Going to Toyota dealership in 5 hours, hit me with some advice

Hi,

Ok, my dream truck right now is a RCSB tundra, i know theyre impossible to find though had a near miss a couple weeks ago.

Talked to wife about it and have go ahead to just buy a tundra this afternoon (i wont, im financially super risk adverse, 43 and have only ever bought used cars so far) anyways will go to dealership and sit on decision for a month. Her opinion is that were really overdue for interest rates to sky rocket so could actually be a really good decision to buy now instead of waiting two years, i agree but these financial corrections seem to never come...

I phoned dealership and asked them for shortest wheelbase option they have which is a double cab with a 6 foot bed, it would be a "special order" but id want that with the TRD offroad package 4x4. I'm thinking this would be decent for me.

My biggest reason for wanting to go with toyota is for a bullet proof truck i have for 15-20 years that will last... I know the V8's have that reputation...im wondering if it might not be better to wait till 2022 and see what they put out. Saying that I'm a little worried the fill up price might be a bit of a shock for me and it might not be better to wait till 2022, which is against my own thinking because used to own a ford escape with a v6 and told wife theres no way id want that thing with a 4 cylinder because the engine would just be overworked all the time, which is usually my thinking.

Anyways just wanted to get peoples thoughts, thanks,

Mike

 

Tundras are difficult to find these days. If you see one on the lot that you like, you will have to sign the papers today or it will be gone tomorrow. If you order one then you are kind of locked in whatever Toyota's schedule is; again not in your hands how long you want to take to think about it. I totally get your thought process though; I tend to be the same on some big purchases.
Good luck!

 

I keep looking up mileage ratings and the tundras have the worst ones, are they really that bad compared to ecoboosts and all those other ones when theyre driven in the real world?

 

Real world, all pickups with gasoline engines are pretty much the same.

The new Tundra is expected to have slightly better fuel economy. But who knows if that will be offset by a higher purchase price?

 

Where are you located????

There are RC Tundras out there but it is just tricky to find them.

They do not make them anymore either so there is no ordering one Today,so which one have you settled on as an alternative exactly and why did you give up trying?

Do you have to have one Today?

There was another thread Yesterday here where I think we found 3 or 4 RCSB just yesterday.

 

All depends on how you drive it...keep it under 2k rpms and you will see some decent mpg numbers from a Tundra. Drive it like a race car and you will get some pretty bad mpg numbers.

 

Tundras are reliable, sought after so harder to find right now. As far a waiting on the new model- crap shoot. No idea when they will be out, how much $ and since a new model, there could be some issues they need to fix, recalls, etc. The V8 will last a long time. The new turbo v6 coming- well no way to tell what reliability will be like or what issues the new truck could have....and no way to know what real world MPG will be until Toyota releases more info on the new truck.

Tundras do not get great mileage, but none of the V8 truck do. If you keep it stock, including the tires, mileage is not too bad- 15ish city and 18/19 highway. Towing mileage sucks, but it will be bad on any truck, v8 or turbo 4/6s.

 

With your temperament (I share it), the best advice for you is to stay home this afternoon. Participate in this forum, gather intel, figure out exactly what you want (may be used), and slap yourself every time you think of going to the dealer.

Current pandemic conditions are absolutely the worst time for you to buy. If you have concerns about the lack of economy of the present Tundra, you should wait until the Gen4 comes out later this year. It promises more economy with more HP, more torque, possibly hybrid economy. Plus, regardless what interest rates do, Toyota will still have 0% interest promotions again in the future...guaranteed.

Take a DEEP breath, let it out slowly. Again.

 

Gas mileage may suck but you aren't going to beat the reliability of a Tundra.

 

Around town don’t expect more than 12-13 unless you grandma it. On the highway I get 18-19 depending on terrain and traffic. For instance I drove 170 miles round trip yesterday, half at 80 mph, half at 65 mph, and the trip status after turning off the truck when I got home said 18.5 mpg. I had about 500 lbs in the bed.

Make sure you get the 38 gallon fuel tank.

 

Remain patient, RCSB Tundra do pop up for sale> what is your location?

 

If you've driven a Tundra before, you've pretty gotten the idea and really don't need to go in to test drive anything else. (In my opinion). ALSO, you better not pay NO kind of mark up! If they have a mark up on a truck, you walk away immediately unless they're willing to deal from the MSRP.

Next, I would definitely stay home today. Get on your computer and either get on Autotrader or a site similar to that or do it the old fashion way of calling every single dealership within your state. Don't be afraid to tell them exactly what you're looking for. Also don't be afraid to try neighboring states.

*TIP* Don't tell any dealer "I need this truck for work" or present any necessity for the truck. Tell them you just started looking around and you're in no rush at all.

 

If there are multiple Toyota dealers near you make sure you know what kind of advertised prices the others are offering. If one is advertising a discount use that as leverage against the other dealer. I found that the dealer closest to me had the truck I wanted (color) but the dealer across town was advertising the same trim in a different color at $1,500 off MSRP. A screen shot from the web got me the same discount.

Negotiate on final price not payment.

 

Always ask for the Out the Door price and have them break it down. Realistically, in today's market getting any truck at MSRP is a decent deal and anything less than MSRP is definitely something you can feel good about.

If in fact you get a good deal on a truck, get it in writing! I've heard of people coming to a deal with the dealership and right before the truck gets to the dealership, they contact the potential buyer and tell them they HAVE to mark it up.

Be patient. I spent almost 2 months of constant phone calls, emails and text messages looking for my Army Green Tundra. Traveled to two states and drove up and down mine to find my truck.

 

Welderguy, there are plenty of threads/posts here and other sites that deal with the gas mileage. All I can say is, after owning only 4WD Toyota trucks since '94, and Tundras since 2002 is, yes it is what it is.

However, your other comments about Toyotas and Tundras specifically, regarding 'bulletproof', is as deserved as all the talk out there about gas mileage. Nothing is perfect, but if you do the maintenance properly the odds are very good that the truck will last a long time. After driving my '02 seemingly forever, I finally broke down and bought a '19 in December of '18. I had been putting away a bit of $ every month as an 'emergency fund' for each month I didn't have to make car payments, thanking my old Tundra with each passing month. That emergency fund got dipped into for several emergencies, but the funds were there to make a new Tundra possible when I finally broke down and bought a new one. The person who bought my old one got a good well maintained truck that only could have used a paint job... and will probably go a couple hundred thousand miles more if they maintain it as I had.

Buying a car or truck is not a trivial purchase for most, only having my '02 for so long trouble free gave me a way to save the money to make it easier to swallow a new one. So I get the funding concern for sure. That's why I bought the Tundra in '02. It saved me a lot of money by not buying cars over and over, and provided tons of vacation fun all over the west both on and off road. Only you know your use-case and finances, but if you are in a vehicle that is bleeding you dry, sometimes it is better to walk away before you toss more good money at it. I've been there and it was a financial hit to walk away from a car that I just paid off, but I was sick of dumping money in it for crap. Sometimes spending money is the wrong thing to do, and other times spending money saves you money and headache.

 

One thing I'm kinda worried about is Toyota will continue with their ridiculous interest rates on hybrids. Go for a Highlander gas and it's 2% interest, go for a hybrid and it's 5.5%. Maybe I missed the promotion for better, but we were watching and talking to dealers for a few months and never got better than 5.5% but did get a 0% offer for a gas. And they said a 0% rate on a Tundra was almost a guarantee. So the V6TT will get 0% at promotion times, likely 2% regular, but I'm not certain the hybrids will get this.

 

Thanks for all the replies guys,

I'm in Ottawa Canada, no i definetely dont need one today, at all, although i work in trades and do x-ray quality pipe welds so setting up my own rig is always in the back of my mind, which makes a dually probably make more sense if i got a diesel welder but a gas welder weighs a lot less so a 3/4 ton truck would handle it just fine.

Anyways ya when i think about it nothing has really made me give up on finding an RCSB, although the USA/Canada border situation makes it a little more complicated, its still shut to non-essential travel due to covid, Ottawa is about 45 minutes from the New york state border so cuts out a lot of territory.

You guys are right I'm not going to buy anything today, what drives the point home is my wife and father in-law are both saying buy today and my father in-law's advice is pretty well always wrong.

Ill look up RCSB threads, although i should say i have never seen a 0% interest rate this side of the border, im sure they exist but maybe just in the USA

Mike

 

If you do set up a rig I recommend going 3/4 ton - been around a bunch who have done 3/4 diesels. The reason has to do with commercial regulations - I'm a little fuzzy on Ontario as I can't get a straight answer from anyone, but BC has restrictions on 1 tons that doesn't exist with 3/4 tons (true 3/4 tons I should put, GVWR <10000 lbs as new GM 3/4 tons can be GVWR of 11500). From what I've been told 1 tons in Ontario are treated similarly as semi's - log books, inspections - while 3/4 tons fall under lighter commercial pickup regulations - less frequent inspections and no log books. I'm a little fuzzy on it as I know of some Alberta crews that went to Ontario and didn't change anything with 1 ton duallies loaded with quads; Alberta they don't enforce anything unless you give them a reason, so log books and daily inspections aren't done.

 

IMHO, no. Yes, if you're driving along an Ecoboost or what have you, you might get 20-23MPG or so. I know a *few* who do.

With that said....the mileage on mine is *better* than advertised. I was told 13MPG city, 17MPG highway, and probably 14MPG mixed.

What I got with my F150 (5.0): 15MPG city, 17MPG HWY, 16MPG mixed for about the first 75K miles...then it dropped like a stone and NOTHING I did got any better than 15MPG.
What I get with my Tundra: 15MPG city, 17.5-18.5 HWY, probably 15.5-16MPG mixed.

Yes, I can save some....but I can also tell you that literally every single person I knew with an Ecoboost had at least 3 recalls; and 3 of them had pretty major issues, one of which required a short block replacement. Not that EVERYONE will, but my overall point is that I'd rather settle for the guarantee of paying a few grand more over a decade or so for gas...than the strong possibility of paying at least that much, if not more, for repairs on another truck.

 

Happy Wife, Happy Life !

could be wrong but sense not totally committed. Stick to your gut and wait that month before deciding !

 

belanger9,

I did a job as a pipeline helper and yes I can tell you the guys with duallies had to do the full log book deal (this was ontario), i could tell it was a real pain in the ass, had to record hours slept, not working but awake, everything. Guy i was a helper for had a regular full size (or did have a dually but it was underweight for commercial?) and was running a lincoln 305G, gas fueled, you could tell it really worked for him, he was a good welder, no log book.

Anyways.....yes theres literally no dealerships with tundras in stock in the entire city of ottawa, so...i ended up halway through the process of ordering one, but the purchase agreement isnt binding, and i only got through half of it because the phase where they take you to a back room to meet some guy who upsells you on everything didnt happen cause that guy was too busy, they cant even give a timeline, it will be weeks to months till it comes in.

Going for a extended cab with a short bed in grey concrete, trd offroad package, shortest wheel base i could get, measured it out on my driveway, seems decent, not going to be running the family around in it, decent inside storage in the back seat and enough room in the bed. the concrete grey colour looks amazine with the "blacked out" option you can get.

Anyways when it eventually comes in i can back out because they can just turn around and sell it the next day, still need to go back and complete the upselling phase so can still back out, either that makes sense or sales guy got me, lol.

 

thanks for this take on the mileage, really helps

 

Hi Guys,

Just thought id update, not going through with purchasing new, its just too weird right now. I don't know if this is a specific to my area thing but dealerships can now do exactly what they want. Theres no tundras on any lot in my city, you basically have to go into a dealership, pay 500 and sign a purchase agreement, and they may deliver a tundra to the dealership for you when they feel like it, you have no leverage trying to buy whatsoever. I've actually been told you can make some money flipping a truck and selling for more than you paid for, which while intriguing this market is so crazy i dont really want a part of it, going to stay on the lookout for a RCSB for around 20 grand, i hate payments anyways and have that cash on hand if anyone is looking to sell.

 

Ok - I'm just not following here...

"Interest rates will skyrocket any day - so buy now" - first WHY do you think rates will skyrocket...andcwgats your idea of skyrocket? Hitting 4% on auto would be over a hundred basis point jump and 25% above current...on a 40k purchase over 5 years -how much interest is that - a grand? Now assume your right and rates go up - car sales traditionally do the opposite - so prices will theoretically drop. Your unlikely to gain or lose with this theory of a jump as you gain negotiation room likely of the 1k you lost in interest.

"Your dream truck is a Toyota" - good, you've identified what you want - why not buy it. Assuming your financial affairs are in order - its not the worst decision you could make - and it's what you WANT. Your bound for a dull life if you only do things for financial gain or maximum return - no vacation, no nights out, no entertainment - none of these things are "investments" or have a solid benefit financially...but life is more than finances.

"Buying used" - Toyota has a great reputation - no doubt...BUT you buy uses, your taking what the dealer has to sell and whatever abuse the last owner subjected it to. There's a benefit in buying exactly what you want and getting the worry free benefit of knowing it's history - especially if your committing to 15-20 years. Keep in mind Toyota resale is excellent and scarcity sometimes leads to excessive high price used. A non Toyota dealer might only have 1 clean late model used and no more in the pipeline to sell once it's gone...but a Toyota store has a line of new ready to be ordered once they sell what's on the lot (at least the non limited production trims).

"Waiting for 2022" - you can wait, and maybe it yields a positive outcome...but again maybe it doesn't. Its a coin flip at this point. If as expected higher trims get a twin turbo and base gets the non turbo 6...expect base trim used to increase in value. The bigger engine will be viewed as a positive. 2020-21 will be a sweet spot as all will have the bigger v8- some of the tech and all will be relatively new.

If I was buying a 1794/Platinum - I might be more hesitant...but also keep in mind 2022 is sure to see a price increase. It's much easier to price say 3000 higher and then hang an incentive if it doesn't sell then price 3000 low and try to hike pricing mid year. Those higher trims will probably be first to hit lots- but I'd take a 2021 now personally vs hoping and paying the increase. What are you gaining - a twin turbo 6 vs the 8 and a 12" screen in the radio. Most will take the 8 and the 3mpg loss and aftermarket stereos give you the screen size and better sound.

 

Don’t get caught up in the pressure to buy it or it’ll be gone... There will always be another. Especially if going new because although a shortage they keep on making them... If you don’t find it in your backyard you’ll find it at a nearby state or a small town dealer.

Maybe only feel the pressure if you’re looking at a fair priced, low mileage, mint truck from a private party that you know the next guy to view will snatch it up because it is that good of a deal.

 

This year is different than any others though. Soon enough the Tundra plant is going to shut down to re-tool for the next generation and there's already a short supply. Alberta here almost always has 30-50 Tundras in stock at the big dealers around this time, but from 5 of the biggest in the area there's 5 total, so normal supply is around 150 at those 4. So if you want a brand new V8 Tundra your options are very limited, and unlikely to get better.

Normally your advice is spot on, but this year isn't normal. So if someone finds what they want they are quite lucky actually. Only people who aren't picky on what they want can hold off, and this year there's no negotiating with dealers - it's take it or leave it at this point.

 

Still don’t make a dumb financial gotta have it now or never will mistake...Unless you want brand spankin new V8 Tundra today, buy now...Otherwise thing will iron out and There will be plenty of nice used V8 Tundras to be had and maybe even more when the people that are tundra owners but not enthusiasts (outside of this forum) trade or put up for sale their V8 for the latest and greatest or perception they are saving a bundle at the pump with the increased mpg of the new model.

you sound like you’ve always made savvy auto/financial decisions so why change now?

 

I did the math. If a person drives 10,000 miles per year, going from a 25 MPG vehicle to a 17 MPG vehicle will required an extra 181 gallons of gas a year. So going from a 17 MPG Tundra to a 20 MPG Ford...78 gallons per year. It is nothing. But I get that gas, prices and MPG are a very emotional topic and a source of (false) pride for many. I used 17 MPG for a Tundra as that is what I have gotten out of every gallon I have pumped into it..mixed driving about 60/40 HWY/CITY. I would expect a different set of tires would get me another 1-2 MPG compared to the ATs that came on it.

 

Yes Im a little all over the map i realize that, the idea with interest rates is something that just doesnt include car sales, governments have been printing money like lunatics so the effect SHOULD be that inflation skyrockets, when that happens interest rates should follow....so following that logic you buy a 50,000 truck not and pay it off over seven years at a locked in low interest rate and the amounts youre paying should be increasingly less as the amounts wont keep up with inflation. Like im saying that SHOULD happen but my city has been due a housing crash for decades and it never seems to happen so could be wrong.

The rest of my craziness is me just thinking out loud, ive always bought used and paid cash so never had payments, this has worked out well for me since it gives me more financial freedom, when jobs piss me off i can quit at the drop of a hat. I drive a 2012 honda civic right now and theres nothing wrong with it, but i work in trades and trucks do have their utility, im probably screwing myself not being set up for side work, ill tell you straight though i hate driving big trucks around parking lots designed for compact cars, thats why i was originally looking for an RCSB and im going back to that, best of both worlds.

 

Thanks for this again, youve really helped me out not being afraid of a V8 engine.