Dodge Caravan Prices Paid and Buying Experience
2008 is a new generation for the Caravan. Please post your purchase experience here!
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I went to the Chrysler website and Built my Own. I chose a 08 Limited with the DVD/TV, NAV, and Swivel seating options. The MSRP for this was $40215 minus $1500 rebate = $38715.
I then chose Find my Vehicle. I found 3 in my area that had my exact options - with no extras, 2 were white, 1 silver. Color was not important to me.
I e-mailed all 3 requesting internet prices for the appropriate stock numbered vehicle. 2 of them wrote back telling me to "come in and talk". One wrote back with what I consider a reasonable deal. Bottom line price was $36110. That was approximately $2500 plus the $1500 rebate off the sticker. I felt this was a reasonable price with no hassle, no haggling. I think the brute force method of auto dealing sometimes can work. I'm sure some could get a better deal, but considering it was no work and totally non personal, it was not bad.
Thanks
It stands for Employee Choice. Chrysler employees can give away up to two EC numbers to non-relatives per calendar year. There is a $200 EC program fee, added by the dealer, for non-relatives.
The EC lets anyone purchase/lease most any Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep vehicle at the employee discount price. It's a huge savings over MSRP. Mine have been given out for 2007 and the two I'll have for next year are already spoken for.
Check out the thread below. Someone named rmbalisa says he/she can still get a few EC numbers for anyone interested.
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX/.ef17c61/483
BTW, do you post over on the VCA forums? I noticed your S/N. If you had mentioned this a month ago over there you could have had one of my EC numbers.
If the above person can't help you out I can get you in on the Friends program at 1% below factory invoice. There is no program fee for it.
To send an email to anyone else here on the forums use this format:
membername@carspace.com
Looking forward to seeing you over on the VCA website forums. Lots of great enthusiasts there.
We will be making the purchase this weekend, next week at the latest. If anyone has any friends or co-workers who have an extra EC#, I would love it!!!! I absolutely PROMISE it will be used! Just think, 5 HAPPY KIDS rushing to the car in the car pool line or watching baseball practice from the tailgate seats is some of the best free advertisement Chrysler can get, and I will most certainly provide it!
email me at GOPMOM@carspace :shades:
Thanks!
Anyone else heard of this special from Chrysler?
Thanks
Hmm...since I don't work in the sales end I couldn't officially say how that would work. I *think* you use a discount code when you pick up the vehicle, regardless of when you ordered it. In that case, a 2007 number would not be valid after 01/02/2008. Your local dealer could further explain how it works.
BTW, you didn't mention what other options you were interested in on the quote the dealer emailed you. However, on a 2008 T&C Touring with the M package (no other options) you'd save over $5,000 off the MSRP with an EC discount, depending on your region.
Here is an example of the savings if someone was purchasing a T&C in the St. Louis area:
MSRP: $33,605
EC: $28,365
Friends: $28,894
All prices include a $730 destination charge. The EC and Friends prices include a current $1,500 rebate (may vary by region). Add $200 to the EC price for a program fee added by the dealer.
http://forums.viperclub.org/
Actually, that's the Friends DISCOUNT off the MSRP. I'd have to hire a secretary to manage my discount request email if that was the Friends PRICE.
Anyway, to anyone who is curious about the Friends price on any Dodge product, you can find the invoice on Edmunds. The Friends price is 1% below invoice. Rebates and other price incentives are subtracted from the Friends price for even greater savings. Rebates and various price incentives vary by region, so things like the $500 bonus cash might not be available in all areas.
To see what current incentives are available in your area go to:
www.dodge.com > Shopping Tools > Current Incentives
Go to www.chrysler.com or www.jeep.com to research incentives for other vehicles. The Friends discount can be used on almost all Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep products.
Here is a list of the vehicles that are currently not eligible:
Dodge Sprinter, Dodge Viper SRT10 Coupe, Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, 2007 Chrysler Crossfire, and Dodge Challenger
No, Chrysler doesn't have a forum like that but it would certainly be a great idea to add it. Maybe I'll try to find a customer service suggestion address and submit the idea.
Unless you know someone who knows someone, etc., who is a Chrysler employee your only option is to post requests on various Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep forums. There is also the Google search option. I noticed that the Edmunds forums pops up several times lately when searching for a discount - I wonder why?
I'm actually a little surprised they are already offering the $1500 rebate on the 2008 since it is brand new, vastly improved and now competitive with the best offering out there- the Honda Odyssey. I can only guess it is because the minivan market as a whole is soft and they are trying to improve market share.
Something to watch out for when trying to figure out how good a deal your getting.
$$3100 down, $395 per month, 15 K per year and 36 month
I hope you read this before responding to my carspace friends request.
I received a friebds discount from another carspace member this morning.
Thank you for all your help, and thsi allows you to be "in a giving mood" for one one more day....
This board is excellent. I will post my deal, and vehicle llater this evening, or tomorrow.
Thanks again, and HAPPY TUESDAY.... :shades:
Wife & I have twins on the way (in addition to our 3-yr old) so we need to bite the bullet and get a minivan. Thinking of getting a Caravan or a T&C (aren't they the exact same vehicle?). Money is real tight, so if anyone has an EC code or friends code for 2008, then I would reeeeeealy appreciate it. .... I'll even put you on my Christmas card list!!
I know not to put my personal e-mail addy on here & I know that everyone gets a carspace e-mail addy with an account, but how in the world do I get to this carspace e-mail account? I sent myself an e-mail to my carspace account from my personal account, but it didn't go through... it gave me something like a "permanent delivery error" message. ... Also, where do you go to send an e-mail to another member? ... I've looked all over this site and don't see anything. Any help to clear up this confusion would be great! :confuse:
Hi. You can access your Carspace mailbox by going to the My Carspace link near the top left of this page.
The reason you couldn't send email to your carspace box is because I believe they are set to block email from outside sources by default. I guess it keeps spam down. I think you can change that in your personal settings.
Thanks so much!!
You can read more about the various package options at the link below.
2008 Grand Caravan
my question is that since I already signed the lease for this amount, isn't it all said and done now. Or do I still need to get a number to keep my van at this price. I would think that if it was submitted without the control number, and I signed the lease I should be in the clear now, and not have to pay the extra 1600 price difference. Any advice I can get would be great. Thank you.
Matt.
It looks like the dealer calculated the price based on you telling him that you could get the employee discount through a relative. Listed below are the only people who can qualify for that.
All Chrysler active full-time and part-time Employees/Retirees. Immediate family members including spouse, same-sex domestic partners,* parents, parents-in-law, stepparents, sons/daughters, sons/daughters-in-law, stepchildren, brothers/sisters, brothers/sisters-in-law, half brothers/sisters, grandchildren and grandparents.
I have a friend who bought a minivan last fall and the dealer gave him the employee discount before he actually had a number. I didn't even know he'd bought it until he called later that evening and asked me for an EC control number. Fortunately, that program was still active and I still had a number left to give him. He had to take it back to the dealer the next business day and process the paperwork for the discount.
In your case, you might try asking your wife's uncle for a Friends discount. The price is usually $300-$400 more than the employee discount, based on personal observation, but it's still a lot less than MSRP - around 1% below invoice, in addition to any rebates or other price incentives. You do not have to be related in any way to a Chrysler employee to use a Friends discount.
To everyone else, I'm all out of discount numbers for 2008 - sorry.
He had the van; not sure about the paperwork.
I've heard from sales people that they have a much better chance of closing a sale if they can put the customer in a vehicle, even if it means coming back the next day to arrange the financing or whatever.
I've read stories on these forums where the financing wasn't always approved and the potential buyer had to return the vehicle.
Here's the breakdown:
DC SXT, L pkg w/dual screen DVD: MSRP $31,335
Friends discount -$2,585
Cash back -$2,000
Loyalty rebate -$750
Cost before TTL $26,000
Wonder how others are doing....please post your results!
who was supposed to get me a number has not returned my emails. I dont know if they will give me the deal without the number, but i would rather have it. Please help!
Suzi
Yes, the PP (Friends) price will be shown right on the invoice. There's no dollar sign next to it but the numbers are not in code or anything. If you have a Friends discount number with you they must show you the invoice if you ask.
Other than TTL (in some states) the only thing the dealer can add to that price is up to $75 for a documentation fee. Also, dealer add-ons, such as aftermarket tinted glass or stripes, would be an additional fee. Run out the door if they start talking about things like dealer prep or marketing fees.
If you are trading something be sure and do your homework on the value of your old vehicle before you get to the dealer. The salesman that sold me my Sebring last September even said that they couldn't give me as much for my trade as the GM dealer down the road, since I had an employee discount.
I just bought a Grand Caravan SXT with 25L, leather interior group, dual screen video and satellite as the major options. Sticker price was 34,134 including transportation. I ended up paying 25,449.42 after discounts, incentives ect. Another plus, the first three years oil changes are free too (Military Appreciation). I didn't trade in, which made the deal a lot easier to make. I have bought from the dealer before (Minot Chrysler Center in Minot, North Dakota) and have never had an unplesant experiance with them. In over 30 years of buying cars, they are the only dealership where I have always left feeling good about the deal. Just about every other car I have ever bought, I left the dealership feeling "violated" at some level or another.
DODGE SE
invoice - 19,648
dest - 770
20,418
24H pkg 3,247 vs. Chrysler LX - 2,596
Ent grp #1 1,866
25,531
tax (8.75) 2,,234
27,765 vs. Chrysler LX - 28,596
ADD or SUBTRACT FEES
doc fee ?
ca emission fee ?
color adjustment ?
title/license (dmv registration) ?
add dealer markup ?
regional adjustmnt ?
tire tax ?
tag transfer ?
eec file ?
LESS
non-negotiable? dlr holdback - 766
minivan loyalty - 1,000
cust cashback - 1,500
FINAL COST - ?
2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SE -
MSRP: $26,390
Friends discount: $2,383
2008 Chrysler Town & Country LX with H Package -
MSRP: $26,545
Friends discount: $2,345
The Friends discount is before any rebates or other price incentives, which can be combined for even greater savings.
MSRP $20,140
Friends Price: $28,039
The invoice listed on Edmunds is $27,587 (including the CMA marketing code). The invoice I was shown didn't have the CMA, but did have $404 in other costs (including T02 which was NY - DAA and B02 which is NY - PPA/EB-PF). The price with those ends up being about 30 bucks or so above the Edmunds invoice, which I guess was close enough.
I was given a money factor of .00170 and residual of 46%. With lease loyalty and a regional marketing discount of $500, I ended up with $4000 in rebates.
Does the friends price for the 25L SXT with PV6 of $28,039 make sense? Were the lease numbers I was given the current Chrysler ones?
Thanks all,
Craig
Friends Price: $28,039
I think I'd be more inclined to just pay the MSRP on this one.
You probably meant $30,140, since when I looked up an SXT with Sunburst Orange and the 25L package it showed $30,140. Anyway...
MSRP: $30,140
Friends discount: $2,815
Net price: $27,325
Any rebates or other price incentives would further reduce the net price. Rebates vary by region. You can find out the current ones for your area by calling the Rebate Hot Line at (800) 227-0757.
Where did you get the Friends price that you listed? Did you see it printed on the actual invoice at the dealer?
Also, I don't know a thing about any lease numbers. The prices I listed were copied from website that gives a general idea of what a buyer can expect to pay for a similar vehicle. As always, the actual invoice is the official word.
The dealer is getting the vehicle from another, so I might stop by and ask to review all of the paperwork before trade-in day. I understand there is an acknowledgement form to sign, so that should explain the details.
I didn't think there was room to wiggle with this program, and I'd be very disappointed if the dealer was playing games.
Thanks for looking at the prices.