After months of waiting patiently, I finally got financing that suits my liking.
0.9% for 36
1.9% for 60
So I called Michael Toyota in Fresno and asked for a sales person! A fellow by the name of Moustafa answers who says he's the sales manager. Seems like a nice fellow.
I tell him that I heard there is a Spring Sale Event going on, and there are good financing rates available until March 31st.
He agrees but declines to offer up any details about it, and immediately asks what I'm looking for. I mentioned that I first need to know if that financing would still apply if they had to find the vehicle from another lot. I already knew from their website inventory, that they did not have the exact vehicle I was looking for: 8666 (Sport Edition, V6, 4WD).
He said that yes the financing would still apply, and then asks me again, what vehicle I want. At this point, he's really starting to press me for more info. His voice and demeanor changed. I tell him I'm looking at *possibly* getting a 4Runner or another vehicle but that I wasn't sure yet, because I wanted to look at all the different models on the lot before making any kind of decision.
He says 'Wonderful, can we narrow it down. You mentioned 4Runner. We've got a lot in stock and I'm sure we have your looking for. Let me give you my info and we'll see what we have. I said ok, go ahead. He said his name, and then immediately asked for my name and phone number. I said, whoah I'm not passing out my info but I am coming down to the lot tomorr....CLICK!
He hung up on me mid f*cking sentence! Surprising but at the same time...NOT SURPRISING.
So I go to the next Dealer in my list. I called up Bigham Toyota in Clovis. This time I get a sales guy that sounds very young. He introduced himself as Jay.
This time I switched it up a little. Being a young guy I figured I could easily get him to sway more easily on pricing. I told him exactly what I was looking for. I wanted a Toyota 4Runner, Titanium color 4x4, V6, Sport Edition. Then I mentioned that I had heard about a special financing event going on right now and that I wanted the best possible financing available through Toyota. He said 'yeah of course'.
Then he asked when I could come down to the lot, and I said, "I need to nail down a price point before arriving, since I live more than an hour away from the dealership.'
He said 'cool' and I told him to see if he has anything in stock or what he could do for me and give me a call back. We hung up.
10 minutes later, he calls. Amazingly he's got 2 in stock exactly what I was looking for. This got me salivating. He immediately says 'I've got 2 of these in stock, on the lot. When can you come down?
I asked what kind of pricing he had for me, and he said 'the MSRP is 35,014k' and immediately asked (in super fast tone) 'can you get down here today?' He didn't want me to start haggling price point right there and changed the subject.
I said 'Whoah, before I drive all the way down there, I need to nail down a pricepoint on the phone. I'm not driving more than an hour to get a bad deal on a vehicle. Work with me here.'
He immediately says 'Oh no problem I can definitely work with you and make you a great deal. We've got 3.9% financing available if your a qualified buyer. I said wait a minute. I told you on the phone before I know there is a sales event going on with special financing!
He replies 'Oh yah (as if he just remembered), I'll have to check on that, but yeah I think that is still going on for 1.9%'.
I said, 'well isn't there also 0.9% if I want to finance for only 36 months?
He replied, 'uhhh, if you want to finance that way, sure' (as if that was a worse way to finance a car).
I asked him again, 'ok so what are we talking about in price on the vehicle'. (I never mentioned trade-in or no-trade in and he never inquired.)
He said he'd have to call me back. 10 minutes later, I get another call.
He quotes me $34-something price. I said, 'That sounds really high. You sure you can't go lower?
He mentioned the MSRP again, and then asked 'are you part of any AAA or Costco membership for auto? Maybe I can get you some additional money off from that?'
I said I'm a AAA member. He said, well ok, hold please. So I wait.....a few minutes later, he comes back on the line. For you, I went ahead and just said you were a Costco Member and that's going to put the vehicle cost with options at $32,094.
I said ok, cool. I'm coming down tomorrow to get it. I'll see you then.
So I'm heading down tomorrow to pick it up. According to my mass load or online research through Edmunds, this site and others, I think that is a pretty decent price, given the incredibly low financing aviable. I'll add to this post, about my experience at the dealership.
0.9% for 36
1.9% for 60
So I called Michael Toyota in Fresno and asked for a sales person! A fellow by the name of Moustafa answers who says he's the sales manager. Seems like a nice fellow.
I tell him that I heard there is a Spring Sale Event going on, and there are good financing rates available until March 31st.
He agrees but declines to offer up any details about it, and immediately asks what I'm looking for. I mentioned that I first need to know if that financing would still apply if they had to find the vehicle from another lot. I already knew from their website inventory, that they did not have the exact vehicle I was looking for: 8666 (Sport Edition, V6, 4WD).
He said that yes the financing would still apply, and then asks me again, what vehicle I want. At this point, he's really starting to press me for more info. His voice and demeanor changed. I tell him I'm looking at *possibly* getting a 4Runner or another vehicle but that I wasn't sure yet, because I wanted to look at all the different models on the lot before making any kind of decision.
He says 'Wonderful, can we narrow it down. You mentioned 4Runner. We've got a lot in stock and I'm sure we have your looking for. Let me give you my info and we'll see what we have. I said ok, go ahead. He said his name, and then immediately asked for my name and phone number. I said, whoah I'm not passing out my info but I am coming down to the lot tomorr....CLICK!
He hung up on me mid f*cking sentence! Surprising but at the same time...NOT SURPRISING.
So I go to the next Dealer in my list. I called up Bigham Toyota in Clovis. This time I get a sales guy that sounds very young. He introduced himself as Jay.
This time I switched it up a little. Being a young guy I figured I could easily get him to sway more easily on pricing. I told him exactly what I was looking for. I wanted a Toyota 4Runner, Titanium color 4x4, V6, Sport Edition. Then I mentioned that I had heard about a special financing event going on right now and that I wanted the best possible financing available through Toyota. He said 'yeah of course'.
Then he asked when I could come down to the lot, and I said, "I need to nail down a price point before arriving, since I live more than an hour away from the dealership.'
He said 'cool' and I told him to see if he has anything in stock or what he could do for me and give me a call back. We hung up.
10 minutes later, he calls. Amazingly he's got 2 in stock exactly what I was looking for. This got me salivating. He immediately says 'I've got 2 of these in stock, on the lot. When can you come down?
I asked what kind of pricing he had for me, and he said 'the MSRP is 35,014k' and immediately asked (in super fast tone) 'can you get down here today?' He didn't want me to start haggling price point right there and changed the subject.
I said 'Whoah, before I drive all the way down there, I need to nail down a pricepoint on the phone. I'm not driving more than an hour to get a bad deal on a vehicle. Work with me here.'
He immediately says 'Oh no problem I can definitely work with you and make you a great deal. We've got 3.9% financing available if your a qualified buyer. I said wait a minute. I told you on the phone before I know there is a sales event going on with special financing!
He replies 'Oh yah (as if he just remembered), I'll have to check on that, but yeah I think that is still going on for 1.9%'.
I said, 'well isn't there also 0.9% if I want to finance for only 36 months?
He replied, 'uhhh, if you want to finance that way, sure' (as if that was a worse way to finance a car).
I asked him again, 'ok so what are we talking about in price on the vehicle'. (I never mentioned trade-in or no-trade in and he never inquired.)
He said he'd have to call me back. 10 minutes later, I get another call.
He quotes me $34-something price. I said, 'That sounds really high. You sure you can't go lower?
He mentioned the MSRP again, and then asked 'are you part of any AAA or Costco membership for auto? Maybe I can get you some additional money off from that?'
I said I'm a AAA member. He said, well ok, hold please. So I wait.....a few minutes later, he comes back on the line. For you, I went ahead and just said you were a Costco Member and that's going to put the vehicle cost with options at $32,094.
I said ok, cool. I'm coming down tomorrow to get it. I'll see you then.
So I'm heading down tomorrow to pick it up. According to my mass load or online research through Edmunds, this site and others, I think that is a pretty decent price, given the incredibly low financing aviable. I'll add to this post, about my experience at the dealership.
Last edited:
