Dealer installed dashcam?

Right, right, dealers are charging $5k to $10K premiums over MSRP right now but you can do better than a $400 dealer add-on over MSRP. Well, when you get one of these amazing deals, be sure to wow us with that story.

 

Dude... I'm not desperate enough to buy now. Have you ever heard that patience is a virtue? I don't need to wow anyone at all because my money is still in my pocket.

These bubbles burst and anybody buying now will be left upside down.

 

I have the dashcam in question. It's nice, but not $600 nice. Though, between the two options the dealer is giving you? It's better than the pulse mod on the brake light.

 

It took me 4.5 months to get my Tacoma after mine was totaled. I had to fly to a dealer in the next state over. Mine had all kinds of add ons I didn’t want. It’s not 2018 right now unfortunately you have to take what you can get.

 

The proposed new rule by the FCC making this shit (forced up charges) illegal can't go into effect soon enough.

 

Yeah, I saw that on one of Kevin Hunters YouTube videos

 

In a free market where the consumer base is panicked it's easy pickings for price gouging. I think there was a legitimate shortage... but what makes it worse is all the "I-have-to-have-one-NOW" buyers that are willing... or desperate... to buy because they think the shortage might get worse. Some people even LIKE to spend extra money so they can brag about how much they "had to" spend.

I'd bet that if everyone refused to buy during the shortage and only people with cars that had been totaled were buying there would be plenty of cars and prices would never have gone up. But it's a free market. What I worry about is that these dealers will have learned from this market and will use it to refine their sales tools. They've been charging for Vaseline for decades, and now they will probably find a way to charge double in the future because people don't know what they are doing by buying without walking at high prices.

 

well damn I didn’t know that. Is JM&A not any good? I just got my truck this weekend and ended up getting the 10 year/150k mile extended warranty for $2,000. Really hope I didn’t get screwed over

 

that’s a very good price for that warranty if it is the platinum (top tier)

 

yes I believe it is the platinum. It is a zero deductible bumper to bumper warranty that covers everything except wear and tear items like bulbs and whatnot

 

Markups are bs, but in this scenario I would probably just pay em the $399 over sticker and request they make no mods. They want a few extra bucks, if this is really the best deal you can find, what is 400 bucks in the grand scheme of the vehicle.

Can also request at cost pricing for something you might want. Maybe ask them to throw in a bed mat or something.

 

The "out the door price" is all I look at to compare across dealers. Try all the car purchasing programs (Costco, Consumer Reports, TrueCar, dealer website forms) and see what you get back. Not many discounts available (TrueCar was $100 off). At least some of the 'required' options have some utility (one here in CO requires tint, paint protection, and wheel locks) even if overpriced. But Costco did send me to a dealer with no add-ons and for some reason they gave me invoice price since I couldn't choose any options (they gave me a choice of 3 identical '22 OR Lunar Rock w/ floormats ). I feel very lucky to even be getting the truck as I need one soon. Just so the vehicle actually arrives in another 2 weeks as estimated; I'm not waiting very patiently.

 

nicely done then!!

 

How about a gift card for $399? Then you can buy a bed mat, some upgraded floor mats, maybe some air filters or future tranny and diff oil changes. That other stuff is overpriced junk.

 

Agreed with a couple posters here and said give them $300 for nothing and be done with it. Better than $600 for junk and spliced wires.

 

I haven't had any experience with them so I can't really say one way or the other. Just my own personal rule that when I look at extended warranties (which I rarely take) I prefer to go with the factory program rather than a third party. I know SE Toyota Distributors dealers push the JM&A as the "factory" product but it's really not. It's from the distributor. The only problem with getting a TFS warranty is that you can't finance it. You have to pay in full up front with cash or credit card.

If you are concerned I believe you can cancel within 30 days and get a full refund. You can always price the Toyota product and see how it compares, then make your decision. I paid $1,360 for my Platinum plan but it was for 100k miles. I drive about 7500 miles a year.

 

rcsez, the big question to ask yourself is this your truck? If so then no-one elses opnion matters, you are the only one that it should matter to.
Good luck and best wishes to you and your decision.

 

Do you trust Toyota to pick out the camera for a dash cam? Take a look at the quality of the image on your back-up cam. I challenge you to find a current model car with a worse back-up cam. As you already know, you can probably do much, much better for a dash cam on your own...both with respect to price and quality.

The ultimate port added accessory is the "Quick Charge Cable Package" for $70. It includes at least 12 dollars worth of cables. That one will probably be "mandatory" soon......

 

Have you installed this yet? How do you like it?

 

It's not a question of the truck, I'm paying what I'm paying, it's not a great market but the overall purchase price is one I can live with. I was just wondering if the camera was worth taking as my mandatory "screw you" add on from the dealer, which it really seems like the answer is no. So I'll try to get them to knock some money off the $400 to do nothing, tell them to stuff their pulse kit back in the box and take my truck.