Where is the best place to get true dealer costs on a new Toyota?

I've found a bunch of sites via google, but leery of giving a phone number (and they won't accept a generic one, I tried).

Looking to get a price to negotiate from, but not wanting hounded by dealers (the reason I'm trying to do as much as possible via internet).

Thanks!

I tried that a few years ago when my wife was looking for a new car. I got the info from Consumer Reports...I went in all cocky with my paperwork on the dealer price, incentives etc. They laughed me out the door. Long story short, shop around for the best deal

FWIW-my insurance agent would always tell me he had access to that kind of information. But I agree with above-shopping around is probably best.

I have a friend that emails several dealers with exactly what he is looking for and gives them a date he will buy on. He tells them that he will buy from whoever offers him the best price. Never goes into the dealership until he is ready to write the check.

Seems to work for him.
Good luck

This is the best way to do it, IMO. Given all the mfgr kickbacks & sales incentive programs, it's nearly impossible to know what a dealer's "actual" cost is on any given car. The best you can do is to get the lowest price possible at the time you're looking to buy.

fightingchance.com will lay it all out for you. You can buy their package for all the latest pricing/inventory/market conditions numbers on the model(s) you're looking at. If you're interested, PM me and I'll email you their strategies/tactics to get the bidding process going in your favor.

FWIW, I used them 2 years ago to save $1,000 on a Corolla vs. the local dealers.

Good Luck,

FC

edmunds.com is pretty good for giving you the basic info on the costs.

Thanks for the tips guys.

I ended up doing a little combination of some of the above advice, and settled on a truck at a local dealer.

I have use the Consumer Report info three times. I don't flash it in fornt of the sales person,but I know what the dollar figures are be fore I go in. Then shop for the best bargain.Just shopping for the best bargain is not a big benift

Some dealers have a national presence and sell vehicles by volume. Know what price they sell for like the Smith Ford?Dealership in Kellogg, ID.

Armed with this info I walked into my local Ford dealership and found a truck I was interested in. I offered $500 under the dealer invoice. The salelman left for awhile, came back and said we have a deal. That was it.

This was a Ford diesel that was the equivalent of a 2012 today. I like to shop in winter especially on days when it is snowing. I still have the truck a 2002 and last of the 7.3 l engines.

It's a bit of work and a full days time, but it has saved me money. Say you are looking for a Ford, Go to all the local dealers' lots until you find the exact vehicle you want, say an F150. Sit down with the sales person from THAT Ford dealership. Once you get a bottom line price, tell them you will get back to them, that you want to shop around. Get the VIN # from that vehicle, it's on the window sticker. Take the VIN # to the other Ford dealers and tell them this is the vehicle you want. you will not spend as much time at the other dealers If the first dealer has your payment at $400. Hand him the VIN # and Tell this dealer you want this vehicle and you want it for $390, you have to be aggressive. If you get them down to anything below $400 you saved, now move to the next dealer and do the same. After you get the lowest price from the other ford dealers, go back to the first one and have him beat that price. They usually do, if not, go back to the lowest one. They will get your truck by trading one of their vehicles. If you get you original montly payment down $20 bucks a month, that's $1200 over 5 years. If you only have 1 dealer in your area, you're screwed. If you are trading, know what you vehicle is worth and what you want for it. Good Luck!

PS, I pick up my new F150 tomorrow

I didn't do quite what you suggested in the beginning of your post, but did end up with a "traded" vehicle.

Found my numbers, decided what my bottom line would be, made a few calls and emails, "negotiated" with a couple on the phone, with limited time to play ("Put me on hold while you go 'talk to your manager', and you'll come back to a dead line..."), then made one last call to the local guy, and told him who had beat him and by how much.

Within 10 minutes, he found the vehicle I wanted at a dealership about 1 1/2 hours away, beat the "other" best deal by a few hundred bucks, had the vehicle swapped and delivered to his dealership, and the deal was done.

It came home an hour ago.

I'm glad it worked out for you. I never tried the phone way, I like to do things face to face. Sounds like it saved you time and gas. I might have to try it that way next time.

Pics man, pics...

Basic gray Tacoma, nothing real exciting.

You know me Chris, a truck is a tool.

I'll try to get a few shots of it out in the woods though soon....

Yeah, the basic grey Tacoma seems to be a theme with you...

I wish my DD could be a truck... I cover too many miles with no real need for the truck, so I burn the road with the Honda and use the Jeep on the weekends.

I remember coming through the gate one day, a day after I loaned my truck to a friend who needed to haul something then washed it before returning it.

Kirk was on the gate and checked my ID. Said I had to be an imposter, cause he never saw me in a blue truck, only a dusty dirty mud and road grime colored truck! Said he didn't know there was actually paint underneath it!

And I'm the opposite. I wish I could use a gas-saving car as a daily driver, especially with today's gas prices, but living out where we do I just always need a truck. Heck, I'll need the 4WD to get out of our driveway some days!

Always hauling something, or hunting/fishing in places a car won't go.

Such is the life....

use the phone call the dealer ask for fleet sales, they work differently than walking in being picked up by a salesman

know what you want , packages colors and such

let them know you are ready to buy today if they give you the "right" price

and always think one thing , they want to sell that vehicle worse than you want to buy it

they dont make money if it dont sell

I'm lucky - fraternity brother owns a Toyota dealership. Has saved my family major $$...

I do not think you should EVER discuss the payment on a truck with a sales man. Always shop for the bottom line cash price out the door. Financing and payments should only be discussed after the cash price is agreed upon.

I would start by never paying any more than the dealer invoice, start at that point and work down.

That is the GOSPEL!

FC

couple points as at one time I was on the dark side selling cars and trucks for several major dealers at a low point in my life and they wanted to make me management so they taught me the tricks of the trade.

1. Dealers pay actual invoice for the vehicle each and every time. But that is not how much it might actually cost them in the end so knowing dealer incovice pricing does not mean it helps you.

2. Mftrs track 60 and 120 day inventory in the field of every model monthly and adjust monthly what is called "holdback". They send every dealer a holdback sheet monthly with the new figures. Think of it as a rebate to the dealer when he sells that vehicle and sends the paperwork to the mftr. That is how you see dealers selling below invoice and still making money.

3. Holdback is always highest at end of model year, especially before a major body/motor change. They want to push out the old model before the new one is on the lot.

4. Very few ways to find what actual holdback is, but have seen it as has as $7000 at end of model year on ford pickups. Typical is $800-1800 for lower end and up to $2500-4000 for higher end vehicles but that will flucuate monthly depending on what the mftrs want the dealers to push. End of model years, those numbers can vary greatly

5. All dealerships run on numbers regardless of what they tell you. They set a quota monthly to hit. Every morning sales meeting starts with the weekly and monthly numbers count. First half the month, the sales manager works on max profit per vehicle. Last half he is looking at hitting his number. He is paid % commission on hitting numbers, so he can let a vehicle go for no profit, hit his number or a higher quota number and increase his overall sales commission big time by selling those last few vehicles. Salesman might znot be on commission, but guarantee that manager is on commission, and more numbers the higher his % overall.

Best days are last three days of the month to buy, that manager is working hard to hit is number and not worrying about profit.

6. The secret is to know their game is "what is your payment", how can they get you into a car at that payment, even if it means they move you down to a cheaper car. They want to know if a trade is involved upfront as that allows them to sandbag $2-4K profit. Do not play that game, Walk in state you are not a payment buyer, you have pre-approved % interest and not interested in a trade. You have thrown them off their plan and into your plan. You must stick to it and not fall for them to push you back into the payment game as they most certainly will try.

7. NEVER talk trade until a price is agreed upon THEN throw a trade in if you plan on trading. He is only going to give you "Blackbook" value no matter what anyway. That is relatively easy to find thru bank or CU or just stop at a lot and ask. Always better to sell yours outright anyway. Blackbook is the weekly book of what that car/truck sells for at the local auctions. Think about it, why is a dealer going to give you more "real money" for a vehicle than he can buy it for. If he knows you have a trade upfront he suckers deals the value of the trade often ending up making an extra $1-2K over no trade. they love you telling them up front you have a trade. Now later they act mad that you threw it in at the last moment AFTER you got an agreed price and they lost that extra money. They will will try to lowball the value by not giving you all the credit for the adds in the book. KNOW what your trade is worth before and then tell them that.

8. Go in with firm % financing approved or known. They get you to agree on "Payment" that has added warranty, and other goodies rolled in and finish the sale in the Finance and Insurance (F&I) office, where the real money is made. Know your FICA rating, tell the saleman/manager you have what level credit and NOT to add anything to the payment except principle and interest and tax even IF you are making payments. Their job is to put you into the highest interst loan, loaded with all the extras at your agreed payment or even a few dollars more. Focus on final price, not payments until then.

9. Even then, the first time he little sheet the salesman brings back to you will only show payment and not what all is rolled into that price. They are trying to put you into their plan on payments. Do not fall for it. He will act ignorant of the interets also. The sales manager will always try to use the HIGHEST interest he can to a payment buyer. If it does, take a quick look, tell the salesman that is not what you wanted, do not discuss, tell him to take back and have final price put on it and ask what % they are using. DO NOT discuss payment until final price is agreed upon. you should have idea what your payment will be if you have done your homework.

10. The F&I office farms your credit app to 30-40 places, selects the HIGHEST not LOWEST interest that gets you to the "agreed payment" and makes more money selling a higher interest loan than lower ones. With approved rate ahead of time you can get them to give you a lower rate IF you want to finance with them. IF you are a payment buyer, and just a few dollars off, tell the F%I manager to pull out a "% off coupon" out of his desk to help you hit your payment. They get coupons for 1/4-1/2% off a loan from lenders as incentives in cases like this. They rathole them for circumstances to make the deal go thru and will never admit they have them unless forced to.

11. If a buying service is offered by your credit union, bank, USAA etc, get a price from them. I have told a manager he has to beat that price for me to NOT use the buying service. The dealer pays the buying service a fee, (usally minimum $500) so he just cuts it and gives it to you in a lower price.

You need to do your homework before you look. Call sales manager tell him what you are looking for, no time to BS, you want his best price. Tell him you are not a payment buyer even if your are. That takes them out of the payment game, which is what they want. You can easily figure your payment with online calculators or your bank can tell you that it will be X$ per 100 financed.

All large and major dealerships work this way. the local lot dealer might vary a lot at times.

Yes, some here will disagree with what I said and the sales manager loved to see them walking thru the door as they always had a big lollip stick hangin out of their rear end.

BountyHunter, does this work basically the same with used models as well?

The whole car buying process is why I hate car shopping to begin with. It sounds like I have basically been doing it anyway. I never trade, am patient and know exactly what I want and only agree on final price of vehicle because I already have my financing worked out before I go.

The last time we bought a toyato we first went into the local dealer to look at a few models and they weren't willing to go down on price, so we walked. We looked at getting the car we wanted in the lower 48 and shipping it up. Then within a week or two the dealer had a add for the dealer special cars, i.e. those that have been sitting on the lot too long and they have to move them. Turned out we got the car we wanted for the price we wanted and no dickering.

I hate car dealerships and the games they play. I almost ripped up the contract when I bought my 2500 ram when I had to sit for an hour waiting for the "finance" guy even though I had a pre-approved loan from my bank and wasn't going to finance with them. What the "finance" guy really tries to do is add on an expensive extended warranty and other crap.

Definately go in with a pre-approved loan from your bank that is essentially a blank check and deal from there.

Last car I bought was the easiest transaction ever. Went in to get my wifes car serviced, saw a used car on the lot that had a very attractive price and low mileage. Came back at lunch to test drive it, got the sales guy to knock a bit off the price and cut him a check.

Yes, Applies basically to used car/truck also. Remember, the dealer will NEVER give "REAL MONEY" over black book for a used vehicle. He can buy it for that at auction.

IF you find a local dealer that will show blackbook for the trade value, lets say $8000 and the vehicle is marked $12,000 then you know you have a $4k spread and can negotiate against that. Key is to find the black book value. Many local lot dealers will give you old black books. They come out weekly or they will just give you the value of a car if you ask nicely. "Say, I am thinking of trading old XXX, this year, model, these features. Could you tell me the black book value of that car?" Some banks and Credit Unions keep the black book also and will give you data. It has basic models and then you figure the adjustments up or down for options and milage which can effect the value greatly. An old trick is for the dealer to show you the black book basic price w/o options figured in and say "See what a great deal I am giving you!" Got to add everything up.

Understand major dealers cannot finance anything over 10 yrs old or 100,000 miles normally so they wholesale them to a local dealer or send to the auction. NADA and Edmonds are close sometimes, but not really. Local lot dealers are a whole different world.

Here is what " real money" is so you see what I am talking about.

Black book trade value $8000 for your trade and a new car MSRP of $25,000 but you could buy it cash for $21,000 by negotiating final price first leaving you a difference of $13,000 IF you throw the trade in last. Remember, you say my trade is worth $8000 blackbook and he cannot argue against that because it is true.

Mention trade first and the dealer will go $8000 maybe against full MSRP of $25,000 and you and he argue until he comes up to maybe $10,000 trade leaving a difference of $15,000. He just made an extra $2000 profit by you mentioning trade first and focusing on the trade value instead of getting the final price. All the time he keeps saying he is giving you more than your car is worth, trying to convince you of what a great deal he is giving you, but you end up paying $2000 more. That is why the first question the salesman ask when you sit down is "Are you trading a vehicle?" They want to know that up front.

Now the dealer knows the trade is still only worth blackbook of $8000 real money, because that is what another wholesaler will buy it for or it will sell for at auction. They do not care about what NADA or Edmonds says your trade is worth. Blackbook is their bible. Every dealer has one in his back pocket at auctions and on the salesdesk.

Hella good post here! Thanks for putting it together, BountyHunter.

Eric

I find that the best way to handle a trade-in is to park it at the end of my driveway. I'm on a highway and sooner or later everything I park out there will sell.

You can't help but loose money on a trade. When I bought my truck I brought up the trade after we'd agreed to a price. They offered me as I recall $1200 or $1500, I sold it within a week for $3k cash.

Selling your own used vehicle is a pretty easy way to make $1-2k.