Now that I am shopping with intent to buy, and STILL waffling between TE and LE (I know, I know), I know the exact equipment I want or don't want (e.g. running boards - I'll pick my own later) and have a couple of good guys at dealers I wouldn't mind working with...

1. The "internet" departments of each dealer are shooting me an almost identical price (roughly 7.5% - 8.0% off msrp - $1200 back of invoice).
2. The prices are the same as I was being quoted 3 months ago.

Wouldn't you think they'd be more aggressive now that the '13's are on the water?

I suppose I could wait longer, let the '13's land, THEN maybe they'd really drop the '12's but the reality is, I will keep this thing forever so '12 vs '13 does not make that big a diff to me (resale). But I am after a VERY strong deal (maybe to counteract a few really sh**ty deals in past?).

Anybody out there trying to buy NOW and seeing much more than 7% - 8% off MSRP on '12's?

As much as I dislike "what's a great deal" threads, this is puzzling to me.

I think it's because they're niche vehicles that aren't stocked in large numbers (especially the TE) so the dealers know if you're inquiring that you're pretty serious about it. When I test drove mine it was March and it was cheaper to order a silver 2011 TE than to buy the 2010 TE they still had on their lot as a demo because of incentives.

Good point, Intruder. That's the dealer's overall answer when I asked them about promo $ or getting aggressive on price as year-end nears.

There is certainly some truth to the niche effect. Though these things are popping-up everywhere nowadays here in CO. The people KEEP pouring into our state and never leaving...so I guess they all want T4R's! Grrrrr.

I'm feeling your pain SgnDen! I've been in the market for a TE for the last couple of months and I've been waiting for Toyota to open up their wallet and offer something in the way of an incentive. About a month ago I was quoted (in Wisconsin) $35,189.00 for a basic TE with nav and Entune. If they don't come out with any incentives for this year, I'm going to hold off for a 13' model. The price make-up on next years model is a shade under $400.00 which can easily be recouped when it comes time for a trade in. The only change on the TE is moving the USB port from the glove box to the center console which is where it should have been in the first place.

It pisses me off that Toyota is so stingy when it comes to offering incentives on new cars! Every other mainstream car manufacturer, with the exception of Honda, will throw their customers a bone from time to time. HELP A BROTHER OUT TOYOTA!!!!!

You should be happy that the prices of 4Runners are never discounted, even end of year - it means your vehicle is not being devalued. It's the same reason you can sell a 2 year old 4Runner for such a high percentage of the original purchase price.

I assume when you say "basic" TE for $35,xxx you are taking without KDSS, yeah? If it has KDSS, that's a great number.

No doubt, give us a break. Especially those of us who have owned more than a few Toyota products over the years!

Yeah. So true. I just sold my 2000 with 179k miles in 2 hours....for over $8k. Amazing.

Dayum! That is amazing!

I totaled my 97 SR5 in 2009. Insurance gave me $12k.... I'd say resale value holds very well.

Well, one owner (me), rebuilt tranny, new shocks, 2" lift, great color, clean all-around, all maintenance and records but it needed tires before winter.

College kids coming back to town certainly bumped demand.

Still, I was surprised at the strong strong interest for sure.

I don't think Toyota makes a ton of money off the 4Runner already. Show me any other vehicle built 100% in JAPAN that has amazing incintives. They may exist, but would be hard to find.

I gave the dealer a # a little over 10% off and he accepted it for my 4Runner. We got our Sienna LE (no other options) as well a few months ago for just over 16% off the MSRP. These aren't AMAZING deals, but I felt they were very fair.

Let them know you are interested. Give them a # and sign a piece of paper (handwritten by you) saying you will buy the vehicle for $xxxxx.xx. Works well for me.

If you've been coming around for 3 months, they may not think you are "ever going to buy" so aren't dealng with you.

Yeah, i thought about that too. But I have not gone to the same dealer a bunch of times. When I needed to see something or drive them again, I would just be honest and tell em I've been dorking around for a long time and don't want to take their time if I was not ready to buy. But left it to them to decide if they wanted to walk with me and hope to build a little credibility with hopes of being able to sell me one when I was ready. Told me a lot based on what they would do as well.

If they wanted to think "I was never going to buy", then that's up to them...and a pretty poor sales tactic too. At least to win my business. Sooo many dumbasses out there but a few really great, sharp, skilled and competent sales guys too. I'll pay $500 more no problem if I like and respect the guy I am working with.

You should have bought in July.

Toyota was offering a 1,000 matching down payment incentive for that month. One of the very few if any times I've seen an incentive on a 4runner.

I bought a salsa red TE with KDSS, running boards and floor mats for 35430 in Denver on July 29th. Running boards weren't on my list and I would have liked entune but the supply of TEs is not huge so I went for it. Zero regrets.
The stock head unit is actually pretty nice and the running boards are functional as I'll be modding slowly although sliders will come. I'll just sell the the running boards then, they seem to be somewhat desired.
Anyway I don't mind sharing info on my deal. It's not a big deal to me.

I will say that I was happy to learn that there weren't changes for MY13.

Deals can be had out there if you do some looking around and some ground work, this guy got his last month.

We got a dealer (not local) to $39,700 + TTL for a 12 Limited Blizzard Pearl/Nav/Entune/Auto Running Boards, etc., etc plus 1.9% for 60 months and they're going to deliver it to our house and to finalize the deal. Thoughts?

I paid about the same for mine as well, it took me almost 3 months of e-mailing dealerships too and in 5 different states. If I remember rightly you said you used to be in the finance business so your already a savy shopper and know a good deal when you see one.

I am assuming you have all your financing secured already, if I was you I would decide on what options you want (with the LE it's basically down to color, running boards, tint and small stuff like that, with the TE there are more options) then choose a price and then e-mail lots of dealerships and see if you get a bite, tell them you are willing to put money down to secure the deal (I think I put $3k down as an incentive for my deal), also tell them you only want to be contacted through e-mail until you can agree on a price, don't tell them you are pre-approved or paying cash, the less the dealership knows about how your paying the better.

Also it's coming towards the end of the month so potential bonus targets to dealerships are starting to look good or bad, if the sales for the month are bad they will probably be more inclined to deal to get a unit off the lot.

There are loads of variables out there, but bottom line is you know how much you can afford and how much you want to pay. if one of the dealerships comew close to your price you may want to just pull the trigger and enjoy your new ride.

Hope this helps.

We are getting ready to purchase and our local dealer quoted us 8% off MSRP, and then when pressed said another couple hundred dollars is possible to get our business.

We are going to check a couple other dealers... Hopefully we can get at least 10-11% off MSRP. Sticker is $35,800 so wit the 13's arriving, I'm hoping just under $32k is possible. The only option we really want is the foldable 3rd row...