by Gabrielle DeSantis

Car shopping can be fun, especially going on test drives. But haggling with a dealer can suck all the fun out of buying a new car. Plus, you might end up at the dealership for hours as the salesperson goes to talk to the manager over and over as you negotiate the price. However, you might not have to endure that painful process thanks to TrueCar.   

What is TrueCar?

According to ConsumerAffairs, TrueCar partners with dealerships to provide car prices without any negotiation. TrueCar is an online site where you can buy new and used cars, and it offers you a guaranteed price aimed at being lower than the price you’d get at the dealership.

The service is completely free to use, with no membership fees or other hidden costs. TrueCar offers what it considers the “true” price of cars — basically the MSRP and any rebates or incentives.

TrueCar aggregates data from dealerships, loans, dealer marketing materials, registration information, and insurance data to calculate a fair price based on what other people have paid for similar vehicles.

After you find the car you want, TrueCar gives you a price certificate guaranteeing a fixed price at a participating dealership. This price also includes the destination fee and regional advertising fee. Sound too good to be true? Yeah, there’s a catch. Or two. 

Does it really work, or is TrueCar a scam?

While TrueCar is completely legitimate and not a scam, it does have a few caveats. First, the price they give you might not actually be the best deal. TrueCar does not provide any additional savings beyond what the dealership would offer, they simply take the haggling aspect out of the equation. Second, it is not as simple as printing the price certificate. You will have to enter personal information, which means that you will likely get calls and emails even after you have concluded your purchase. 

Third, and probably the biggest and most important caveat to be aware of, the price certificate does not guarantee that the car will be available when you go to the dealership to purchase it. While a participating dealership is required to honor the price certificate, it is not a reservation service. You are not technically buying the vehicle from TrueCar, they are more of a middleman. So, bottom line, the dealership is not required to hold the car for you.

How does the service make any money?

Because TrueCar doesn’t charge you a fee to use the service, it’s reasonable to wonder how it makes any money. It charges participating dealerships a fee for any vehicle sold through TrueCar, which is the primary way it makes money. The company also makes money through ads, consulting work, and data. 

If negotiating with a dealership is holding you back from buying a new car, TrueCar might help you clear that hurdle. It doesn’t cost you anything, and as long as you understand that the car you get a guaranteed price for might not be at the dealership when you get there, TrueCar offers you a decent way to walk in with a set price and not worry about dealing with finance and sales managers.

But remember, it might not be the best price for the vehicle you plan to buy. Doing research and knowing what price you want to pay will help streamline the process and is ultimately the best advice for buying a car.  

RELATED: Which Credit Score Do Lenders Use for Car Loans?

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by Gabrielle DeSantis

The Toyota Tacoma is the most popular midsize pickup truck in America. It’s one of those rough and tumble trucks with a reputation for reliability and longevity that combine to make it legendary. But critics haven’t been entirely sold on the Tacoma lately, as it comes to the tail end of its current generation. Not to worry––the eagerly awaited 2024 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck is coming, and here’s what we know. 

There will be new features aplenty, including a new hybrid powertrain

While nothing is certain yet, it’s pretty much common knowledge that Toyota plans to have at least an electrified option for every vehicle in its lineup by 2025. That said, it’s entirely reasonable to presume that the 2024 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck will offer a hybrid powertrain. So will it get a new powertrain? Yes. 

However, the details for the upcoming changes will remain under wraps until the last second. That is, as long as Toyota follows similar protocol to the past releases of new generations. The public generally knows very little until the actual debut. 

Toyota has specified that it will soon build an electric pickup truck. However, whether it will be a Tacoma or a Tundra is still unclear. Ford now has a full-size electric pickup truck and a hybrid ute, so the direction that trucks are going in terms of electrification is anyone’s game at this point.

What about the transmission? 

One of the primary points that critics rag on the current generation for is its “dated” 6-speed transmission. In the words of a recent Gear Patrol article, it would be “shocking” if the new Tacoma generation didn’t change this. It’s largely one of the most important changes the current gen Tacoma will see in the upcoming generational shift. 

As far as the manual transmission goes, TFL Truck reports that the take rate for the manual 4×4 TRD Tacoma models is just 5%. So it’s also likely that Toyota will drop the option in the new generation. That said, all of this is a guessing game at this point. 

When is the new Toyota Tacoma generation set to debut?

Gear Patrol reports that we can expect the new Toyota Tacoma generation by the 2024 model year. In fact, it’s the youngest of the off-road generations with the current generation debuting in 2016. Toyota will release new versions of others like the Toyota Sequoia and Toyota 4Runner in 2022 and 2023. 

The 2022 Tundra comes out this year as a new generation. Then, the all-new Taco should follow these releases. Either way, there are big things on the horizon for Toyota trucks, the Tacoma not being the only nor the least of them. 

The all-new Tacoma will ride on a new truck platform

This year, in other parts of the world, the all-new Toyota Land Cruiser J300 model was released on the fresh TNGA-F platform. The new 2022 Toyota Tundra will share this platform. In addition, we expect that the new 4Runner, Sequoia, and Tacoma trucks will be built on this new platform as well. 

Overall, it’s about time to start getting really excited about the trucks coming up for release in Toyota’s lineup. Naturally, a day like Taco Tuesday is the perfect time to muse about the upcoming 2024 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. Virtually all the information we have so far is little more than speculation. However, it’s still fun looking toward the future of the legendary Taco.

RELATED: What Is the Smallest Toyota SUV?

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