Any Questions for a Car Dealer?

mackabee

How's the new Nissan Titan doing? Looks pretty impressive to me.
                 : )
                    Mackabee

bowke28

AWESOME!!!

weve only delivered 2, but we have almost a dozen orders since december 18th. (1st one arrived)

we have a ford franchise too, one of the top in the country, and 2 ford plants...even ford people, who qualify for A-plan have ordered titans.

tiredofmanual

I have a couple people coming this weekend to take a look at my Audi. The issue is that the title is still held by Audi Financial Services. If one of these guys buys my car, obviously I'll pay the loan off and be sent the title. But in the mean time, is the new buyer able to register the car in his name? With just a bill of sale and no title... This is Illinois, by the way.

bowke28

you go together to the DMV and transfer registration...the DMV will give a temporary tag (usually 30 days). this gives you time to pay off the car and receive the title to take to the DMV or give to your buyer.

kyfdx

Seems like strange advice coming from a salesman in KY. You can't transfer title or registration on a car that has a lien on it. But, you can go to the bank where he is getting the loan, and they will have you fill out a power of attorney to do title work, and they will send the check directly to the lienholder, and cut you one for the difference. The lien release paperwork will be sent to them or the county, then they will record their lien, and then he will be able to get title and registration.. county may give him temporary tags in the meantime, depending on where you live..

regards,
kyfdx

akangl

Its about the same up here, when we were car shopping we talked with a salesman at the Nissan dealer. He said they had a waiting list 30 people long wanting a Titan. They had about 15 Armadas on thier lot, said they had sold 2 so far. They had no new Pathfinders, only used ones, but plenty of Xterras, Armadas, Quests, and cars. Its a new dealership, they bought out the old Nissan/VW store. VW jumped ship. Rather strange to see an empty car lot in Fairbanks, that place is one big new/used car lot.

bowke28

i think the question was on a cash private deal. in that case, you go directly to the county clerk's office, the teller will notorize the deal, and transfer the registration. the seller then has a certain amount of time to achieve a lien release from the bank that THEY owe the money to. (i think 30 days)

the seller must either bring a letter from the lienholder stating that the lien is released along with the title. they can also arrange for the lienholder to fax this letter directly to the county clerk.

tiredofmanual

I think the title might arrive in the mail before I get served at the Cook County Clerks Office.

kyfdx

In Kentucky.. no transfer of title or registration can take place while a lien is on the vehicle.. Private cash sale or not. Most people on the buy or sell side are willing to do the deal and wait on the paperwork if a bank is involved to hold a big stick over things. You can meet at the county clerk's office and have a bill of sale notarized.. That will help protect both parties, but they still won't transfer the registration until the lien is released. On the plus side, the plates go with the car in KY, so you won't be driving around in a car without plates.. Sorry to be so long about this.. probably doesn't matter to the 99.9 % of people that don't live in the Commonwealth.

regards,
kyfdx

ramped1

what the post-holiday traffic is like on the car lots? Any buyers out there, or have they gone away for a while?

akangl

We bought a new Explorer on the 6th of this month, the dealer was pretty busy then. Our salesman said that New Year's Eve was nuts, he sold 4 cars and was there until 11:30 pm.

ramped1

You bought the new Explorer after all? How'd I miss that???

Hey, good luck with it. And, if it's any consolation, it's pretty cold in Orlando this weekend. Going down to 40 tonight!!!

akangl

Yup, we bought it, picked it up on hubby's 38th Bday, new Explorer had all of 12 miles on it. I think it has almost 600 on it now. I was so on the fence, then something popped loose in the front end of my 97 Explorer, that was kind of a wake up call that I could either fix it ($1500) or trade it. The new Explorers are a lot better, its so smooth I can see speeding tickets in my future (its red too).

Just finished washing and waxing it a bit ago, came home and it started snowing, of course!!

stevestein

I will be leasing a Lexus RX330 either in the next 30 days or a 2005 in October. I know the residual now has already slipped a few percent due to the age of the 2004 model year, and will go back up in the fall for a 2005. The cars have gone from MSRP when they first came out, to $2500-3500 off depending on local supply/demand.

My question is, does this kind of discount normally carry over to the next model year when there will be little or no change in the car having just come out as a brand new vehicle this year?

beechman

Apology in advance for the length...

Just bought a new Sienna van...I had (what I thought was) a check from my Credit Union that was good for up to 28K. When presented with the "check", the dealer declared that it was instead a "draft" and that they didn't take drafts due to prior bad experiences with them and places like e-loan.com (despite fact that mine came from a CU).

After spending 20 min on phone with CU at the dealer, dealer decided that having a cashiers check made out to both me and them would be sufficient, and that check would be mailed to me, endorsed by me upon receipt, then I would FedEx it to dealer.

My initial plan was to write a 4K check from my own checking account, and finance remainder with CU draft/check...dealer ended up having me write 2 checks, one for the 4K and another for the same amount of the soon-to-arrive cashiers check (26K), even though I don't have 26K in my account. The 26K check is to be returned to me upon dealer receipt of cashiers check.

Was curious about dealer's rationale for having me write a 26K check to them when they know I don't have the money to cover it? Credit Union was puzzled as well, but didn't think any harm would come of it. I know the dealer letting me drive away without their 30K in hand was a leap of faith, but I just don't get their reasoning for this...Can any dealers or F&I personnel shed some light on this for me? Thanks for any insights...

rroyce10

..... It depends on the vehicle, the area of the country and the options .. in this case it's a RX and they have been doing strong money for the last 4 years ..

           If you like the vehicle, then get it and enjoy it .. a point here and there is minuscule, especially when they have such Strong resale value and the prices will go up in the next year .. clean low mileage 01's with with all the options are seeing seeing $24ish for a trade figure and $27ish on the Retail side, thats a pretty strong history ......

                      Terry.

rroyce10

..... Dealers don't like "drafts", there not money and they can't cash them .. perhaps the dealer and you had a miscommunication, he doesn't want his $26,000 vehicle being driven around with no money and the Credit Union should have known this, they ARE in the lending business .l.o.l..

          Now he has your $4grand and the balance on a check, and the heat is on YOU to "crank up" the Credit Union for the balance in a hurry, you can't blame him ~ what would you do if someone owed you $26 large ..?

                       Terry ;-)

driftracer

I've dealt with some large CUs and had customers come on, talk the talk, walk the walk, SM didn't run credit because they were going through their CU, we do the paperwork, I didn't feel good about it....only to get a call from the CU or customer saying they can't get financed.

"But I got my last three car loans through that credit union!"

Yes, and that was before you BK'd and let lenders hang for $20-30 large!

I'd much rather have a cashier's check or a personal check than a draft any day, unless we do business with that particluar CU every day and I see a pre-approval letter (current).

raybear

Sometimes we still ask a customer to let us run a quick credit check if things don't seem to add up. The customer usually gives his/her status away at some point either by what they say or what they don't say.

isellhondas

Some of the "E" lenders like to use these and any smart dealer won't take one. Some of these lenders will make us jump through a lot of hoops before they will fund us. I think drafts are just a way for them to delay payment.

No thanks!

bowke28

if:

1) credit score is over 700

a bank draft if:

1) credit qualifies for financing
2) a cashable backup contract is agreed to and signed
3) monkeys fly out of my behind!

 ;-)

beechman

Appreciate the feedback and insights...

They *did* run my credit, right in front of me, had a 739, no negatives whatsoever. I will say that the CU was not local to the dealership, so I can understand some uneasiness on that aspect, although I did have a pre-approval letter accompanying the draft.

I've read stories before (loonngtime lurker for most part) about dealers not liking drafts for the reasons stated previously, so I'm not totally surprised by that.

Terry, you're right that they've got *my* check for 26K in hand, but what good does it do them if it's NSF in the first place? Setting a legal framework against me for fraud?

They'll be getting their money, believe me, and I *do* appreciate them letting me drive out with the van, but I'm still not getting why they would choose that method of collateral. To answer a question that hasn't been asked yet: I would've financed with dealer if they could've touched my rate, but they weren't able to (3.49% for 60 mos).

Thanks again for the pros' insights!

tornado25

"If you buy, your payment means nothing.. You have to depreciate the vehicle according to the IRS rules, and their are limits to how much you can deduct each year for a vehicle."

Hmm. This I didn't know. I didn't realize the payment itself wasn't deductible and that they only thing deductible is the depreciation. Thanks a lot for the info!

bowke28

yes...the only way you can deduct the payment is if you lease.

rroyce10

..... >>They'll be getting their money<<..

          The point is, they Don't have their money and there is a big difference between "having" and "getting" their money .l.o.l. ..

            Don't take this personally, it's just business .. but folks think because a Credit Union says it's ok, that's it's just hunky dory .. things like this happen all the time to dealers, maybe the contract at the CU has to have 2 signatures, maybe they only cut checks on Thursdays, maybe they only "conditioned" you to $25,0 and that doesn't include the ttl ..

             Like I said, nothing personal .. but if YOU sold this vehicle and someone handed you a draft that you Couldn't cash, what would you be thinkin' ..? .. at least they have the $4grand deposited, and that they can bank on .. got it.?

                     Terry

stevestein

Re 6615 and 6617
Terry - I share your "eat dessert first" approach, in fact that's behind the question in the first place. My wife and I are empty nesters. We own a 99 Blazer outright (wife's car) and have a 2001 LS430 (mine/primary family car) coming off lease in Oct. Both are low mileage, great condition cars. My wife drove an RX330 loaner when my car was serviced and wants one to replace her Blazer. I'm running various scenarios from the practical (lease a new RX as her/family car when the LS lease is up and keep the Blazer for my use as the second car) to the not so practical (Lease a new RX for her now, buy the LS for myself at lease end and keep the Blazer as a "dirty use" car)with a few intermediate alternatives. The question about how prices generally flow from one model year to the next was just another piece of information to be considered.

So the question remains; after a major redesign in 04 the RX price seems to have settled at a discount of $2.5 - 3.5K from MSRP (where it was for a while after it was first introduced). Will this level tend to carry over into the 2005, or does the price normally spike back up significantly in the fall with the next model year designation even with little change in the car. I always have one vehicle on lease (taxes) so I'm not giving the resale value much weight other than in the residual, which I know will go up in the fall for a 2005. The difference due to the residual is probably only a $20-30 a month , but a large cap cost increase would have a bigger effect.

rodc1

Through Costco there's a program formerly run by Peoplefirst.com that Capital One now administers. You are preapproved for a certain amount and you can write the amount on the check up to the maximum. I plan on using this soon and will check with my salesman up front. Do you guys(salespersons) have any experience with this form of payment? And if so any problems? Will i be given the cold shoulder at any dealership?

bowke28

this question is asked of me quite often, and i can honestly tell you that it will take you in circles. if you get one now, you will get the discount that you negotiate. if you buy a 2005 when they arrive, it will cost you more until the 2004s are gone. once that happens (nov/dec/jan), you are back to square one, and no different than you are right now...then you will wonder about the 2006s...and 2007s...etc...grab one when you want one, and dont overthink the timing. your best deal will be when you make the offer.

rroyce10

...... I know it's hard to believe, but Bowke has made a very valid point here ..

            Prices will go up, maybe only $600/$800 for the 05's, but they will go up .. find what your looking for, find the color, get the options you want, get the checkbook out, sign your name, drive it away, then enjoy the hell out of it ... you remind me of one of my golf partners, he cry's everytime we are out playing: "I wish I had the new Callaway clubs, but I'm waiting for the price to drop" .. well he's been waiting for over a year and has played 30/40 times, do you think he game will improve.? .. who cares, he will be happy and I'm sure anything will help him improve ........ ..

             Just like my great Grand Daddy used to say: ~ "you will never see a Brinks truck following a Hearse" ..

                      Terry ;-)

suvshopper4

There's more to the story.

Suggestion: Check with a tax pro, even if you have to pay for their time.

beechman

Terry,

I definitely understand why dealers don't like drafts, and I'm certainly not taking it personally...hell, they let me drive away with a 30K van in exchange for 4K and a promise.

The question that hasn't been answered yet is what would the dealer do with the 26K check *if* I defaulted, when they know it's no good? After reading all the responses, I'm surprised they let me leave with the van at all, but what would they do with that check? Thanks again, hopefully this will be my last question!

qbrozen

there have been several discussions on this. here is one of the longer ones:
bostont "Finance thru PeopleFirst.com?" Dec 19, 2001 2:45pm

raybear

A "Blank Check" is another name for a site draft.

rroyce10

....... They have a check to cash if the CU only makes the check out to you .. it happens all the time, I just went through this about a month ago ..

            The CU made one check out to the customer, the pay-off to the bank (which I handle) and the balance made out to both, it was like having three buckets with no bottoms, I can't use them .l.o.l.. and the whole time the customer is sitting on all three and was waiting until he had time to "set things straight", in the meantime he's driving around in my $37,000 Audi ...

                       Terry.

dsattler

Terry,

You're grandfather sure had a lot of sayings. Was coming up with these phrases his full-time job?

crkeehn

Just for curiousity sake, I am not presently in the market for a new car...

On the radio, a Washington Area Toyota dealer is advertising a sale this weekend. The gist of it is that you take the window sticker of a Corolla and subtract $1000 or take the window sticker of a Camry and subtract $2000. The resulting figure is your OTD cost, it includes tax tags and title.

ramped1

I'm not a salesman or an owner, but that Camry-Corolla deal sounds okay to me. You have to figure that, depending on your location, the sales tax alone on a Camry is in the $1,000 to $2,000 range. In Florida, where I am, you pay 6 or 7 percent in most counties, minus whatever trade value your old car has. There are also the title registration fees, which widely vary.

You could save a few hundred more by haggling around, but as an easy-in, easy-out way to buy a quality new car, this sounds like a good way to go.

explorerx4

if you are leasing a vehicle, and something unfortunate, like an accident happens, and your car is not repaired by the time your lease is up?
i have some time left on our lease, but yesterday our car got BAAShed up a bit, and will be in the shop for a few weeks.

CarMan@Edmunds

Interesting question, explorerx4. I am sorry to hear about your accident by the way. One of the nice things about leasing is that as long as your leased vehicle is repaired properly, you will not be liable for any excess wear and tear charges resulting from your accident and will be able to just walk away from your vehicle at the end of your lease never having to worry about any sort of diminished value. If I was in your situation, I would look into extending the lease by a month or two. Most banks will let their lessees extend their current leases by a couple of months if they so desire. I know that it will not be pleasant making an extra payment on a vehicle that you aren't even driving, but this may be the best solution to your problem.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shoppers / FWI Message Boards

rroyce10

....... Car_man brings up so good points .. but along with that, there could be some dark clouds looming if it's not properly done.

          Most folks might think, ah, the lease is over so let the lease company worry about .. but to protect yourself, you need to be one this one. Getting a $6,500 repair done for $3,800 might come back to haunt you, having repair work done with otc parts, bad painter, bad shop and a really poor repair will end up costing you in the long run .. just pretend it's going to be your vehicle for the Next 3 years and watch the finish job.

         
                       Terry.

CarMan@Edmunds

Excellent point, Terry. Explorerx4, I should add that you will not have to pay any additional wear and tear charges for a properly repaired vehicle. Just make sure to take your truck to a great body shop and to have them use OEM parts if possible.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shoppers / FWI Message Boards

grandtotal

Since the bank is the legal owner of the vehicle why not get them involved so that they can ensure that the repair is made to their satisfaction?

damish003

To answer Grandtotals question, I'm in a similar situation and addressed this with my lease company. They are not interested in either suggesting a repair shop or getting involved in any way, as long as the car isn't being totalled. The vehicle must be "repaired properly" to have in in the same condition as when originally leased. Basically, using a quality shop that guarantees the work, using OEM parts, and all that should cover Explorerx4's challenge. As host mentions, his lease company should be willing to extend lease for another month with no challenge.

I'm 6 months or so into a 3 year lease, had the car rear-ended and it needs 11k worth of work on a 20k vehicle. The nice thing, as host mentioned, is that at the end of the lease I can walk away from it as long as the work is done right. It's taking forever, as the accident was over 6 weeks ago, but it will be done right. As long as Explorerx4 doesn't look to have the repairs done on the cheap, he should be just fine.

-Dan-

kyfdx

This is exactly what happened to my wife's '01 Accord.. At 11K miles, a $9K rear-ender. We just turned the car in a couple of weeks ago at the end of a 3-year lease. No problems or questions. And, our leasing company (AHFC) did not want to be involved in the decision about repairs as well.

regards,
kyfdx

explorerx4

the car is being repaired, with all new parts.
i'll just have to pay the deductible from the insurance.
hoping there is no hidden damage. i would feel better if it was just the bumper, headlight, grille, and belly pan. the car was drivable, but the front bumper had to be strapped on to drive it.
i brought up the question because someone asked me. it will be repaired in plenty of time before the lease is up, unless they drive over it with a tow truck at the shop!

main1

I am looking to buy a new Honda, 5 spd CRv. the cost to the dealership, including Hold back is 19, 929, with an Invoice price of 20,500 more or less. I am getting differing opinions on what is a fair offer to the dealer. Of course they give me the "very popular, very hard to find, but NOBODY wants the 5 spd speech while they work on extracting 2000 over their cost on me. What / how is a fair offer made. I have not done many new car loans, and I guess I was raised too politely to figure this out, but I will pass on the car before I get extorted, especially when I am reading about all these folks with the "optional" auto transmission, getting the car for like 21,000 to 21,700. $21,700 is the lowest any have gone for the 5 speed. Don't know if you can give me some insight here, but would sure appreciate it. Thanks.

landru2

By "fair price to the dealer" do you actually mean "the lowest possible price I should pay?"

Why don't you just offer them $19929 and see what happens.

main1

I started by offering 20,000 and they acted like I was doing drugs....but I will give it a go again and see what happens. Hell, its only a car! I just wish it didn't make me feel so depressed and desperate....and vulnerable, and rude for asking and not considering their needs...Ha!.....boy...no wonder .....the process....I am part of the problem....I figure they need to make some money, just not $2000...that's alot of money!!Guess I should forget about being fair and go for the gusto!! Somebody out there must want to sell a car,eh!

rroyce10

...... Ok, lets think in "terms" ..

          Right now you have offered them $20,000, an amount where they are losing money .. so what good does that do for the dealer besides -0- .? .. he doesn't need to trade money for money without a profit, business 101 ..

          How much profit.? .. it's a handshaker, they are not in demand, you say invoice is $20,500, then offer him $20,900, then at that point it's either - Buy, no Buy ~ or Goodbye, that's fair for both ...

               Happy hunting ...

                      Terry.

joatmon

What a concept!

Rule 1: what's fair for both.

Rule 2: see rule 1.