COVID; No Tacoma for a Year

When Covid-19 hit, someone rear-ended me in my brand new 2020 TACOMA SR5. Nobody knew how this would pan out. The repair was $16,500. The insurance comp was hell-bent, like the frame, to have my 4x4 SR5 rebuilt; everything off frame, then rebuild the truck onto a new frame. Not a real fav.

Covid-19 was a blessing in disguise. Toyota Corp Jap closed down. Neither the US / MX plant(s) had a spare frame. ETA on new was 6 or more months. The ETA guesstimate freaked them out at 1250$ a month for my rental. So the truck was totaled-out.

I made $4.3K on my truck in just 3+ mos driving. I didn't need to replace it right away with my wife to now working from home. Finally after a year, I just pulled the trigger on a brand new 2021 TRD Sport 4x4 Double Cab, in Magnetic Gray Metallic, 5' bed. $35,900 with cloth and $800 Tech Pkg. Clear bra at $525 was add-on. Out the door was $40,063 (incl tax, reg-lic, dlr doc). Basically $4K off MSRP.

 

How much did you pay OTD for the 2020 SR5 that got hit?

 

I paid $35,555 OTD November 23 2019. After the insurance paid out the money, I bought the truck back. I took off the tonneau (BAKFLIP), took out the all-weather floor liners, and sold the car etc... upon which I had $4,300 more in my pocket, and that was 'after' I deducted the cost of insurance, the gasoline, and the interest I paid on the loan for total of 5 months of ownership (3-1/2 mos driving). I had put on 7,134 miles at that point.

The 35,555 was also already an incredible deal if you consider the truck had the full-front bumper, fender, partial hood, and mirror clear bra, Bakflip Tonneau, chrome exhaust tip, mud guards, weather liners and door sill protectors, blind side monitor and rear cross alert. A good OTD estimate is usually 10% here in Utah, considering the tax around 7.25% plus doc fees plus lic and reg. Accordingly, the car was $32,323. Prices went up since then probably by around $5,000 to $6,000.

Now that I bought the 2021 TRD Sport trim level, this trim is usually around $2000 or so over the SR5, depending on the equipment included. Basically one could say I really only paid $35,200 for my new TACO TRD SPORT. So, I hope this answers some of your other not-asked, but anticipated questions.

Well, there is perhaps a bit more. This has to to with the question "how is it possible to get such a deal"? We can talk about that. It is not easy. A lots of work and heart-burning, acid-wise, I mean. It was not very pleasant. It took a long time. I am not just walking into a dealership and buy the truck. They have had the forced-pleasure of knowing me..., if that makes sense.
Thanks
THO

 

Glad it worked out for you. Enjoy the new truck!

 

Wow a happy, but I'm sure stressful journey. Looks great!

 

I mean, $16,500 < new truck so I can't really blame the insurance company. But nice upgrade!

 

Loved this part, made me chuckle...

 

Thanks TacomaOnABudget! Yes it was stressful. Dealers usually just go "are you hear just asking questions or actually buying"?... as if that is a bad thing. We have 7 TOYO dealers in a 150 mile radius. So they encourage you to let them beat the price of the other. This creates a nasty fight because nobody wants to sell below MSRP, not in this short-supply / high demand climate. Inventory is in short supply. Usually they work you, once you step a foot into hell's hole (the dealership). Why? It's because they are able too, but don't want too, nor do they have too give you a deal. When they say "this is invoice" they are lying. They will never let you see the real price and their real incentives (their gain). My deal has proven that they 'can' take off another $2K + after factory rebate and dealer discount. The back-and-forth is harsh. I hate playing games. It will change again next time I will buy a car, and that is probably hopefully no sooner than 10 years from now. But who knows.

 

Yes, "forced-pleasure of knowing me"... for anyone who does not know what that means (btw, so true, it made me laugh too), it means that you reversed successfully the table on the dealer. They have gotten worn out and really just wanted to get rid of you "sell the guy a truck so he can finally move on, and us too". Plus, it was the 4th car I bought at that particular dealership in 9 years (3 others at different dealerships). I wrecked 2 in less than a year - not my fault though - in both cases.

 

$16,5K for the repair - no blame to insurance, truck was valued at $36K - $37K or something like that. The damage would had to be at least $24K to $25K in order to justify totaling. Lucky "COVID" situation, no frame, and not knowing when it will get here, at a $1250 cost a month to provide a rental, plus storage fees, they calculated that up to add another $9K to $10K, plus the unknown factor, that pushed it over. What I was really bummed about was that COVID also pushed the prices / demand-supply ratio up and out of balance. It took me out of the Tacoma market, I thought.

 

Thanks TacomaOnABudget! Yes it was stressful. Dealers usually just go "are you hear just asking questions or actually buying"?... as if that is a bad thing. We have 7 TOYO dealers in a 150 mile radius. So they encourage you to let them beat the price of the other. This creates a nasty fight because nobody wants to sell below MSRP, not in this short-supply / high demand climate. Inventory is in short supply. Usually they work you, once you step a foot into hell's hole (the dealership). Why? It's because they are able too, but don't want too, nor do they have too give you a deal. When they say "this is invoice" they are lying. They will never let you see the real price and their real incentives (their gain). My deal has proven that they 'can' take off another $2K + after factory rebate and dealer discount. The back-and-forth is harsh. I hate playing games. It will change again next time I will buy a car, and that is probably hopefully no sooner than 10 years from now. But who knows.

 

I got in right at the beginning, luckily for me. You got a nice upgrade though!