I want to buy a 2003 Toyota Tacoma extended cab 4x2 5-speed 4 plugger.
 They typically come with the SR5 package.  I went to carsdirect.com
and built and priced the car.  The base invoice is $14,464.  The SR5
package is $1062 and the rear sliding window is $228.  So the total
invoice price is $15,574.  However, I noticed that, although upgraded
seats are supposed to come with the SR5 package, the seats seemed to
be the cheap, crummy ones that are standard for the truck.

I have a new car buying guide I that says the buyer's offer should
start at $250 over invoice and go up to $500 or even a $1,000.

This 2003 Toyota Tacoma truck is advertised at one dealer for $13,888
(plus tax and license) and that price was after a $1,000
manufacturer's rebate.  The dealer offered me the truck at $13,888
plus a $45 doc fee (which I refused to pay).  So that would be a total
of $13,933 -- $1,821 below invoice.

What is the true cost for this truck?  How can the dealer sell it
below invoice?  (The dealer refused to waive the $45 doc fee so I did
not purchase the truck.)  How is the dealer making any money?

Thank you.

Cynthia

The dealer is probably getting some rebates or incentives of some sort
that don't show up on the invoice.

Cynthia --

MVGuy is correct of course.  Over-and-above rebates or merchandising
incentives provided by manufacturers, the car manufacturers have been
able to control over-aggressive discounting by offering "holdbacks,"
which are a percentage of sales volume (usually 1-3%) -- paid at the
end of the year to dealers who reach their quotas.

This acts as a profit buffer for a dealership, while giving the
manufacturer influence over what gets sold and how deep pricing
discounts are.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA