How to prevent Dealer Mark-up on 2024 Tacoma

Its been a while since I purchased a new car but I've always had good luck buying under sticker. Now it 2023 it appears you're doing very well buying at sticker for certain vehicles. So my question to the board is, when you someone decides exactly what they want (trim/options) with new upcoming Tacoma can you

1. Put in an order at sticker price along with destination charges, taxes, etc., and have that priced locked in prior to purchase?

2. Put in order at sticker price with understanding (1) dealer will not jack up cost above MSRP or (2) dealer has to tell you at time or order what dealer expects to charge over sticker (in writing) before you agree to order.

Flat out I'm not paying much over sticker since when the dust settles I might be paying anywhere from $32,000 to say $36,000 after taxes and destination charge. I'm not playing the "dealer over pay game" since I can always buy another vehicle somewhere else at or below sticker.

A recession is coming and if dealers think they can gouge "buyers" in pocketbook I think they might be badly mistaken. So just curious at what time in the vehicle buying process does a dealer lay down his/her cards and put on paper Tacoma list/sales price (no mark up) versus a dealer Tacoma list/sales price including dealers (all profit) mark up?

 

Supply and demand

ask for the Hank Hill price, he never pays a penny over MSRP.

 

Yep and "dealer" mark-ups can lead to decreasing customers. Ford would probably love dealer mark-up on new Tacoma, since the Maverick sells for thousands of dollars cheaper. And Ford can't build them fast enough.

 

You don’t have your location listed but depending on your region you will be able to find dealers at MSRP. Unless it’s a base 2 wheel drive I don’t see a Tacoma coming in at $32,000 out the door.

 

Well 2023 starts at $28,000 so one might think the 2024 starts say at $30,000 or slightly under. Even with Tacoma solid reputation I think it's going to have to be priced within in range of Ford Ranger, Ford Maverick, Nissan Frontier and possibly Hyundai Santa Cruz. By that I mean "mid to high" level range.

 

Since you 'know' this then

and thus

Too many buy more than they need (or should) because they've drunk the YOLO koolaide. And the folks selling it want you to drink more.

 

Just go to a dealer that doesn't do dealer markups. There are plenty of Toyota dealers around the country and I'm sure you have multiple in your area. If you're buying a new car, just go to the one that won't charge over MSRP. Not sure where you're located but we have a list of all the dealers in Texas that do and don't charge markups. One of the forum guys was out there doing the Lord's work calling all of them.

 

“A Toyota executive believes average new-car prices will surpass the $50,000 mark in 2023, according to a report by Automotive News. Jack Hollis, head of sales for Toyota North America, said demand will keep exceeding the company's ability to build new vehicles, as pandemic-induced supply-chain issues continue in 2023.”


https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a43440185/average-new-car-prices-50000-dollars-2023-toyota/#

 

Didn't read all of your link but I'm sure grossly over priced EV were factored into average car prices. Tesla has already had to cut prices due to huge inventory build. Others will follow and end of year there is going to be a price war among car manufacturers. Average American buyer wants something new in the $22,000 to $40,000 range and not $50,000 to $100,000 range. Best to hold off buying until recession starts and car dealers start sweating bullets over dwindling sales.

 

You may have a long wait.

Per the article:

“Although Hollis believes that an economic recession is already underway, it does not match the usual expectations for how the market in recession should behave, with demand for new cars remaining extremely high. "We will sell every vehicle that we can make," Hollis explained. "The only thing holding us back is the totality of the supply chain and the fragility of it, because we're not back to normal anywhere globally."

 

When I bought, I did it over the Internet, text and told them to start I wanted a pricing sheet showing me all costs along with verification that the vehicle had the features I was looking for; photos of the inside, and outside of the truck.

After five hours of talking, and confirming details,, the dealer tried to add a $5000 mark up and $2500 on dealer add-ons. I told them I don’t do business with dealers that add markup, and that the fact that they tried to add it at the end meant I was not going to do business with them. Magically the market, and the dealer add-ons disappeared, and I was back to MSRP.

Just hold your ground, I walked away from at least a dozen dealers telling them I refuse to continue to discuss anything with them if they were asking for a markup. When they followed up with me weeks later, all smug, asking me if I’ve found the vehicle I was looking for at MSRP, I reminded them that I was willing to wait because I wasn’t desperate and if they weren’t willing to give me the truck for MSRP. I didn’t know why they were wasting their time contacting me.

 

So you were able to negotiate a purchase price at sticker without walking into dealers office? Everything done over the net with email exchanges and then some "legit" way to sign off on agreement. That's what I'm looking for, unless a dealer wants a warm body at his or her dealership, a signed signature by hand and then some credit card deposit I assume $100 or so.

Seems if you do your homework you should be able to close a deal online, but sometimes its hard to trust someone online and then have "proof" your locked in purchase price is is "solid" and estimated delivery time - give or take is on the clock.

 

Dealer here is a $2000 non refundable deposit. Since they basically have no inventory and have to place a hold on incoming stock. One it makes certain you are serious, two keeps you from going somewhere else. Did that for my Tacoma, and was going to do that for my wife’s Corolla Cross.

$100 deposit, you would probably get laughed at.

Paid msrp, however the dealer is definitely holding the cards when it comes to getting a vehicle. Since they have a long line of people that will snatch it up if you don’t.

 

yep, it was Labor Day weekend, 100° outside, I was recovering from neck surgery and I didn’t want to get on the freeway and drive two hours to where it was 115° outside to find out the truck was gone. The dealer played some games but in the end I got what I wanted in fact a better deal than what I was hoping for, and the exact truck I wanted, which was the only truck I was going to buy. I had a lot of dealers offer me huge discounts on SR and SR5 Access cabs, and they all told me my truck was a unicorn that would be impossible to find. I just waited until it came into stock and jumped on it, and probably got really really lucky.

The even delivered it to my house at 9:30 on a Friday night, for whatever reason they were motivated.

 

exactly

what does a maverick have to do with a tacoma , to different segments.Theres a ton of people that bought the tacoma with dealer mark ups up to 10k when the chip shortage happened.Like someone else said if you dont buy it someone else will and if they try to do a mark uo find somewhere else

 

hey dindong we are already in a recession, dealers wont start sweating bullets especially toyota , they’re hybrids will be a top seller

 

Boy you're a clown Blak. Fed just raised rates again and you don't do that in a recession. Sorry but recession has not hit yet but auto sales across the fruited plain are slowing down. And when the recession hits its going to impact all car manufacturers. Even (OMG) Toyota. When the tide goes out all boats sink Blak, and with interest rates rising consumers will cut back on vehicle purchases. Of course the more expensive cars, EV's and trucks will take a Bigger Hit. Watch and learn - grasshopper

 

Oh and if you have noticed Blak all auto stocks are tanking big time, simply because Mother Market knows 2023 and 2024 are going to be low revenue years of car producers. Ford, Gm, Rivian, etc., at all time lows. See the trend dude?

 

when it comes to buying cars i noticed that people will pay anything

 

Dealer markups on the Bronco are legendary though. Just supply and demand. Dealers don't need more customers than they have vehicles for.

Anyway, all armchair talk coming from me. I don't see myself buying a 4th gen any time soon. Took me three years to build my current truck to a satisfactory level (armor, suspension, 35s) and I'm still not "done".