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first_nice_truck_tomOP
Cloth SeatsWichita, KS9 posts, joined Aug 2025
2016 Silverado 1500 LT5.3, 171k
plano told me to start my own thread so here it is. it closed yesterday, so this is the how and also the what happened.
me: Wichita, 41, HVAC contractor, i've driven a 2016 Silverado LT with a ladder rack for nine years. 171k. i wanted one nice truck that's mine and not the company's. the one i bid on was a 2023 F-150 Platinum SuperCrew, 3.5 EcoBoost, 4x4, 31,200 miles, Agate Black, at a lender yard in Oklahoma City. it was on the m&a listing page with about 50 photos, no Buy Now.
how i set the number.
step one, dealer prices. two comparable Platinums in Wichita: $54,995 with 28k and $56,800 with 24k. both had a $1,895 "protection package" addendum and a $499 doc fee. so real out the door before tax was $57,389 and $59,194.
step two, tax drops out. Kansas sales tax hits me the same whether i buy from a dealer or a broker, so i left it out of both sides.
step three, what i'm giving up. no test drive, no trade in (i'm keeping the Silverado for work anyway), and a few weeks of waiting.
step four, i decided i'd want at least 6 grand under the cheapest dealer to make up for not driving it. 57,389 minus 6,000 is about 51,400. i wrote $50,750 on a sticky note on my monitor.
at 11 pm the night before the close i almost raised it to 53. didn't. bid stayed at 50,750.
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window_sticker_math
VentilatedRaleigh, NC57 posts, joined Jul 2025
2023 Tundra 1794 Edition3.4 i-FORCE twin turbo
that's a better process than most dealers' customers use. one tweak for next time: compare against the dealer's price minus what you could negotiate, not the sticker on the windshield. those Wichita trucks probably had $1,000 to $1,500 of room plus the addendum, if you sat there long enough. your margin was a little thinner than six grand, more like four.
for reference a 2023 Platinum SuperCrew stickered somewhere around $72k to $76k depending on options. at 31k miles, two years old, landing near 70 percent of sticker is normal for a half ton top trim.
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king_ranch_skeptic
VentilatedAbilene, TX84 posts, joined Jul 2025
2022 F-250 King Ranch6.7 Power Stroke
i'm the guy who said the Denali OP overpaid, so you know where i'm coming from. a sticky note is the right idea. sealed bids go wrong in the last hour, not the first week.
what i want to know is what your plan was if you lost. did you have a second truck picked out or were you going to bid on the next m&a lot at a higher number? because that's how people walk their number up two grand at a time.
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first_nice_truck_tomOP
Cloth SeatsWichita, KS9 posts, joined Aug 2025
2016 Silverado 1500 LT5.3, 171k
plan B was a 2022 Platinum at a dealer in Salina that i'd already driven, $54,500. i would've gone and argued with them. i promised my wife i wouldn't do a second sealed bid in the same month, exactly because of what you're saying.
didn't need it. i got the email at 10:12 yesterday morning that i won at 50,750. wired it the same afternoon. no buyer's premium, Oklahoma City to Wichita is way under the free miles, so the invoice was the bid.
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lariat_to_denali
LeatherLexington, KY26 posts, joined Jul 2025
2021 F-150 Lariat5.0 V8, shopping
congrats. did the M and A folks give you a delivery date yet? i'm curious how close they run to the 14 days they quote, since everyone so far has been a little under.
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first_nice_truck_tomOP
Cloth SeatsWichita, KS9 posts, joined Aug 2025
2016 Silverado 1500 LT5.3, 171k
it came on the 2nd, 13 days from my wire with Labor Day in the middle. driver was an owner operator out of Edmond with a two car wedge. walked around it with me, had me sign the condition sheet, done in 20 minutes. one curb rash spot on the left rear wheel, which you can see in photo 31. no surprises.
the part nobody warned me about is Kansas. the title is an Oklahoma title, and Kansas wants a VIN inspection by the Highway Patrol before the county will title an out of state vehicle. that was a $20 fee and a Tuesday morning at the inspection station off K-96, then Sedgwick County tag office the next day. not hard, just one more trip than i expected. the m&a auto sales paperwork didn't mention it because it's a Kansas thing, not theirs.
spec line updated.
