Call 800-444-2442 ask for Justin Casey, tell him you know Larry, the guy who bought the TCH last November. He seemed very honest when I dealt with him. He deals over the phone (I bought the car from 2 states away).

 

The dealer makes that money. I even suggested that they write up the deal with financing and I would then immediately pay it off. I was making this suggestion so that I could get an even bigger discount. Didn't work but that is because I bought mine when gas prices were $3.75 and demand was off the charts. Got mine for $750.00 over invoice and got lots of goodies thrown in (unrelated to my ability to pay cash).

Scooters - good job - that is a great deal but keep in mind that dealer invoice does not mean dealer cost!

Regards,

Ron

 

FYI - this toyota dealership posts the dealer cost of the hybrids. I think it is accurate. http://www.boch.com/BOCHHTML/BochToy...ehicleType=Car It does not say what the car really comes with so you have to guess based upon the MSRP but that is not too hard.

Knowing what the dealer paid is ammo for negotiation.

Good luck.

Ron

 

Employee pricing starts at approx 22,700 for non-nav cloth TCH

 

Got my 09 TCH last Thursday (after a 10 week wait for it to be built) and paid cash for it. I paid list price, which I had confirmed before I ordered it. I was told up front that I would have a very hard time getting a 'stock' TCH, since dealers were able to quickly sell any hybrid they could get into the showroom. So I ended up with alloy wheels and the interior package, but I only paid list for the whole package. I'm glad I got the interior package, btw. Bluetooth and the upgraded sound system w/ 6 disk changer are things I'd have a hard time doing without, now.

 

I was able to get financing through my credit union before I went to the dealership, so I was able to negotiate like a cash sale. The dealer was trying mightily to sell me their financing, but we resisted their blandishments. The credit unions weren't let loose to play in the financial "casino" of Wall Street like the banks were, so they are not part of the meltdown.

The dealership that I went with wanted the sale badly enough to meet Fitzmall's price. Since the transportation costs were quite different, I went with th lesser of the two. $700.00 vs. $40.00. But I was prepared to take the long trip. if necessary, so I had a good position to bargain from.

 

I ordered by TCH about 3 months ago, and just took delivery of it a few weeks ago. I paid what was then $500 under MSRP and what became $1000 off of MSRP at the time of delivery. The difference comes from the fact that Toyota keeps raising the price of this car.

In my area, the TCH is a hot car and still commands MSRP even in this ecconomy. I suppose you can save some money if you buy a car off the lot, but around here you will have a hard time finding a TCH on a lot, especially if you want a particular color and feature set.

Every region is different. However, bargaining power is increasing, but this is offset by the fact that MSRPs are increasing as well.

 

Hal, You are right, there is holdback, TDA and a bunch of other stuff, plus any "bonuses" that dealers get for volume, etc.

Obviously the dealer has to make some money to stay in business. Our job as the customer is to keep that amount to a reasonable level.

I sold my TCH in Texas and I'm buying in the D.C. area. (see my other post)

In my case a little over "Invoice" is about $3,000 off "Sticker."

Here in Texas, the deal would have been different.
- I would have paid Sticker +$3,000
- I would have had to buy the Gulf States "fluff packages" +$2000
- They would have given me less on trade-in +$2000
- I will pay extra sales tax since I didn't trade in the car to the new dealer and will have to pay travel expenses from the dealer in D.C. to Texas -$1500'

Overall, I'm "up" about $6,500 by not trading in locally.

 

Cash shows you're a serious buyer, but the dealer makes more money if they arrange the financing for you. You might get the loan at 6 or 7% but they dealer's "buy rate" is usually a couple points lower than that and they get paid based on that spread. That's why a lot of times when the finance guy suggests "buying the rate down", the money is simply going to them upfront and they're lowering the spread rather than taking more of the percentage they get back from the bank.