Ready to make my purchase

[rtyson]

Hello everyone, I posted about 3 months ago indicating I was lookig to buy a TLC
or LX470 (98-2000). Well the time has come and I am at the brink of making my purchase.

The vehicle is a 2000 TLC with 60687miles on it. The Toyota dealer asking price is $25990 and the dealer will only go down about $400 to $25590. He seems stuck on this price. Heated/Power Seats, Rear Air, Single CD ...

My question is what do you think of this price? I would like to get him down to $24500-$24900. The vehicle is not certified and he has no service records available. On the other hand it's a nice clean vehicle in very good condition and Im crazy about TLCs & LX470s. I'm just trying to remove the love of a TLC from my decision with some qualified help.

Any maintenance I should insist be performed @ 60K if not done. He said they placed about $800 into the vehicle, but he can say alot of things.

Any recommendations and experiences would be greatly appreciated, also look
forward to sharing my TLC journey with you'll as well.

Thanks for your responses!

RTysonInMissouri

 

[ryanjl]

If you are set on the vehicle, and he won't budge on the price, see if he'll budge on his warranty.

Normally, they'll only give you 30 days, 1,000 miles. See if you can get 1 yr, 12,000 out of him.

It's hard to put a price on a good vehicle, though. Many people get good deals, but IMHO it's well worth it to pay for a truck you know is in quality condition.

 

[Biff]

I would walk away from 25k, the deal is to expensive for a rig that is not certified. If you really look hard you could probably spend 17-20k on a vehicle that old through a private party. You just have to make sure the vehicle is well maintain, and its easier to make a deal with a private party.

But if you insist on this rig, make sure the births are done(60k is when they are done), the head gasket does not leak, and radiator is good, and a the brakes are properly working. Does it have a rear locker?

 

[ryanjl]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only time you do birfs on a USA 100 series is when the CV boot is leaking. 60K is the figure for an 80 series.

Rear lockers were not an option in 2,000

If he doesn't budge on the warranty, I'd walk away. If he will, and it looks and feels like a quality ride otherwise, it might be worth the extra $$.

 

[tabraha]

Sounds like a decent price to me if the vehicle is in good condition. I would insist on knowing what the $800 was spent on; why the need to be so secretive? The dealer says that no service records are available but shouldn't a Toyota dealer have the service history available for any service done to a vehicle by other Toyota dealers? That would be a better question for CDan but I would think it would be available if it existed. If there are know records at all for the vehicle that seems odd to me.

 

[jjbodean1970]

no, toyota service records are not kept in a national database like Lexus service records are. each dealer can only access what was done at that store

 

[Biff]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only time you do birfs on a USA 100 series is when the CV boot is leaking. 60K is the figure for an 80 series.

Rear lockers were not an option in 2,000

If he doesn't budge on the warranty, I'd walk away. If he will, and it looks and feels like a quality ride otherwise, it might be worth the extra $$.

Ooops, forgot its a 100. Still to expensive IMO. Go with private party unless you can score a good warranty.

 

[sleeoffroad]

That is not a screaming deal, but it is not bad either. You would be better buying in spring time instead of right before winter. The truck is just out of drivetrain warrantee and that is probably why the previous owner sold it. You can get better pricing, but you might have to drop down to a 1999 and take one with more miles.

 

[Pitbull]

Tell them to certify it with the 6 year 100K warranty and you will pay their price.

 

[e9999]

my recollection is that you can not get an official Toyota certification for a vehicle above 60K or 5 (?) years from purchase. Could get an aftermarket one, but that would only cost about $1000 up to 100K and may or may not be from a decent company.
E

 

[Landpimp]

$800 sounds like a starter to me

price isn't to bad for my area. I paid $25K a year ago for my 2000 with 77k on it and they havn't droped a ton up here.

How long has it been on the lot? if it just showed up they will hold out for a nice profit. If its an old age unit they will try to unload it.
is the price he askinig the original price? or a sale price? if original price, they have at least 4k profit and IMOP and a $1500-2000 profit is that should take will take. If a sale price its prolly only half of that or less. Could work up the other way...........and ask "how much do you need to make on this?" I find this works VERY often. If they don't tell ya, just offer $1500 over or something. But they do need to make a profit and aprcaite the fact that you understand that and are not a mooch. . Just from my experence.........

 

[rtyson]

Still dealing as well as looking

I informed the dealer that @ $25.5K - No Warranty, No Service records that I could
not do the deal (thanks for the input). Today he left a message about possibly offering
some type of warranty. I'm not sure what it involves - cost/duration/coverage so
we shall see. I will keep everyone posted - Note all this is happening in what we call
'Realtime' so stay with me guys.

Also visited several sights to appraise this vehicle;
Edmunds - dealer - $31xxx
Intellchoice - dealer - $30xxx
Kbb - dealer - $303xx
Nada - retail - $30xxx

Private party is approx $26xxx - $28xxx



RtysonInMissouri

 

[reffug]

That is not a screaming deal, but it is not bad either. You would be better buying in spring time instead of right before winter. The truck is just out of drivetrain warrantee and that is probably why the previous owner sold it. You can get better pricing, but you might have to drop down to a 1999 and take one with more miles.

This is the opinion I would go with.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Although I agree it is the courteous thing to do to let them have a profit, it's not always necessary. Business deals aren't always profitable and "you win some you lose some" applies. The last car we bought was a 2002 Honda Accord Coupe with a sticker of 17k. We walked out the door for 13,100. The guy made $100 on that car. It was the last day of the month and a cash deal. Often times that will do the trick. I think about it like this. Think of all the suckers that walk in, go for a test drive, and purchase the car at sticker. That happens a lot more than people like me, so I don't feel too bad. The other way to look at it is this. It's my money, why should I give them anymore than I have to.

rtyson, I don't know if you're working with cash or not(that helps a lot), but I would wait till the end of the month, go back, and make an offer. Make them include at least a one year parts and labor warranty. As for the price they're asking, I think it's pretty reasonable actually. My dad has been shopping for a 100 for a while now, so I have a feel for what they go for around here, and that's a pretty good price IMO. Anyway, good luck, and let us know how it turns out!



Ary

 

[jjbodean1970]

Think of all the suckers that walk in, go for a test drive, and purchase the car at sticker. That happens a lot more than people like me, so I don't feel too bad.

This hardly ever happens, your scenario is much more likely.

I don't know if you're working with cash or not(that helps a lot)

Actually, this is a fallacy as well. The dealership makes more money if you finance your vehicle, as they get a fee from the lender that carries the lien. The dealer makes less profit on a cash deal.

 

[Landpimp]

this is true with houses and cars. The person who beats ya down(on a deal) to the last penny will be a PITA and will never be happy. the guy that pays almost full price will be happy and send you referals.

ya you can call BS on me...........but its SO damn true.

to think paying cash makes a difference is NOT right.......dealer might sell a car for cost if he can do your financing......they can make nice money on that. F&I at a dealership can be a VERY VERY well paying job

 

[jjbodean1970]

john,

you've hit the nail on the head!

jeff

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

If paying cash does not make a difference, then why is it that at the mention of paying cash, many dealers will come down nearly $1000(based on personal experience, not hearsay)? It never made sense to me either, but it seems to work.

Could the difference in philosphies have anything to do with new vs used? I don't honestly know, just want some opinions. We've bought a total of one new car in the past 15 years, the rest have been 1-2 years old at time of purchase. Perhaps that has something to do with my seemingly skewed experiences?

Another thing I've found is that if the dealership you're dealing with allows the sales people to offer the auto armor package or something similar(some kind of protective treatment they do to the car, supposed to add to resale or some BS) that they will often go to bat for you if you purchase it. The sales people make a hefty commision on that stuff and I've had salesmen offer to drop 2k from the price if I buy the auto armor. I'm not sure it's %100 ethical, and I've never taken them up on the offer, but it's something to think about.

 

[reffug]

this is true with houses and cars. The person who beats ya down(on a deal) to the last penny will be a PITA and will never be happy. the guy that pays almost full price will be happy and send you referals.

ya you can call BS on me...........but its SO damn true.

to think paying cash makes a difference is NOT right.......dealer might sell a car for cost if he can do your financing......they can make nice money on that. F&I at a dealership can be a VERY VERY well paying job

My wife does real estate pimp and she concurs with your opinion 100%. No BS just da facts man.

 

[e9999]

I always say something like "I'm sure you can come up with a good financing deal that will be easy to pay for, right?" at which point they start to salivate profusely thinking I'm the idiot who will argue on the price and get reamed on the financing or trade-in. Then I really haggle hard on the price but still keep the hazy financing option open. After we get to a rock bottom price for the vehicle, I go over the financing and it's always a really bad deal for me. At which point, I have to change gear and pay cash or come up with my own financing, and they can't really change the agreed price. They give up. Voila!
E