Cost difference between buying from the lot vs ordering

ove heard if you order you will always pay $2-3k more. Any truth to that?

The color and packages I want I can’t find local and I didn’t want to drive 600 miles

Can TOYOTA customer service help you find a closer dealer? (I was searching on auto trader)

 

Dealers always want to move what's on their lot now. So they'll be more giving with what they have already. If they sell somthing they put your name on from the factory, they still have inventory sitting on their lot they did not sell. How much different depends on trims, color availability in area.

Toyota has a search for nearest dealer I believe. Google should work too though.

 

If you want something very specific and rare and still want a good deal you need to be willing to do the legwork. Google Toyota dealers near (zipcode). If that don't work go to cars.com, select Toyota Tacoma, use "all miles from" but then sort from distance nearest. Good luck in your hunt.

 

You will pay MSRP if you order typically, maybe a smidge lower with a dealer transfer order. You can go lower with cars on the lot like @Rockefelluh said.

At least in the Southeast, dealers finance the cars they buy from the Toyota distributor, so they will be willing to move on them before the end of the month to save interest.

 

Not true around here. I got 3,500 off as the 18s were hitting the lots earlier this year. I had to negotiate before any were on the lot.

 

I payed $500 below invoice my truck that I ordered. its all negotiable.

 

What you heard can be untrue. But it depends. Repeat customers get perks.

 

You can still get a deal on an order, just depends on how much work you want to do. I never go into the dealership until we’ve agreed to a price, and then I go in just to sign and drive away. I refuse to sit there while they waste time and try to screw me. I also don’t mention my trade in until the price is set for the new vehicle. That being said, dealers will always be more willing to deal with current inventory because they pay a monthly fee for each vehicle. The best deals will be for a truck that’s been sitting a while and you negotiate at the end of the month.

 

I paid 2700 under invoice on 2018 OR

 

Ordering just means waiting for a model that you specified arrives on a lot.

It benefits the buyer to buy a lot unit, dealer trades, transport eats into commission.

Most dealers charge 500$ for a dealer trade, but it can go up based on location.

My truck was 1000kms away and my dealer didnt charge for trade..... buuuuuut I work for Toyota soooooooo.

 

I “ordered” my 16 for about 500 over invoice. Your experience may vary.

Cars.com or true car can be of assistance as well. I did a true car for the ‘16
And got one offer at 1500 below invoice for an order. They tried to break it off in my ass on the trade as a result of the deal on the new truck. I didn’t buy from them. I ended up visiting 6 dealers before finding numbers I could live with.

 

Ordering a vehicle doesnt mean you will pay anything extra. In fact it doesnt even mean you have to pay MSRP... Everything is negotiable just like if it was sitting on the lot. Dealers don't necessarily pay any more to order a car, but then you are less likely to walk away so they think they have the upper hand.

Do your research, know what the vehicle is actually worth, know what you are willing to pay, and most of all, be willing to walk away!

 

Do the drive

 

I've never ordered one, but asked about that once. The answer I got was, "it depends". Most dealers don't pay cash for the cars on their lots and the longer a new one sits there the more they have in it as interest adds up. Sometimes that means they'll discount it to move it, but only to a point. After a few months on the lot they need to sell it for more to make money.

If you order one and pay a deposit they know it is sold as soon as it arrives and they may well make you a better deal.

I've found that car/truck buying is all about timing. Salesmen have incentives to meet quota's. If you catch a salesman, or dealer, that has already met his quota, or has no chance of meeting it, then he has no incentive to work with you. Catch the same salesman a month later when he needs one more sale to get a bonus and he may well sell you the vehicle at a loss. He'll make it up and then some with the bonus he gets. Getting a great deal is either luck, or a lot of leg work until you find a salesman desperate to make a sale.

Not cars, but my dad worked in sales on commission for years. I've seen him sell products below cost, or throw in free extras, and make up the difference out of pocket several times. But he knew that by doing so he'd make a lot more when he got the bonus, or won a prize for being the top salesman of the month, or year, out of his office. Several times he was the top salesman in the state. Paying out a few hundred out of pocket can lead to thousands more in bonuses.

 

Since vehicles are assigned a value out of thin air MSRP...7 to 10% would be the benefit of your bargain

 

Op, my suggestion is to find your closest 5 or so dealers and email/call to negotiate the price of the exact configuration you want. Don't worry about if it is unavailable. Once you get a price that you can work with, let the dealer find the vehicle for you. I was able to work that type of deal and got $3200 off MSRP on a truck that was not even built. There is a good chance that the configuration you want is available regionally or is going to be built (allocated) for the region. In that case, the dealer will swap with another. This type of deal requires you to be patient and not jump at what ever offers they are throwing at you.

 

"It is cheaper to buy a plane ticket (to the one you want) and drive it back"

That should help motivate them.

 

Don't forget that Costco has a great no haggle auto buying program. Not every dealer participates, and while you might be able to get a better deal on your own - IF you know how to negotiate both the price and Edmunds' crazy website - it's a painless and extraordinarily fast process. Then, if you're an Executive member, you also get a coupon for 50% off parts from that dealer up to $200 credit.

For anyone buying off the lot, you need to know about and figure the dealer holdback into your negotiations. That's typically around 3% of MSRP (although I haven't checked recently on Toyota - do you own research). So that's money the dealer gets back from the manufacturer that you can figure into what their bottom line is. The trick with that is that the clock starts ticking the minute the vehicle hits the lot. Dealer holdback is on a sliding scale - 100 percent on the first day to zero at day 90, so there is a big incentive, and better pricing potentially available, for the dealer to move inventory quickly. Of course, they don't want you to know about this and will often deny it exists, but it does and it's a great thing to know about.

In the past I always did all the research and haggled but this time I went the Costco route and just the time saved in dealing with jerks made it worthwhile. It seems like the dealers who do the Costco thing have a dedicated person who only does that. Not one of the lot jockeys we all love to hate. With good reason.

 

Order a 19 4Runner MSRP was 38.9k paid 35.8 after discounts and haggling. And sadly there’s only one company on my island that sells Toyota so you really don’t have room to haggle.

 

The dealer can tell if the truck you want is available for them to grab in their region at dealerships or the region inventory. If you're a dealer, you probably don't want to trade away a Tacoma without getting some value for it.

I wanted an 2018 OR, blue, premium, tech and tonneau. It wasn't available in the Cincinnati Region. As the salesperson explained it, they can get the paint changed easily, but the other stuff has to be in the factory supply stream. That meant they had to find somebody that had an allocation for that package and would also trade it away. It took 4 months. The salesperson sent me emails on the rail car location as it headed east from San Diego. They don't get paid until it's delivered. While I paid below MSRP, it was above invoice. Understandable because they had to do a little bit of work to get an allocation.

So check all of the dealer inventory near you. And check your region inventory. Just because your dealer might not be checking.