Dealership negotiations...

[mjk1967]

Morning,
There's a possibility that I look at a vehicle this afternoon. Today is the last day of the month; I say this, because when I received an email from the salesperson this weekend, he indicated that it might be quite busy today. I kind of chuckled, I'm assuming sales aren't all that strong right now, and if anything, I should have a bit of leverage today. This is a GM dealership.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Ranger83]

End of quarter also. Ford and GM now report sales quarterly, not monthly, so there might be some leverage.

The big GM truck recall can’t be helping sales.

But those emails ar pe a come-on to get you in the dealership.

Many years ago, walked into a Subaru dealership end of quarter, got a price, and left. They called me two hours later with a substantial price reduction.

 

[cptbarkey]

My thoughts: no matter what you try, you will be taken advantage of.

 

[IndyIan]

My thoughts: no matter what you try, you will be taken advantage of.

Well, they will almost certainly try! But, do some homework on what a good price should be, and then offer that, and either buy or leave depending on their answer.

 

[dtownfb]

Car sales are sluggish with a few exceptions. LIke Indylan said, DO YOUR HOMEWORK! Know what the price of the vehicles are. You can use Edmunds, KBB, Cars.com, etc. to find out invoice pricing. Also chekc if there are any rebates or special financing. Secure financing before you go into the dealership. You should know what a car is going to cost and the monthly payment BEFORE you get into the dealership. If the negotiations are not gong the way you want, walk out! Make sure the sales manager sees you leaving.

 

[Chris142]

No dealers haggle here any more.

 

[rstcso]

What are your thoughts?

Have you driven the type of vehicle you're interested in? If you know you want a specific stock number, handle all transactions through text and email. Have all documents sent to you with all blanks filled in. I've done this the past three vehicles purchased before ever stepping into a dealership. Basically, you can pass GO and go straight to finance after inspecting the vehicle.

 

[supton]

Don't forget, half the struggle comes after you agree to a price--the F&I guy gets his turn after you agree on a price, and will try to get you buy all sorts of add-ons.

 

[We're Metals]

Don't forget, half the struggle comes after you agree to a price--the F&I guy gets his turn after you agree on a price, and will try to get you buy all sorts of add-ons.

Or they already have all the addons... $500 window tint, $1,000 paint protection package, $300 tire protection already all baked in and the manager says he cant do anything because they already installed it.

Honestly, I just try and go through Costco. Currently they're partnering with GM:

 

[Ranger83]

Don't forget, half the struggle comes after you agree to a price--the F&I guy gets his turn after you agree on a price, and will try to get you buy all sorts of add-ons.

AutoFair Honda in Manchester gave me a low finance rate on a company car. When I went in, they told me my credit rating wasn’t high enough for the promo rate and wanted to charge 1% more.

We bought a number of Hondas so it cost them four sales.

 

[rstcso]

When Covid started, I bought a Ram 1500 on the last days of March 2020, just as businesses were shutting down. I called and said I'd buy a specific truck that day for X price, which was 25% below MSRP. When they said No, I thanked them and hung up. This went on for several hours. At the end of the day, that's what I paid.

Their lot was full and with the threat of shutdowns, I had all the power. It helped not needing a new truck.

 

[John105]

Don't forget, half the struggle comes after you agree to a price--the F&I guy gets his turn after you agree on a price, and will try to get you buy all sorts of add-ons.

I was told the way around add ons is by ordering. That’s what we did on a Chevy Tahoe. Imho to complicate matters in my area there are 0-4 on any given lot. Dallas TX 20+. Our websites show no discount. In Hartford CT they are $2-$3k over. What a wacky car buying world. In 2011 we had to say how much below invoice we are interested in. Doesn’t seem to be the case now. Some on forums still pay list on a Tahoe or Suburban. We did get a discount on our order and some have said no they paid list.

 

[John105]

AutoFair Honda in Manchester gave me a low finance rate on a company car. When I went in, they told me my credit rating wasn’t high enough for the promo rate and wanted to charge 1% more.

We bought a number of Hondas so it cost them four sales.

Your market may be unusual as Chevy Tahoes are marked up $2-$3k over list in E Hartford. In Dallas they are $5k off. That could be an $8k delta

 

[rstcso]

I was told the way around add ons is by ordering.

One YouTuber has the saying "If it's taxable, it's negotiable!". I've had dealers say it's already on there, <blah-blah-blah>, so can't be removed. Thank them and start to walk out. Gone are the days with limited supply and buyers qualified to buy. You probably won't make it out the door without being stopped. If you do, go to another dealer.

 

[IndyIan]

Also I used carcostcanada.com, (I think unhaggle.com is similar?)to find out the invoice price(not easily found in Canada), and it put my inquiry right to the sales manager at the local dealership, I talked to him on the phone and had a email quote from another dealer for a low km demo, and they just matched that for a car on their lot.

 

[ecotourist]

"I only want to talk about the "out the door price". You can put the amounts in whatever column you want but the out the door price we agree upon is the bottom line price."

That avoids the many potential extra charges for dealer prep, document fees, security window markings, special wax coatings, upholstery stain blockers, etc.

 

[Pablo]

Our closest GM dealer is a complete asswhipe. No negotiation, pay sticker. BS. Not buying. Walked.

Ford van deal. He lowballed us. Excellent.

Honda dealer, we lowball, they balk. Later they say OK to same price.

Toyota dealer, we negotiated like real humans. Both just OK with price.

 

[Owen Lucas]

I would get competing quotes from multiple dealers in a race to the bottom with my starting price being the lowest price paid on vehicle specific forums. I test drive the car in one place and then wheel and deal via email until someone bites.

 

[64bawagon]

The most useful skill when buying is the ability to politely say no to the F&I person. Thats where they make all their money. I order almost all the time and always make it clear that there are to be no add ons. Document fees are a real thing everywhere here since the state forced the dealers to do all their paperwork. I have bought vehicles from the same guy for over 30 yrs.

 

[supton]

"I only want to talk about the "out the door price". You can put the amounts in whatever column you want but the out the door price we agree upon is the bottom line price."

That avoids the many potential extra charges for dealer prep, document fees, security window markings, special wax coatings, upholstery stain blockers, etc.

Disagree. When I bought my last one, they even wrote "OTD" on the agreement and circled it. Took telling two F&I guys "no" many times afterward to keep it at that price.

No, I do not plan to go back to that dealership. But I expect future dealings to be no different.