Dealer shenanigans?

I did all my paperwork and everything before I walked into the dealership via docusign without seeing the truck. I didn’t want to sit there all day on delivery day seeing how I had an 8 hour drive home. Total time in dealership was 35 mins and I was on my way.

 

Old post bump...

I live in rural California and only have 2 Toyota dealerships within 2 hours of me. One dealer is still doing market adjustments and I don't want to give them my business. The other dealership is trying to get me to sign a contract how you described, but they say they will sell at MSRP.

I offered to give them a deposit, but they said they only "reserve" with a contract. They want to finalize the sale price and payments, but NOT my trade-in value, and have me sign a contract in order to reserve the Tundra. Depending on interest rates, I might just be writing a check anyway. But the whole idea of signing a contract without seeing the vehicle and being in a contract not knowing what my trade-in valuation will be seems like this isn't a deal in the buyer's favor.

Current truck is a 2018 Tacoma worth about $32k.
Wanting to purchase a 2023 Tundra Limited TRDOR lunar rock with a higher trim package around $64k. I don't want the hybrid and I don't care about the bed length.

Is it normal for dealerships to still be doing the contract/reservation thing?

 

No, not normal. You want to test drive extensively on the freeway to make sure there's no whistling or wind noise. And make sure no other issues. It's much more painful to troubleshoot it later as lots of those don't have a fix yet.

If you sign the contract, and do the financing? Then you'll have to start making payments on the truck you don't have? Or they can reduce your trade in more and you won't have much say... Sounds like a shady dealer

CA has about 120+ Toyota dealerships, talk to a few of them on the phone, and you'll be able to find ones that won't need you to sign a contract. Negotiate the price on the phone and then drive 3-4-5 hours to finish the deal.

Where are you located?

Santa Maria and Lompoc dealership seemed happy to discuss pricing over the phone, as well as most northern California dealerships. Ones around LA area are more shady and want you to come in...

You can also get a car broker to help you, they'll find a Tundra for you at msrp without you having to play games - go on yelp and search for car broker. They'll help you for free, they work with dealerships and take a cut from them.

A non hybrid you should be able to find at msrp or so.

 

This is Santa Maria Toyota. I live in SLO.

SLO, Lompoc and Fresno are doing market adjustments. Bakersfield wasn't much help. "We don't have anything you're looking for allocated to us." Hanford is doing market adjustments. I drove to Oxnard to look at a lower spec'd one but someone else was test driving it when I got there and it was sold before I got to look at it. Haven't had much luck with Salinas, Seaside or Santa Cruz either. Most of the Bay is still doing market adjustments.

I want Lunar Rock, which seems to be the limiting inventory factor.

 

Have you tried elk grove Toyota? They sell at msrp only, you can try to get on their wait list and talk to sales rep, they did called me out of the blue as they had limited crew coming back when I was shopping.

Call broker and see what they can do... It doesn't hurt to get them engaged. It felt promising when I was shopping, now should be easier.

By the way, if dealer has a truck sitting on their lot, you may be able to negotiate at msrp or slight markup. Only when it's in route is when they're hard ass about it and won't budge

 

More or less this. I was never given a promise that my dealer would deliver exactly what I wanted. For whatever reason, they did not tell me they could secure X model with Y packages, etc. They simply told me they received what they were allotted, and they would call and email me with anything that came close to what I asked them for - if I liked it, they would hold it for me, and I could accept or pass, after seeing it in person.

I waited eight or nine months, but eventually got almost exactly what I wanted, at MSRP, with a few bonuses. Thank you, Parker Toyota.

ETA: never pay more than MSRP. There are too many dealerships that will sell at MSRP to even consider paying more. Eg - I bought a LE 4Runner when I was living in California. I bought it in Nevada, though, for $11k less than what any dealer within 150 miles of where I was would entertain for the same specs. California is a weird, and, if I may be so bold, HOSTILE, state. In most places in CA, it's not hard to get to AZ or NV to do business. Southwest may even have a special for tickets. The dealer you're buying from may even help you with travel costs...

 

That is where it gets dodgy. Sales contract signed by both parties are binding to include sales price. Other docs not so much. Various forums are full of folks with out a sales contract that deposit vehicle arrived and dealer sold it to somebody else for more or raised the price on the depositor. Your only recourse would be to sue which is Ok if you have 3-4 years of your life and $30k to spend on legal fees.

 

That sounds like he's going to screw you over on your trade in value. He'll have you locked into a sale and can do whatever he wants then. If you're in a position where you don't need it (only want it) the best thing you can do is walk. If he calls you back (which he probably will) then great, but know that there's more trucks where that one came from. They want a sale. period.

I bought mine sight unseen. Mine was on a train from San Antonio when I gave them $500 to reserve it. But I imagine you've done your homework and know what you're getting.

 

The "contract" is a deposit and reserve form. Would you rather give them your money and have no written agreement? There are a number of reasons why they offer the contract. Don't sign the contract unless you are sure you want the truck and you are willing to lose your money if you don't take the truck. Imagine going to pick up the truck to find out it's not what you agreed to pay, of course you can just walk away with your money but who wants to go through the process again, etc.

 

Why need a contract? My dealer took my $3k deposit on truck in route, send me a receipt, and that's it. Deposit is fully refundable. Anything else more than this is suspicious and benefits the dealer in giving more ways to screw you.

Op, you don't need to trade in truck to this dealer. You can take to any other dealer or carmax, whoever will pay you more. In CA we got to pay sales tax on full vehicle price so it won't benefit you to trade to this particular dealer

 

They didn't want a deposit, they wanted me to sign a purchase contract agreeing on their price and terms for the Tundra without telling me what they would give me as a trade-in value for my Tacoma. Didn't seem like a smart idea.

My unicorn ended up showing up on the lot in San Luis Obispo and I bought it last night. Purchased at MSRP and they gave me $32k for my 2018 Tacoma.

 

Very nice

 

My dealer is staffed with idiots and liars. The only thing right about them is they sell Toyotas and I told the GM that.

A TRD Pro is a lot of money, you should be able to see it first. Thats what the deposit was for, right?

Do you have ANY documentation that details the rules of the deposit?