Advice on dealing with car dealership!

[Chris B.]

Well F*** me! I spent all friggin' day at a dealer that had a good car I liked. A used(28,000 mile) Volvo XC70. They wanted $28,900 which is really high. My budget is $22K out the door and that is what I offered. The salesmen I feel did try to get my offer through but the owner said no way. They would only come down to $26,500 and tried everything to get me to buy it but I would not budge. Finally I got up to leave and I thought they would take my offer then but they still did not. They said they just don't have any room to go less......

I figured they had at least 10K to deal with but they insisted they only had less then 4K and were down to the line. So I left without a car.

 

[demarpaint]

A lot of good advise here, I sold new and used cars for over 3 years and worked in high volume stores. Not to repeat too much of what's all ready been said I will add a quick 2 cents.

On a new car always know what the car cost and the dealers hold-back and possible incentives. Work up from cost when negotiating never down from sticker price.

Always shop at the end of the month, never the beginning of the month, they deal more aggressively at the end of the month.

Tell them you don't have a trade, and are shopping, and that you might finance. The finance and warranty are a large % of profit.

We typically added $4,000-$6,000 to our cost of a used car, and averaged close to $3,000 profit on them after finance and a warranty. People typically shoot themselves in the foot buying a used car, they are the cash cows!!!!!!!!!!! New Cars are a lot less profitable because of the information age.

Don't be afraid to walk out. If a customer could walk out of my store after haggling a price that simply meant that he got the best possible price or a manager would have chased him into the lot offering a better deal!

When you finally get to the Finance Manager he is their last shot at making more profit. Watch out for a warranty being packed into the finance, especially if your credit is not good. Sometimes they will tell you in order to get a certain rate you had to take an extended warranty, and the warranty is costing you next to nothing because of the rate reduction. If that happens report them to the DA...........

HTH,
Frank D

 

[mpvue]

Originally Posted By: Chris B.
Well F*** me! I spent all friggin' day at a dealer that had a good car I liked. A used(28,000 mile) Volvo XC70. They wanted $28,900 which is really high. My budget is $22K out the door and that is what I offered. The salesmen I feel did try to get my offer through but the owner said no way. They would only come down to $26,500 and tried everything to get me to buy it but I would not budge. Finally I got up to leave and I thought they would take my offer then but they still did not. They said they just don't have any room to go less......

I figured they had at least 10K to deal with but they insisted they only had less then 4K and were down to the line. So I left without a car.

GOOD FOR YOU!

you HAVE to be willing to walk away, you did the right thing. if somewhere along the line they got your contact info (they always do somehow) they will call you if they are desperate. if they don't, oh well. there are other cars out there.
btw, just about all the advice given so far is right on point. expcet the point about new or old salesman. it goes both ways. there are some very agressive new guys, and some old guys who have been playing the game som long they don't know how to tell the truth.

 

[Eddie]

You may get a call from them with a new offer so stick to your price.

 

[doitmyself]

Quote:
On a new car always know what the car cost and the dealers hold-back and possible incentives. Work up from cost when negotiating never down from sticker price.


That, in a nutshell, is how the Edmunds education will enable you to get the best price.

- Dealer factory incentives allow them to sell UNDER the invoice price.

- In the old days, buying off the lot was recommended. Today, dealers trade all the time based on their computer inventories.


I have honed my skills to the point that I bought my last vehicle over the telephone. You must be in command....tell them the exact model, options, color, AND price.

Of course, this will seldom work on high demand cars. I could never get much of a deal from Honda. A better deal, yes, but not a killer deal.

 

[XS650]

Quote:
and some old guys who have been playing the game so long they don't know how to tell the truth.

 

[demarpaint]

When buying a new car, I use the internet and work one dealer against the other for the best price/deal. Then I go in and leave a deposit if everything is exactly as we discussed via the www. Before signing the dotted line I visit the service dept, and meet the sales manager. I tell him I worked in car sales, it takes the edge off when sitting down with the Finance Manager, and after trading war stories and being up front they won't try and screw me.

I loved selling cars, and was #1 salesman in several of the stores I worked in. Unfortunately a few I didn't stay long enough because of pay plans changing after a few weeks of working there. I learned all the little tricks from the best in the business. Some of these guys were stand up guys, most were thieves. I had an approach that was called unique but it worked well. I was honest and sold a customer what he/she wanted, took a little less gross but moved metal. Management was happy with the numbers, and if they didn't eventually screw me out of $$$$$ I'd still be doing it.

Most people are pretty easy to read, that includes savvy buyers. The savvy buyers are less likely to get screwed over, I treated them with respect. Try and mess with a Savvy buyer and he's out the door, treat him with respect and a good price he's a customer that will refer others. Be the savvy buyer, it works!

Be careful with your money because a dealer would love to take as much of it as possible.

Frank D

 

[bretfraz]

Originally Posted By: Chris B.
Well F*** me! I spent all friggin' day at a dealer that had a good car I liked. A used(28,000 mile) Volvo XC70. They wanted $28,900 which is really high. My budget is $22K out the door and that is what I offered. The salesmen I feel did try to get my offer through but the owner said no way. They would only come down to $26,500 and tried everything to get me to buy it but I would not budge. Finally I got up to leave and I thought they would take my offer then but they still did not. They said they just don't have any room to go less......

I figured they had at least 10K to deal with but they insisted they only had less then 4K and were down to the line. So I left without a car.


I'm sorry, but what made you think there was $10,000 of profit in this car? Where did you collect this data from?

I've had access to wholesale price data. I've been to dealer auctions. I know where dealers get their cars from and know what they pay for them. I've never heard of any dealer having that kind of markup in a car unless it was a Ferrari or something. A Volvo station wagon is not an exotic car.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: bretfraz
Originally Posted By: Chris B.
Well F*** me! I spent all friggin' day at a dealer that had a good car I liked. A used(28,000 mile) Volvo XC70. They wanted $28,900 which is really high. My budget is $22K out the door and that is what I offered. The salesmen I feel did try to get my offer through but the owner said no way. They would only come down to $26,500 and tried everything to get me to buy it but I would not budge. Finally I got up to leave and I thought they would take my offer then but they still did not. They said they just don't have any room to go less......




I figured they had at least 10K to deal with but they insisted they only had less then 4K and were down to the line. So I left without a car.


I'm sorry, but what made you think there was $10,000 of profit in this car? Where did you collect this data from?

I've had access to wholesale price data. I've been to dealer auctions. I know where dealers get their cars from and know what they pay for them. I've never heard of any dealer having that kind of markup in a car unless it was a Ferrari or something. A Volvo station wagon is not an exotic car.



That's the problem with working off sticker price instead of knowing dealer cost. They aren't going to lose money, they'll simply pass.

Frank D

 

[saaber1]

Originally Posted By: Chris B.
Well F*** me! I spent all friggin' day at a dealer that had a good car I liked. A used(28,000 mile) Volvo XC70. They wanted $28,900 which is really high. My budget is $22K out the door and that is what I offered. The salesmen I feel did try to get my offer through but the owner said no way. They would only come down to $26,500 and tried everything to get me to buy it but I would not budge. Finally I got up to leave and I thought they would take my offer then but they still did not. They said they just don't have any room to go less......

I figured they had at least 10K to deal with but they insisted they only had less then 4K and were down to the line. So I left without a car.


I have not researched what those cars go for but honestly $26.5K sounds too high to me. It seems you can get a comparable car such as a subi for brand new for less than that.

And as I remember on your old thread you said that reliability was your number 1 factor by far. If that is the case than the new subi will be much better for you for less/the same money. Plus the longer warranty of a new car (don't know what volvo waranty is but I assume the new subi warr. woudl be longer).

So from where I sit and based on what I know about what you are looking for, you did the right thing. 28,000 miles is like two years of driving compared to the new subi.