Hey everyone, I just got a 2017 Rav4 Hybrid XLE with 60k miles for $21,500 out the door. Does this seem like a good deal? Kelley Blue Book for my area says the fair market range is $19,000–$21,100, but the national average is $17,661. Makes me think I could’ve negotiated a bit better. It’s my first solo car purchase, so go easy on me.
The Carfax shows one owner, personal vehicle, no accidents, and regular maintenance. It’s been in LA its whole life. I bought it at a Toyota dealership, and it’s Certified Pre-Owned with 6 months left on the hybrid warranty. Should I have gotten a pre-purchase inspection (PPI)?
Macon said:
I got a 2021 XLE with 80k miles for $20,500 OTD including tax. Might’ve been lucky though.
Wow, that sounds like an amazing deal.
Yeah, I think they listed it wrong on their site. I screenshotted the price and used it as leverage. They tried raising it to $24k when I showed interest but I held my ground. Pretty sure someone made a mistake, but I walked away happy.
@Macon
That’s awesome! I can’t stand how car dealerships operate, so props to you for making it work. I’m brushing up on negotiation tactics before I go in for mine.
BrianCopland said: @Macon
That’s awesome! I can’t stand how car dealerships operate, so props to you for making it work. I’m brushing up on negotiation tactics before I go in for mine.
Just act like you’re not desperate for the car. Play it cool and take advantage of their free coffee while you’re there. I even scored a year of free services, which saved me a lot.
@Macon
Free services for a year sounds like a great bargaining chip if they won’t budge on the price. I do DoorDash, so oil changes and tire rotations really add up.
I’m looking at the same model but with 83k miles, and they want $19,500. I feel like it’s overpriced, and I was planning to try getting it down to $18,500. But I’m not sure if that’s realistic in today’s market. Any tips?
@BrianCopland
You could definitely try haggling down to $18,500, maybe $19k at least. What I did was copy the Carfax info into ChatGPT to see if anything on the report could justify a lower price. Might help!
@Abi
Good idea! I’m not great at negotiating, though. This is the only one that fits my needs within 3 hours of where I live, so I might end up buying it even if they don’t lower the price. I moved to the mountains and have been snowed in for weeks because my Camry can’t handle it.
@BrianCopland
Yeah, if you don’t have many options locally, they’ll use that against you. When I tried negotiating, they said, ‘Sure, if you can find the same car nearby for less, we’ll match it.’ I didn’t have any alternatives to show them, so I had to take the deal.
