New Tacoma purchase techniques

I saw a thread the other day posted by ramonortiz55 about using an independent email address to query Toyota dealers when looking for a new Tacoma. Can I PM him directly?

Can't Find the thread. could someone send me the link?

 

Just bought my Taco 2 days ago. After a months of research and haggling, finally got within 0.25% of my target. And yes, I used a fake email and fake name. No one knew my real name until I was in the finance office. Funny.

 

You use to be able to use the Consumer Reports buying guide which listed the wholesale (not the stupid invoice) price for the vehicle and all the options. It even listed the sacred hold-back amount the dealer got. I used that to figure a fair profit margin for the dealer (they are in business to make a buck also), added shipping, removed the made up charges like advertising, then headed to multiple dealers. They make a big bucks on the simple paperwork at the DMV which is a racket but you still need to let them do it. I felt I got a fair deal and the dealer made a profit. It worked for both parties.

Now CR just has this stupid Truecar model which is suppose to show the average of what others spend. I don't care what others spend. If I'm willing to research a fair price and am bold enough to negotiate as hard as they push selling, I should be able to get a deal that I feel good about.

Now I go OT: I should start a thread about my thoughts on many aspects of CR. They help the consumer less and less but beg more and more for your dollars. They base their rating system on different priorities than I. They don't even care how easy it is to fix a product but do care if you are stupid enough to stick your hand under a running lawn mower. Hey, they even want you to donate your pension to them when you croak.