All lined up

So yesterday I was back and forth with a sales rep at the Delray Toyota dealership.  They told me they had the truck I was looking for except it was the four door double cab with the shorter 5 foot bed instead of the 6 foot bed an access cab has.  I might have been able to deal with the shorter bed but there was one thing I couldn’t deal with, the sunroof.  The premium technology option with the double cab includes a power moonroof which is something most people would like, including myself.  However the problem with a power moonroof is it requires a headroom penalty.  In the case of the Tacoma you lose around three inches with the option which would be enough to put the top of my head firmly in contact with the roof of the truck.  In most cases being tall is a good thing.  This is one of the rare cases it is a drawback.

After letting the sales guy know the double cab won’t work he told me they had exactly what I want coming in about two weeks.  He emailed me the specs of the truck and I verified it had all the bells and whistles I was looking for as well as being an access cab model, sweet.  I told him that was what I was looking for and asked him what was required next.

He responded back that a deposit will hold the truck which I agreed to.  I did so via my credit card.  The weird thing is I have a deposit on a truck without knowing what my final price will be.  I know I will be getting Costco guaranteed pricing but the dealer will not show you the price unless you are physically there with your print out from Costco and your membership card.   My car salesman background makes me still weary of the dealership trying to do some fuzzy math when I show up however the Costco affiliation would be in jeopardy if they try to fck around so hopefully it will go smoothly.

I went a step further and got pre-approved on financing the truck through my credit union.  My strong credit score qualified me for a 1.75% interest rate.  Getting the loan already handled makes the transaction very simple.  I write them a down payment check and hand them the voucher from the credit union and I am done.  Of course the dealer would love to have an opportunity to make back end money on me by financing in house, selling loan insurance or an extended warranty. It is an opportunity they won’t be getting in my situation.

I now need to start thinking about the sale of my 99 Tacoma.  There are a few things I would like to do/clean up to make the truck as sellable as possible.  There isn’t much I can do with the exterior since a poor clear coat that was  applied when the truck was repaired prior to my ownership is peeling off on the passenger side.  I may try to at least polish the hood to get some shine back.  The interior of the truck is in solid shape and it still is running well despite almost 190,000 miles on the odometer.  I was surprised to see in my research that even at 17 years of age and that number of miles I could realistically sell the Tacoma for around $4000 which would be like a cherry on top.

This morning I once again awoke without an alarm, over an hour before it was scheduled to go off.  I get annoyed when I waste potential sleep time since it is generally in short supply.