Shopping for Tacos

You gotta be careful when shopping for a new vehicle. I know that and was ready for all kinds of surprises but OMG, did I ever get a work over when buying my 2011 Taco.

I stay in Florida in the Winter and Tennessee in the Summer. I was born and raised in West Virginia so I used these three states for my search.

I own a 1998 Extra Cab TRD 2.7, 5 speed manual that I bought new. Back in 1998 Love Toyota had the best deal in West Virginia but that was a long time ago. I bought the truck over the phone and the first time I actually laid eyes on it was about 15 minutes before I signed the paperwork.

I went to DeLuca Toyota in Ocala and was very solid in what I wanted. A 2011 V-6 Access Cab TRD XTPro in Barcelona Red. I elected to go with a Automatic because they have a better gas mileage rating and the V6 as I plan to tow a small boat. The salesman left me for a few minutes and returned only to tell me I could not get a TXPro package on the Access cab, only on the four door cab. I told him to order a Access cab then....no can do he said, they are no longer available with the XTPro package. At first, I went along with him and discussed a 4 door and even negotiated some prices with him. As I sat in his little cubicle, I can hear the hard pressure being applied by a salesman to another customer. It was awful. Badgering and badgering the poor guy into buying a car I am sure he did not want. I told the salesman I was dealing with that I would walk out if he tried that on me. As our talk progressed, I got the feeling it was not about what I wanted but what was available. I left there with what they said was their best price on a 4 door.

I did some more shopping via Internet sales and by telephone. I got mixed input about what could and could not be purchased. My main question was why can you not buy a XTPro package on an Access cab when it is advertised as in the brochure and on Toyota.com? It was explained that there is a disclaimer in the brochure that basically says everything advertised may not be available. That kind of statement just pisses me off.

I decided to call Love Toyota in W.Va and ask them to price me a 4 door as spec'ed out in Florida. They came back almost $3,000 less than DeLuca. The biggest difference was the XTPro package. At DeLuca it was $2,995.00 and at Love it was $1,695.00. As my conversation continued I casually mentioned that Toyota no longer made the XTPro option available on an Access cab. The salesman corrected me.....they in fact do.

The happy ending is I got what I wanted but had to wade through a lot of B/S to get there.

 

Damn good looking truck.

I just moved to CO from Johnson City TN. Love that area.

 

Congrats

 

Thank you. Are you in good 4x4 country or the flatlands? Careful with your answer....you may have company...

 

Congrats!

I have dealt with the same type of bs in the past. Went to look at a used truck at a dealer that I had seen on the internet. The salesman wouldn't show me the truck I asked about after telling me it was still availible, but proceeded to show me another one. I wanted a 4 door, and he showed me and told me that I would rather have the extended cab! When I finally saw the one I wanted to see, it was 3k more than the internet price. I know I should have printed the ad before I went but wasn't planning to go look that day. I told him the internet price and he laughed and said there was no way it was that low. He said he would look it up himself and said it was 1k less on the net. I went home and looked again and it was still the same price as I had said. I got so effin tired of stealerships and the BS they talk! When I bought mine they didn't play around, but they knew I had already talked to a couple other dealers and I knew what they could do. I think I tend to have a negative attitude before I step on the lot due to the anticipation of the BS that is coming.

 

I learned that Toyotas are sold in Regions and each Region must do it's own pricing. Even financing that is branded "Toyota" differs from Region to Region. It Florida, they wanted 5.75% but in W.Va. it is 4%. There is no doubt that you should save thousands by looking outside of Florida to buy your new Taco. You just gotta do your homework.

 

Well, in my case back then I wasn't looking at Toyota's. This was a Cheby dealer . And was looking used. Was just trying to get something cheap to trade in my Hemi Ram back when gas first got up to $4 a gallon. Was spending $100 a week in gas. Was't knocking Toyota dealers, just dealers in general. But I was looking at Colorado's since they were the only trucks I could find that had a 4 door and came with the 4 or 5 banger. I was desperate. Funny thing is, I still got as much for my trade a month ago as they offered 4 years ago when I was still upside down on the Ram. Go figure.

 

where i am here near asheville nc they didnt have prerunners when i wa slookin to buy.....i coulda drove down the hill to upstae sc or anywhere in nc other than the mtns and had a choice of them. coulda ordered one im guessin but with the snow we had here the last two yrs im glad i got the 4x4 now ...congrats on your new truck. we should see what those rims look like on mine............lol