I live in the Pacific Northwest, and for the past twenty years have resorted to buying new, mostly Ford trucks from a distance. With my last truck, I saved $8,000.00 by buying it from a dealer in Salt Lake City.
I intend to buy a Toyota truck this time, and am having great difficulty with the local dealers, and have not had much luck online.
I would like to find a Toyota dealer that sells in a way similar to how Dave Smith in Idaho works. is there such a place?
Toyota Dealers
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Toyota when it came to the US 50-ish years ago made some crummy deals to get dealers and distribution. There are "zone distributors" that cover a bunch of states. Some are crooked and add a bunch of dumb stuff like pinstripes for bigger profit margins. Even Toyota knows these guys suck so they did an end run when they invented "Lexus" so they could better control the buying experience.
IDK where the best one is but good luck in your search!
The big 3 usually have some rebates to knock down the MSRP a bit. Pretty much unheard of at Toyota. It’s a great truck and they are pretty proud of it as you can probably tell by now!
I know of several people who have gone to Houston, TX for new vehicles. Note: New not Used.
Good hunting!
Respectfully,
Pajero!
Have you considered the Nissan Titan? There’s still leftover 2017’s out there and I bet you can score a way better buy on that than you can get on a Tundra. Around here the Nissan dealers are a lot easier to negotiate with and I’m sure they are incentivized to get rid of the 2017’s pretty heavily.
I have considered the Titan, and have found online deals for them. I've found XD diesels for less than my local dealers want for a well equipped Tacoma.
I'm not knowledgeable about Nissan, and desperately want to get away from the Big 3 attitude. I guess I should say big 2, as I've had far better luck with the two Jeeps I owned than the one Silverado and ten F series I've purchased.
When I bought my Tacoma I was able to find the invoice price that the dealer paid for it from the factory.
Since Tacomas are or were in high demand, I factored in $200 hold back plus a little extra to not be a jerk and made an offer that stuck.
Later I compared my numbers with those on TacomaWorld and did pretty well. The only other people who got better deals had things like existing customer discounts or veterans discounts (amounting to a few hundred at most). Factory rebates will factor in but those were not common on Tacomas.
I would imagine the experience will be the same for you. Tundras might sell with more flexibility when gas prices are super high but that isn't the current case.
Fellow Washingtonian here. Going out of state will probably not help you much and only adds work as you have to pay the state taxes to get your registration and plates. How about one if the smaller dealerships outside of Seattle, say Puyallup, Tacoma, etc?
If you are a Costco member they have a car buying service that might appeal to you.
Are you thinking of a Tundra or Tacoma?
Check out fitzmall.com
Fortunately, I've fled Washington for Oregon, so the tax isn't an issue anymore. After airplane ticket, gas and hotel, I did save 8K on my last f150 buying out of Seattle.
Tacoma is first choice, may consider Tundra but I'm not in need of full size anymore,
Don't expect to save $8K, especially on a Tacoma.
But check this for some rough numbers.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tacoma-2016-what-did-you-pay-thread.400069/
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/how-much-are-you-paying-for-your-2017-tacoma.444691/
Camelback Toyota in Phoenix AZ is supposed to be better, in Seattle ALL dealers are simply terrible, Toyota ir otherwise. Seattle’s consumer goods seem to be priced so far above even those in SoCal it’s asinine. Never ever, ever, ever buy from a Western WA dealer has been mu rule
Shop, shop, shop.
Treat it like you’re bidding it out. Email as many dealers as you can. Be polite; tell them what you’re in the market for and don’t hide the fact that you’re shopping around. Make it known that you will buy from whoever gives you the best bottom line price.
When comparing prices, be sure you’re comparing apples to apples. One dealer may have a doc fee, another may not, but the one with the doc fee’s overall bottom line could possibly be lower. Same with delivery fees. Look at the bottom line.
And, as somebody else said, you should be able to find the invoice price and, from that, extrapolate dealer cost.
After emailing several dealers, you’ll start to get an idea of what they’re going for.
You’ll probably discover that there are a few volume leader dealers around who make their money by selling a lot of vehicles instead of making a lot on each individual vehicle. So don’t be afraid to buy from out of town. Just be sure your demands are clear and that you will not sign for it if it’s not exactly what was agreed upon.
Good luck!
Had a surprisingly good experience with Toyota of Santa Fe on a Prius C. Not a popular car. Not the kind of place that would justify a huge trip, I think. Trucks are probably the most competitive segment of the industry. Broaden your horizons.
PS. Those prices on the Tacoma thread are absurd. Get an 8 year esp warranty from Flood Ford (125k basic $50 deductible) for a thousand bucks and call it a day.
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Originally Posted By: jimbrewer
Had a surprisingly good experience with Toyota of Santa Fe on a Prius C. Not a popular car. Not the kind of place that would justify a huge trip, I think. Trucks are probably the most competitive segment of the industry. Broaden your horizons.
PS. Those prices on the Tacoma thread are absurd. Get an 8 year esp warranty from Flood Ford (125k basic $50 deductible) for a thousand bucks and call it a day.
Toyota is worth what you pay for.
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