[Old Blue 66]

Originally Posted by David Jones

Our Honda Odyssey is approaching 100K miles and the wife is making noises that she's interested in a new ride. One of the boys just left for college and the other has his drivers license (and my old Tundra) so a minivan is not really needed though the wife says she'd miss being able to push a button to open the doors allowing her to pack more needless junk in easily. I'm pushing her to look at a Toyota Venza and there is one that interests me at the local Toyota dealership (less than a 1/4 mile away) that stickers at $38,000 even. Walking in with money, how much should it sell for? Is there a reliable website that lists dealer cost/holdback etc that would help me with coming up with an offer?

David, you can build any car at Edmunds or one of the car sites. They should still have invoice costs. Dont count on any Toyo dealer selling below invoice. Toyota dealers trend to have the "We are Toyota, we sell everything and dont have to discount" attitude.

Everyone has their .o2 on how to buy a car. I was on the selling end for 6 years so I have a little experiance in the field. The buyers who get the best deals are well educated with the right information. Period.

As for cash, they would much rather finaince you as they make money in the back end. Dont forget thet each step of the process from the test drive to the finaince deal, they are making money. Negotiate EVERYTHING.

This is no joke either, but have her test drive the Camry SE (the sport model) with a V6 and the duel exhaust (special designed exaust from TRD). It has 17" wheels and much firmer suspention. The car is quick and handles really nice. Its not like any other Camry. I enjoy driving mine. Plus its about 5K less with every option checked off including blue tooth phone, in dash nav and premium sound with factory remote start.

These are my .02