i know that you can not bargain on the price of a scion tc itself, but i was wondering if the dealers are willing to bargain on the price of some of the accessories. it would be great if you could get a few bucks knocked off the TRD suspension parts! but more realistically could you get the floor matts thrown in for free?

 

ebay my friend, ebay


neither the car nor the accessories are negotiable at the dealer

 

you're buying a 16,000+ car and are wanting to save some money on a few hundred dollar parts? or $150 floor mats? just get a few options from a dealer you don't want to put on yourself and go to www.mcgeorgeparts.com or www.trdtoyota.com or www.ebay.com

there's no haggle pricing on the car or accessories, you pay MSRP. period. Some say that's a good thing, some don't, but I know I'd rather know I got the same deal as everyone else rather than haggle for 2 hours and save a few hundred, or get ripped for a few thousand.

now the APR is a different matter to haggle on, but the difference from say 4% and 12% (best and worst from toyota, give or take) is only about $1500 and on 5 years - that's $25 a month, so... "Know Your Credit Score Before You Walk In The Door®"

and have fun buying your car, and I mean that sincerely, even though I can't believe I'm saying it :D

 

Also...theres no room to "haggle" on TRD parts...theres a ridiculously low, 8% mark up on most TRD parts.

 

As far as the accessories go, eBay is probably your best bet to save the most money. Those other sites are good also, but you can still come out cheaper on eBay if you know what those sites charge and don't bid over that. I got floormats, door sills, and pedals for 170 (including shipping) off eBay.

 

To recap, the only room for haggling is on financing and trade-in value...

 

there's a little misinformation going on here. you can't haggle the interest rate especially and should not be able to negotiate the trade in value. The finance rates through TFS are posted on each dealer website just like the car prices and the accessories. If you score a 691 and that puts you at 4.45 you get 4.45 from TFS. period. We get audited monthly and a different interest rate would make you non-compliant which = 30% of cars gone. Not too many dealers would be willing to risk it. If its another lender that a whole different story, as the rates are probably not posted on the internet so there really isn't any proof you cut someone a deal.

The trade issue is supposed to be just as transparent, I guess some places you might be able to wiggle a little bit. It's funny how they came up with this process to make it easier for the customer and its the customer that often wants to do it the "old way".

 

The problem with what you said is that not all dealers go through TFS. Also, the trade-in valuation was fairly striaghtforward at the dealers I went to, but they all started way low (as in, about 65% of KBB wholesale value) and then went up a little bit (75% of KBB wholesale) if you prodded.

 

its possible to not finance through TFS, however, according to our covenant TFS has to be given first shot at any financible deal (assuming the customer doesn't come in with a draft). if TFS declines it then you can go to another bank. if TFS accepts it and the customer still wants a lower rate, TECHNICALLY the customer must show a pre-approval for a specific rate at another lender. then we're allowed to rate shop.

these are the official rules, but not everyone is following them obviously. its kinda similar with the trade issue. as long as there is no paper trail showing negotiation, then you can't get caught for it. our auditors are getting really strict about it though so we've just been following all the rules we know to abide by. we used to rate shop to get lower rates for customers, but now without a decline letter or pre-approval, if we finance outside TFS its non-compliant. with trades we just give our total money up front. so you have one shot with the trade #, if they don't like it then well ...

 

$25 a month? Try $60. there is a big difference from the very top to the very bottom. 4.3 on the top end and 12.5 on the bottom end. The 5 grades listed on Scion's website at as follows 4.3 for a 730 fico, 4.4 for a 690 fico and up, 4.85 for 650 fico and up, 9.75 for 620 and up and 12.5 for under 619 fico (also for people with limited credit history).

From grade 1 to grade 3 there would be at most 6-9 dollars difference in your payments. from grade 3-4 it would be closer to 20-30 dollars a month and from grade 3 to grade 5 it would be a difference of 40-60 dollars a month

 

Well, the intent of the process is subject to interpretation. The only thing that has really changed is the prohibition on negotiation. Dealers don't seem to be nearly as anxious to give up F&I schenanigans, packs, junk fees, etc. None of these are advantageous for the consumer.

 

heh, yup, that's what happened when my gf and I went in. we were told 5.25% was the only rate they'd give us, b/c of the no hassle thing. we pulled out a check (literally) from a lender where all we had to do was sign it and we'd get 4.25%. *Then* they shopped us around and beat it by .1%. Not quite no-haggle, but overall I'm pretty impressed with the no-haggle pricing. With the demand of the tC I doubt you'd be able to negotiate on one for a while anyway...

 

The dealers around here just don't use TFS. They use Southeast Toyota Finance -- a division of the largest Toyota distributor in the U.S. I'm pretty sure they're not doing it behind Toyota's back.

 

surely toyota rakes in more than 8% profit from some $175 floor mats and a $3000 super charger that only provides an extra 40hp(im still very ignorant about the performance potential for a tc, but my point is simply that $75/1hp isnt a very good dollar per hp ratio in general). i could be wrong though

and if thats the case then the no haggle policy even for accessories is very understandable. it just seems to me that if you get the car all by itself, then its an incredible deal. however once you start throwing in all the extras on to the bill, it doesnt quite seem like such a bargain, which is why i asked originally if there was room to "make a deal"

 

I work at a Scion dealership as a salesman and there is no haggling on anything, including the rate. Otocan is right, know your score or credit before going in but rates are posted on the dealership's website and it is against Scion's rules to change what is posted. Also, it is against the law to overcharge interest rates by more than 3% in most states. But a dealership cannot haggle ANYTHING so whatever they tell you is what they HAVE to sell it to you at. If they try to do the old "if I could, would you" game, let Scion know about it.

 

Obviously the dealers can wiggle on over-the-counter accessoires sales, else I doubt eBay would have the parts as cheap as they do. I highly doubt dealers are selling on eBay below cost.

 

yeah i'm sure TRD does make some cheese on the parts they sell to us, but the dealer sees very little of it. there's much more money in aftermarket accessories outside of TRD. wiggle room on parts OTC? yeah maybe. i work the deals up front and make sure my stuff is squared away and i'm compliant. OTC parts don't go inside our deal jackets so you've got a lot better chance of "wiggling" on them. BUT, the convenience of financing them is a lot more appealing to most people than paying out of pocket.