Costco pricing on '05 SR5 4runner

[team_gl]

Question: I am looking to purchase a vehicle using the costco pruchasing plan. Does anyone have any experience with this?

I was told that the costco price was invoice + $500 + any factory incentives.

This seems like a fair price.

BTW - The SR5 V8's are not in the Denver area yet. (Sports and Limiteds are available)

Thanks for your input.

Darren

 

[G3 Trout Runner]

Check out www.fightingchance.com. I was able to get mine for $1900 below invoice using their plan. Some places 500 over maybe good. Some places 500 below is better. You never know unless you try.

G3 Trout Runner

 

[team_gl]

I was able to get mine for $1900 below invoice using their plan. Some places 500 over maybe good. .

G3 Trout Runner

Thanks for the input, -- Trout --

I will look into this plan further.

How does one get the stealership to disclose the true invoice of a vehicle? Its only paper and they can fudge the numbers to near retail (with advertising, shipping, vehicle prep, etc.)

 

[Gavin S.]

If you're in the So Cal area check out www.goseeted.com

 

[99z28]

I bought mine through Costco, and got it at invoice. The way I looked at it, Costco is just a way for me to get in touch with the internet sales manager. Once I met the guy, I started negotiating just like I would with anyone else. What Costco said about $500 over invoice is out the window

 

[G3 Trout Runner]

Thanks for the input, -- Trout --

I will look into this plan further.

How does one get the stealership to disclose the true invoice of a vehicle? Its only paper and they can fudge the numbers to near retail (with advertising, shipping, vehicle prep, etc.)

Getting actual invoice is easy these days. Go to Edmunds or Kelley Blue book online. Both places you can configure exactly what you want ( write down what's on the window sticker) and print out the invoice versus MSRP. Dealers always have a dealer holdback and sometimes a wholesale holdback. Add in a dealer to customer incentive and a possibly unknown factory to dealer incentive and now you have a bunch of cash to play with.

By using the fax attack in the www.fightingchance.com you can turn up these sources of extra money lowering your price.

Here in New England I sent my fax to 20 places, 16 replies and pitted every last one of the stealerships against each other. The price kept getting lower and lower.

G3

 

[Northof49]

Getting actual invoice is easy these days. Go to Edmunds or Kelley Blue book online. Both places you can configure exactly what you want ( write down what's on the window sticker) and print out the invoice versus MSRP. Dealers always have a dealer holdback and sometimes a wholesale holdback. Add in a dealer to customer incentive and a possibly unknown factory to dealer incentive and now you have a bunch of cash to play with.

By using the fax attack in the www.fightingchance.com you can turn up these sources of extra money lowering your price.

Here in New England I sent my fax to 20 places, 16 replies and pitted every last one of the stealerships against each other. The price kept getting lower and lower.

G3

That's just way too much pain and agony to buy a vehicle......

 

[G3 Trout Runner]

That's just way too much pain and agony to buy a vehicle......

Spoken buy a guy who doesn't understand what it comprises.

I actually pulled this off while my wife was in labor. She helped send the faxes. I fielded the calls. I picked up the car with a 2 day old at the signing.

Steps:

1. Send out the letter

2. They call you, you ask for bottom line, they tell you. You play no other games.

3. Wait for 1-2 days. Call the worst offer back and tell him you have a better offer and it is $X. He freaks and beats the price or says bye, bye. If he beats it, move on to next worst price. Continue until you get lowest price. Let the bidding war begin.

4. Accept offer and tell the guy to write up the paperwork and you'll be by to pick it up.

5. Show up. Look at car. Sign papers. 10 minutes later you drive away knowing you have scored the best deal. Your heart and mind are completely at ease.

Trust me. No hassle. They basically haggle for you. All you do is provide what others have offered. Way less time and stress than walking into the stealership. If you walk in, you'll get owned.

Oh yeah, I showed up with my wife's old Jeep GC 2wd in Boston (nobody wants 2wd in NE) and told the guy that this 4R deal was going to include a trade or no deal. They want to sell cars, especially at the end of the month. They can make the money up on people who think that buying a car from home watching your new baby and a little TV is "pain and agony". I got blue book for the Jeep.

G3

 

[kimboy]

Wow, I did not know reverse auctions have come to basic consumers. You letting the seller win your bid, secures a position of getting the cheapest price. Please remember, they don't have to go a penny outside the agreed to terms.

i.e. Free lifetime oil changes as a kicker always works for me, but if thats not whats being quoted, dealers don't have to budge.

 

[MicaBlue03]

Everybody's got a different idea of what's easy or hard, or what's worth it or not in the process of buying a vehicle. There seems to be a wide variety of personal preference here, and IMHO it's all valid. Some people like to haggle in one of a variety of ways, and others find it irritating or distasteful.

The key is to find that process that's reasonably aligned with your needs & preferences. With that in mind, I'd recommend carbargains.com if you want someone else to do the negotiating--for a fee. Of course you could do the negotiating yourself and save the fee, but you may find it worthwhile to have someone else do it. A benefit of this service is that you get a complete written report which details all the different offers and the invoice pricing, including dealer holdback, delivery charges, etc. and how to interpret them. For example, this is the only place I've found specific information on a line item called "wholesale financial reserve."

One other benefit of a for-pay service like this is that the dealers know you're really serious about buying soon since you've already paid real money ($150-$200 I think) for the service. That makes a difference with some dealers who are wary of folks that they think may be just jerking their chain by fax. Dealers are nearly as variable in their attitudes and behavior as customers are.

Supply is greater than demand right now, so it's a pretty good time to negotiate a favorable deal. But there are ways to avoid much of the negotiation, and while the Costco price is generally reasonable, you can usually do better if you work at it.

BTW, I'll second the advice about invoice prices at edmunds.com. Their data is accurate, including destination/delivery charges. Any other fees and "product/service packs" that dealers add are bogus and can usually be ignored. And remember not to let the dealers add holdback and financial reserve to their invoice prices. Those items are percentages of base price that the dealers actually get back from the manufacturer periodically, so if anything they should be subtracted from invoice prices.

 

[G3 Trout Runner]

A benefit of this service is that you get a complete written report which details all the different offers and the invoice pricing, including dealer holdback, delivery charges, etc. and how to interpret them. For example, this is the only place I've found specific information on a line item called "wholesale financial reserve."

One other benefit of a for-pay service like this is that the dealers know you're really serious about buying soon since you've already paid real money ($150-$200 I think) for the service. That makes a difference with some dealers who are wary of folks that they think may be just jerking their chain by fax. Dealers are nearly as variable in their attitudes and behavior as customers are.

I agree with the above as an option.

Still, www.fightingchance.com is $35 bucks for all the same information, including "wholesale financial reserve". You also can phone with any questions or to run the final numbers with the guy who authored it all (He wrote a best selling book). You lose the guy who deals for you but now you save $150-200. Also, who cares about all the inside info if your gonna rely on someone else anyway.

In regards to the wary dealers, in my fax I commented that I was ready to buy in the next one week and already was preapproved for my loan. With words like that, nobody thinks your screwing around.

My coworkers heard how I bought my car and were willing to hire me to buy their next car...Uh, scratch all that I've said...you could just send me the money and I'll get you the car.

Use the service if you want. Looking to save a few hundred more, go with www.fightingchance.com.

G3 Trout Runner