Need help analyzing a deal for a 2017

I just looked at my paperwork and there is nothing with TMF fee on it, I bought from a dealer in Oregon also. I paid 37,500 OTD for TRD OR all options minus JBL just for reference. PM me if you want more details. Sounds like probably a decent deal for 38k on a limited.

 

The TMF (or also known as TDA) is not straight profit for the dealer. You will see it on an actual invoice, but not on a window sticker. And the dealer WILL pay that that fee to Toyota. Some people get bent out of shape about it and tell the dealer "I'm not paying for your advertising to sell me a vehicle", but when you are calculating invoice price - and your deal in relation to invoice price - it must be taken into account. Same as the much less expensive fuel fee of $8 or $9 that toyota charges the dealer.

That fee is what the manufacturer charges dealers as their chunk of the regional advertising costs (website, commercials, etc). It is a very real dealer expense.

Now, sometimes the dealership will "remove" the fee to make a customer happy and make a deal. If they do that, they are still paying that fee to toyota, and instead are just playing a shell game with a customer. What they are actually doing if they remove that and further drop the price is dipping deeper into their profits via holdback and wholesale financial reserve to make a deal.

If they think it is going to be an issue up front, they'll play this shell game with you. If they have already given you their rock bottom price, that TDA is going nowhere. Unless it is the last few days of the month and they REALLY need to move a couple more vehicles to make their goals.

I was discussing a deal with one dealer about another deal I had. He said "we don't include TDA and pass that on to customers, and if someone is doing that, you're not getting the best deal and it sounds shady". All bullshit. TDA does NOT show on sticker. And it does not show on the purchase order when you buy the truck. But guess what, it is on the actual dealer invoice, and the dealer WILL pay it to toyota. When I calculated his "great deal without TDA" against the other dealer's "shady deal" which included TDA, the "shady deal" was still over $800 less. Stupid dealer word and shell game. I wasn't biting.

Forget about the word games. If you want to know the kind of deal you are getting, include the TMF or TDA in your invoice pricing calculations. Right now it appears you are $1,163 under invoice. Is that a good deal in your area? Can you do considerably better? I don't know. But it doesn't sound like you're getting raped.

 

That's thing about invoice. Does a true invoice include or not include TMF? I think a lot of people think they get something "at invoice" when it really includes the TMF and there is still room to work.

But as this is settling, I think $38,000 ($38,500 with TTL) is a great deal and I'll definitely be happy.

 

2000 was in high school, 2008 was a pre runner from college/as an Airman and started riding MX, 2011 was when I moved to NJ and needed 4WD for the massive snow we kept getting and I was mission essential and required to be at work no matter what, 2015 was when I came back from my deployment with a reenlistment bonus and SSgt sewn on and 2016 was last year and wanted a 3rd gen but fell under lemon law and was bought back by Toyota which explains the 17, this is over a 16 year period as well. Not quite the same as going from almost the exact same truck in a year. But go ahead with you assumption/snarky comment bud no worries.

 

A true invoice shows TMF or TDA, as well as the $9 gas fee. You don't see those fees on purchase paperwork, but I'd you see an actual dealer invoice, they are there.

And people need to account for it when they are figuring where the deal is in relation to dealer invoice.

Let's say you tell them you are "not paying that", and they "drop" the fee. Well guess what, you are now about $2300 under invoice, and went from good deal to great deal. And the dealer will still pay Toyota their fee anyway. They just needed the sale for their end of month numbers and have decided to take an even larger profit hit (or even a "loss" on a particular vehicle) so they can get that super sweet sales performance incentive check from Toyota for the month / quarter.

At the end of the day, all you care about is dollars....not what something is called. All invoice pricing calculations do is put all dealers on the same baseline when comparing their prices, so you can look at all the deals and know "dealer 1 is $1200 under. Dealer 2 is $400 under. Dealer 3 is 200 over". You don't care how they got to those numbers, just that they are there.

And because of manufacturer incentives to dealers now, the invoice price (even when you calculate in holdback and reserve) is NOT the dealer's actual cost on a vehicle. That's why invoice price is good for only one thing....a baseline to judge the kind of deal you are getting comapred to the other dealers. And also why when they say "we can't sell to you below invoice. If we did that, we are not making money" you can laugh at them and tell them how you know better than that. Maybe true if its a crappy dealer with poor performance and sales, but still doubtful.

And let's say Dealer 1 is $1200 under, but you're paying for a bunch of add ons you don't want. Dealer 2 selling at $500 under may be a better deal for you if you don't want a bunch of PIO's and other dealer BS add ons.

 

The OP wasn't asking if he should or shouldn't get 2017 Limited over his 2016 Limited and you don't have to explain why you have had the number of trucks over the years. It's your money so go for it. I thought it was funny the one guy that has a problem with the OP choice, was the guy that has had three trucks in 3 years. Come on that's funny!

 

Okey bud. Your right I dont have to explain anything but felt I needed to show you the difference between your silly comment trying to make similarities between 6 trucks of various configurations and gens over 16 years and 2 almost identical trucks in one year. And my 16 was bought back by toyota under lemon law in a 6 month period and replaced with the 17 so more like 5 trucks over 16 years and more like 2 in a 3 year period. I have no issue with how people spend their money, none of my business or right, just curious as to Op's reasoning. Back to the topic and I waste way more money on new MX bikes every year or so than trucks, but yes both are terrible financial choices and funny.

 

pretty much any charge for nitrogen is bs as stated above. most of the time its just you are paying for green stem covers and they just put regular air in. nitrogen aired tires only benefit aircraft tires (due to landings) and maybe racing tires at best case.

TMF (TDA in other areas) usually runs in the 600-700 range typically, 1100 is a tad high for this fee unless your are in SET or GST regions which can vary wildly since its not regulated by toyota usa.