MacGyver

I heard a lot of good things about Costco's car buying service. Basically, if the car you want it on the lot, you can use Costco to arrange a no haggle price. You end up paying invoice for the car, and the dealership actually pays Costco a few hundred bucks for the referral. If anyone here has used it, I'd love to hear about it.

Truthfully, I'm 41 and this is the first new car I've ever bought. There's definitely some truth to the saying that for most people, their car is the reason they're poor. Add in multiple cars and being upside down in vehicles, and you dig a hole that's hard to get out of. For all of my adult life, I've driven sub $10000 cars that I've paid cash for. And, man have I gotten my money's worth. A reliable car is really a necessity in today's suburban America. I've only lived two places where I really didn't need a car - Manhattan and Seattle. Both have excellent mass transit, and I was single in both cases. Seems like for most of us these days, the line between wants and needs is really blurred. In this case, I bought a new truck because my financial advisor showed me that the money was leaving my account one way or another - either to the Feds in taxes or to Toyota. Basically, it's the one benefit you get as a small business owner. I used my bank to get a simple loan when we bought my wife's truck when we had our third kid. We bought it right when cash for clunkers was going on, and there just wasn't much available in the range we wanted to spend. We had the cash, but decided to hold onto some of it to keep the emergency fund a bit higher. I think it was a 2.5% loan for 2 years. The dealership was appalled that we would qualify for so much but didn't want it. It's going to take a while, but the current model is going to change. Either the Teslas and Apples of the world will just start selling direct, or the Ubers and Lyfts will just start supplying their own cars. It may take a generation, but what we've got now isn't going to last.

Dave is probably right that we're so out of the norm that most salesmen don't know what to do. But find one that gets it, and they realize that's probably the easiest money they'll make all day. Invoice is readily available on about anything out there today. There's no reason someone should walk onto the lot not knowing exactly what the car with the options they want us going to cost. In my case, knowing invoice I called several dealerships and told them what I wanted, that it was going to be a cash deal, and that I was willing to pay a price that was $1000 above factory invoice including their doc fee which is almost all profit to the dealership. I gave them that number and simply asked if they were interested they give me a call back. Really it was a simple pass/fail. Beaman never even acknowledged my request. Rude, but I expect with all the condo owners who are already leveraged up to their eyeballs surrounding them they don't have to search too hard for business. Roberts Toyota called me back and emailed several times, but never got past, "why don't you come in, and we'll find you something at a payment you can afford." Frustrating. Toyota of Cool Springs was happy to work with me, but was really only interested in selling a truck that they found at one of their sister dealerships. It was 90% of what I wanted, but if I'm paying that much for a truck, you better believe I'm going to get what I want and not just take what you can find and act like you're doing me a favor because, "these things go fast you know?" The guys at Toyota of Murfreesboro found two trucks exactly like I wanted, one that was in freight and one that was in a dealership out west. They offered to get the first one or trade the dealer out west for a similar one. They had no problem doing the deal exactly like I wanted. The finance manager even said that a lot more people ought to buy cars this way. The dealership model that has existed for the last 50 years will change in the coming generation. Most people my age and below simply have no interest in going through that process to buy a car. Dealership associations have lobbied successfully to put a lot of protectionist practices in place, but this industry will be disrupted sooner or later.

Yeah, the modern car dealership will actually tell you there are two separate business models in their dealership. First they "sell" you a car, then the real selling happens after you agree on a price. At that point they "help" you figure out a few way to pay for the car. Most of the profit a dealership makes its in that second model where they bundle all types of products in and likely mark up your loan. If you're not familiar with markup, basically a bank will sell them a loan for two points. Then, they can mark it up to whatever you'll agree to. So you might well have been able to get a 2.25% APR loan, but they mark it up to 4.5% and split the profit with the bank. Most dealerships today make about 40% of their money via markup. This is why if you're planning on financing a car, you should always bring your own financing with you. You might later agree to go with their captive for some incentive, but at least you'll have a floor on what your loan should cost.

Double Cab TRD Off Road Long Bed. Black. With a moon roof of all things. The long bed model 7568 was the tough part. Apparently almost all of those get allocated out west where someone might actually put something in the back or something. I like the fuel economy of that new Atkinson cycle 6 cylinder they're putting in them. With the tow package, I'll barely strain it to pull my boat. While I don't expect to use that crawl control that they're putting on them that much, I'm in sand enough that it might come in handy.

I actually bought a truck today at Toyota of Murfreesboro. They worked with me to source the truck I wanted and I got a good deal. It was a cash deal, so it was quick and pretty painless. It's interesting when you talk to several dealerships in a short period of time. You can tell the ones that really want to sell a truck. You can also clearly tell the ones that just don't care. Oddly enough knowing exactly what you want seems to do more harm than good on the typical lot. You really have to find someone who realizes, that while they may not make quite as much money, they also don't really have to do any actual work,

Do trucks even come without bed liners anymore? I mean, what do you expect if you drop a bunch of blocks from 6 feet?

@raildog I'm not opposed to that, and I've got dealers as clients in Missouri and Wyoming that would be glad to get me exactly what I want. I'd love to keep it here in middle Tennessee - so I thought I'd give it a shot here before I go that route. @btq96r I'm planning on paying cash for it unless I can talk them into letting me put it on my Amex. But it's worth a shot - maybe call Amex and Costco, too.

Thanks! I've got two Nissans right now and they've been great trucks - over 175K on both. Every time I get in them though, I find myself thinking I'm ready to be back in a Toyota again. As an American engineer, I find myself pulling for Ford. I just can't bring myself to buy a F-150, though. @KahrMan has one and it's like riding around in your living room. It's super nice, but I've got some legacy Ford ownership issues I'd have to work through.

So, I'm buying a new truck. I want a specific model Tacoma that will likely need to be shipped in as most of the allocation of this specific model goes out West. I'm not overly impressed with our dealers in middle Tennessee thus far, as most of them appear to be opposed to doing actual work to find a truck - though all of them want to sell me one they've already got on the lot. Anyway, if any of our members work for Toyota, let me know. I'm happy to provide details and let someone here earn the commission on the sale.

Here's some more reading on the lunge mines: http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/jp_tankhunters/

Here's some brief reading on the Giretsu units with what looks like the source of that picture: http://forlornhopesui.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-giretsu-airborne-unit-on-okinawa.html?m=1

Those guys were intended to be sent to Saipan to destroy B-29s that were wreaking havoc. That was a 4 lb charge on the end of a stick called a lunge mine - specially designed since magnetic mines wouldn't stick to the aluminum skin.

That's a heck of a bargain. Done. Thanks!

I'll be in.

Their content must be pretty good, because their business model amazes me.

Yeah, I wonder how much of the secondary market exists because of the supply line troubles Yeti created for themselves by letting every gear store and boutique in the world be a dealer and not being able to keep up with demand? It ought to be a cautionary tale about small companies taking their manufacturing to China. The price per piece looks great, but the total cost of getting it here - measured in dollars and time is totally different. You couldn't get a 20oz. Rambler back in the fall to save your life.

Will one subscription port between devices, or would you have to pay for two subscriptions?

Learning how to properly pack a cooler is really important, and will extend the service of any cooler you might use. Likewise, you need to have an honest conversation with yourself and figure out if the primary reason you typically buy a new cooler is because the old one mildewed with all of the stuff you left in it after your last outing. There are some great coolers on the market that aren't as expensive as the new cool kid coolers. The Coleman Extreme line performs pretty well when packed appropriately, and aren't nearly as expensive as some of the "cooler" ones. I've got a Yeti, and it's great. Truthfully, had it been available years ago, it would have likely saved me from buying a few dozen coolers over the years. I like the fact that they can be pressure washed. I also like the fact that you can throw some dry ice and popsicles in there and not have a huge mess on your hands. I've got a friend that will pack two on 10+ day canoe trips. The secret here is that you don't open the second one until the first one is empty. It really just depends on your use case.

Neat!

I'll try to merge them tomorrow when I'm in front of a computer. Is the email address on this account current?

The current generation of Lowrance models with side scanning technology is really nice, and seems to be a decent value. I've got an older one on my boat, but am about to buy one of the newer ones for my kayak.

Man I'm sure sorry to hear that Dave. I've missed him the last couple of years. Seems like he had a pretty tough time after the accident.

The Strider is a classic. I wouldn't mind seeing it with a polished blade.

Nah, you'd just hit him in the jimmies instead of the heart when you take that super-tactical shot at 800m with an unmagnified optic.