How To Turn a $40k Truck Into a $50k Truck

I hear ya. I'm assuming you meant 1.5 k less?
I have AAA (mainly for the lady) so the roadside assistance I didn't really care about and I live 100+ miles from my dealership so I only ended up using 1 of the free services anyways. I'll just do all my own maintenance as long as it's nothing major.
Plus my old Tacoma ran 250,000 miles without ever leaving me stranded and next to zero issues so I figured I wouldn't go with any of the warranties or add-ons that they try and push on ya. My sales guy was talking about the reliability of the Tacoma and then proceeded to try and sell me an extended warranty. I sort of giggled and told him he probably shouldn't lead with that. He said fair enough
So far so good at 40,000 miles, hopefully it stays that way!

Oh, and I walked for 49,005 after taxes

 

No, $15k is correct. After taxes it would have been $55k, and I paid $40k.

 

no just a business card with a bankruptcy lawyers number on it .yikes.

 

No FN way! Good for you man. I'd bet you got the best deal on a Pro ever known in the history of mankind!
Shit, now I feel I got shafted
I just blue booked our truck and we can still sell it for about the original MSRP!

 

Love every line

 

It's almost a mortgage and i mean it makes sense with the amount of people living in their vehicles these days.

 

It’s really not a free market. There are so many laws and regulations between the consumer and a new light truck, calling this racket a “free market” is really a stretch.

Nearly every state has laws that force consumers through these scumbag middlemen dealerships. The feds set tariffs like the Chicken Tax (which serves to reduce market supply even if trucks are made in N. America) and mandate fleet MPG targets. All of this drives up cost and reduces market supply.

If it were a truly “free market,” you could order a turbodiesel Hilux delivered straight to your door from Toyota for far less than the prices we are seeing now.

 

That dealership took care of me for sure, especially because I drove hours to buy it. No local dealerships were working with me. Oddly enough, they even let me take it home even though I didn't have a check in hand. I came back a week later with a check written out to them from my credit union.

Yeah, I've been looking at prices as well. Wonder how they'll react once the 4th gen comes out. Hopefully won't drop too much.

 

I would also say that living in your vehicle is insanity as well But that's me.
Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do I guess. Rent is ridiculous where I live. Our county is allowing and finding parking lots that workers are allowed to live in on a monthly basis with a nominal fee. A couple of my coworkers are doing it

 

Maybe with a trade in.

 

We got a new 2023 F350 on the lot the other day - had the HO diesel, Tremor package, 302A pkg - sticker was $107 cdn - no leather seats, no power pass seat, single zone climate

On the other hand those Mazda 3's are sweet - especially in the bright red

 

Colorado is California now.

 

Not quite.
The other major problem where I live is that there are no places to rent even if one wanted to. Everything has been taken over by Airbnb and VRBO. That's a hot topic here

Ok. Back to trucks now

 

I'll let you know right now that if Toyota is the only one to sell you a truck then you will pay a LOT more for it then you do now. No manufacture is going to leave money on the floor because they are "nice", if people will pay it then thats what they charge. That $80,000 truck won't become $65,000 by magic, if Toyota can sell it to you for $80,000 they absolutely will and they will happily do so without the guy in the middle taking a chunk of that. They are not going to throw away "free" money.

As it stands today dealers compete for your business, those dealers compete against other Toyota dealers to be the one to sell you a Toyota. Those all compete against the other brands too. When the manufacture IS the dealer it doesn't compete with anyone. Economics 101 will tell you that if there is less competition price goes up.

Beyond that currently regulations mandate that the manufacture provide tools, parts, and most importantly ELECTRONICS to independent dealers so that they can service your vehicle. When its only the manufacture that can work on your car just you wait until changing the air filter requires that the dealer reset the "service car now" reminder that just so happens to cut power in half to "save your engine". Don't believe me? Look at John Deere today, $750,000 Combine will shut down in the middle of a field waiting for a John Deere service truck to come change the air filter. Dead stop, no go, and the ONLY one who can work on it is the manufactures specified service guy. You are already seeing this in car manufactures too, we just have better laws.

I hate the dealer as much as anyone, but they make us CLOSER to a free market rather than further away, and once they are gone we are SCREWED (shameless plug for "right to repair").

 

You’re arguing that direct to consumer sales will raise the prices?

 

Haha. I’m terrible at keeping vehicles for extended periods. Looking at Ram 3500s this time around, back to a more basic truck. The electric experiment has been exceptional in every way except for towing range. Unfortunately I tow a lot since I live in a trailer and move around weekly.

 

I think you change vehicles more than most change underwear.

The new Ram’s are nice. At the pace you trade up, longevity won’t matter lol

 

Unfortunately Toyota is one of those attempting to eliminate right to repair...

 

Maybe I just don’t buy underwear and that’s the trick to affording new cars?

In all seriousness, I really only get away with this by not having to pay any sales taxes, having cheap registration fees and being able to break even or even turn a profit on the sale. Between the TRX and the Rivian I’ll have made about a $20k profit.