I wanted to post an update on how things ended with by car buying experience in case it could benefit someone.
I tried the CostCo Auto Buying program that was mentioned and in my area (Northern NJ) it only gave me one quote where I was getting $1,250 off MSRP/TSRP. Unfortunately that XLE model had nearly $2.3K in deal add-on options that weren't of interest to me so I passed. However it was of use in the only other negotiation I had and I ended up getting an identical amount off. I was quoted an OTD price of $51,750 by the dealer and ended up getting $50,500. I started with an opening bid of $49K and the deal making negotiation ended in like a couple of minutes flat so feel like I could probably have got $500-$750 more had I played more hardball but the risk of losing the deal and the extra payment amortized over say 7-10 years wasn't worth it to me. This dealership was conveniently located to my home and the car was in my wife's top color choice and all the other dealerships had OTD prices that were higher. In general I think in this car buying environment getting 2.5-3% off MSRP/TSRP is about the best you are going to be able to do with Toyota Highlanders.
I tried the CostCo Auto Buying program that was mentioned and in my area (Northern NJ) it only gave me one quote where I was getting $1,250 off MSRP/TSRP. Unfortunately that XLE model had nearly $2.3K in deal add-on options that weren't of interest to me so I passed. However it was of use in the only other negotiation I had and I ended up getting an identical amount off. I was quoted an OTD price of $51,750 by the dealer and ended up getting $50,500. I started with an opening bid of $49K and the deal making negotiation ended in like a couple of minutes flat so feel like I could probably have got $500-$750 more had I played more hardball but the risk of losing the deal and the extra payment amortized over say 7-10 years wasn't worth it to me. This dealership was conveniently located to my home and the car was in my wife's top color choice and all the other dealerships had OTD prices that were higher. In general I think in this car buying environment getting 2.5-3% off MSRP/TSRP is about the best you are going to be able to do with Toyota Highlanders.
Statistics: Posted by aburntoutcase — Tue Oct 21, 2025 8:03 pm — Replies 34 — Views 2551