Don't Pay $5,000 over MSRP in SoCal for a new Tacoma!

Just food for thought!
I have been searching for a 4x4 Off-Road for about 8 months in California. Problem is, my wife used to work in a dealership and will not pay more than MSRP. With the slow supply and high demand SoCal sales people(At least ALL the ones we talked to) wanted $5,000 over MSRP. They wouldn't even call you back again once they new you would not pay over MSRP.

So my wife gets a lead of a Fleet sales group in Phoenix, Arizona selling for $$ under MSRP
Kudos to
Robert Jones @ Bell Road Toyota (RJones@BellRoadToyota.com)
and Billy Ferreri (BFerreri@BellRoadToyota.com)

We were pre-approved through USAA for the car loan before this started. And, BellRoadToyota is a USAA approved dealer(if you get the loan through USAA and one of their dealers you get at least $1000 belows MSRP and .25% - 1% off the interest rate depending on credit rating and term of loan.)

Not saying 4x4 OffRoad are easy to find, we virtually looked at about 6 trucks and Robert and Billy searched the state for us. On Friday night for one we gave a credit card for a $500 deposit and by the time he walked to the showroom to run the credit card another sales person had sold it.

Saturday morning a new truck arrived at 7:15am, the Robert came in at 8am and notified us about it. Our deposit was put in on it. By 1pm all the details were ironed out:
USAA Loan, USAA Truck Insurance, 90 day Arizona Temp Registration. AZ Sales Tax.

We bought an Airplane ticket to Phoenix for $99.00
6:30pm flight at the airport
7:45pm Billy from the dealership picked me up at Phoenix Airport and drove me to the Dealership
9:00pm all the paperwork was done, Truck was detailed
9:15pm Billy hooked up my phone to the Bluetooth in the truck and gave me an overview of the items I didn't know.
9:45pm I was leaving the lot in my new truck.

I slept overnight at my parents house in Suprise, AZ, and visited.
Then next morning I left around 11:00am and by 6:00pm I was back home with my new truck!

Only piece left is Cali registration

This should be completed with 15 days:
Registration fee is out of pocket as it can not be rolled into the loan.
?? Taxes ?? I'll let you know but we paid ~10% for AZ taxes and temp Registration.
We will owe the difference between CA taxes and AX taxes, but we expect that to be zero.

Overall well worth the 1 day, $100 plane ticket, $60 in gas, to save $6,000+

From aero90: Don't forget you need a smog check and a weight master certificate (mayflower moving and storage facilities can do this for $10) before registering. Also need a VIN verification done, but the easiest way to do this is at the DMV when you go to register. Allocate roughly 1.5-2 hours to complete all this at the DMV with an appointment.

 

heads up. nobody is paying $5K over MSRP.

 

I did the same thing, bought in AZ live in CA. Don't forget you need a smog check and a weight master certificate (mayflower moving and storage facilities can do this for $10) before registering. Also need a VIN verification done, but the easiest way to do this is at the DMV when you go to register. Allocate roughly 1.5-2 hours to complete all this at the DMV with an appointment.

 

I had one CA dealer refuse to work with me saying he can sell 4x4 tacomas at 2k over MSRP all day. Flat out told me it wasn't worth it to call back.

 

Dealers will lie through their teeth all day long.

 

I offered 500 under MSRP, he told me it wasn't worth calling back he wouldn't sell it to me for that price....

The market for 4x4's is somewhat ridiculous in SoCal, a lot of dealers here treat 4x4 Tacomas like Toyota only made 10 of them.

So I went one state over and it was no problem getting 1.5k-2k off MSRP.

 

You are a fool if you pay over sticker for anything.
Here they run 4000 to 5000 under.
many dealers will fly you in to.buy from them.

Just hit the road and go buy one. No need to screw with people like that and pay 5000 to 10k more.

 

Thanks, I did not know about the smog check or the weight master certificate. (I thought the vehicles emmisions had 50 state approved) (CA has to get their $$ one way or the other. )

 

What area is this?

 

You don't have to, Contact Rick Burgess @ Norwalk Toyota,(562-868-0035) He found my Off Road 4x4, Great Price and Service.

 

Did you try longo? They dont sell over MSRP, and quite honestly, I havent seen any tacoma outside of the PRO version even approaching at or above MSRP.

 

Wow, I didn't know they were doing that locally. Over MSRP?
I got mine 3 weeks ago for 900 under MSRP and got about $350 (at cost) in accessories thrown in. Not sure if that was a decent price or not.
This was purchased at Longo Toyota locally in Los Angeles.

Fully loaded with TRD off road 4x2. JBL tech package, tonneau, DCSB, and some other stuff I don't use too often. 2016 model. 17' not out yet, but my salesman told me the Pro was coming very soon when I got mine. Didn't want 4x4 in a daily driver.

 

Which dealership in So Cal has this $5k markup?

 

Lol 5k over MSRP? No. That has to be a joke. They were trying to scam your ass. They do that on trades as well. "I know blue book is 20k but I can only give you like 8k."

 

Hey OP congrats on your new truck
Different regions use different tactics. I feel the SE region and TX wheels and deals much more than say SoCAL.
Heck, there is probably more than that but I don't live near it so here in
New England is the same damn thing, the trucks trickle in and there are folks more than willing to pay whatever to own one.
My last truck I bought in Massachusetts same as you.
Unless you live in these areas, it is hard to wonder why people will pay but they will, over and over and over again to get the truck.
You know the resale ...reliability...the only choice other than a Ridgeline or GMC Canyon or Colorado or maybe a Suzuki lol.....

 

With the entry price for certain cities in LA/Orange County homes going for 1 million plus, there is a group that wants things first, and are willing and able to pay for it. (Not me)

I am not going to name dealerships as I believe in open markets more than shaming.

 

Let's be real. I live in the SF Bay Area, which makes LA/Orange county housing seem like a forgotten island. I was able to get a similar deal like you just down the street from my office.

You spent 8 months looking for a truck and the best you can find is $5K over MSRP?

 

My intention was not to shame the dealership, but to let other forum user know which dealership to avoid.

I'm sure most users in this forum would not want to waste their time driving to this dealership knowing they are selling $5k over.

 

Maybe for a TRD pro some are paying over MSRP.

 

I got mine in the heart of the silicon valley for 700 below MSRP, factory order. Was hoping for 1000k below, but I'm not devastated. Three dealerships had no interest in anything below MSRP, three bowed out of the offers I was shopping, and two got to $700 below. I'm sure people get way better deals than me, although some dealers actually do sell them over MSRP all the time. It's nuts, but it happens.

But not 5k though, good lord.