My experience buying a car in Texas

I bought my first car. This is what I learned.

When buying a car, ask for rebates. Look at the trim. Go to toyota.com and build the car you want. Once the car is built, you will be shown cars near you area with a similar build. I have heard that you can get exactly the car you want for cheap, but you must wait 3 months to get it.

The prices that you see in cargurus.com are just the base price, so a $25,000 car will actually cost $25,000 plus $2,000 taxes, plus $300 in fees plus whatever made up fees the dealer makes up to steal your money.

Also, I have read that December is a good month to buy a car because salespeople need to meet objectives.

I have also heard that January and February are good months to buy cars for cheaper because they are the slowest months because everyone already wasted their saving on Christmas.

You will need to known your social security number.

Find the MSRP, add the taxes and fees, and try to get that price.

In 2025, January 1, I tried to go to Calvert Toyota to buy a 2024 Corolla Cross.

When I arrived to the appointment, the sells agent complimented me by saying I looked sharp. I thanked him. He asked if I was planning to go somewhere afterwards. I said no. In other words, I looked sharp because I meant business. The sale representatives will take any opportunity they can to compliment you.

They will take you to a test drive so you get excited. They will show you a car that you didn’t ask to see, but that they will make them more money if they manage to sell it to you.

While test driving, they will ask you about how you want to finance, your profession, how long you have been working in that profession, and where you live. They will also act excited when you say your profession.

I can almost imagine them saying something along the lines of “You are a janitor at a taco stand!? Wow, that’s so impressive! I love tacos! 😋 🌮” to try to seem relatable.

After the test drive, they will thank you like the deal is already over so you get into that mindset before showing you the actual price.

The representative tried to sell me the car for $33,140, so I asked for the price to be reduced. The sales agent reduced it to $29,000. Then I thought about it for a while and asked for it to be reduced to $28,900. In other words, I played hard-ball. At that point I was asked to do a 5-star review and refer 4 people to the sales agent. Of course, they are not supposed to ask you that, but I agreed knowing that they could not make me comply. Then they played the “let me talk with my manager”, who came out and greeted me. The manager let me know that $28,900 was too low and the minimum they could do was $29,990. I said I could not afford it, that I was not feeling it. I shook their hand and left.

Eventually I went to a different place and returned home after 3 hours. In the way home they called me to let me know about a $200 discount. It was too late. I had already made a deal somewhere else, but they kept calling me and annoying me for months afterwards even after I blocked their phone.

According to https://www.kbb.com/toyota/corolla-cross/2025/l/ the car MSRP was $25,385, but I could not negotiate it that low. I got swindled out of a couple thousand bucks even after I said no to all the accessories, extended car warranties, etc. Fuckers.

About 24 days after my purchase I was told that my license plates were ready. I went to pick them up from the dealership and went home to install them. I only needed a screwdriver. I also received my car registration together with the plates, so I stuck the sicker to the windshield and stored the registration in the glove box. I have read it is recommended to keep a copy of the registration in the glove box as opposed to keeping the original.

After a couple of months I received a check refunding me $23.75 for some reason I cannot be bothered to remember. I also received the Texas Certificate of Title (think of it as the car’s birth certificate).

Also, either the Toyota company or the Toyota dealership have been selling my data to all kinds of scammy businesses and now I constantly get mail telling me that I need to call immediately to activate my car warranty. I get mail containing discount cards for oil changes. I also got mail from SiriusXM, trying to get me to buy their radio music services that I do not give a crap about. In essence, it seems like the whole wide world knows I own a car, specially the scammers. Also note that I was getting this mail before I wrote any posts about it.

Update: Eleven months have passed and I am still getting scam mail about activating my car warranty immediately.

Also, I learned that there is a law such that the sale contract gets annulled after 5 days even if you are given the car keys as long as you don’t drive the car off the lot.