WISH I GOT 4WD

My dude, you need to get a financial advisor... the amount of bad decision fail's here is incomprehensible and inexcusable lol.

 

You got hit by several common techniques. Sales associates work in teams, you have the floor guy and the "sales manager." The floor guy's job is to keep you on the floor any way he can. The longer you are on the floor, the weaker your defenses are. They want you to be tired. and hungry. Just sign the dotted line and we'll let you go home. The manager's job is to be the closer. They play the good cop/bad cop routine, the manager is there to "rescue" you with a better deal. They do number manipulation to make your monthly appear to fit your budget. They ask about your home life, they want to be your friend. You're too tired to notice whats going on at this point.

Then its the finance managers turn. They wear you down with extended warranties and creative payment schedules. They won't let you go until you stop saying no. "You mean youre turning down 5 years of toyotacare for only $5 extra a month? Thats practically free! My lowest price, I swear! You'll save so much money if you...." No. You'll pay more than they are letting on. Say no.

For the next time you buy, never ever ever talk in terms of monthly payment. Ever. Only be interested in talking about the bottom line on the window sticker. How they divide that into 36 or 72 is a discussion to have with your bank, not the dealer.

Never reveal your budget. Never build a customer profile until you are agreed on the final bottom line price of the truck. Negotiate over the phone, not in person. Its better to call one dealership, get their best price OVER THE PHONE, say thanks, and then call five more dealers and repeat. Make them bid against each other, tell the 5th dealer what the previous four offered. Hang up on the ones that say "come take a look at what we have, we can talk about price when you get here." Get the price agreement over the phone, then the name of the sales manager you will be dealing with. They can't wear you down if you are wheeling and dealing from the comfort of your sofa.

For the current vehicle, I agree with the guy that said refinance. 72 months is abysmal. Take your note to a decent credit union, have them do the math of what a 36 month payment looks like vs 72, then ask the all important question of what total interest you would be paying on each loan. You might find that 36 looking way more attractive then.

Good luck, I got taken by my first finance experience too. Learn from it, never let it happen again.

 

You don't need to have to go through all that... no fkn way. Do you research, figure out what a good price is on the car you want and tell them EXACTLY what you're willing to pay and with what options. After that, let them find it and don't budge off the price you want to pay. Also, get your own financing and have it ready when you enter the dealership. You can be in and out within an hour or 2 in most cases.

 

Anytime you're tired and have been dealing with a purchasing decision for many hours, you are unlikely to make a wise decision. Be ready to walk away before you make a deal - if they pressure you and guilt you for trying to "sleep" on it, fuck them. It's your money and you deserve the time to read the fine print and do the numbers yourself. Its easy to get caught up in the moment and excitement of a "new truck" but a day or 2 of shopping competitors and doing math is time well spent.

And as others have stated, never, ever base any buying decision (aside from perhaps a mortgage - see: appreciating asset...) on a depreciating asset based on payments. The full price is all you care about, and you can easily see what invoice is (what the dealer pays for the truck) on this site. Getting it close to invoice should be the goal. And if they aren't willing to pull the "extra" crap you don't want off the truck, take your money elsewhere. Guarantee you there is another dealer out there willing to sell you a truck under MSRP without the optional/mandatory extras.

Tough lesson, but as others have said, it's not life threatening. Just frustrating

 

+50HP flames are an additional $1000.

 

I honestly really feel for you man, and can see how this happened. Guys at dealers are snakes. You really have to know exactly what you’re doing and exactly what the vehicle is worth before you walk in, never negotiate a payment, only total cost, and make sure you pay attention to everything they do and make them explain it in detail.

My 2019 OR was my first new vehicle purchase, and I was feeling pretty tired hungry and sick of all the bull by the end of it all too. I can completely see how I would’ve gotten swindled just as badly as you if I hadn’t researched like crazy before even going to the dealer, and I took someone with me to help me not do anything stupid.

They actually tried to swindle me into a lease by feeding me some bs about my credit, that I knew to be false. Ended up financing with my bank at a much lower rate anyway.

 

This is exactly how I bought my tacoma earlier this year. I knew what a reasonable price was, I knew what dealer options I wanted, and based on that I gave them an out the door bottom line price. Went a lot smoother than I expected except for the finance guy trying his best to sell me everything possible under the sun when I went to sign docs.

 

Whatchu talkin bout willis? It took me all of an hour to call four or five dealerships, with each car Ive bought since my first. Compared to the several hours of surfing the net for research, its nothing. (I do agree with research. Thats an important part.) The phone call tells me something important too. I get a feel for the sales manager before wasting gas and time to go meet them. I have a better idea on which managers in town want to deal, and which ones want to steal, so to speak.

 

yeah, when you go in to buy a vehicle and you know what you're doing, they are a lot less likely to try and play games with you. When they spot someone asking about 'lowest monthly payments' they see dollar signs and you'll be there for hours while they whittle you down to get a deal that best suits them.

 

"Don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner."

 

OP, I'm assuming you bought 2wd because you didn't have an extensive background in offroading before you bought this truck. I was in the same position when I bought my first truck 3 years ago, a 2016 Tacoma SR5 DCLB new. With this being my first truck and not knowing how much I'd actually want to take it offroad, I opted for 2WD. Do I wish I had spent the extra money and gone 4x4? Yes, 100%. I've come to love offroading.

That being said, I have had a TON of fun running fire trails and desert washes around San Diego county in my 2wd. I got stuck a few times in the beginning but have since thrown some larger all-terrain tires on it and learned the limitations of what I can do. Southern California is LOADED really cool stuff that is 2wd Tacoma friendly; especially out in the desert. If you get all terrain tires, air down, keep your momentum up through soft stuff or up hills, and buy some good recovery boards (maxtrax or something) you'll be surprised at how far you can go with 2wd. Learn to drive and enjoy what you have and explore what you can.

My truck has outperformed many stock vehicles that have 4x4 but less clearance; yours will too (maybe just not in the snow).

 

^ follow this guys advice. Aside from the money issue, it looks like he was basically in your shoes 3 years ago and learned to make the best of it

 

OP, at least your truck is fully loaded. It probably has more bells and whistles than most 4x4’s. It’s still a badass ride.

 

That movie's great

 

Drive it through the windows at the dealership, say you slipped and it didn’t have 4x4. Get your money worth on the dent protection or have the truck written off


Seriously though listen to those guys about refinancing or selling. Get an older truck that you can pay cash for and enjoy off roading with it. You can get 2006+ 4x4 for under $10k. You will feel a lot better knowing you don’t have to worry about the money coming in going out right away to pay off a truck. A lot can happen in 6 years, save up for emergencies rather than payments

 

I think I'm sold if you include a bridge in california

 

That's the other thing I did shopping for my Pro. Parked at dealership, went right to the finance mgr desk where they have the up-to-date database at their fingertips (bypassed the dealers). Hi sir, I'm looking for this car with this and this in black, can you find one or do you have one coming in?

Yes or No?

If Yes, tell them what you are going to spend and let them know if they can get one at YOUR price then you'll give them a deposit on it now. Get your car appraised beforehand and have a printout but don't go into pricing, just let them know how much you're GOING to spend and if and when they get it in you can say you have a trade-in, wait for them to appraise it and compare to what you already have, make them match. Trust me, they'll know you're serious.

If No, just give them your number and say when you change your mind just give me a call. Make sure they understand you are strict on what you want (and you're gonna come off as an a-hole but that's ok). Works every time.

Those dealers, the ones with the asshole pricing, where they're assholes about it, with asshole grins when they tell you how much it is... never go back to those places.

 

Hey y'all, I just want to point out an observation...

Telling the OP what he should have done isn't really helping him solve his current problems, just prevent them from recurring in the future. At this point, we're just in the business of deceased equine abuse.

Let's focus instead on what he can do now going forward in resolving the current problems of
A) that note is WAY too high, and
B) we have a 2WD that can become a hard AF prerunner with a little help.

Thanks all. Please continue.

 

I considered something along those lines with my 2nd gen when the market crashed... my plan was to buy a big BYU sticker & put it on my Nautical Blue truck and park it near Utah State University

 

He's not solving his own fail's by making his horrible purchasing decisions public on a car forum, just sayin'. What do you expect? This needs to get pinned imo of what not to do. My 2c.