For some reason, I am known as the "guy" in the family to come to when buying a new car. Yep. My family is clueless. Anyway I usually go to a couple of free sites that seem to collect sales data and calculate the average price of a Toyota Xxx with package xx and then give you a range of price you should aim for...but I do not remember the specific sites. Any help? My nephew is looking for a brand new car and he and I would be quite thankful. And, or, any other tips would also be highly appreciated. He was at a stop sign in Seattle when he was hit by an unlicensed and uninsured driver. His 2023 Camry was totaled. No injuries, thank heaven.
Buying brand new is fine if you're a millionaire and don't care about the car losing 1/3rd of amount of money you paid for it in first couple years of of owning it. But for fiscally sane people who aren't millionaires, the best price on a 2022 or 2023 car is found from a private seller on Craigslist, Facebook marketplace and similar sites. Also best place to do the transaction is meeting the seller at your bank so they can see the money get withdrawn, or turned into a check or if they bank at the same bank its simply transfering money to their account. That way you don't have to carry a big pile of cash anywhere and there's plenty of cameras around for security. If you go through a used car dealer or regular dealership you waste a thousand or more in taxes and fees and they'll try to trick you into an extended warranty! Don't do it! Find a legit person who you like who is selling their car as honestly as possible.
An ex lives in Seattle. The Queen district or something like that He sells cars. Not Toyotas. Too plebeian. I just texted him. He suggests Burien Toyota or Seattle Toyota. Or have him come to Eugene Oregon. Lithia toyota. No sales tax. kris
Does he want a car instead of a truck? Is he a brand snob? What's the budget? Would he be willing to buy out of state? WAAAY out of state? Student or former military? Any "MUST Have" options? Credit score? - I always get pre-approved from my CU - and give their financial manager a chance to beat it by at least a quarter point. They (GMAC) actually DID twice before. START with the budget. Rule out "no-go" brands and try to decide on the car before you visit the lot - and then research the packages. Your nephew is already going to avoid the biggest mistake most new car buyers make - which is to trade in their old car when buying another one. Good Luck!
1. He is buying brand new. His theory is brand new and drive them until they are not worth fixing. Taking excellent care all the while. 2) Toyota...98 percent Camry 3) Prefer local, but maybe he will go to Oregon and meet Kris 4) Paying cash...imagine it will be around $34K. His rationale on buying brand new fits mine. He takes excellent care of his rigs. He knows too many folks who think things such as oil changes are optional. So, he will take the new car hit for the perceived peace of mind.
There are actually at least two thieves in buying a new car. 1. Car's actual price - Never pay more than MSRP + destination fees, less any factory incentives. Everything else is baked in. Any other mark-ups is a scam or hoax. There's a bunch of dealer hold-backs and other things that we don't even know about. It's like buying something on sale vs retail. MSRP is retail. Believe it or not, that's the easy part - because places like Costco, Sam's club, TrueCar, Autobytel will have most; but not all that information available. 2. The financing of the car is the second fight with plenty of add-ons that will only cost "a few more dollars a month". Go over that with a fine tooth comb - There's usually a bunch of additions and bogus fees layered on in there. If it's not a state or DMV tax/registration - it's bogus. There's plenty of YouTube video on various scams they pull and I would be typing until I'm dead trying to cover them all. Best to get a line-of-credit with your bank to side-step all these shenanigans. 3. Trade-in adds another layer. My best advice is DO NOT divulge: 1. how much you want to pay a month 2. how desperate you need a car 3. and demonstrate your ability to 'walk away'....... In CA; it's dealer's sticker price times 1.11 should be your 'out the door price'. That is you paying retail sticker price. You should be able to get a better deal than that. The 1.11 is an average of state, local taxes plus DMV registration fees. You can use that with any negotiated base price of the car - anything more than that, funny business was slipped into the sales contract somewhere. When that happens, let your FEET do the talking. Make sure it's a simple interest finance contract. The first contract they usually try to get you to sign is interest only for the first half of the loan, then your paying down the principal. They arbitrage the sales contract; split it and resell it to risk-takers that'll take the interest only portion and more conservative investors that want the hard asset side of the transaction - your car's title. That's why some people are surprised that they haven't chipped away at the principal owed after paying for 2 years and just lost their job. Dealership came in $5 over on one of my deals after spending 3 hours there. I WALKED; they jumped behind my car to prevent me from backing out, saying 'we'll wave the discrepancy'. I said sorry, I'm done; and are you forgetting the other 12 "discrepancies" I caught?????? I don't deal with liars and cheats; 12 miscommunications is my limit and you just stepped over the last one. Good Luck in your search..... PS. if you don't want to play those games, there are fixed fee negotiators out there too...
All of that narrows his options considerably - but he CAN look through the inventories on line and get some comps from the nearby dealerships. That will help a little. Good Luck!
My advice: He has settled on the brand and the form factor ... Toyota Camry Hybrid or ICE is one big question. '25 or '26 is the other. Once settled in to that, trim level. And then Packages. Have him play with those on the Toyota site and be sure to get the things that matter to him. He will keep the car for a good while so he doesn't want to hate not getting whatever feature. Lastly color from what is available.
Poking around, Toyota now only offers hybrid Camrys. And new 2025 Camrys seem to be in "no" supply, at least at the dealers I glanced at. But, the price on the '26 seem to be about the same as the 2025s, so why not a '26 (Camry). Yeah, I am having withdrawl from Toyota pains. But, I keep telling myself the Outback is safer. kris
Queen Anne Hill? Sales tax is set by where a car is registered, not where it is bought. I.e. we Washingtonians can buy cars in Oregon, but have to pay Washington sales to get registered here. (Technically called "use" tax, but the amount is identical to in-state "sales" tax.)
There is certainly value in avoiding the risk of buying someone else's problem. Evaluating and screening used cars is a skill that not everyone has. My first father had it, but was taken by the Grim Reaper long before I could learn his skills.
That's the place. The ex lives in an antique abode in Seattle and I am in a modest abode in the misty Oregon woods. BTW, by ex, I don't mean marriage. We met, explored life for a bit in our late teens and then embarked on different paths. Still friendly, actually visited there around Christmas 2023. kris
There is one dealer in any metro area that is far better than the others. Often they have higher volume. I usually drive 45-60 miles and pass other Toyota dealers when buying. Typically the fleet salesman can make a better deal with less bs. Never trade a car unless it is worth a lot and you get a sizable sales tax deduction; even then know the market value of the trade and only allow a reduced trade offer worth the sales tax deduction. If you have an old car to trade, sell it yourself and make $5k. Old trades are shipped to an auction and are nearly worthless to a dealer. Only finance at the dealer if you can get a below market Toyota Financial loan (like 2.9%), don't buy an extended warranty at the dealer even if you really want it (you can buy later up to 3 years 36k much cheaper), never buy a third party warranty, don't buy a maintenance plan and purchase the car at the end of the month. Know your numbers and check the contract against your notes taken during negotiation. Don't believe anything the sales guy says unless it is on the contract. Check the math. Walk if anything goes wrong and forget that dealer.
In stock, not quite new but no BS pricing. Drive it around for a few days to make sure it wasn't abused too badly. Most still covered by OEM factory warranties. Used Cars for Sale Near You | Hertz Certified
Hard pass for me on a rent-a-wreck. Same with 'fleet returns.' Nobody EVER takes good care of their rental cars! May be a good way to save money if you're only looking for a short term relationship, but I would not want to try to keep one of those puppies for 15 years.
No kidding, nearby dealership inventory at the moment: 4Runner (3) bZ (53) C-HR (1) Corolla (4) Corolla Cross (2) Corolla Hybrid (5) Crown Signia (2) Grand Highlander (1) Grand Highlander Hyb (3) Highlander (3) Highlander Hybrid (2) Prius (1) Prius Plug-in Hybrid (24)
I hear what your saying; but if you need something fairly quickly that's still fully backed by an OEM warranty with less than 30K miles and want something that's fairly priced w/o games - this is a great alternative. They have a 3 day rent to buy program; drive it around, throw it on a lift and get it fully inspected. Your correct that people who rent or lease don't take care of their stuff - because it's NOT their stuff. But if you need something NOW and grab something with less than 20K miles on it - there's the 3-day return policy and 12 month 12K mile warranty on top of the OEM warranty. I wouldn't touch a 50K+ miles rental beater because you don't know about the maintenance routine. I've seen Toyota motors go 20K miles without oil changes - no significant damage, though I wouldn't recommend it. Getting 15+ years out of a car is challenging, considering more and more idiots are on the road now-a-days. I've never had to replace a car because it stopped running - it's usually totaled out; because cars are pretty much disposable now.
