I just bought a 2011 TE used (obviously) from a dealership -- it's the first negotiation I feel that I've "won" and have a few tips:
-Come with cash, not a car. Sell your old car on your own if you can. I sold mine through Craig's List and got more than $3,000 more for it than the dealership offered me. Blue Book is a good guide, but keep in mind that KBB, Edmonds and NADA will all come up with separate values. I priced my old car about $500 under KBB and that cut the negotiations short.
-Line up your own financing. Unless you're looking at a new vehicle at a dealership that can offer 0 to 0.9% financing, get a pre-approval from a bank first. I got pre-approved for a 1.49% rate from my credit union for an amount up to $5,000 more than I was planning to spend, so I knew I had wiggle room.
-Pairing the two together puts you in the driver's seat by taking away the variables dealerships will try to use. We then were negotiating solely on price, rather than price, rate, trade-in, etc. Eliminate as many moving parts as possible.
-Do your damn homework. I knew I wanted a Trail, but it was after tons of research (both on this forum and in general) that I came to that conclusion. Always Google the model you're looking at and "problems" together. Ask around. Figure out what features you want, what packages include them and what the deal-breakers are. I knew when I saw the listing for the Trail I eventually got that they had priced it too low--it was a Toyota Certified Used TE priced as though it was a non-certified SR5, so I pounced before they even posted pictures.
-Make appointments with dealerships, and make sure the dealership you're dealing with knows that you have other appointments. Feel free to cancel them if things are going well.
-As mentioned in other posts, there are lots of other things that you can have the dealer throw in if the price is no longer coming down. I negotiated for a new stereo, all-weather mats, reconditioning of the liftgate (which was all scratched up on the inside), crossbars for the roof rack, bumper-to-bumper warranty up to 100,000 miles and ToyotaCare for 2 years. All this in addition to going $2,000 under asking (we started at $3,500 under) -- and their price was low to begin with.
-Timing and Preparation. Go late in the day late in the month (when they are most motivated to make a sale), and eat before you go. There's a reason that dealerships will offer you coffee... the more anxious, rushed or hungry you are, the more likely you are to agree to a deal that doesn't suit your needs. Be relaxed and calm. Never go in when you have something to do later in the day; clear your schedule so that you don't have distractions. My negotiations started at 3 p.m. on December 28; we finished around 7:30. If you can make the salesman more anxious than you are, you're in control.
-Bring your own tools. Download an App (I used "LoanCalc") so that you can figure out payments, etc, for yourself. Bring paper and a pen to keep track of where you are with negotiations.
-Figure out what's really a deal-breaker. I really wanted running boards. The dealer didn't put them on, but, as mentioned above, I got a ton instead. I bought running boards from another member of this forum, got them shipped and threw them on.
-Make it fun. Enjoy it! At the end of this, you'll wind up with the world's best SUV. Keep it in mind.
Hello fellow New Englander!
Agree strongly on all points. But that late in the month can kind of be tricky. I've seen some situations with people where the salesmen are pushier to get what THEY want in a sale, not what the buyer wants. However, 9/10 times it does work to the buyers favor. It certainly worked for mine (along with a 4 p.m. appointment)
I have always bought my vehicles from the same dealership. 7 cars in total. My parents, who have a business, buy, not just their personal use trucks there, but their business's trucks as well. A lot of business comes through there doors from my family. It's always felt like home, they didn't try to dick me around despite my being a woman (something I experienced every time I ever tried to even *think* about going elsewhere). I was raised in a mechanic shop (father also restores older cars), so I've been around vehicles my entire life. And when it's time to trade/buy, I do my research on what I'm interested in. I contact my bank to let them know I'm getting a new car and start the process of getting my financing all squared away. I go prepared, make it quick and painless.
With that said... This time, at that same dealership, it all changed. He pulled out the paper and started doing that stupid "4 Square" thing. Tried putting me in vehicles over my price point, with way higher mileage that I'd given in my specifications. Told me that I would never find what I wanted for the price point that I had, it was impossible. I was looking at another $10k, easy.
Then he put me in a Venza. Right after I told him I was not interested in a car that was going to be put out of production. I had also told him earlier (was looking at 4Runner, Tacoma or even Tundra because of 4WD), I didn't want intuitive anything. I wanted 4WD. My silly car I was getting rid of had intuitive AWD and in the years I had that, never ONCE did it kick on unless I pressed that AWD lock button and even then, I could only drive 2-miles at 15MPH. No thank you. Not with a baby.
I walked away. To which my husband is grateful, he would have disowned me if I came home in a Venza.
We went to an out of town dealership on a wing and a prayer. There she was, a 2011 Toyota 4Runner Trail with ONLY 32K miles on it. Well into my price range. I talked to the salesman, told him what I was looking at for payments, and overall price (to clarify to him that I was not financing for a ridiculously long period of time), informed him that I did have secured financing already in place. We pretty much just haggled a bit on what I would get for my vehicle in trade, signed papers and off I went. (They even put it on the lift in their garage and let my husband and I look at it under, inside and out)
Now, I had to pop into my local Toyota dealership to pick up a part for my husband's Tacoma while I still had my temp plates on and I will say the satisfaction of sticking to my guns ran strong when I saw the look on my now former salesman's face after I pulled in. He was sure, given my history of always buying from them, that I'd cave and just take whatever he put in front of me. Wrong. I have since received a call from the owner of the garage asking what he could do to make it right, to keep my business. I'm, alone, not a HUGE account, but I have spent a considerable amount of money there and if we were treated well again with this trade, my husband's new Toyota was going to come from there this summer. But no, they lost my business. If that's how they're going to start treating someone who is loyal to them, I don't want to be any part of it.
I get that they're trying to make money. Aren't we all? But to be so blatantly disrespectful of a customer by ignoring their needs and requests is just flat out BS.
