Pursuing Supra this summer

[wavy warrior]

Looking to pursue a new Supra 3.0 Premium AT this summer. Going to try and have a little over 20% down payment for the car. I texted a local dealer and asked if he’ll let me know when 2024 allocations open up. Should I wait for the 2024 or go for a 2023 if they are available new. Drop any recommendations or concerns below! This will be my first car purchase. Going thru a local credit union with 733 credit score

Sponsored

 

[Awales74]

pursue a new Supra 3.0 Premium AT this summer

Get your running shoes on, they're pretty fast.

I never recommend trying to time the market unless there's a very specific feature you're looking for. Like waiting for the MT in 23 or maybe we hear about an up coming Targa. Otherwise, next year's model is always cooler than the current year. Get a 24 and you'll be sad you didn't get the 25. yadda yadda yadda...

 

[wavy warrior]

Get your running shoes on, they're pretty fast.

I never recommend trying to time the market unless there's a very specific feature you're looking for. Like waiting for the MT in 23 or maybe we hear about an up coming Targa. Otherwise, next year's model is always cooler than the current year. Get a 24 and you'll be sad you didn't get the 25. yadda yadda yadda...

Running shoes are strapped and ready to go! Only reason I’m anticipating summer time is because of money. Getting a hefty bonus that I’ll be passing over to the dealer for a bigger down payment. I could go higher since i have low expenses, just don’t know if I should or not. I’d buy a ‘23 right now if I could!

 

[JTN]

Based on my own search that began last summer, it felt like the 2022 model year was done and gone by July and the 2023's were trickling out by September.

I imagine there are still 2023 allocations to be had right now, but by summer I would expect them to be drawing shallow. If you want one of the yearly limited edition A91's or a manual you might have to wait for a 2024, and the earlier you get in a preference possibly the better for your chances. It's really hard to say though as it appears to me like some of the larger, more popular markets like the coasts are super high demand with longer wait times and higher markups.

Lastly if this is your first car purchase you may need to shop around for the best rate a bank will give you. If the Fed keeps creeping rates like they have been, the longer you wait the higher your rate unless things change.

 

[wavy warrior]

Based on my own search that began last summer, it felt like the 2022 model year was done and gone by July and the 2023's were trickling out by September.

I imagine there are still 2023 allocations to be had right now, but by summer I would expect them to be drawing shallow. If you want one of the yearly limited edition A91's or a manual you might have to wait for a 2024, and the earlier you get in a preference possibly the better for your chances. It's really hard to say though as it appears to me like some of the larger, more popular markets like the coasts are super high demand with longer wait times and higher markups.

Lastly if this is your first car purchase you may need to shop around for the best rate a bank will give you. If the Fed keeps creeping rates like they have been, the longer you wait the higher your rate unless things change.

I'm in the Southeast near Atlanta, GA so I don't imagine my area being as crazy as SoCal. I am here for the AT 3.0 Premium, not interested in the MT so hoping my search is a bit easier. I would take an A91 if it made sense, but otherwise, I'm not terribly picky. If I hop on CarGurus.com I see some 3.0 Premium ATs for around MSRP (58k) so I am hopeful that I'll have decent time obtaining one. Should I strive for as big of a down payment as possible? Or after 20% does it not really matter?

 

[JTN]

Should I strive for as big of a down payment as possible? Or after 20% does it not really matter?

I'm not in finance, so my advice and experience are not indicative of where the market is at right now, but that said the amount financed can definitely be a make it or break it point of getting a loan.

You have to ask yourself a few questions before looking for a loan:
- how much can you comfortably finance for the shortest period?
- what percentage of your take home is the payment going to be?
- if this is your one and only vehicle, have you built into your budget an allotment for maintenance / repairs / insurance?
- do you plan to keep the vehicle for a very long time, or do you want a new car every few years?

When I was a teen my grandpa always told me to only get a payment you can comfortably afford, but do not do that at the expense of the length of the loan... in other words if the only way you can get a comfortable payment is by getting an 84 month loan you probably shouldn't be getting that loan. In my personal opinion you should never finance a vehicle longer than its factory warranty period, which typically puts you at a 4 to 5 year cap. Then you should tailor your down payment to get the payment where you need it.

I'm also one of those weirdos who rarely finances cars. I bought my first car cash in the early 90s... admittedly it was a $500 POS, but it ran and I kept it running. Then I basically saved what would have been a car payment each month until I had enough to buy a new car. I've been leapfrogging like that since the 90s. My last few cars I've taken out small loans on usually at 36 month terms just to pad my credit history... but that was back in the glory days of 0% auto loans where it paid you to get the loan rather than today where most rates are in the 5 to 7% range. I looked around and couldn't find a rate low enough to run a loan on my Supra so I just paid cash for it back in January. At that time the best rate Toyota offered me was 7.5%, and my bank offered 5%. And that was for someone who is married, has a 800+ credit score and history with several auto and real estate loans. I'm sure if I dug for a few more weeks I might have found something sub 4%, but even then I didn't like the cost... those good bad old days of 0% car loans spoiled me.

 

[jtsang25]

My .02 cents with the market downturn. I would invest your money in something other than a depreciating asset like a car. But like @JTN said how much of your take home pay would be going towards the loan?

 

[Marsone]

In addition to the above advice, it seems that more than a few manufacturers are raising the prices of ‘24 vehicles across their respective line ups. (‘24 mustang, f150, 718 Porsches, etc) Likely pricing in past supply chain issues and ongoing inflation. Toyota might not, but I’d wager that it’s a gamble worth considering when debating on ‘23 vs ‘24.

 

[ColonelAdama]

I'm in the Southeast near Atlanta, GA so I don't imagine my area being as crazy as SoCal. I am here for the AT 3.0 Premium, not interested in the MT so hoping my search is a bit easier. I would take an A91 if it made sense, but otherwise, I'm not terribly picky. If I hop on CarGurus.com I see some 3.0 Premium ATs for around MSRP (58k) so I am hopeful that I'll have decent time obtaining one. Should I strive for as big of a down payment as possible? Or after 20% does it not really matter?

Eh 20%+ might help get you a better interest rate. I managed to pull off 4.7% thru Southeast Toyota (would be same for you in ATL) when I put down 21k on the car (total 59k). This was 2 months ago. Determining down payment is definitely a personal choice depending on what you can afford to pay in cash up front and what a comfortable monthly is as long as you're getting the best rate. I figured with the high inflation and relatively small depreciation on Supras (especially an MT like mine) that a sizable down payment worked in my situation to soften the monthly.

FYI - everyone should go get a rate from their credit union before buying the car and take it to Toyota. They matched it no problem, despite everyone here saying they couldn't do better than 6%.

 

[Obsidian]

I wonder what kind of changes we might see for 2024 if any. The conservative guess is probably just colors since the manual was the big reveal last year.

 

[yousuf402]

I am also currently searching for a nitro yellow AT but no luck finding one in the northeast. I don’t plan on paying anything over msrp so trying to be patient but hoping I can get one within this month.

 

[Obsidian]

I am also currently searching for a nitro yellow AT but no luck finding one in the northeast. I don’t plan on paying anything over msrp so trying to be patient but hoping I can get one within this month.

That’s kind of ironic here in Texas I can only find nitro yellow and black but I’m looking for the other colors.

 

[JTN]

FYI - everyone should go get a rate from their credit union before buying the car and take it to Toyota. They matched it no problem, despite everyone here saying they couldn't do better than 6%.

Things like interest rates and financing availability vary drastically from region to region and bank to bank. Heck, you can even get quoted two different rates from two branches of the same bank. You can even have what you think is "perfect credit" with a more than adequate income and still not qualify for the lowest rates.

I saw posted rates on local credit union websites as low as 4% at 36 months in January when I was looking, but when contacted they would not offer me that rate. Credit unions (at least around here) typically want you to have been a customer for a while before they will usually give you the best rates, and the only credit union I am a member of (Navy Federal) quoted me 5% when their "advertised low rate" at the time was 4.15%. I met their income and credit requirements in spades and had held an account with them for years, but I still "didn't qualify" for the lowest rate with them.

 

[yousuf402]

That’s kind of ironic here in Texas I can only find nitro yellow and black but I’m looking for the other colors.

Lol they have all the other colors here except yellow or red. Insane amount of blues around here

 

[Obsidian]

Lol they have all the other colors here except yellow or red. Insane amount of blues around here

Wow…that’s the color I want. Maybe it’s because it’s DFW but there is 0 inventory that isn’t sales pending.

Sponsored