What's so tough about special ordering a new Tacoma?

I had a pretty decent experience buying through Costco auto. You go on their site and pick the exact trim, color, and accessories you want, then they send the request to a local dealership with "Costco certified" sales people. The salesman got in touch with me, confirmed my accessory choices, and asked me what my top 3 color choices were. There weren't any in the state so we had to get one shipped in, I went with my third color choice because it was the closest (cheapest to ship). If you've got a Costco membership I'd recommend checking it out.

 

I put a deposit down for a manual Tacoma back in Oct, the allocation request was approved in January, and finally today I have an April delivery date.

 

We don't have a Costco in my town. There are 2 location about 25 miles away. I have heard that the car buying program was pretty good. How close to invoice price do you think you got? Wonder if it's worth joining to use it.
I have access to an auto buying program through the NEA union, its basically a true car powered program. What ever that means. I have only played with the web site don't know if any of the other staff have used it.

 

Yeah Costco's auto program is a lot like true car. The price they gave me wasnt far off invoice, and without any haggling. A few grand lower than the quotes I got from the dealers nearest to me

 

Nice I think I will get my quotes from a few dealers and use the unions true car program then see what comes out the best and roll with it. Hopefully trying to use my own financing from the credit union won't be an issue either..

 

After a bit of research I pretty much found what I’m looking for out of state ($300 one way airfare):

2020 Tacoma
TRD Off Road
Access Cab
3.5 liter V6
4WD
Automatic transmission
Quicksand

Extras:
LED fog lamp with black bezel
All weather floor mats (was planning to add Husky mats, but I can live with this)

Vehicle price: $37,883.
Discount: $2,982.
Mfr Rebate: $1,000.
My price: $33,901.
Sale tax: $2792.08
Total vehicle price: $36,693.08 (this does not include DMV fees)

I would put $20K cash down. Finance balance through dealership 36 months at 4.99%. (2.99% rate not available with mfr discount)

Communicating with dealership completely via email. I am in no hurry what-so-ever to buy this vehicle -- if it gets sold, then it gets sold. Actually, I originally wanted a 2015 TRD Off Road V6 4WD Access Cab. Difficulties locating this exact vehicle, with less than 60K miles, has led me to consider purchasing new. I have a lightly-used 2019 Four Wheel Camper Fleet sitting in storage ready to be added.

Now that I have a price quote, what part of this is negotiable?

 

When I got my wife’s 2019 Camry SXE (in November of 2018) I gave the dealer I generally deal with a spreadsheet of how I want the car configured including color. I had some unique combinations too. He said let me see if I can find us another dealership if not we will have to order it for you. About a week later he give me a call To say he found one that was pretty close and by pretty close the things it didn’t have I didn’t care about. Things like all weather mats instead of carpeted mats and one or two other small detail things like appliqués. It came from a dealership out of state but All in all, it was balls on.

Went through something similar when I was buying my Tacoma. They were willing to order me one however I end up finding a 2019 left over at another dealer who gave me a pretty nice discount which again was pretty well options to my liking. It takes a little shopping around but it can definitely be done. Also helps to have a dealer That is willing to work with you.

 

Just buy something that is close off the lot already. Arguing that you don't want to pay for stuff you don't want on an already jacked up price is ridiculous.

You are talking about trying to save one or two thousand on a midsize truck that already costs near or over $30k.

 

To each his own but not me. I don't like to pay cent more than I have to, especially for stuff that I don't want or need. 1 or 2 grand is a lot of coin for me and I can buy quite a few toys with that money. Toyota and their dealers have a lot more money than I do.

 

That’s not what my local dealer told me.

 

Call regional and ask why you can’t purchase a new Tacoma!

 

EXACTLY! If I can save $1000-2000 on a $30K vehicle, that's:

1. a set of Cooper AT3's
2. an Avid Off Road brush guard
3. a set of Baja Design lights

 

I'll play devil's advocate

So if that money buys you all the goodies, then why not just go get a Frontier at 3-5k less and have a fully outfitted rig for the cost of a stock Tacoma?

I would have loved to have found a stock SR5 with a rear locker but since that is pretty much no longer done, you have to buy a TRD model and hope it comes with it. It's the cost of buying a particular brand or model. You just have to suck it up and pay the money because it is an Uber Tacoma that is made of unicorn farts and unobtanium. They are too busy making trucks for people that want to pay $40-45k for a V6 midsize that comes with a periscope bolted to the fender.

 

Frontiers that are 3-5k less are quickly becoming a thing of the past.
Starting this spring they get a new drivetrain. Next year the rest of the truck is new. Prices will certainly rise.
We can assume that at some point their infotainment system will be updated to at least 20th century tech.

 

Everything is negotiable, especially if you aren’t in a hurry to buy. If you can find another similar build, get another quote and make the dealers compete. Look on sites like kbb.com to get an estimate for what people are paying in your area. Research on this site to see what others are paying for their 2020 Tacoma’s.