Competing with dealers over private sales

I’m patiently waiting for the right Tundra to fall in my lap eventually with everything I want. I have my specifics that really limit my pool and I have no need to rush, but I have had 3 private sales now where I essentially was outbid by a dealership scooping up a private sale and re-listing it for ~$5k over what I was going to pay the seller. One dealership even acquired one, I tried to negotiate with them, and then they turned around and sold the car to CarMax. I get there’s money to be made out there as well as a demand, but damn.

 

the used car market is broken.

I was in the boat of "i'll NEVER buy a new vehicle"....when i was shopping back in 2017, i realized exactly what you are going through right now. Used doesn't make sense.

Have you expanded your search to other states?

 

The more cash I save, the further I expand my search. Right now I’m keeping it to a 300 mile radius, but when I can get in the camp of being able to cover more than half the cost in cash I’m willing to start booking flights for the right truck. Doesn’t help that the markets on these keep going up in price since I started looking in January, so also hoping these new gen3/late season incentives help increase motivation and supply

 

(dont shame me) before i decided on the tundra, i was going to get a Ram Ecodiesel.....i almost flew a few states over, but just had a hard time committing to something i hadn't seen in person.....and at the time those engines were new and already had some known issues, so trying to get the sales people to investigate if some things had been fixed already didn't go well. It worked out for the best.

Best of luck on the hunt. It'll all be worth it when the right truck pops up in your search and you can get it!

 

In my experience, PP sales have higher price tags so I'm flabbergasted that dealers can throw $5k on top of what they're asking unless you were able to find 3 trucks where sellers were listing at exceptional pricing. Also, Tundras must be hot where you're at it the dealers can still turn a profit after doing a deal like that.

Where I'm at, Ram and Ford is King.

 

I was looking at rams for a bit but my boss talked me out of it. 3rd gen tundras drew me in until I test drove a 2.5 and really liked it. I flew out to buy “the perfect car” back in 2016 and luckily it went super smooth. I loved that car and was going to keep it forever until a kid ran a stop sign back in January and totaled it out; which has brought me to a Tundra hunt. Appreciate your advice and input.

Private party were listed between 38-40k and the dealers cranked them up 5k on top. The one I really wanted that they sold to Carmax, has Carmax asking 47k. People are still buying them, which isn’t helping my case any.

 

What year/trim/mileage was it?

 

between them they fell into the category of accident free 2018-2021, white, 4x4, in platinum or 1794. The one that went to Carmax had under 40k miles. They were all local to NC. Everything else I see have all been auction cars shipped in from the rust belt.

 

CarMax won't get 47k unless they have an eager beaver.

 

I hope they don’t, but here it is: https://www.carmax.com/car/25441263

 

The listing shows 30k miles. That's impressively low. They just might get what they're asking but I'd still talk them down.

Note: I'd love to gut the interior of a 1794 and put it in my SR5

 

The dealer that sold it claimed they bought it for $44.5 and wouldn’t sell it lower than $46, and then it ended up with CarMax. I don’t think CarMax has much wiggle, but I’m sure they figure it would be a quick sale. It was honestly a beautiful truck and I was at the dealer looking at it before they even got it to detail and it looked great.

 

I’m looking to sell my 2019 Cement Limited CM TRD OR with color matched topper soon with 80k miles on it. Similar trucks near me (only 3 within 250 miles) are going around $40k

 

Prices in Michigan on gen 2.5's are increasing. I bought my 2021 last October, 32k miles for $39k, $42,200 out the door.

I just sent this pic to my buddies an hour ago talking about how the market is picking up in price on Gen 2.5, as one of my buddies has been in the market recently

This truck has 6k more miles than my truck did, but is $5k+ more than I paid. Local prices all around for similar trucks are within $2-3k, one way or the other from this.

 

Truck pricing, along with everything else, is on the rise.

 

How do you talk them down if they are a no haggle dealer? their price is their price

 

You believe it when dealers say it's a "no haggle price" ? I got my 2015 Sequoia for a steal on a no haggle price that I haggled.

 

I guess it depends, as a former 10year employee at Carmax in CA-def was no haggle. But my last year there was a couple years ago, when shit really started to slow down, who knows now

 

I just can’t believe people are paying what they’re paying with the interest rates for used cars, and making it work. I mean, kudos to them, but to me it’s still pretty steep. I know we’re getting acclimated to the current climate when it comes to expenses, but it’s still just wild to see. I also understand this is essentially peak used car season as well

 

As employee's, we only got deal on the cars on the lot, when they there for 2 weeks or longer. Tundra's were never on the lot for longer than a week lol. The Carmax price vs dealer price brand new wasn't much different.
I ended up buying mine at the dealer brand new at the time. It didn't change much after 2015. Used tundra prices for 2014-2021 are still crazy. Who woulda thought private party would be selling to the dealers for a better price...than private party lol

 

That’s what’s wild to me. Even the KBB margins between dealer and private party are so close. Almost to the point I’m going to start leaving notes on Tundras in the wild in hopes someone might sell directly to me on impulse without doing their research.

 

I tried to deal with CarMax when buying my wife a SUV. They were about $1500 to $2000 over what dealership wanted for similar vehicle. When I told them they said that is the price and we don't negotiate. Told them to pound sand.

I am thinking Gen 2.5s are in demand right now and will stay that way until Toyota fixes the problems with Gen3s.

 

I think they will stay that way period. The 2.5 is Toyotas best full size V8 powered truck offering. Look at the first gens, even stronger demand for them now than ever.

 

The problem with Gen 2.5 is the 3.0 have been a disaster. Sooooo there are more 22,23 for sale than 2.5's. That is why 2.5's are going up, somebody wants a reliable truck and doesn't want domestic. I sure wouldn't buy a 22 or 23 with the engine recall....

 

I only buy used and that is huge reason I am driving my 4Runner instead of a Tundra. I was hoping for a successful launch of the Gen 3 Tundra so I could swoop in and get a 2.5 Gen Tundra in the trim and color I wanted for a great price to drive for the next 15 years after the original owner had grown tired of it. Hasn't happened and I am patiently waiting.

 

As to the used market;
My wife just traded in her 2019 Cadillac XT5 for a 2023 BMW X1.
Well, she sold the XT5 to Carmax and then bought the certified low-mileage X1 from a BWM dealer.
Carmax gave her $4000 more for the Cadillac than BMW would have done on the trade.
Her XT5 was paid for.

She's gets a new (to her) car every 3 or 4 years.
She usually buys dealer demos or very low mileage used.
She loved her SRX, but hated that XT5..

 

Again the 2.5 Tundra is in a very unique situation not relatable to other used cars. Toyota failed at the 3.0 launch and now the old 2.5 appreciates in value.

 

Same thing happened when the new Tacoma came out in 2016.

 

I was also in the "I'll never buy new" camp, but honestly with the used car interest rates now and the manufacturer's struggling to move vehicles you can get a better deal on a new vehicle. I traded in my 21 this weekend for a GMC for 10% below MSRP and a subsidized APR.

 

subsidized apr?