Martin S.

vehicle. I was in the market for a Toyota truck (Porsche doesn't build pick ups yet!). I tried some on-line preliminary searches, checked eBay...and discovered that the price of a used Toyota Tundra was very close to a new one...hmmm, then why buy used I said to wifey. Of course I had to try a Toyota dealer...same old crap, good salesman, evil Manager....no pricing unless I made an offer. I wasn't ready for this.

I decided to try the internet again....bad news. It looked good initially. The web site directed me to "build" my Tundra, and then make a bid. They gave dealer cost and MSRP on the truck and the options and suggested I bid somewhere in between if I wanted a good shot at the deal. I sent them a bid in that range...no answer. I then called them up...they had not received my bid, and then some snot nosed kid started running me through the grinder with Sales Tricks 1A. I hung up on him.

I decided to try one (1) more internet buying attempt to San Diego Toyota. The Internest Sales Manager, Mr. Hung, called me right back and invited me to come dowm...he was prepared to make me a hell of a deal! Yaeh, right, I was thinking.

So armed with all my print outs and homework, my calculator and several very sharp pencils that I was going to present them with, I headed for the imagined sales grinder "dog fight." Guess what? It didn't happen.

Mr. Hung (What a handle!) hooked me up with his assistant, Erik...we headed for the grinder room. Erik takes me right over to a computer screen and asked what do you want? I told him....he checked his inventory, and the inventory across SoCal and came up with the exact truck I had been looking for. They sold the truck and options to me at dealer cost and added in a reasonable amount for their profit. Because of my research, I knew the dealer cost and MSRP prices were accurate....and who is to begrudge them a reasonable, agreed to profit. I think I could have ground them a bit, but I wasn't in the mood after the first class treatment I received. I pick up the truck tomorrow...it is coming in from another dealer. Note this entire process took less than 30 minutes.

The next time I am in the market for a Toyota (I will need another Prius soon), I know where I am going. Also note, I receive no payment or consideration for this little story. I just had to share the news, "Buying a Car Can Be Painless and Pleasant!"

AOW162435

Martin,
Congrats on the truck and the experience. If your ownership of the Tundra is anything like the 4Runner I purchased new in '01 - you'll be happy. Not one problem to date - 105,000 miles. None.

We had the same internet buying experience last year with my wife's Toyota - in and out within an hour.

Andreas

InTheAir

Glad to hear.

One nice benefit I have is a family member that works for a large automaker, so we are able to get the family discount (about 3% below invoice price). The discount is printed by the automaker (not the dealer) right on the invoice itself. There is no haggling on that price, only on the tradein (if you have one).

I'm getting spoiled by this process--it's so painless.

grouchy

Always nice to find a volume dealer that sells like that. It is all the others that try to make a killing on each sale that tend to make buying an ugly experience.

Don C

I was looking for a Subaru Outback last year. I got the data sheet from Consumer Reports and sent an email to two local dealers that I was going to buy from whereever gave me the best deal. Within a few hours I got an email back from one saying they would sell at $100 over their cost. So, I went in, but always thinking that there "costs" would be different from the Consumer Reports data, "I don't know where they get that stuff" was the response I expected. However, the guy handed me a sheet with the exact cost from Consumer Reports, added $100 and that was the deal. He didn't try to upsell me on anything. Best car buying experience of my life.

Don Plumley

We had a similar experience using the Costo car buying thing when we bought my wife's XC90. They gave us the name of the local dealers that particpate, we called the "Internet Sales Manager". He quoted a price on the phone. Get there, and suddenly, that car was not AWD - uh oh, car sale rigamarole. Not. He looked up dealer cost on the model we wanted, applied the Volvo USA promotions - and get this, I didn't want to pay for the 18" wheels, so he says, "no problem, they are gone." When we pick up the car, the wheels are still there. He says, "no problem, you didn't pay for them, they are yours for free." No haggle, no hassle.

Bruce SEA 993

Funny how treating people decently works...! Maybe the auto industry is changing.

I have been ground only once, the rest are always good experiences and I recommend friends to the good ones.

CP

Martin,

Congratulations on a nice experience. I think the demand on the car has something to do with how the dealerships treat the buying public. When I was buying the RX330 to replace my M5, it was a high-demand car. We got royal treatment from the dealers but the pricing was not as flexible as we'd like. We got a decent discount (as opposed to MSRP only), but not $100 over dealer's cost kind of deal. So you folks here did really well.

That reminded me of when I was buying my 735i in 1984. The dealer sold at his cost even without me asking. In retrospect, I may be could have gotton below-cost if I was more aggressive. Then in 2000/2001 when I was buying my M5, all the dealers demanded (not asking, demanding) $20k+ for every car. I guess that's just how supply/demand works.

CP

kkim

Congrats, Martin. Enjoy the truck... wish we had dealers like that in Hawaii.

Noticed your sig without your car... have you sold it?

Martin S.

Kelly,

I have been working with this chap, Mr. Hung. He is originally from Canton, China. He gets the job done. By the way, Toyota Tundra 4X4 with Crew cab, TRD package, etc. are really hard to find. I get mine tomorrow unless something turns to crap...I hope not. I already have a backroads dirt road I plan to attack next Thursday...now if I can only sleep tonight!!!!

I still have the 993 car, although I do have it listed on Rennlist. I may put it up on eBay this weekend.

Dudley

Martin, Great Choice! I bought the Access Cab 4x4 Tundra In 2005 and it has been absolutely wonderful.
The only thing I would do different is to opt for the Crew Cab for the rear leg room.
Best of luck

schnele

I am a car dealer in South-East Michigan and since we are surrounded by corporate employees who negotiate below the employee price,a supposed no-no, that has become pattern and practice. The best dealers distinguish themselves from the rest by the customer service they provide during and after the sale. The grind is a fading phenomena but old practises die hard, I hope more manufacturers come up with unilateral pricing like Saturn but a trade or a payoff presents another variable with which to mask profit or negotiating room. Nothing hurts more than finding out you paid more than the next guy for the same item. I hope you all find a good dealer and build a lasting relationship with a salesperson you feel comfortable with, hopefully he will stick around for a while and you can keep him honest by doing your homework before going in to buy. Good Luck

Martin S.

He writes lots of good stuff, but this point stuck out, "keep him honest by doing your homework before going in to buy." This is critical and the information is out there. I had two dealer experiences recently, one with the old style gring, and another that respected the fact that I did my homework. All you need to know is found in Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds...plus a peek at eBay to see what thinngs are selling for in the Real World.

I bought from the latter...I had in my head what would be a fair price, not begrudging them some profit on the deal. I may have paid a little extra, BUT, the experience was very professional and enjoyable. My time is worth something to me. I did not want to spend days and days in endless negotiations contests. As mentioned above, I bought my truck in about 25 minutes..it was painless.

In conclusion, even if I did pay a little more, it only happened once, and I got exactly what I wanted. Toyota Tundra Crew Cabs in 4X4 with an off road and towing package are not easy to find. Supply and demand is in play here; they can't keep those trucks in inventory.