MSRP 20,000 Discount: 2,000 Trade or Cash: 3,500 YOU PAY: 14,500
NEW $20K car for under 15 grand!!!!
I love those ads. Now to dealers: guys, ads like this are just plain insulting. When I see one, it's almost guaranteed I won't go to such place. Perhaps I'm in minority, but I wonder, are people THAT stupid? Is it really worth to risk alienating potential customers by that?
Its possible, it could have been the very last one (or one of the last) that no one was interested in because the 2007's were out and the dealer just priced it low to get rid of it. It could have been damaged and the buyer just said, knock of $X off the price and you don't have to fix that huge dent in the back bumper.
Or it may have been modified to the extent that no one would want it. I came across that about 9-10 years ago and was offered an incredibly low price on the car.
However I seriously doubt it, finds like that are rare.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
On the tag agency. We have one we use for most out of state regs but for New York and Mass. it is normaly just done by a runner or one of us if we have a free couple of hours. After this last time at NY though we are going to start using a tag agency for NY too.
In regards to the impossibly low deal reports. I am sure it is a combination of a lot of things.
1. Little bit to maybe a lot of embilishment. 2. Not knowing all the details on F&I stuff. 3. Trade was stolen. 4. Stupid high doc fee.
Could probably think of half a dozen other ones if I tried.
I think what many of you in the business tend to forget is that the folks that post here are among the most knowledgeable buyers out there. Hence, they should be getting among the best deals there are to be had. And I have seen very few posts of impossibly low prices. Very low - yes, but rarely impossibly low.
Yes, there are many posts where it seems that certain key information has been omitted. But there are also many that contain ALL of the relevant facts.
On the some of the Land Rover prices paid forum there are some posts that are just flat out incorrect. Either then poster is lying or the selling dealer got them so confused they just don't know what what happend.
I have seen this happen a couple of times with regards to leases. I know what the programs are and some of the residuals and money factors quoted there are just not possible.
Unless they are using a program from a third party leasing company like chase then the numbers stated are just not possible. Maybe they are using Chase or some other company I am not familar with but I don't know.
OK, this goes out to all to either flame or respond. No OFFENSE will be taken.
I am in the market to help my daughter either lease or buy a new car since she just totaled our 00 ACURA 3.2 TL
As I like to tell her she's got Bently w/"Bling/Bling" taste on a VW budget.
So we narrow the search down to a HONDA ACCORD SE with a manual tranz (our current cars are both manual: 06 IS250 w/ Sports Package & 99 BMW ragtop)
I send out a fax blast to a few internet depts of local dealers explaining EXACTLY what I want: Tell me MSRP, your BEST Sales Price, Money Factor & Residual just in case I decide to lease, and then give me a monthly payment factoring in that I will give you a MAX of 2K in driveoff (NOT A CAP COST REDUCTION)
I make this very clear that I will not tolerate games. No, "We have your car here, we just need you to come down & pick out the color" OR "We don't have any SE, can I get you a $$ on an EX with Leather?
Just give me your best price and I'll give you the deal.
Very simple and nothing too complicated .. or so I thought!
I got e mails with MF's that were bumped, quotes on CIVIC's, quotes on AUTO tranz cars both Sedan's & Coupes, Quotes for every term BUT THE ONE I WANTED!
I even had one that I went back & forth with 2X asking for the numbers and she reponds that she can beat that deal. What deal?? I haven't even given you any numbers cause you haven't given me SQUAT!! So how can you beat a deal you know NOTHING about? Then she asks when can I come in to "talk about the deal" Lady, you ain't gonna get THIS here deal ... EVER.
UUGGH .. IT'S SO FUSTRATING!!!
IT'S LIKE THESE SALES PEOPLE DON'T READ THE FULL E MAIL TEXT!!
How hard is it to read the entire text of the message and respond to what I have asked? It isn't brain surgery or rocket science .. or is it, to some of these knuckleheads?
Buying my LEXUS was a totally different experience. Every question was answered exactly as I had asked it.
Hey ISELL or BRITISH ROVER either of you guys want to chime in here and help explain what happened? And ISELL .. care to quote me on my Honda request?
FYI, I can finally get it for $209/mo WITH 8.25% CALI tax INCLUDED on a 24 month lease w/12K yr and 2K driveoff
All this only AFTER I picked up the phone and SPOKE to a live person!!
JEESH, sometimes they make it harder than it has to be
(benzoserviceguy now getting off soapbox and end of rant. Thank you for reading {listening})
I suspect it's typical for non-luxury brands. Internet departments are in 90% cases smoke screens for "come here and we will deal". Reasons are numerous, biggest ones are probably fear of being "shopped" and zillions of false leads. Imagine how many people sent similar requests to yours? Dealers probably regard internet leads as a waste of time and very unreliable lead generator (and time is big money in high-volume low margin sales). They still have no idea how to effectively use the thing to their advantage and try to apply same sales techniques as face-to-face sales, which is totally ineffective and misses the point of that medium. It is also easier (I think) to get a sense of a "serious buyer" (whatever that means) over the phone than from an email.
Now, your better Lexus experience does not surprise me, either. In low-volume upscale outlets the rules of conduct reverse - alienating potential customer is the last thing they want to do - so if requests seem to be very particular, they will likely respond seriously to it.
That's just my totally unscientific explanation, from what I saw and read (not a dealer).
benzoserviceguy, I think you might answered your own question somewhere in the post. Like you said when you bought the Lexus the dealership experience is completely different.
I had a great time too shopping for my IS350 with this metro Atlanta Lexus dealer. However, my dad's experience with his 4Runner and a family friend's experience with her Avalon were a little bit different.
I am not saying that the Toyota dealer is bad as matter of fact both of them got a decent deal out of it. It's just that I felt my Lexus dealer is more "customer oriented" rather than "deal oriented" for the Toyota dealer. To some people, dealership experience is worth squat if they can get a good dealer. To me I appreciate how the Lexus salesman listen to my demands and try to accomodate it at anyway possible. Call me spoiled but I think once you gone Lexus it'll be hard to go back... :P
I am pretty sure isell and BR have different tactics at selling cars as well since they are working on completely different customer groups.
We have bought several Hondas since 1995 and we always had to pay about $200 over invoice. If we offered less than that, the offer was refused.
We were ready to buy another Accord in March 2005, so I checked the Prices Paid forum and some guy in Manassas VA, which is not far from us, claimed he got his car for $500 under invoice.
I thought that price was extremely low, but we went to Fairfax Honda, offered that price, and they accepted.
Thanks to the Prices Paid forum we saved about $700. Of course, I spend half of that to buy a new driver and a dozen Pro V's. Such is life.
And ISELL .. care to quote me on my Honda request?
I don't think he will as, I think, its against forum rules.
FYI, I can finally get it for $209/mo WITH 8.25% CALI tax INCLUDED on a 24 month lease w/12K yr and 2K driveoff
That could be good or could be bad depending on certain things. Do you know what the value of the lease is either at the beginning or the end (preferably both)?
Secondly 12K miles might be to low, plus remember that at the end you have made over 5 grand in payments and have nothing to show for it. I would strongly recommend buying the car.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Every blast fax I have ever gotten has gone in the trash. Never even bothered to read it.
They are never worth the time.
Emails get more respect but if I can tell you just copy and pasted the same request over and over then I am not going to take you that serious. We are way to small to compete with the volume, and therefore the prices, that the larger metro dealers do.
Pick up the phone talk to a real person explain to them what you want to do and let them know that you are calling a few other dealerships just to cover your bases. Then when they get you some prices thank them for their time and look all of the pricing over.
It is up to you to decide which couple of the dealerships out of the ones you called should get a second call back to close things up.
It is inevitable that a couple of dealerships will be fairly close in price and you should give them a chance to meet your best offer.
bobst....that's a great deal. Make an offer. What's the worst that can happen? The dealer says no. Or, they can say yes. Could be wrong, but did the dealer try to bump you on that deal?
Regarding some of the deals I see in the prices paid forum, as most of you say, some of the details were left out. The less left to chance at the negotiating table, like interest rates (have financing arranged before you walk into the dealer), accessories ("mop & glo", special wheels/tires, etc), doc fees, etc all go into the deal.
One thing's for certain....someone/somewhere is going to tell you how they BEAT your deal. Maybe....maybe not...depending on the other paramaters of the deal.
That's just one of the reasons I like to keep it simple. What's the cost of that car over yonder? No accessories. No fancy wax or "fabric protection". The only time I accept dealership finance rates is if they can beat my local bank or credit union. $400 doc fees? Thanks, but no thanks.
Trade-ins are a whole other topic. Who knows how much money was shifted from over/under-allowing on the trade to the cost of the new car?
Aaaaaack... NO! Use the word "key" again, and I will cut off your forums access :P
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR Find me at kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name. 2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h) Review your vehicle
When I bought my truck in late 05, I did virtually everything via internet and email. In fact, I never even talked to my salesman until the day I walked in the dealership to buy the thing. (I had driven this brand of truck many times, so I was very comfortable doing this deal this way.) I had communicated with him (and actually other salesmen in other dealerships) for about a week before I made my decision. In each and every case, we communicated by email, never by phone. I always received polite replies to my emails. The final deal I got was, IIRC, about $9200 off MSRP. The next best price was about $7600 off MSRP. I have no idea how this happened, but when I received it, I believed it, and accepted it. It was a fresh, brand new truck, no issues whatsoever. No trade in. I test drove my purchase to make sure all was ok. It was.
These are the facts of my purchase and it just goes to show that in my area (the DC area) you can do business this way. PS, this is unquestionably the best (and most nontraditional) buying experience I've ever been a part of. It was easy, I didn't spend all that much time on it, and I have subsequently given that dealership many referrals, and will continue to do so. Win-win. Isn't that what it's all about?
When I bought my last car (a Honda CR-V), I sent emails to several dealers asking for a quote. Only one responded with an actual quote. I went there and bought the car the next day. IIRC, my price was slightly higher than Edmunds TMV at the time, so it was probably a decent sale for the salesman. All for taking 5 minutes to respond to my email, and another few minutes doing paperwork at the dealership. I let him know that I appreciated that he responded and that was why I bought from him.
I posted my CR-V price on the appropriate board and nobody came back and told me I got a terrible deal or told me they got a better deal. (Of course, other people continued to post their prices, and probably some were lower than mine, but they weren't directly addressing me.) But then I never claimed to have gotten the best deal of all time or anything.
Oh I got a story that is unfolding as we speak. A couple of hours ago one of my car collector clients calls up and says he decided he does lke the car he leased last month and wants me to get him into something else.
I call up the leasing company to get his buy out and since they only identify vehicles by model year in the system and since all of his cars are the same 2006 MY I can't figure out which car is the same car.
I have to wade through each menu and sub-menu till they give the VIN so that I can get the stupid buy out.
After about 20 minutes of that I just give up and wait for an operator.
The less left to chance at the negotiating table, like interest rates (have financing arranged before you walk into the dealer), accessories ("mop & glo", special wheels/tires, etc), doc fees, etc all go into the deal.
If you have financing arranged before you walk into the dealer, you wont get the 0% financing that the dealers can offer (if they still do offer that). Back in 2003 when I bought my car, I got 0% financing on a 5 year deal and I am happy with that.
If you have financing arranged before you walk into the dealer, you wont get the 0% financing that the dealers can offer (if they still do offer that).
No, you can still see what the dealer can do for you. Just because you have financing arranged doesn't mean you have to take it. If the dealer can find you a better deal then take that.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Why not? Why is it that dealers are the only ones that will not give a price in writing? I got three different written quotes for my patio. When I put a fence in I got four written quotes.
I hate to say this but it seems fishy when someone won't give me a written quote for something that costs ten times what those do. Heck I was given a written quote to seal my driveway.
They would simply print it out and wave it in the face of other dealers.
They could also take a verbal quote over too.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
For one thing, I want to clarify exactly what it is they are looking for. Often the information we get is wrong.
I know I lose a few who demand a written quote but most people just can't stand not at least checking with me to make sure they aren't spending too much.
So it looks, Isell that IT IS a game of control, even for a nice guy like you. If you were so sure of your product and pricing, you would have no problem in quoting that to anyone who asks.
Will they shop? Of course - we all do when buying everything else, why should we magically stop shopping price when buying a car?
When I asked for quotes on my Subaru, all three dealers faxed me detailed written quotes with all prices (including accessoried), fees and taxes spelled clearly and accurately. It wasn't hard. I thanked the first one, visited the second, but their trade offer was too low (and they claimed it was firm), third got my business with the right offer.
My appliance salesman wrote in his own handwriting prices to all four items I was buying and handed it to me saying "go and check others" (the appliances were not unique). I did and came back the same day.
It appears, if things are done right, it can be done. Why is it so hard to others, is really beyond my comprehension. I suspect it's all in the head.
As I said before - most dealers still don't get the Internet - the nature of this medium and the way it's done. Some do and they are successful, but most do not. There are tons of people out there who respond to things in writing and like to make decisions at home, where all things are in front of them on screen or on paper.
Is it legal to sell a new car several thousand dollars below invoice? Let's say my trade in is worth $ 2,500 but I'd part with it for $200 if they sell me the new car $ 2,000 below invoice? Is that possible? I'd do it to save on the sales tax and registration fees. I live in Southern California, if it matters.
The question is a matter of when the trade-in is applied; whether it's considered a discount of the base selling price of the car, or whether it's considered as a down-payment towards the financing of the car.
In the part of CA I'm in, tax and fees on a $13,500 car come out to about $1500. It might be worth it in some cases to reduce that amount from $13,500 to $11,800 (lower reg fees (including in future years), lower sales tax) than to apply $2000 towards the initial $13,500.
Rules on this vary from state to state. I've never had a car worth trading in by the time I went searching, so I can't tell you what it's like in CA.
A couple of years ago, I used the "blast fax" method to buy a Toyota. The dealerships in my city would not come within $1,000 of the sort of prices I was seeing on the Edmunds forum. We have around 25 Toyota dealerships within 200 miles. I don't have a fax machine so I sent a letter to the sales manager at each Toyota dealership (so technically it's not a "blast fax"). I asked each one to send by email the drive out cash price for a specific car, describing the color and specific options. More than half the dealerships didn't respond. I had about 5 very competitive offers. The rest either gave a vague quote or gave me a quote on a completely different car. I had two quotes that were rock bottom--one from a dealership a hundred miles away, the other two hundred miles away. I went with the closer dealership. The only hassle in the entire experience was driving 100 miles to pick it up.
I'd do it to save on the sales tax and registration fees.
What incentive would the dealer have to do that since they would end up paying more tax on income when they sell the trade in? They can't declare a loss on the main sale.
Isell says that he won’t put a price in writing because the buyer will use it to shop around for a better deal.
Audi says that the only price he will put on the back of his business card is the price the buyer wants to pay. I’m guessing this means that since this price is lower than what he is willing to sell for he feels that this price will scare off other dealers also. Thereby, just jerking-around a perspective customer. If this is the reason, why would you want to go back to a guy who plays around like this?
I’m sure the dealers that both of these guys work for advertise in the newspaper with the hopes of telling thousands of people what they are willing to sell a car for. Talk about a “Blast Fax”, what would you call this? Yet they have a problem putting in writing, for a specific customer, what they are willing to sell for.
The way I see it, those newspaper ads can be used to shop a price around as if they have to be. Surely, other dealers won’t see those adds and of course they have no idea what there competition sells at.
If a dealer has an Internet Dept. and doesn’t want to use it for the way it was intended, just shut it down. That will save the dealer some money and we all know how much they like money.
Just trying to figure this stuff out,
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
If a dealer has an Internet Dept. and doesn’t want to use it for the way it was intended, just shut it down. That will save the dealer some money and we all know how much they like money.
LOL
Sometimes people do things just to make a point that it is a bad idea. I bet many dealers opened their internet departments because: 1. they felt they had to since everybody is doing it, but 2. they really didn't want to and 3. they hoped that the craze would go away and things will come around back to square one.
So they have those departments with mission statement of doing nothing different than before.
I remember there was a fellow here, who despite all the odds and skepticism from his bosses ("they will shop us"), opened his internet dept. and run it the way many people think it should be run (firm one-strike specific quotes, specific answers to question, no surprises or diversions, etc.). He had people asking for quotes running to "the other guy" and coming back. Why? Because the price he offered was real and low enough. He made sales and money, the thing worked.
Because it can - all it takes is a person who understands psychology of an internet shopper: likes to be left alone when making choices shopping, like to have everything laid down clearly, hates surprises, loves comparisons.
Person that a traditional salesman probably despises, as MSRP is simply not an option for anything that is in a decent supply.
We used to run our internet leads for new cars like this.
Request comes in and as long as their is enough information for a quote we would just send one back.
The problem was probably about 3/4s of the time there was not enough information for a quote so I would email them back to get more info. Of all the people I emailed to get more information to actually supply a quote about 3/4s never bother to respond back. If they didn't respond to an email I would give them a call if they left a phone number but they rarely if ever returned phone calls either.
Probably only about a 1/3 of people who asked for quotes actually got one because they wouldn't give me enough info to give them one.
That went on for a couple of years untill just recently. Now we have an internet specialist who handles all internet traffic for the whole autogroup. We haven't sold a car to an internet customer since she started doing the internet stuff. I don't know if she is working for other dealerships but she is not working for ours. She just does not know how to handle these customers.
The problem was probably about 3/4s of the time there was not enough information for a quote so I would email them back to get more info. Of all the people I emailed to get more information to actually supply a quote about 3/4s never bother to respond back.
Well, I guess then it's a two-way street. If the guy doesn't follow up then it's a hoax, obviously. There are some people who simply do it "for fun", which is a problem -but it's the same as joyriders coming and wanting to test a car that they'd never be able to buy.
However, I remember once asking for a quote on Matrix and Vibe. I listed specifically trim, equipment and colors I wanted, added what is a possible variation and all I got was "I have one for $199/month" and when asked details - silence. Or "come and see us", or one page ad. It was close to an insult.
There was literally one in entire Tampa Bay guy who knew how to handle me - it took us a few emails back and forth, but I could see an honest effort right away to get where I wanted - and we did. I didn't buy - after testing I just didn't like the car enough to switch, but if I did, the guy would have got my business.
I had not missed the thrust of what Audia8q wrote. I was just interested because I have just been car shopping and the salesman wrote down the number I was willing to pay with the details of the car I am interested in. After a test drive we had a discussion about the car and it's availability, likelihood of the sales manager permitting the sale at that price (apparently pretty likely) and so on. As I got up to leave (without buying the car, I have to run this sort of stuff past the management or she gets upset) he handed me a copy of his notes including the price we discussed, I had not asked for it and have no intention of shopping it. As far as I am concerned if, when I return to buy it, they sell it to me at that price then I have bought a car, if not then I'll be looking elsewhere.
Comments
MSRP 20,000
Discount: 2,000
Trade or Cash: 3,500
YOU PAY: 14,500
NEW $20K car for under 15 grand!!!!
I love those ads. Now to dealers: guys, ads like this are just plain insulting. When I see one, it's almost guaranteed I won't go to such place. Perhaps I'm in minority, but I wonder, are people THAT stupid? Is it really worth to risk alienating potential customers by that?
2018 430i Gran Coupe
Its possible, it could have been the very last one (or one of the last) that no one was interested in because the 2007's were out and the dealer just priced it low to get rid of it. It could have been damaged and the buyer just said, knock of $X off the price and you don't have to fix that huge dent in the back bumper.
Or it may have been modified to the extent that no one would want it. I came across that about 9-10 years ago and was offered an incredibly low price on the car.
However I seriously doubt it, finds like that are rare.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
In regards to the impossibly low deal reports. I am sure it is a combination of a lot of things.
1. Little bit to maybe a lot of embilishment.
2. Not knowing all the details on F&I stuff.
3. Trade was stolen.
4. Stupid high doc fee.
Could probably think of half a dozen other ones if I tried.
Yes, there are many posts where it seems that certain key information has been omitted. But there are also many that contain ALL of the relevant facts.
I have seen this happen a couple of times with regards to leases. I know what the programs are and some of the residuals and money factors quoted there are just not possible.
Unless they are using a program from a third party leasing company like chase then the numbers stated are just not possible. Maybe they are using Chase or some other company I am not familar with but I don't know.
I am in the market to help my daughter either lease or buy a new car since she just totaled our 00 ACURA 3.2 TL
As I like to tell her she's got Bently w/"Bling/Bling" taste on a VW budget.
So we narrow the search down to a HONDA ACCORD SE with a manual tranz (our current cars are both manual: 06 IS250 w/ Sports Package & 99 BMW ragtop)
I send out a fax blast to a few internet depts of local dealers explaining EXACTLY what I want: Tell me MSRP, your BEST Sales Price, Money Factor & Residual just in case I decide to lease, and then give me a monthly payment factoring in that I will give you a MAX of 2K in driveoff (NOT A CAP COST REDUCTION)
I make this very clear that I will not tolerate games. No, "We have your car here, we just need you to come down & pick out the color" OR "We don't have any SE, can I get you a $$ on an EX with Leather?
Just give me your best price and I'll give you the deal.
Very simple and nothing too complicated .. or so I thought!
I got e mails with MF's that were bumped, quotes on CIVIC's, quotes on AUTO tranz cars both Sedan's & Coupes, Quotes for every term BUT THE ONE I WANTED!
I even had one that I went back & forth with 2X asking for the numbers and she reponds that she can beat that deal. What deal?? I haven't even given you any numbers cause you haven't given me SQUAT!! So how can you beat a deal you know NOTHING about? Then she asks when can I come in to "talk about the deal"
Lady, you ain't gonna get THIS here deal ... EVER.
UUGGH .. IT'S SO FUSTRATING!!!
IT'S LIKE THESE SALES PEOPLE DON'T READ THE FULL E MAIL TEXT!!
How hard is it to read the entire text of the message and respond to what I have asked? It isn't brain surgery or rocket science .. or is it, to some of these knuckleheads?
Buying my LEXUS was a totally different experience. Every question was answered exactly as I had asked it.
Hey ISELL or BRITISH ROVER either of you guys want to chime in here and help explain what happened?
And ISELL .. care to quote me on my Honda request?
FYI, I can finally get it for $209/mo WITH 8.25% CALI tax INCLUDED on a 24 month lease w/12K yr and 2K driveoff
All this only AFTER I picked up the phone and SPOKE to a live person!!
JEESH, sometimes they make it harder than it has to be
(benzoserviceguy now getting off soapbox and end of rant. Thank you for reading {listening})
Now, your better Lexus experience does not surprise me, either. In low-volume upscale outlets the rules of conduct reverse - alienating potential customer is the last thing they want to do - so if requests seem to be very particular, they will likely respond seriously to it.
That's just my totally unscientific explanation, from what I saw and read (not a dealer).
2018 430i Gran Coupe
I had a great time too shopping for my IS350 with this metro Atlanta Lexus dealer. However, my dad's experience with his 4Runner and a family friend's experience with her Avalon were a little bit different.
I am not saying that the Toyota dealer is bad as matter of fact both of them got a decent deal out of it. It's just that I felt my Lexus dealer is more "customer oriented" rather than "deal oriented" for the Toyota dealer. To some people, dealership experience is worth squat if they can get a good dealer. To me I appreciate how the Lexus salesman listen to my demands and try to accomodate it at anyway possible. Call me spoiled but I think once you gone Lexus it'll be hard to go back... :P
I am pretty sure isell and BR have different tactics at selling cars as well since they are working on completely different customer groups.
We have bought several Hondas since 1995 and we always had to pay about $200 over invoice. If we offered less than that, the offer was refused.
We were ready to buy another Accord in March 2005, so I checked the Prices Paid forum and some guy in Manassas VA, which is not far from us, claimed he got his car for $500 under invoice.
I thought that price was extremely low, but we went to Fairfax Honda, offered that price, and they accepted.
Thanks to the Prices Paid forum we saved about $700. Of course, I spend half of that to buy a new driver and a dozen Pro V's. Such is life.
These are, for the most part, a waste of time and few dealers will bother responding to them.
Was picking up the phone that hard?
I don't think he will as, I think, its against forum rules.
FYI, I can finally get it for $209/mo WITH 8.25% CALI tax INCLUDED on a 24 month lease w/12K yr and 2K driveoff
That could be good or could be bad depending on certain things. Do you know what the value of the lease is either at the beginning or the end (preferably both)?
Secondly 12K miles might be to low, plus remember that at the end you have made over 5 grand in payments and have nothing to show for it. I would strongly recommend buying the car.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Why is giving the information over the phone any different than via fax?
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
They are never worth the time.
Emails get more respect but if I can tell you just copy and pasted the same request over and over then I am not going to take you that serious. We are way to small to compete with the volume, and therefore the prices, that the larger metro dealers do.
Pick up the phone talk to a real person explain to them what you want to do and let them know that you are calling a few other dealerships just to cover your bases. Then when they get you some prices thank them for their time and look all of the pricing over.
It is up to you to decide which couple of the dealerships out of the ones you called should get a second call back to close things up.
It is inevitable that a couple of dealerships will be fairly close in price and you should give them a chance to meet your best offer.
Regarding some of the deals I see in the prices paid forum, as most of you say, some of the details were left out. The less left to chance at the negotiating table, like interest rates (have financing arranged before you walk into the dealer), accessories ("mop & glo", special wheels/tires, etc), doc fees, etc all go into the deal.
One thing's for certain....someone/somewhere is going to tell you how they BEAT your deal. Maybe....maybe not...depending on the other paramaters of the deal.
That's just one of the reasons I like to keep it simple. What's the cost of that car over yonder? No accessories. No fancy wax or "fabric protection". The only time I accept dealership finance rates is if they can beat my local bank or credit union. $400 doc fees? Thanks, but no thanks.
Trade-ins are a whole other topic. Who knows how much money was shifted from over/under-allowing on the trade to the cost of the new car?
With me its been so long that I just can't remember.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I would speculate that 50% of the people out there don't really know exactly what they paid for their last car...
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
Oh sure, they tried to bump us up a little. We asked for two additional keys and they countered with only one key.
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR
Find me at kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
Review your vehicle
Good idea kristie. he be chumming the waters hoping somebody bites at that "key" bait. :P
These are the facts of my purchase and it just goes to show that in my area (the DC area) you can do business this way. PS, this is unquestionably the best (and most nontraditional) buying experience I've ever been a part of. It was easy, I didn't spend all that much time on it, and I have subsequently given that dealership many referrals, and will continue to do so. Win-win. Isn't that what it's all about?
I posted my CR-V price on the appropriate board and nobody came back and told me I got a terrible deal or told me they got a better deal. (Of course, other people continued to post their prices, and probably some were lower than mine, but they weren't directly addressing me.) But then I never claimed to have gotten the best deal of all time or anything.
Don't say another word...
Oh I got a story that is unfolding as we speak. A couple of hours ago one of my car collector clients calls up and says he decided he does lke the car he leased last month and wants me to get him into something else.
I call up the leasing company to get his buy out and since they only identify vehicles by model year in the system and since all of his cars are the same 2006 MY I can't figure out which car is the same car.
I have to wade through each menu and sub-menu till they give the VIN so that I can get the stupid buy out.
After about 20 minutes of that I just give up and wait for an operator.
If you have financing arranged before you walk into the dealer, you wont get the 0% financing that the dealers can offer (if they still do offer that). Back in 2003 when I bought my car, I got 0% financing on a 5 year deal and I am happy with that.
They would simply print it out and wave it in the face of other dealers. Quickest way to NOT sell a car!
No, you can still see what the dealer can do for you. Just because you have financing arranged doesn't mean you have to take it. If the dealer can find you a better deal then take that.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Why not? Why is it that dealers are the only ones that will not give a price in writing? I got three different written quotes for my patio. When I put a fence in I got four written quotes.
I hate to say this but it seems fishy when someone won't give me a written quote for something that costs ten times what those do. Heck I was given a written quote to seal my driveway.
They would simply print it out and wave it in the face of other dealers.
They could also take a verbal quote over too.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
For one thing, I want to clarify exactly what it is they are looking for. Often the information we get is wrong.
I know I lose a few who demand a written quote but most people just can't stand not at least checking with me to make sure they aren't spending too much.
when I was a salesperson the only number I put in writing was the price the customer wanted to pay on the back of my business card.
It worked almost every time.
Will they shop? Of course - we all do when buying everything else, why should we magically stop shopping price when buying a car?
When I asked for quotes on my Subaru, all three dealers faxed me detailed written quotes with all prices (including accessoried), fees and taxes spelled clearly and accurately. It wasn't hard. I thanked the first one, visited the second, but their trade offer was too low (and they claimed it was firm), third got my business with the right offer.
My appliance salesman wrote in his own handwriting prices to all four items I was buying and handed it to me saying "go and check others" (the appliances were not unique). I did and came back the same day.
It appears, if things are done right, it can be done. Why is it so hard to others, is really beyond my comprehension. I suspect it's all in the head.
As I said before - most dealers still don't get the Internet - the nature of this medium and the way it's done. Some do and they are successful, but most do not. There are tons of people out there who respond to things in writing and like to make decisions at home, where all things are in front of them on screen or on paper.
2018 430i Gran Coupe
It worked almost every time.
I'm not sure I understand, what worked nearly every time?
"when I was a salesperson the only number I put in writing was the price the customer wanted to pay on the back of my business card."
I'd guess that the words I highlighted were the pertinent part.
A dealer can sell a car for whatever they want.
In the part of CA I'm in, tax and fees on a $13,500 car come out to about $1500. It might be worth it in some cases to reduce that amount from $13,500 to $11,800 (lower reg fees (including in future years), lower sales tax) than to apply $2000 towards the initial $13,500.
Rules on this vary from state to state. I've never had a car worth trading in by the time I went searching, so I can't tell you what it's like in CA.
That way you would have saved yourself a 200 mile round trip.
You never know what a dealer will accept until you lay the cash on the table.
What incentive would the dealer have to do that since they would end up paying more tax on income when they sell the trade in? They can't declare a loss on the main sale.
tidester, host
Audi says that the only price he will put on the back of his business card is the price the buyer wants to pay. I’m guessing this means that since this price is lower than what he is willing to sell for he feels that this price will scare off other dealers also. Thereby, just jerking-around a perspective customer. If this is the reason, why would you want to go back to a guy who plays around like this?
I’m sure the dealers that both of these guys work for advertise in the newspaper with the hopes of telling thousands of people what they are willing to sell a car for. Talk about a “Blast Fax”, what would you call this? Yet they have a problem putting in writing, for a specific customer, what they are willing to sell for.
The way I see it, those newspaper ads can be used to shop a price around as if they have to be. Surely, other dealers won’t see those adds and of course they have no idea what there competition sells at.
If a dealer has an Internet Dept. and doesn’t want to use it for the way it was intended, just shut it down. That will save the dealer some money and we all know how much they like money.
Just trying to figure this stuff out,
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
LOL
Sometimes people do things just to make a point that it is a bad idea. I bet many dealers opened their internet departments because:
1. they felt they had to since everybody is doing it, but
2. they really didn't want to and
3. they hoped that the craze would go away and things will come around back to square one.
So they have those departments with mission statement of doing nothing different than before.
I remember there was a fellow here, who despite all the odds and skepticism from his bosses ("they will shop us"), opened his internet dept. and run it the way many people think it should be run (firm one-strike specific quotes, specific answers to question, no surprises or diversions, etc.). He had people asking for quotes running to "the other guy" and coming back. Why? Because the price he offered was real and low enough. He made sales and money, the thing worked.
Because it can - all it takes is a person who understands psychology of an internet shopper: likes to be left alone when making choices shopping, like to have everything laid down clearly, hates surprises, loves comparisons.
Person that a traditional salesman probably despises, as MSRP is simply not an option for anything that is in a decent supply.
2018 430i Gran Coupe
The Honda dealer in my area doesn't.
Such lack of transparency makes me suspicious.
Am I wrong in thinking so.
Request comes in and as long as their is enough information for a quote we would just send one back.
The problem was probably about 3/4s of the time there was not enough information for a quote so I would email them back to get more info. Of all the people I emailed to get more information to actually supply a quote about 3/4s never bother to respond back. If they didn't respond to an email I would give them a call if they left a phone number but they rarely if ever returned phone calls either.
Probably only about a 1/3 of people who asked for quotes actually got one because they wouldn't give me enough info to give them one.
That went on for a couple of years untill just recently. Now we have an internet specialist who handles all internet traffic for the whole autogroup. We haven't sold a car to an internet customer since she started doing the internet stuff. I don't know if she is working for other dealerships but she is not working for ours. She just does not know how to handle these customers.
Well, I guess then it's a two-way street. If the guy doesn't follow up then it's a hoax, obviously. There are some people who simply do it "for fun", which is a problem -but it's the same as joyriders coming and wanting to test a car that they'd never be able to buy.
However, I remember once asking for a quote on Matrix and Vibe. I listed specifically trim, equipment and colors I wanted, added what is a possible variation and all I got was "I have one for $199/month" and when asked details - silence. Or "come and see us", or one page ad. It was close to an insult.
There was literally one in entire Tampa Bay guy who knew how to handle me - it took us a few emails back and forth, but I could see an honest effort right away to get where I wanted - and we did. I didn't buy - after testing I just didn't like the car enough to switch, but if I did, the guy would have got my business.
2018 430i Gran Coupe
If they reduce the trade in value allowance by what they reduce the price of the car it is a wash and they wouldn't incur any more tax.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
However, if they had the car I wanted for a price I was willing to pay, I would not hesitate to buy it.