is over priced.

 

I dropped 60% down in cash on mine and have a credit score of 860 and I was upset they wanted 1.9% out of me for the rest. I was hoping for 0.0% like I got on the Subaru but I think those days are gone. Had it a year now and if things go to plan I'll pay it off next year and be done with it.

 

I wish I had 20k sitting around to burn as a down payment for anything lol.

 

Generally I agree with this but a couple of things to clarify. Multiple inquiries for an auto loan in a short time frame count as 1 inquiry for credit score purposes (same with shopping for a mortgage), however the time frame for those inquiries to count as one varies between 14 and 45 days depending on the scoring model being used. Also, you do not have to pay for a credit monitoring services to "lock" your credit report. You can place a security freeze on your credit report with each of the major credit bureaus for free directly on their web sites. No one will be able to run your credit unless you remove the security freeze. Lastly, that letter you got from TFS is called an adverse action notice. They have to send you one by law if they don't grant you a loan to close out the application. You have to carefully look at the reason for the adverse action listed on the letter. It may be something as benign as "application withdrawn". Sounds like you may not have read past the "we are unable to grant you a loan at this time" part of the letter.

 

Don't we all.
Start small, keep saving, and use the banks money at a cheaper rate whenever possible. Invest your money in Roth IRA or other savings account that will pay you more interest than whatever the loan apr is charging you.

With vehicles it doesn't really matter as they all depreciate over time. You're essentially lighting your money on fire every month or flushing it down the toilet. The real key is don't over extend yourself and do what works for your budget and financial situation.

@withfilm

You're not obligated to purchase any extra's in the finance and insurance office. These are "back end" deals that are heavily marked up for the dealers benefit. Extended warranties can be purchased within so many days after buying the vehicle and there's a thread on here with a dealer offering the best prices. You'll have to search for it. Don't buy any service plans either (oil changes, tire rotations). You can add your own "paint protection" when you pick up a gallon of wash and wax at Wally World for $10.

F&I only gets commission if you finance through the dealer. If not they still have to do all the paperwork with a smile.
Know your credit score and the best apr you qualify for and have that when you go into sign. They should offer you that apr or better.

CAREFULLY, read each document and line to make sure it's what you agreed to and nothing has been added in or changed (apr, length of the loan, ect.)

Last, eat something before you go and bring a drink or a snack. These deals always get drawn out longer than they should and don't forget your FREE tank of gas!!!

 

Thanks for the feedback!

I did notice on my credit report, there were two inquiries listed and I'm not sure how it affected my credit score but it did go down.

As far as multiple inquiries counting as one inquiry...not sure about that...I just know the notification was on there that two agencies ran a credit check.

I've had credit monitoring for some time which allows me to lock it. If you can get it for free, that's great!

There was a lot of verbiage on the letter I received. From what I read, it was derogatory...to me.

The determination was not, "application withdrawn" or I wouldn't have been annoyed with it.

I know it basically covers them for running a credit check and then when I didn't take their loan, they had to have a reason why I didn't take their loan.

 

Like many others on this site, a few weeks before my truck was to be delivered to the dealership, I went to my credit union and got pre-approved at 1.99%. Went to the dealership yesterday to look over the new Tacoma and got my purchase agreement (if you are putting additional money down make that is deducted from the total cost). The dealership tried to sell me additional warranty ("...this is what I have on my vehicle and recommend you do so on your new truck"), PPF, and other things; I just politely declined them all. Emailed a copy of the purchase agreement to my loan officer and going to stop in this morning to pick up the cashier's check and drive home my new 2022 Tacoma Limited, Nightshade Edition, DCSB. Hope this helps my friend.

 

I would think a sizable down payment like OP says will negate the need for any gap insurance. Especially in this market.

 

This is sound advice. After comparing accessory prices online, I passed on any dealer installed options, even the floor mats. Ordered everything oem online which saved me a considerable amount of $$. Figured the $1180 I paid for OE accessories online would have cost $2100 from the dealer, not to mention interest if it was wrapped up into my loan.

 

It’s pretty simple, go find the best rate you can and get pre approved. Then ask the finance guy to beat that when you’re at the dealership. Just ensure whatever loan you get has no prepayment penalty.

As for the warranty and accessories, just turn them all down. Make sure you know what the total sale price is including all fees before you go loan shopping.

Downpayment amount depends on a bunch of factors, primarily your personal situation and priorities and the loan rate. Can’t advise you there.