Nowadays I usually buy "Private Party". As long as the seller seems honest, and they have taken care of the vehicle, they're more apt to bend with pricing and you aren't worried about small print. It's a simple sale.
Story 1 ... We paid $7,700 on our Prius, when the lowest a local dealer would charge for the same year, model, miles, and package was $13,500. That's over 40% off. And later on I confirmed with the dealer that our Prius had been serviced there on a STRICT regular basis - all fluids and services performed before their scheduled interval. When we averaged the times the oil was changed by the mileage that I got the vehicle at, they figured the oil was changed every 2,600 miles. Not bad. Battery was just replaced, oil was just changed, brake pads replaced, ATF changed earlier last year, diagnostics ran 100%. Just fabulous.
On the other hand, Story 2... our Hyundai I bought at a smaller outfit, somewhere between a hole in the wall and a stealership...right in the middle there. I sat in the room with the lady (who was nice) and we negotiated on price for a good hour. Said she couldn't budge on the vehicle. Not a cent. I left for lunch, made some calls, came back with a fake offer that my bank would only finance it for 'x' amount and I didn't have enough cash to make up for what she was asking for it. She wanted to sell it to me, her hands were tied... so she called her bank and of all the things, her bank said the exact same thing that I made up! I told her I'd go with her bank if they promised a super low interest rate, they gave me ON PAPER the blue book value for my Grand Am GT, and she would give it to me at the price I wanted. She said can you cut a check for $750 in addition to the financing, I said no, that's not a deal...she said well how about $500. After some tug-o-war I said I will cut you a check for $100 and that is as low as I go. No gimmicks, no warranties; just this vehicle, as is, out the door, seal the deal, that's it.
My trade in vehicle, a '03 Grand Am GT - cruise control did not work, the A/C needed recharging, and the electronics were going bad. The side panel had been ripped off and was hanging. Sludge in the coolant tank. It had 79,000 miles on it. At this time (May 2011), my Grand Am GT KBB was at around $5,300 for perfect condition. She gave me $4,900 for it. VERY fair if not more than fair. I owed $4,700 on it. The $200 credit paid for a little sales tax. Checked the paperwork before I signed it, looked legit. Financed the Santa Fe at $9,000 when she couldn't budge at $10k.
We shook on it and said I'd mail her a check since I forgot my checkbook (out of town). She called me and told me I left a peanut jar chock full of quarters, dimes, and dollar bills. I asked her if she'd mail it to me and she asked me how much I thought was in there. I said probably $40 or so. She told me to forget the check and she would just keep the change and bills.
Nice lady to deal with. Sometimes you get the nice dealers.
and Story 3... Just prior to this deal I walked out on a different car lot because they wouldn't budge for me on a used '98 4Runner. The vehicle had 105,000 miles. The rear speakers worked sometimes and some of the climate controls had shorted. It drives nice and was in good condition but the sales guy was a tough case and wouldn't budge from $8900. I offered him $6500 which I thought was fair. He told me it was a Toyota, I told him I already knew that. He tried selling me on the fact that they just put new brakes in. I said that's a $200 job, not a good selling point. The guy didn't know what to do as he couldn't seem to seal the deal. He talked to his sales manager, came back and then whipped out his calculator. He said "I can get you into this vehicle for xxx payment per month". I said let me see that. I added it up, added 6% for interest just for fairness sake, and he had actually increased the original offer of $8900 to $10,200. I said you sick freak, that's not right. Is that how you treat everyone? I told him I'd do $159 a month for 36 months. He tallied it up and it was $1000 less than I had asked before. I said how do you like that? He said "oh I could never do that". He then countered with my same $159 a month offer but then said for 72 months. HA! I finally said I'd up my offer to $7,000, no gimmicks. He said no and threw another monthly payment offer at me again. I said well I guess I am walking. After some more desperate attempts and some very offensive counter offers, I shook his hand and said "I'm sorry we couldn't agree on a price today. The vehicle just isn't worth THAT much!"
Sometimes you gotta know when to walk.
