Friend's Sister Bought new 2012 Camry

[HTSS_TR]

My good friend's sister asked me to find a new white Camry LE 4 cylinder with minimum options for her. She is afraid of get in a Toyata dealer and face a fast talking sale-person and end up with un-needed options and sky high price.

I did a little search and got few quotes from several dealers in Orange County, the car is LE with 8-ways power driver seat and 5-pieces floor and trunk mat. The MSRP is $23,925 and Carsdirect.com is selling it at $22,330, one dealer quotes as high as $22,900 and other at $22,450. I got dealer in Tustin went down from $22,300 to $21,000 which is $2,925 below MSRP. All prices above plus tax and registration fees plus doc fee of $55.

Even with the price was agreed before we set foot in the dealer, it took 2 hours for paper works without financing. She was so happy with the price, her dealer quoted the same car with the same options at $22,750 + tax and registration fees. I saved her $1,750 (plus tax). Her brother (my friend) did the same, when he needed to buy a new car, he asked me to find a deal for him, like average consumers he afraid of talking to car saleman and don't know how to say no to some expensive and unneeded options.

 

[JHZR2]

MT? Hope so. It saves nearly $1k by itself.

 

[silverrat]

Edit

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
MT? Hope so. It saves nearly $1k by itself.


I'm thinking auto..

 

[HTSS_TR]

No, not MT.

This particular dealer just moved from the end of the cul-de-sac in the auto-center to near the intersection of main street a week ago. They didn't have Toyota sign up yet, and it seems they tried to get some attentions.

 

[The Critic]

Did you try Longo?

When I drove down to socal several weeks ago with another forum member, we ended up getting his Prius from Carson Toyota since one of the forum members gave him a great deal with no hassle.

 

[HTSS_TR]

No, I didn't try Longo Toyota because they are too far North. I tried to deal with Carson Toyota because I bought a Camry for my friend there in 2007, they didn't go below $22,000 for reason that dealer invoice is $21,8xx.

 

[crinkles]

Pics please!

 

[MarkM66]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
MT? Hope so. It saves nearly $1k by itself.


MT not an option.

 

[charbaby]

I do this same thing for ourselves, friends/family.
I'll actually get on several websites and click on their "Get A Dealer Quote" button.

It connects the dealers with YOU! Not you with the dealer!
I hear this function is fading away. I weed out the dealers sales personal that are FOS! Alot of these sales people don't even realize who they're dealing with...ME!

I type in some information about what we're/they're looking for in regards to vehicle, options, color etc.

Within 1-2 hours, my phone is ringing and the sales person and I are discussing the details. I have already got all of my research/homework DONE and $$$ figures in front of me along with all of my answers. Been doing this for 11-12 years now.

What I mean by research/homework...Invoice w/options, factory/dealer rebates, dealer holdback moneys from the MFG's etc...

Typicaly but not always, I/we have paid less than invoice(and the dealer still made money BTW). Way less in some cases and in others, just a bit over invoice, depending on the vehicle(demand/popularity and such).

I have closed deals, with a deposit down, by as early as, 9:00 a.m. and as late as 1:00 p.m. all on the same day that I started. Only once did a deal take 2 days! And that's because the specific vehicle was a bit more difficult to find.

 

[opus1]

Originally Posted By: Char Baby
I do this same thing for ourselves, friends/family.
I'll actually get on several websites and click on their "Get A Dealer Quote" button.

........
Typicaly but not always, I/we have paid less than invoice(and the dealer still made money BTW).
I bought both the Cobalt and Sonata this way. It helps to weed out the dealers who aren't interested in selling cars -- I'm still waiting for an initial reasponse from one dealer from my inquiry 2 years ago! But the dealers that did get my business were either e-mailing or calling me within 2 hours of my initial inquiry, and they'll likely get repeat business if they have what I want when the time comes.

And you know the dealer still made money -- otherwise I wouldn't have been able to drive off the lot with the cars in my possession.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: MarkM66
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
MT? Hope so. It saves nearly $1k by itself.


MT not an option.


Not an option on a base camry???? BOOOO, it is now a true appliance. Just like my bosch washing machine - its all auto.

Scratch another car off the list.

Do want to see pics of the new car though!

 

[Eddie]

Sounds like you did great HTSS.. Ed

 

[hypervish]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: MarkM66
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
MT? Hope so. It saves nearly $1k by itself.


MT not an option.


Not an option on a base camry???? BOOOO, it is now a true appliance. Just like my bosch washing machine - its all auto.

Scratch another car off the list.

Do want to see pics of the new car though!


You can't get a manual, period. Not just on a base camry.

But, have you drive the 2012 Camry, it drives much different (in a more connected way) than the previous generations.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Sorry, no picture. She lives about 60-65 miles away. It's just a white Camry without fancy wheels.

The car is not big outside but very roomy inside, the 2.5L 4-cylinder engine is very quiet, with smooth shifting 6-speed auto the EPA is 25/35 MPG.

 

[Dave Hess]

Most women don't want to drive a manual trans. Is it me or the Corolla and Camry are looking similar ?

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Most women don't want to drive a manual trans. Is it me or the Corolla and Camry are looking similar ?


Most people in general. Makes them more disconnected from their vehicles and their appreciation of the physics of driving. ATs and their effect on driving skill IMO is why so many complain about the inability to hit EPA numbers - too easy to mash the go pedal.

The backside of them struck me as the same. The corolla is BIG.

 

[oldmaninsc]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Most women don't want to drive a manual trans. Is it me or the Corolla and Camry are looking similar ?


Most people in general. Makes them more disconnected from their vehicles and their appreciation of the physics of driving. ATs and their effect on driving skill IMO is why so many complain about the inability to hit EPA numbers - too easy to mash the go pedal.

The backside of them struck me as the same. The corolla is BIG.

Without a doubt that is the funniest post I've seen in a long time. The Corolla is "BIG"? What does that make my Grand Marquis? Some of us who are taller than most might not agree with that.
I'm surprised - I didn't hear anything about entitlement though!

FWIW - as long as we are off topic here, I exceed the EPA MPG on my Mercury consistently in freeway driving. The wife's Camry has never came close - regardless of whether I, my wife or my college age daughter is driving. I've rented a couple of Camrys that got about the same as ours so I doubt there is anything "wrong" with ours.

Also off topic - but when I read the thread about "snobs on BITOG" the other day, the people who think that manual transmissions are SO much better than automatics came to mind. All those people seem to think they are "in touch" with their car so much more than those of us that drive the "sludgeboxes" and are so "disconnected from their vehicles".

 

[HTSS_TR]

Automatic transmission in a sedan is OK with me, but it is a big NO NO in a sport/convertible small and light car such as Honda S2000 or Mazda Miata. I think Miata has A/T as an option for some years now, mostly because women demands it.

 

[Indydriver]

I just cut a deal on a new Sienna XLE using the same basic technique as Char Baby. I got about $400 below invoice on the new deal but since I had a trade, it took several days and multiple dealer visits to nail down the best difference.

Every dealer must be using the same resource for evaluating trades because they all came back at $2000 for my 12 yo Dodge Grand Caravan. Finally, the third dealer, who didn't have exactly what I wanted in stock but did have it on his build sheet, asked my favorite question, "what will it take to earn your business today?" At $2000 on the trade we were $800 apart from where I wanted to be. They moved $600 and I grabbed it. Then I produced my promotional mailer from Toyota that gives a $50 Visa card for any test drive by 4/15 and $500 off your best deal if you buy from the same dealer by 4/30 and ended up $300 better than my target. I enjoy doing these deals.

But just to show how sleazy some of the guys are, I had one salesman only offer $1000 on the trade while whining about this imperfection and that. When I turned him down, they do the classic good guy/ bad guy closer switch with the floor manager who reveals that he had authorized $1200 (the salesman apparently decided to keep $200 for himself) but then moved the offer up to $2000.

The fourth dealer whose appointment I had to cancel after buying at #3 sends back a snotty email stating "I was going to offer you $2700 on your trade!". My reply was, "You should have played that card a little sooner."