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Most Limited V6 is 4wd. If you also want a specific color, GOOD LUCK
Sticker was $35,867.00 with all the options.
Wholesale price on it is $27,838 minus options so thats where I started.
Got these options;
SR) Power Tilt/Slide Moonroof.
GY) Driver/Passenger Curtain & Side Air Bags & Sunvisors w/Illumination.
TO) Tow Prep Package.
EJ) Premium JBL ETR/Cass/6 CD Changer w/8 Speakers.
LA) Leather Seat Package Includes; Leather Trim Seats w/Front Headrests & Leather Door Trim.
HD) Drivers/Passengers Seat Heaters.
CF) Carpet/Cargo Mat Set.
Paid invoice on all the options and subtracted Dealerhold back of $628 for a total of $30,754.00 + tax + license.
Whats killing me is the "accessorizing" I'm doing now! :-(
Thanks!
I checked Edmunds frequently and did not see any $1000 rebate for Highlander before August 4. Is the $1000 rebate is for California? I live in Minnesota and the August rebate for Highlander is only $750.
The older incentives have rolled off the site, so I'm not sure what I saw now (weaseling off the hook, lol).
Incentives do vary by region and the amounts often vary depending on whether you are financing or not. Incentives are a well kept secret until the release date and they change often, making it hard for Edmunds to stay current on all of them. And we rarely have special rebates listed, like college grad or loyalty incentives.
Steve, Host
Bought it @ Toyota of Naperville in Naperville Illinois.
I went the last day of the month (July) and the sales person wanted to sell 30 vehicles that month, she was at 28. After I gave her the figures I was willing to pay, she went to her sales manager and he came back saying "you did your home work...". He didn't want to haggle any more than me so they accepted my offer.
I wanted the new color Toyota has, a light green but they didn't have any in stock so the silver was my second choice. Plus I've always had dark colored vehicles so hopefully, this will stay clean (at least look it) longer.
ddpstc, no I didn't get the $750 rebate. It wasn't offered at the time like Steve mentioned.
I just finished installing a small electrical jack in the trim around the radio/climate controls for my radar detector. I didn't like the cord hanging all the way down to the cig lighter socket.
How does this stack up against others' experience in this region (OH, KY, MI, TN)?
I didn't use Costco or SAMS Club for mine and wish that I would have read this forum before.
Good luck and enyoy your shopping.
Pity, I expected Costco to have better deals, maybe they vary regionally?
There are three questions I would like to know from you or anyone on the forum:
1) how can I estimate the final walk-out door price? Which kind of
fees (TDA, doc fee, etc etc) are the ones I should not pay?
2) I heard that Highlander requires premium gas. Is it true?
3) when you bought from Rudys luther, were you able to get the 0% or
1.9% finance?
Thanks
The lowest walk out price in MN will be about $100 to $150 below invoice. You can go to edmunds.com to get the quotes from 4 local dealers (Toy. City, Rudy Luther, Maplewood, and Denny Hecker). The lowest quote is likely to come from Rudy Luther because the Internet Sales Manager there joined Rudy Luther 4 months ago (from Toy. City) and he is motivated to show off his performance to the new employer. You may also use SAMS club or Costco car buying networks to see if you can get better deals. I lived in Rochester before and I did not buy my Camry from the local Universal Toyota. Instead I bought it from La Cross, WI.
Here are the financial incentives that I lifted from edmunds.com when you don't pay cash:
0.0% APR Term: 36 months Get Dealer Pricing
1.9% APR Term: 48 months Get Dealer Pricing
1.9% APR Term: 60 months Get Dealer Pricing
Restrictions $750 Customer cash may not be combined with 0% - 1.9% APR
The 4cyl. requires regular 87 octane gasoline.
Only V3 3.3 L engine requires premium gas. I heard that the V6 engine also suffers hesitation. In my opinion the acceleration for the 4 cyl is adequate to drive in MN. In other states such as the Mountain states, CA, PA with a lot of hills you may want the V6.
Enjoy the shopping and good luck.
Tried through Sams Club and the same dealer (different salesman though) quoted invoice - $200!, but cant negotiate. I went through Sams club since even if I had negotiated with costco doubt if he would have to match Sams club price.
Andy
But I am beginning to think that these "links" between Costco/Sam's and a certain car dealer are, on the whole, better than walking in off the street but not as good as negotiating aggressively if armed with lots of facts (e.g. FightingChance.com reports).
It took me two whole days on the phone, having spoken with perhaps 20 dealers in the OH, KY, TN, MI region to identify three or four who were willing to go after my business at a good price, others called my bluff on the pricing and, well, I called theirs!
In reality, it *always* pays to negotiate hard but fair and to never, never, never, never, never accept the first deal dealers throw your way.
Steve, Host
The options I requested are:
Leather/heated seats
Sunroof
CD changer
Tow prep
Carpet mat set
Side/curtain airbags
The wholesale price for this car is $30,991, so the quote range sounds reasonable to me, but I thought I'd check the board. I know that user "bobgordon" recently got the same model/options for $30,867, but I haven't been able to get anyone anwhere near that.
I appreciate your input.
The car performance is way superior than the Pilot or Highlander in my humble opinion.
If not, I'll be happy to give you more info and a contact name there.
Let me know.
:-)
I appreciate any advice you can give.
:-)
in june i taked to a sales person at a toyota dealer in omaha, ne. i asked if i could get a highlander limited without leather. he said he had never seen one that way but would check it out. a few minutes later he came back with a large book and said yes you can. we would have to order it, but it can be done. no problem and would take about 6 - 7 weeks to get it.
the toyota web page lists options in groups that are most popular for a certain area. this doesn't mean it has to ordered that way. check aroundand insist on getting what you want.
The usual options: leather, heated seats, CD changer, tow prep, curtain airbags, sunroof, carpet mats; plus cargo net and first aid kit.
They gave me a reasonable price on my trade-in (03 Honda Accord EX-V6) and it was an altogether pleasant buying experience.
The sales agent went over the car's operations more thoroughly than any agent I've ever dealt with, and the financing, taxes, fees ,etc. were dealt with in a very straightforward manner.
(bobgordon, it turned out that your sales contact at Naperville was unable to do both the lower price and the special financing, so I opted to go elsewhere. She was very pleasant, though, and I appreciate the referral.)
Happy to help!
This board has been great reading in preparation for buying thanks to everyone for posting their sales numbers. Generally my philosophy has been to start at invoice and to go down from there. Three dealerships let me walk out the door without even a negotiation as soon as I told then how I wanted to deal. I shed a small tear everytime one of the chummy salesmen turned into an ice princess when he asked how much I wanted to pay. I didn't know this, but apparently dealerships are not in business to "give cars away!" I was saddened to hear such news and will work tirelessly until that day comes!
Anyway, I ended up dealing with Barber Toyota in the Fairfield Automall (in between I-80 and highway 12 in Fairfield). The invoice for the car was 28,679 and I paid 28,079. I made it clear to them that if I was hassled in finance I was going to walk. As promised, there wasn't even a hiccup. One interesing thing, on the invoice they included their holdback and "wholesale cash" (not sure exactly what it was called) that totalled around $700. This was different from other dealerships in that I hadn't seen it itemized before. Worse case I figure I paid them $100 in holdback over invoice, best case I paid $600 under invoice. All places I have gone have listed "TDA" or the advertizing fee at near $500. Maybe that's where they got me.
Regardless of what I learn post-purchase, we are happy about the car and feel that we got a reasonable deal. Part of me wanted to keep fighting, but they were keeping the head games to a minimum and I decided to do it.
Here are the details:
Bluestone Mettalic
V6, AWD, 3rd row seat
FE,EH,SR,GY,TO,AG,CQ,HE,LF,CF,R7
Happy hunting!
How do you think I did? I just paid 26,831 OTD (amount includes Tax, License and 1,000 dollar rebate). The following are the options that I got.
Indigo Ink FWD V6 3rd row with:
CQ - Convenience Package
DJ - JBL/Cass/CD/8spk
AG - Appearance Package
HE - Preferred Package
NE - cruise control/Urethane
TO - Tow prep
Z1 - Preferred Accessory Package
R7 - Rear Spoiler
I did this deal with the fleet manager.
Keith
I suggest doing an Appraisal on any used one you find, and using TMV if you go new. And check the articles under the Tips link here, especially Confessions of a Car Salesman.
Steve, Host
I have personally found that using the Internet to search dealers inventories and then asking for their best price is the easiest way to buy a new car. Usually, Internet sales managers do not play games and will offer their lowest price up front. I know in the DC area, you can find AWD V6 fairly loaded HL's for about 26K. If you do want a used car, do you have Carmax in your area? I have several co-workers who bought used from them and swear by them (good prices, warranties, inspected cars, no haggle dealing, etc).
Thanks for your comments. I have been reading everything I can regarding tips for buying cars, new or used. ie Consumer Reports, Edmunds.com, Intellichoice, etc. Based on my research it appears the best brands are Toyota, Honda, and Nissan. I am also on the fence regarding leasing or buying and have looked at the profiles of each. My annual mileage will be approximately 20K per year. Do you know anyone who has assumed a lease and their experiences? I am considering taking over the lease for a 2003 Honda Accord with 17 months and 24,000 miles (1400 miles per month) left before additional mileage charges of .15 apply. I would rather have the HL but could substitute the sedan for a short period of time. I just do not want to commit to a 36/48 month lease at this time. DC Driver. I do have Carmax here in Orange Co. California and plan to check them out. Thanks again for your thoughts and advice.
Keith
If you plot a graph, what you'll see is that, by taking over a lease mid-way through or thereabouts, you are on the bad end of the payment curve and are in reality paying more than the lease justifies. The person who owned it before you had lease payments that were SMALLER than the depreciation on the vehicle, you will have lease payments that are HIGHER than the depreciation on the vehicle.
So, the rule of thumb with leases is, do not take over a lease unless you have very, very specific reasons for doing so, you are getting a bad deal.
If you are going to put 20K miles per year on your vehicle, I would suggest not leasing since you will pay extra for this (unless you purchase the car at the end of the lease, but to me that negates many of the positives of leasing in the first place). Instead, I would recommend buying a 1-2 year old vehicle with low miles on it since your vehicle will depreciate more than the person who drives 10-12K a year. Carmax will also transfer any used HL you find at any other Carmax dealers for a resonable price. You should easily be able to find a V6 HL with less than 20K miles on it for 22-25K. Having previously leased a Volkswagen, I can tell you that I will never lease again. Most of the leasing issues that I had were specifically with Volkswagen, but I swore I would never lease again
I currenltly own a 2002 Altima V6, and am very happy with this car. It has had zero problems, and you can definitely get a loaded one (Bose, sunroof, V6, leather) for under 25K. The Altima has a ton of leg room too, and is a very fun car to drive. I am looking to replace my wife's car with either a Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, or 2005 Subaru Outback... Let is know how it works out, and good luck!
Thanks so much for your advice. What a coincidence. Before reading your latest advice/response I have come to realize my best scenario would be to buy a 1-2 yr. old car with low mileage as you recommended. Here's why. I want to spend $15k-$20K maximum. Preferably $15K, put $5K down and finance $10K with my home equity line at 4.66% (interest tax deductible). My goal is to stay as close to the $300.00 car allowance as possible for obvious reasons. Another coicidence is your mentioning the Altima. My curiosity has been picked by advertising and low lease payments for this vehicle. The reviews in Consumer Reports have positive so I will give it a test drive. My personal preference is to get away from a sedan for awhile for reasons stated earlier (towing, Home Depot runs, and the experience of driving something different) If I had my way I would be driving a pickup truck w/shell so an SUV is an acceptable compromise for the time being. I have checked out Carmax and have found some vehicles of interest. Will they still deal off their No Haggle Price? The blue book pricing stated on their website for each vehicle is higher than KBB states. Just another sales game I guess. Well, I am down to 1 1/2 weeks to find a vehicle. Please respond to my question and thanks again for your continued help and advice.
Keith
My question is, is it the considered opinion of otheres on this board that such an outlay will repay me when I come to sell or trade the car in in, say, 3 years or so?
Steve, Host
Carmax is 100% no haggle, so you do not need to worry about them honoring thier price. 15-20K might be a stretch for a low mileage SUV, but check out the Subaru Forrester.. I test drove one about a year ago and really liked it. You should be able to pick one up for less than 20K. They are fun to drive, practical, and very safe. A Toyota Rav4 or Honda CRV might make sense as well.. As for KBB, there is the KBB dealer price (what a dealer is going to give you and charge for a used car, and KBB non-dealer, what you can expect to pay if you bought and sold privately, ie. no dealer.. Check out www.autotrader.com for used cars as well...