Question Dealer Add-ons, Value or No

[elkster1]

Hello everyone. I've been lurking a few weeks to learn as I anticipated acquiring a Tundra and you all know some stuff! Thank you for the knowledge gained so far.

After some extensive seraching I finally found the truck I wanted at a distant dealer within my state. I didn't buy then because I was on work travel and didn't have the time. When I did get back to the dealership, the dealer had selected this particular truck to use as an after-market add-on platform, and had it in the showroom on the floor.
I need the wisdom of the forum to assist me in making a purchase decision.

The dealer has added 20" custom wheels (motometal), 305/55/20 BFG T/O's, a Toytech leveling kit, running boards, a bed step, window tint, and a clear mask. All this is listed on a separate dealer's sticker as an addendum to the original sticker, and it adds up to about $5200 extra.
I don't have a clue if this is a decent value or not. I assume since it's all dealer installed that the warranty will not be effected. I certainly didn't plan on adding all this stuff, but I was going to put on BFG K/O's on the original 18" wheels. The 305 tires are quite a bit narrower in side profile, and I wonder if they have less impact cushioning when off-road compared to the 18" version. Anyway, I test drove the truck and didn't get any tire rubbing from lock to lock, but I also don't see any spare working room for tire (snow) chains to be used, especially later on when laden down with hunting gear. For us that venture off the paved roads here in Colorado during winter, and I do regularly, chains are a necessity. Has anyone specifically used tire chains with 305's?
So I would appreciate some educated feed-back from you owners who have added some of the above extras as to whether this a fair value or are there any other concerns I should have with this set-up. I will have to admit the truck looks pretty sharp, I just didn't plan it being this way.
Thank you.

[JMSinMD]

Originally Posted by elkster1

Hello everyone. I've been lurking a few weeks to learn as I anticipated acquiring a Tundra and you all know some stuff! Thank you for the knowledge gained so far.

After some extensive seraching I finally found the truck I wanted at a distant dealer within my state. I didn't buy then because I was on work travel and didn't have the time. When I did get back to the dealership, the dealer had selected this particular truck to use as an after-market add-on platform, and had it in the showroom on the floor.
I need the wisdom of the forum to assist me in making a purchase decision.

The dealer has added 20" custom wheels (motometal), 305/55/20 BFG T/O's, a Toytech leveling kit, running boards, a bed step, window tint, and a clear mask. All this is listed on a separate dealer's sticker as an addendum to the original sticker, and it adds up to about $5200 extra.
I don't have a clue if this is a decent value or not. I assume since it's all dealer installed that the warranty will not be effected. I certainly didn't plan on adding all this stuff, but I was going to put on BFG K/O's on the original 18" wheels. The 305 tires are quite a bit narrower in side profile, and I wonder if they have less impact cushioning when off-road compared to the 18" version. Anyway, I test drove the truck and didn't get any tire rubbing from lock to lock, but I also don't see any spare working room for tire (snow) chains to be used, especially later on when laden down with hunting gear. For us that venture off the paved roads here in Colorado during winter, and I do regularly, chains are a necessity. Has anyone specifically used tire chains with 305's?
So I would appreciate some educated feed-back from you owners who have added some of the above extras as to whether this a fair value or are there any other concerns I should have with this set-up. I will have to admit the truck looks pretty sharp, I just didn't plan it being this way.
Thank you.

I've never been a truck owner before now. I know with cars narrower tires during winter are betting for cutting through the snow and slush (assuming the same applies with trucks?)

Most dealer packages are overpriced for what's included. Plenty of mark up for the 'convenience.' I personally like to modify my vehicles based on what I like, i.e. specific wheels, specific tires, specific level of tint, etc.

Good luck.

[nomadic]

I don’t know how it goes for new cars, but for used ones modifications do not increase the value of the car according to the parts put on, as an example, I have a 95 civic hatchback lets say stock is worth 3000, I have a 1.8 gsr with skunk 2 valve train intake, dc sports header, sway bars, brake upgrade. And the list goes on, a gsr swap fresh and rebuilt goes for 3000 ish and I have 2000 in mods on the motor. I couldn’t sell the car for more than 5500.

New or not the dealer should be happy to get ½ the price of the modes he put in. do it your self, then at least you have the pride to say you did it and spend less.

[mendonsy]

The answer is WHAT IS IT WORTH TO YOU? The price for the add-on equipment seems very high. I would have guessed about half of that.
Those tires are definitely not the hot setup for off road or winter driving. 305's normally require skid pan modifications to clear so there is not any extra room there. If you plan to do anything other than highway driving you should go back to stock size.

[emuaspe]

For me it would probably be worth it. I would love to have a level kit and wheels and tires but I probably won't ever save up the money to get these things though. I could have afforded another $100 in my payment... guess it just boils down to you and what you can afford. If you want all of those options and you can go out and buy them all separatly I'm sure that it would be cheaper than what dealer markup will be. Good luck

[JMSinMD]

Originally Posted by emuaspe

For me it would probably be worth it. I would love to have a level kit and wheels and tires but I probably won't ever save up the money to get these things though. I could have afforded another $100 in my payment.

Instead of putting that $100 towards your payment every month put it in your "Tundra Fund" every month, and when enough has accumulated purchase your mods. $100 in your left pocket or $100 in your right pocket is still $100.

[SE2000]

The wheels could come off in a hurry, the other stuff, not so fast. But if you like the wheels, maybe you could figure out there true cost, along with the other stuff and say it is $4000, then just take off the $1200 and start dealing from there.
If you are going to do chains, get some style steel wheels and tires and use those for the winter trips if you have a place to store them. those with some 255/70-18 tires.

[kanielb1]

Have the dealer drop the price by atleast $2000 and/or have them replace the tires with 285/60/20....

[eharri3]

Originally Posted by elkster1

The dealer has added 20" custom wheels (motometal), 305/55/20 BFG T/O's, a Toytech leveling kit, running boards, a bed step, window tint, and a clear mask. All this is listed on a separate dealer's sticker as an addendum to the original sticker, and it adds up to about $5200 extra.
Thank you.

IMHO not that bad of a package compared to some I've seen where it's like 600 bucks worth of stuff and it adds like 3-4 grand to sticker. Probably still cheaper by somewhere around 6-800 bucks bucks on the aftermarket, but you can't finance it in your loan if you do it that way.

Ive seen ridiculous stuff, like an exhaust tip, bed cover, cheap step tubes, and pin-striping bump the stucker by a couple thousand.

[outofmoney2]

Anything put on can be taken off. What ever you dont want have them remove or the deal is off. I am sure you can negotiate a deal on the add-ons also. Let them know what they need to do to move this truck off their lot.
Cheers.

[awesomebase]

Originally Posted by elkster1

The dealer has added 20" custom wheels (motometal), 305/55/20 BFG T/O's, a Toytech leveling kit, running boards, a bed step, window tint, and a clear mask. All this is listed on a separate dealer's sticker as an addendum to the original sticker, and it adds up to about $5200 extra.

Well, let me just do a rough calculation here... wheels/tires look like about $2500 tops, Toytec ~ $300, running boards ~$300, bed step ~$150, window tint ~$150, and a clear mask (assuming 3M, but don't know how much is covered) anywhere from about ~$300 to $1500. That looks to be about anywhere from $3700 to $4900. Now keep in mind I'm pricing this according to what I think is the approximate RETAIL price from your end (with no discounts, etc.). Now, that doesn't include any installation. But that also doesn't include a huge credit you should get for the original wheels (probably close to $1K).
So, assuming that the mask is just the minimum for the hood, you're looking at ~$2700 RETAIL to you...

I would start at that price and go down (i.e. say that this is what it is worth to you at most)... kind of funny how it looks like about a $2500 difference right off the bat!

You can see why they make loads of money doing this... good luck!

[Trucker1967]

So did it have factory aluminum wheels from the factory? or were they the steel wheels and tires? ... keep in mind you paid for those wheels automtically in the window sticker price, so they should deduct what Toyota charges for those in their parts book or at least give you a good trade, although I do not know maybe they are giving you the original wheels with your truck as well?

Either way if its worth it too you then pay it, seems high too me and I would never pay for something I didn't really want, remember you are paying beyond top dollar for their add on's so if it isn't something you would put on yourself then maybe you should pass on it and find one that you could put what you want on it, not what they are making you pay top dollar for.

Alot of dealers won't budge much on their add on's because they think they know best and its their show truck of sorts since thats the one they put all the added items on, they would probably think hey this is a pain this guy wants us to discount this and its our showroom truck, they might not deal at all on the add on's.

I would figure out exactly what I wanted to do on that price before going back and stick to your guns they either meet it or you walk, when it all comes down you are going to own this truck for a while so get it as close to perfect in your mind as you can or you may have buyers remorse along with a thinner wallet and both those things are never good lol

[harleyheaven]

I recently had a Readylift Leveling kit installed and put on 20x9 Moto Metal Wheels with 305/55/20 Nitto Grapplers. All this including the alignment was $2475. The mods you mentioned couldn't be more than $1000, for a total of $3475. Hope this helps answer your question.

[elkster1]

I sure appreciate the responses. They fueled my negotiating spirit and assisted me in making some sensible conclusions. So after work today I went and outlined the deal that was comfortable to me and, I hoped, fair to the dealer. As a result, the parts manager was more than happy to remove the 305/20 wheel/tires (value: $2500) and replace them with some previously taken-off 18" Toyota alloys with street grade BFG's, but also wanted $500 for labor to do the removal & fund the swap. OK, I'm still in; most of that cost I was told was for remapping the air pressure module senders from the custom wheels.
Then I negotiated a decent price that was $500 plus sales tax (all other fee's inclusive) over invoice (an invoice I was presented and recognized as legit from homework) for the base truck (a work truck in double cab and in vinyl seats & rubber floor), then we added on the residual dealer add-on parts without contention and a few other parts I was granted at cost: TRD rear sway bar and a bed rail kit. All went well until I hit the finance dude and then suddenly my contract included a $399.50 doc/profit fee. I told the finance guy that these add-on fee's were inclusive within the agreed upon 500 bucks over invoice and my hand shakes, and he was good with that but required approval from the floor manager. The approval was denied. The two salesman I spoke with, a regular sales guy and the floor sales manger remembered every detail I had stipulated to except the all fee's inclusive part. Humm. So I walked. It's too bad, because I need a truck, I'm a long time Toyota owner, but I haven't met with this type of tactic before and I tend to be a stickler for ethics, even a $399.50 one. The moral of the story I wish to pass on to future buyers is to insist on a simple piece of paper stipulting the agreement right at the get-go and approval stage of negotiations, which I didn't. I made my deal with a couple handshakes until I got to finance, which is like 2 hours of my life and several signatures and phone calls later.
I need a truck, and I won't give up on a Toyota truck having been in their exclusive family for many years now, but I am now open to all builds with a decent product & negotiate fairly.

[zeeya2000]

Sorry to hear about that. It is hard to believe that one guy had a frog (xxxxxx) in his throat and held the deal up. The floor manager and salesman know about what they had in it. This one guy let you walk while the salesman and floor manager was looking at it as having one more sold for the month. Have you tried building one on the Toyota site and then checking for dealerships with that truck? Probably have, just a thought. Hope you find the one you want and kudooos to you for sticking to your guns