Car market must be softening - prices below MSRP

Well, more new inventory has been coming in so they might be trade ins on '23's. That's what I'm planning on doing if I can find the right deal.

 

So what would you guys recommend me..looking at Limited CPO 2022 with 10k-15k miles for 45k or new 2023 for MSRP.? Think I can do better than MSRP? Looking at Rwd models preferred with factory auto running boards

 

Ya. Pretty much a given we're not going to see Pros at invoice. I think their "In Stock" stipulation gives them an out.

But for ORPs, people have already posted paying signficant discounts under MSRP from other dealers. Last I saw was $4200 under. That has to be very near or under invoice.

Here's an ORP for $3500 under MSRP. Could be sold already, but shows the deals are out there.

https://www.edmarktoyota.com/invent...-premium-4x4-sport-utility-jteru5jr7p6175614/

 

I just took delivery yesterday ORP with some useful and some not so useful options...

$2,232 below manufacturer's sticker. Factory and port installed options.

$3,600 below if you count the KARR system crap that the dealership had been forcing on victims of late. (I had the circuit removed and I pray all that screwing with the wires doesn't cause problems later.)

It was in stock. Along with a modified white one and three black ones.

Last Saturday they sold two 4Runners. I hear the other guy was a repeat customer like me.

Strangely, the ones in more affluent counties (Los Angeles and Orange) weren't being discounted and one even had a "dealer adjustment" of an additional $1,499.

Now, the dealership's $4,500 platinum 100k warranty was dropped to $2,600 in a "hey let's get this done" pitch. I didn't tell him that Jerry Johnson (800-530-5789) at the Midwest Superstore was selling it for $1,400.08 out the door. I dislike that whole "it will be more expensive tomorrow" bullshit. He wanted to make $3,000 in pure profit and later dropped it to $1,200 of pure profit. Instead of being so outlandish, he could sell an extended warranty every time if he made $500 of pure profit.

Hahaha, my salesman, who I've used with one other car purchase told me that he requested that I get the best deal on the extended warranty. I wonder if he knows Jerry?

 

This has been my very recent experience shopping for and ultimately buying my TRD Pro-- calling around 20 dealers. Big city dealers with large demand will only sell at MSRP with markup. The reality is they know another sucker will come in later that day after you balk and scoff at the markup. In my experience, MSRP or discounts are only available at small-market dealers.
As I've said here before, other than the dealer I actually bought from which was great but 3+ hours away, I was shocked by the scum level at the vast majority of these Toyota dealers. Completely turned me off at the prospect of buying another Toyota.

 

I haven't figured out the allocation of inventory for dealers but assume the bigger metro area that move more volume get higher inventory.

Do the smaller town dealers that will work for the deal have similar inventory available?

 

A Southern Californian's perspective here...

Agreed about the scummy Toyota dealerships. It's almost like they think they're good, while they are just selling a superior product. I felt the same about Honda dealers, the difference is that I will not ever go to Honda now that I know about some of their engineering changes. An analogy is real estate agents in Southern California. They may make a ton of money, but that's a default setting, it's an expensive market.

As for deals to be had, and this is all prepandemic I'm speaking about, I could easily save over a thousand dollars every time I bought a car in Orange or Los Angeles County. I have bought 8 cars in the last 4.5 years. Only two of them were bought in San Diego County. My take on it is this: There are more people with money in those counties. There's more competition because there's a lot more people up there as well. I also believe that people up there are more willing to drive a longer distance and spend more time on the road in order to accomplish their goals. The only reason I bought down here in San Diego County again was availability and price. That was the only reason I bought in San Diego County 4.5 years ago from this same salesman. It was only $100 more than a car up in LA in a color I didn't want (I knew the owner's son and the entire finance team). It was $1,400 cheaper than the best deal I could get at any other local dealership (Toyota Carlsbad, also in a color I didn't like.)

I'm sure in the Midwest and places where the customer base and property prices are different, there's a different approach.

There, they need volume to get better selection. Toyota allocations are a meritocracy. Another aspect of Southern California Toyota is the fact that the Japanese made cars (4Runners, Priuses, etc.) come into Long Beach by ship.

 

I took our limited in to Cedar Park Toyota (North Austin) a few weeks back. They were coved up in 4runners and Tundras.

 

this is a timely thread particularly because August is a great month to get deal on vehicles sitting on the lot (this doesn't really apply to new orders). the upcoming model year actually ships in during august of the current year, and the first round is fully delivered by september. think of a dealership as selling parking spaces, not cars - if they're sitting on a vehicle for more than a month they're usually losing money on it. with the shiny new things coming in they NEED to free up those spots on the pavement. last 2 or 3 days at the end of the month are good times with sales guys trying to hit quotas, and Aug/Dec/Feb are good months in general for deals either because of late model year turnover or dead sales.

glad to see prices stabilizing somewhere back in reality again. remember - deal with the online sales guy first to establish a price and sidestep the haggling, always asking the "out the door" number (NOT just the monthly payment) and be prepared to walk (mentally or physically) if they can't hit your numbers. they want you to get emotionally connected to that car, weigh all the time you've already spent (sunk cost fallacy) and wear you down until you just start letting a couple hundred here or there slip by.

 

Did a casual online search of the dealers in South Florida and the Northeast where I had looked a few months ago. In FL, about 10-15 new 4Rs (no TRD Pros) at a good number of dealers which was about the same (perhaps a bit more today- one dealer had 34!), but the number of used 4Rs seem higher (10+ used vs about 2-3 previously). Not across the board but at some of the larger dealers. In the Northeast, the inventory seems tighter, with most dealers only having 2-3 new and used one's. If this observation is accurate at least in FL, i.e., more used availability, that in theory means new car price inflation should be easing as well. Although perhaps not in the Northeast. But curiously, again if true, what does it mean that there are more used 4R's today? people are trading them in for other cars or are loan foreclosures up? I reluctantly suspect the latter, esp if we're talking about FL. Again, non-scientific research here, but I knew the market pretty well a few months ago.....

 

I just logged into my bank account (online high-yield savings) 4.88%

I wonder if there's such a thing as a variable rate car loan...

 

I have seen variable rate auto loans advertised but I’ve never used one.

 

I too got a bump the other day from ally.
Variable rate car loan? Maybe subprime car note

 

You want to know who sells subprime car loans?

NISSAN!

It wasn't Jim Cramer, but it was some financial guy (or Scotty Kilmer) who said that that is going to come back and bite Nissan in the ass. I think this was even before the intention-recession, er, p*andemic.

During said p-word, I noticed that Nissan and Mitsubishi lots tended to have a lot more cars on them..

 

A lot depends on how much you drive yearly. I only do 8 -10k. I would bargain on that used 2022 and save over 5k. Besides the 2022 is certified used. You wouldn't need to spend another 1.7k on extended warranty.

 

$1,000 off MSRP but $2,500 in addendums.

 

True I got mine for sticker but I had to fight three months for it and catch one right when it was being delivered. I call it the poor man’s TRD Pro

 

It was like $5k more. I probably could have added all of the stuff myself for cheaper. It’s not really a markup, everything is on the factory window sticker so it’s a package deal. Trade in time it will probably add no value though as if I put the stuff on myself.