Negotiating A New Tacoma

Hey everyone. I've pretty much decided on a 2018 Tacoma DCSB OR 4x4 6MT with the premium package and am about to start the process of getting one, but I'm new to buying cars.

What strategies do you all have for negotiating the price of a new Tacoma?

 

I’m in Palo Alto. Step one is to stay away from Magnussens and Putnam. Seriously sleezy sales. I scored by calling up to Santa Rosa. Prices are awesome and John Coffaney (fleet sales) is a great and a straight shooter. He sells Tacoma’s in bulk to the Napa Wineries and has a good stock always. He also drives a 2017 Tacoma and has a 1st gen himself. I think I saved about 4K over Bay Area BS. No negotiating needed. Pleasure to do business with him.

 

Get pricing figures first from Edmonds and other online sources then call a dealer and ask for internet sales, tell them what you want and what price you found.

 

Go in knowing that if you can get a deal, it's gonna be around 10% off. Doesn't hurt to try to ask for 20% off though at first.

Depending on where you go "regionally" they actually add up to $5,000 over sticker price and call it "market value charge" or some BS like that. I'd advise you to walk out the door if they try that.

Be courteous as well. You get way better service that way than being an asshat LOL.

Toyota seems to like to fix their prices on some models like Tacomas. Maybe that will be the way of the world eventually.

Once you get them to their bottom line best deal, have them cover tag, title, tax and finance fee. Some places do this. They will just make the numbers work on paper. However before they do that, hold them to the newly negotiated "out the door price" or they might sneak in the fee's and taxes. The finance fee can be as high as $700 to $800 in some places.

Get pre-approved financing ahead of time so you know your FICO going in. If your bank beats their financing offer then go with that.

Also make sure you know all of the differences in trim levels.

Know things like "if you need a tow package you need to buy a truck that already has it." Don't let any sales person convince you that it can be added on later. Especially if you need each component that the complete tow package has (i.e. fluid coolers etc...).

 

Read this thread in it's entirety.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/so-you-want-to-buy-a-tacoma.475482/

 

Tell them your just tire kicking, don't look too excited.

And when your negotiating, don't be afraid to ask for extras.

I ended up with a winter tire package, TRD Pro Grill, Tub mats and a Tonneau cover....

 

Everyone on here is gonna claim that they got $12k off sticker but ain' noone gonna prove it...

The forum is full of partial truths...errr ummh

Just shoot for out the door price no greater than the msrp on the window sticker and you'll be good to go

 

THIS ^^^. Also check TrueCar to see what others are paying in your area. You can also request quotes through them from Participating dealers in your area.

Know that the quote you get is negotiable. I talked my down another $1000 from quote I got and it was already a really good price.

When negotiating, don't get emotionally attached to the car. Be prepared to walk out if you don't get the deal you want. I think that is where most people get screwed. The dealer says they can't go any lower and the person just caves and buys the car. Leave. No reason why you can't. They will give you the bullshit about how the price they're giving you is good "only today". Bullshit.

You come back the next day or even the next week and they will do the same deal. More over, they will probably call you the next day to get you back in. Dealers know that the minute you walk out, chances are you will never come back. That's why they try to close you on the spot. Either you will get cold feet or you will go someplace else and buy the car.

Once you negotiate the price, if you're going to finance, beware of the finance manager. That's the guy that fucks everyone. He's going to sell you paint protection, extended warranties, loan insurance, etc. SAY NO TO ALL OF IT. That's where the dealers make all their money. It's all almost 100% profit for them. Even the extended warranty. It's a total waste of money. Do some research if you don't believe me.

Bottomline, know what a good price is for the vehicle BEFORE you walk in. Then negotiate till you get that price or within a couple hundred dollars of it. And be prepared to walk out. If they are close on the price, ask them to throw something in for free. Like a Pro Grille or something. They sometimes are more willing to do that then to come down on the price that last $500.

 

How much ya putting down or trade value? That does help.

 

I disagree. Down payment and/or trade value has zero to do with negotiating the purchase price of the vehicle. Negotiate the price first. I don't even mention my trade before hand. Once you land on a purchase price, then negotiate the trade-in. When you do both up-front, it just gives the dealer more leverage to screw with you.

 

OP - if you have a POS to trade in, don't bring it with you. When I say POS, I mean something worth way less than $2,000-$3,000. They may take a trade in sight unseen for $1,000. Then make them cover tag, title, tax AND finance fee and BOOM you just made a lowball trade into a significant deal for you. Plus you don't have to go through the hassel of disposing of the car yourself.

Cars like this just get sent directly to auction anyway. Otherwise if you sell a crappy car to an individual, and it falls apart, they will know where you live oftentimes. Unless you sell it in a dark alley somewhere LOL. Junk yards only give like $100 for a beater car.

Just throwing out ideas here.

 

I used truecar app and got $1800 off MSRP which here in socal is a pretty good deal.

 

I searched until I found one without any dealer installed accessories. Things like floor mats, mud flaps, paint protectant, side steps etc can add thousands to the MSRP. You can easily add stuff like this for much less after purchase if you want to. Go to toyota.com and build the taco you want. The accessories tab are the dealer accessories I'm referring to.

 

Exactly

 

Got tired of playing the car buying game, the back and forth dickering on price, so did my usual research, got prices on the truck and the extras I wanted then then decide on a price I was going to pay. Someone told me to call COSTCO and try their auto buying service, so I did. They gave me a dealer to call and the name of a person I should talk to. The woman was very nice asked me when I wanted to come in and gave me the name of the salesman I should see. My trade in was a 16 year old Nissan Frontier, mechanically sound, cosmetically not so pretty. Thought it would bring between $500.00 - $900.00.
Got to the dealer sat down with the salesman and handed my printed list of the Tacoma DCSB TRD Sport 4 X 4 with all the options I wanted and asked and waited to hear his price. His first price was exactly what I wanted then as icing on the cake gave me $1000.00 MORE for my trade in than I expected. Very satisfied and no BS.
In 3 years the wife is going to want a new car and I will once again do the exact same thing, have my price I want to pay with all the options she wants, call COSTCO and go to the dealer they suggest.

 

Ya ok .................... Not if you got money and down payment money you have leverage to a degree

 

The amount of a down payment is irrelevant to the purchase price o the car. Explain to me how having more or less money to put down gives you leverage on the purchase price.

Lets put it this way. I paid cash for the last 5 cars I have purchased. Not even having cash in hand really helped me in negotiations. On the contrary, my wife's Z and my Nissan before my Taco, I had to actually finance it through the dealer to get the price I wanted. I had to promise them I would keep the loan for a minimum of 3 months. I didn't really care because they were zero % interest. My point is, dealers don't really give a crap how you are paying anymore. They will get paid regardless or you're not driving home with the car.

By the way, I'm not trying to argue just for the sake of it. I'm trying to help the OP understand what helps to negotiate a lower price and what doesn't. If you're right, then explain yourself so we all understand and become better negotiators.

 

Boom

 

WOW. This is actually a fantastic write up and pretty much how I've purchased my last 4 cars. It's how I scored the deal on my Taco.

 

I just bought a new 2017 Ford Escape back in May for the advertised price of $15,900. They did everything to throw me off the journey because it was their "ad car" to draw in customers. Luckily I had written down the VIN# because they had me test drive two cars with different VIN's that were a couple of thousand dollars higher in price.

Long story short I was going to write a check for it. But no, they wanted to put me in a loan because the salesman said "we have to make a little money." Anyway it was BS and I knew it was easy to refinance. In the end I got the precise car I came in for and had to play the refinance game to get it. Money in that case didn't help me with negotiation at all.

The first new car purchase I did over 12 years ago I put money down and I felt that it was eaten up in fees. Since then I try to use it as leverage without really wanting to, and it really didn't help to get a better deal. Maybe my experience is different than what would work in other regions.

Car companies can make a ton of money off of loans in and of themselves. When you can get a rock bottom price the only thing left for them is roping you into financing, extended warranties and service plans.