Yeah, TDA does vary by region, in my area it's $400. What shouldn't be on the invoice (but are) are dealer holdback and wholesale financial reserve. When you bargain, let the salesman know that you know the dealership gets all of the dealer holdback and some of the wholesale financial reserve back from Toyota (depending on how long the car has been on their lot). So in my case, if I'd have paid invoice, the dealership would still have been getting between $450 and $675 in profit. So don't let them pretend you're putting them out of business by paying under invoice. Pit your local dealerships against each other and watch their offers drop. If they don't like competition, they're in the wrong business.
yes, invoice gets them a 3% profit, and certainly I encourage people to get as low as they can...but lets be reasonable, there are some overhead costs, and $600 profit doesn't seem unreasonable on a $23000 item, does it?
Even with holdback and financial reserve, I don't think you'll know the actual dealer cost unless you're in that business. Like I said before, I paid $21,909 (no haggle at all), and others have paid for less than $21,700. Are the dealers still making profits based on those prices? Definitely.
I certainly agree with the above. Also, there are some advantages to buying a car at end of the month, quarter, year...as my understanding is dealerships can gets bonuses for meeting certain sales targets...so if you get lucky and walk in ready to by a car and the dealer is 1 car beneath that quota, he may very well give you a price that really is below dealer cost on that 1 vehicle, but he's willing to loose $300 on the one car to get that $10,000 bonus...
Hi member 3c3, you are from bay area and you said some people get package 2 for 21700. Can you let me know which dealer ship is that? Thanks a lot.
I bought a black 08 #2 on Feb 24 (or around, can't remember exact date now) for $22,465 OTD including $400 recent grad discount. VA sales tax is 4% where I live. The only extra I had was the rear bumper applique.
Depends on the dealer's investment in the inventory. If the dealer doesn't have to put anything up (on consignment essentially), then $600 is infinite profit. Moreover, I don't think % based is an appropriate metric for profit in this business. The actual cost to the dealer is some fixed overhead (lease, facility, office equipment) and variable cost (sales commission). Of course, I have no real idea what I'm talking about since I've never worked at or owned a dealership!
This Saturday, I purchased a standard black 08 prius, with basic package 2 options, for a total cash "drive-away" price of $25,511. Dealership includes free oil changes every 5,000 miles. Move over Excursion....you have a new friend in the garage.
