Did I lowball the guy or was I reasonable?

Never understood fighting over $500.

If you want the car, they got close enough.
It’s $800 more than I expected. Yes, I know in the grand scheme of things $500 isn’t much, but then it becomes $800, then $1500, then…

They do 100 car sales a week, I buy one every 2-3 years. The $500 means a lot less to them than it does me because they can make it up on the next 99.
 
That car is 100k+ miles and will need a ton of work.

How are the shocks, bearings, springs, struts, bushings, and suspension in general?
How are the pads/rotors/calipers/brake fluid?
How is the serpentine belt/idlers/tensioners/whatever?
Tire condition?
Transmission fluid?
Coolant/antifreeze, thermostat, pressure cap?
Engine air filter, spark plugs, cabin air filter?

I'd fight for as much discount as possible because I know there will be work that needs to be done NOW and in the not too distant future.
 
Those brake light flashers are $2.50 each on ebay.

Like others said, try again on Tuesday.

Cut a few hundred bucks more and finance it through them, then pay the note off the next day. Just make sure you get a "simple interest" loan without prepayment penalty, and not a "rule of 72."
 
They’re at $7605, that’s $495 below clean and $980 above average retail with the market adjusted values for your area. The average clean retail is actually adjusted up by $300, probably because of the mileage.
I guess it all depends on how bad you want the vehicle. Hit them at $7400 if you like, that’s right between average and clean retail. Like I said, it all depends on how bad you want the vehicle. I’m not sure what the market is like in your area, but there’s probably a lot of people that would have paid that $7605 around here,..especially if it’s as clean as it looks.
Cheers! 🍻

edit - I forgot to mention that I don’t really think you lowballed them at all. You have to try to get the best price that you can,…on the flip side, they will as well. 😉

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No, you didn't lowball them.
If they have the audacity to call you back, I'd knock some more off for the inconvenience.
If they balk on that, graciously offer to forfeit the "Valuable" $899 break light flasher as a means to cut cost.:ROFLMAO:
 
Also in my experience the dealers don't like cash deals. They prefer finance because they make more money. Another game you could play would be don't tell them you want to do cash until the end. Let them get you a price on finance. Then change your mind to pay cash. Or just finance it and pay it off in a month.
 
Also in my experience the dealers don't like cash deals. They prefer finance because they make more money. Another game you could play would be don't tell them you want to do cash until the end. Let them get you a price on finance. Then change your mind to pay cash. Or just finance it and pay it off in a month.
I once financed at 4.5% to get the deal and refied for free for 2.9% later that afternoon, lol
 
Well, someone thought it was a lowball because I checked the webpage this morning and it’s gone. Apparently they found a buyer who wanted it more than I did. I would love to know what it actually sold for.
 
Brake light flasher? I probably would have walked the moment I heard that was installed, I don’t care if they took $500 off the price after installing it—who knows what they screwed up in installing. And the fact that they’d charge $899 to other people… tells me they’re crooks, plain and simple.

But it sounds like, mission accomplished, they sold it to someone who wanted it more than you. :(
 
I would love to know what it actually sold for.
Seems like you're viewing this emotionally and that's a mistake (when buying anything). Odds are whoever bought it paid full sticker price along with an extended warranty, gap insurance, and so on, so the dealer made a LOT more money from them.
 
Fairness is subjective. You cannot add the personal feeling of fairness to a negotiation without adding too much emotion. You are either paying under, at, or over what it’s worth in the market. Fairness has little to do with it.

If you overpay but are happy with deal then it will be perceived as fair, right? However if you underpay but are unhappy with the deal then it will be perceived as unfair, right? The emotion is the subjective variable.

Many think a McDonald’s burger is a fair price and happily buy it. I think it is trash and wouldn’t pay 1 cent for it. So, who’s right? We both are technically, if the only measure is fairness of the price tag.
 
Seems like you're viewing this emotionally and that's a mistake (when buying anything). Odds are whoever bought it paid full sticker price along with an extended warranty, gap insurance, and so on, so the dealer made a LOT more money from them.
Being curious isn’t being emotional. I certainly don’t feel like they owed me that car at the price of my choosing. It would, however be helpful to know in case I need to recalibrate my negation expectations. I remain surprised I didn’t get it at $7100. Clearly the manager made the right call because they found someone else willing to pay more within a few hours.

When I look at a listing I automatically do some mental math to arrive at a true on-the-road price. In this case my mental math was apparently flawed. I would like to know how far off I was as a data point in case this becomes a pattern.
 
Brake light flasher? I probably would have walked the moment I heard that was installed, I don’t care if they took $500 off the price after installing it—who knows what they screwed up in installing. And the fact that they’d charge $899 to other people… tells me they’re crooks, plain and simple.

But it sounds like, mission accomplished, they sold it to someone who wanted it more than you. :(
I agree 100% regarding the brake light flasher; I don't want some so-called "tech" hacking into a factory wiring harness. I won't even consider a car that has one of asinine pieces of junk installed.
 
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