I hope Toyota Extends the Tundra rebates- dealers on lock down

Well... before all this hit I was going to buy a new Tundra...
Then I realized the economy was going to heck fast, and my business would be taking a hit so I started thinking it might be wise to wait until this all blew over.

Now the rebates out there die March 31, but the Dealers here have been told they can’t sell cars until the end of April because of the stay at home order.

Unless Toyota pushes the rebates out (extends them) ... I may just hold off all together.. but who knows.

Huh... while I’m typing this a Ford Commercial came on - they are deferred all payments 3 months... pretty smart

I’ll tell you what, the shut down is impacting many more businesses that I thought it would..

 

I musta got lucky then - not only did I get the rebate, but I got it last Friday.

I didn't get the deferred payment (and frankly I'd rather not), and I "only" got 1.9% for 6 years (though I'll be making quadruple payments so it'll be paid off in like a year and 4 months), but I did get

- lifetime engine warranty
- $100 towards parts
- 4 years maintenance covered

 

I have never heard of lifetime engine before

 

I've seen the lifetime engine thing through a few dealers...not through Toyota. Some dealers offer longer basic warranty....things to differentiate themselves from other dealers.

Course depending on who's actually backing the warranty, it may or may not be any good if the dealer goes out of business.

 

You are correct; it's not technically Toyota, it's the dealership. With that said, I've spoken to any # of people who have had the warranty, and have had to get anything from teensy stuff to an actual engine replacement (only one of the latter), and all of them confirm it's on the up-and-up. They simply had to show that they'd kept up with oil changes and the like - no jumping through hoops.

Where I bought mine, it's provided by Zurich Insurance or whatever they're called. And the dealership is going nowhere...it's right outside the Army post I work on, and therefore there will never be any shortage of young and dum....er, financially inexperienced privates to buy vehicles way too expensive for them to afford. LOL

 

Chevy announcing 0% for 84 months on most vehicles with no payments for 120 days.

 

we had an auto group locally close 8 of their 9 dealerships two years ago (might be all 9 by now).

If the warranty is backed by a 3rd party that seems better than backed by the dealership? maybe.

 

Zurich is a pretty reputable company; and I got the vehicle for about the same price - or maybe a bit less - than others who got the same vehicle without the lifetime thing, so hey. But this particular dealership has been around for decades and isn't going anywhere, anytime soon, since it's right outside a military post and is the only one for about 70 miles.

 

don't get me wrong. all things being equal, I'd buy the truck from the dealer that's offering the lifetime engine warranty. Nothing to lose and potentially lots to gain.


in my case, there was one Tundra outfitted like I wanted (2WD DCLB with SR5 option package) in a 250 mile radius. Tried having my local dealer trade with the dealer with the truck and they couldn't/wouldn't. Had another dealer call me and say he'd beat the price the dealer with the truck was selling it for by $500.....if he could get the truck. bah, why are you calling me and wasting my time?

So an 1 1/2 drive to the dealer with the truck I wanted.

 

Ditto for me. It wasn’t the deciding factor, but it helped.

In our case, the biggest deciding factor was the fact that we previously purchased a vehicle at this dealership; and good friends of mine grew up with our salesman, so he sort of had to treat us right. LOL. (At least according to our friends - “You let us know if he screws you over!” )

 

our salesman was great, it took a bit to work out the deal through email, then went I got there he took a bit more off.

The finance guy on the other hand....he was all nice and talkative...until we said no to all the extras he was trying to sell. Then it was sign here, sign here. I almost expected him to say 'now get out' when we were done.

 

I almost forgot - that was another part of the dealership's allure. They may not discount *quite* as deep as some others (though close), but I've seen them jump thru hoops to support their customers. One of their things is no drawn-out contract signings.

When we bought my wife's vehicle, I wasn't there (both of us have excellent credit so she did it on her own). Wife had an hour (she was on lunch break), and I later found out that from the time she walked into the dealership to the time she walked out, it took 45 minutes for everything. LOL

When we went there last Friday, I told them from the get-go that I had a ton of customers I needed to get things done for (gov't IT, working on VPN, etc.), and that while I'd DEFINITELY be back to talk and all that, I needed to get things done ASAP.

It took them EXACTLY 31 minutes, from the time we walked in, to the time we walked out with keys in hand. Finance guy said "I'm assuming you don't want any of the warranty extensions or any of that stuff, right?" I said "Yep" and he said "Cool, moving on...." LOL!

 

Frankly if they go to zero percent interest, with the current dealer rebate... and a lifetime warranty - I’d call the dealer and order it so I could pick it up at the end of the 30 day (april 25th) order... until then they can’t deliver anything because they are non-essential bus. .. bummer.

I did find that some of the dealers here are also do the lifetime warranty on the engine / power train ... so I’m glad you mentioned it.

 

the finance guy in our case was trying to use scare tactics....I thought those went out years ago....you know the Toyota bumper to bumper warranty doesn't really cover that much. But this additional warranty covers everything.....if you don't wash your truck every week, they won't cover any problems with the paint ...and so on.
I was like, this isn't my first rodeo, I've bought enough vehicles in my life to know you're full of it....but in the interest of getting out of there as quickly as possible I didn't argue with him. I just politely said no to all his additional crud.

 

Scare tactics won’t work in my case - I have a 2007 tacoma with 195k miles on it, the frame and springs were replaced under the TSB’s, I had the rear differential go bad (e-locker), and both front wheel bearings - other than that - the thing is bullet proof now..

Frankly I could wait for a couple years before I replace it but I retired and my wife Forester is getting up there so I wanted to replace my truck now and then her car in a couple of years.

Again the discounts w/Zero percent & a lifetime warranty... and I will be calling the dealer vs. posting this stuff...

 

I had no reasons to buy my 2020....other than I wanted it. I had a 2016 that was great....but I found the exact truck I wanted when I bought my 2016. with the trade-in, $2k rebate and low interest loan, the 2020 didn't end up costing my that much more than what I was paying on my 2016.

 

I’m pretty loyal to Toyota.. a lot of that has to do with them taking care of problems with my Taco frame...
But I also run use my trucks hard and take really good care of them mechanically - so that they last a long time.

I grew up a Ford guy, and all my friends are Ford guys so it was hard not to look back that way now that they don’t rust anymore (alum. Frames)
If they had perfected that 3.5 Eco-boost, or NOT screwed up their 5.0 which are now eating oil really badly I might have looked harder. Te reality is if you ask a ford guy if they’d buy a 145k Ford F-150 Eco-boost and they’ll say no... So it really comes down to Ford’s 5.0 vs. Toyota’s.

BUT What it REALLY comes down to is a Good Dealer, and good Company support... This is the real reason I was OK buying early.

 

had a 2000 Ford F150, no real problems. Traded that for a 2008 Chevy truck...oh my what a piece of crud. thing didn't make it 10K miles before it was in the shop for warranty work. over and over again. transmission needed rebuilt at 72k. final straw was when 3 things broke on the same day, one of which was the drivers door wouldn't latch...on a rainy day. I was done with it....time for it to go. Didn't have 100k on it yet.

my 2016 tundra had a front brake rotor warp and that was it...that was easy to fix myself.

 

I did have a T100 when I lived in Colorado, when it got dust on the rotors they warped as well... other than that it was a great truck.... and my first Toyota. My second is / was my 07 Taco... and that truck has hauled more deer, elk, lopes, .. and logged more miles than any truck I’ve owned.

 

mine get dust on them every day...1200' long gravel driveway will do that.

when we found a good deal on hay for our horses, I loaded my 2016 Tundra up to the gills....we figured it had about 2500 pounds in it. handled it without an issues. Don't think I'd want to do that on a daily basis.

 

I agree with every bit of this post. I actually traded in a 2013 F150 5.0 on our 2020 CrewMax. Honestly, I never had one problem with my truck - not any legit issues, anyways. I had two recalls (neither of which affected driveability), but nothing bad at all.

I didn't 'need' a new truck; but given that small stuff was starting to go south, and the 5.0L had almost no low-end torque, AND the deals that they've got recently....I couldn't stay away. Every time my wife and I drove by she'd say "Man, that bright blue truck is NICE....."

And now we own it.

 

Well both Toyota and Ford have 90 day payment deferment...
Ford went a step further to say - 3 payments for free (they are adding discounts)..

Damx virus BS is hurting everyone... now I have to see if I can swallow buying the truck when my own business can get side swiped by all this.

 

Chevy is 0% for 7 years and no payment for 4 months. Also they lowered the qualifying credit score to 640 I believe. Just something to think about. I love my tundra but that’s a legit deal.

 

if they keep the country on lockdown for 3 or 4 months its going to make 2008 economy look like a cake walk. They need to come up with a new plan. They can't print enough money to bail out all the businesses that will fail because they had no business for 3 or 4 months....plus all the unemployment that will go along with that.

 

I'm open for business...what you need?

 

Still not enough to make me buy a Chevy. LOL A buddy owns two of them (they're pretty well off) and they're very nice trucks, very capable, built well.

BUT

Both of them have been in the shop - one for MONTHS - for various things.

 

Toyota is hurting I bet they will have all kind of deals coming in the near future.

 

I think all auto manufactures are in this market.

 

For reference, I got a call from a large volume dealer I was inquiring with 3 weeks ago before all this happened.

I was just quoted 14% off MSRP before any negotiations on a 2020 Tundra Platinum CrewMax:

• MSRP: $54,270
• Offer: $46,637 (14% off MSRP)
• Rebates: $2,750
• Net Price: $43,887 (19.1% off MSRP)

 

Wow. Crazy good deal.