Camry XLE V6 & 838

This is the name of the new car that I bought today and 838 is my credit score that I found while buying this vehicle. After searching and surfing the internet I finally decided to buy the car today from Walnut Creek Toyota. I find this Camry totally amazing. The model that I bought is top of the tine for Camry and has most of the luxurious feature that you can expect at a Toyota price.

I bought it from Dave Holts (my daughter says he looks very similar to Santa Claus)), the intenet sales manager with the Walnut Creek Toyota. He gave me the first quote and sticked to it till the end. I must agree that I tried looking for this car at most of the bay area dealer but none could match or beat the price from Dave. I only wished that Dave would have given me the break up of final price he shared with me a day before earlier. But guess that’s how the car sales is done.

Since I was looking for a black colored camry and Dave said he does n’t have one, I got a little disappointed (...talk about emotion for a color. Crazy!) At the end I reached out to Sunnyvale Toyota (came to know that they are the only ones who has black color Camry in bay area) to see if they could give me the black colored car for the same price as was offered by Dave. Unlike others, John from Sunnyvale Toyota came close to the price offered by Dave of Walnut creek but still was almost $300 off. I offered him to pay $100 more over the price of Dave for Black color but it seems John underestimated my resolve to buy at the lowest price I could find. He thought that since he was the only dealer in Bay area that has black color in stock, I would relent and buy from him paying $300 more over the price offered by Dave. I am glad that I sticked to my price quoted from Dave and rejected the lure of buying Black colored Camry from John for $300 more and ended up saving an overall $500 including taxes etc. You put your bet on the wrong guy, John.

Just a couple of quick word about Dave. He looks to me a quintessential cars sales man. He was not too warm and over polite but seemed a balanced guy. He seems to know his trade well and looks quite experienced. He also answered to one of my questions that this was his 5th car sales this month (a car a day – good for him). If I need to buy another car then I think I will give Dave the first right of refusal as I still would be wedded to someone who gives me the lowest price. Overall I remain very satisfied with my experience with Dave. Additionally, I would like to suggest that Walnut Creek Toyota keep some things that helps to keep the kids engaged, otherwise the entire car buying process except the brief spin in the car before buying is quite boring for them. While I was there with my wife and my younger daughter, I saw quite a few kids in the showroom.

I also found out while finalizing the Toyota financing option that I have a credit score of 838. I couldn’t be happier. Moreover, white color Camry looks stunningly beautiful. Everything about this car so far has been amazing.

Hope this car remains with me for ever free of any accidents.

My Experience in Car Buying
1. Always finalize your car before you start to ask for quotes – This will help you to keep focused
2. Internet is amazing place to shortlist your car
3. Visit a couple of dealers to get the sense of the car you want to buy and get a quote from the dealers
4. Never commit to any dealer in your first visit.
5. Find out the invoice price of the car including all the options that you want. Never buy any car for MSRP listed on the window in the lot.
6. Arrive at your price based on your due diligence and then sent out request through site such as Edmunds and Car direct to get quote from various dealers. You can put all the cost together in an excel sheet that is available as a free download from Car Buying Tips. You will be amazed to find out how dealers extract double profit (charging the customers for a few things that they get reimbursed from the manufacturer)
7. Try to buy the car as close to your final price as possible
8. Make sure that you go to the dealer only when you have a firm price and you have arranged for the finance.
9. Take advantage of the internet to ensure that you finalize the price as much as possible without even stepping into a car showroom.
10. Try to find at the dealer if there are any other better financing available than the one you have taken – take advantage if you are offered one but ensure that the financing option that you chose has no pre-payment penalty
11. Always remain polite and courteous to your sales person and other people in the dealership. Courtesy pays and has no cost.

I will be more than happy to share with you in more detail if you want to utilize my personal car buying experience to help you find a good price for your new car.