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Dodge Caravan Prices Paid and Buying Experience
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Here's how to tell if you're getting the right price on the new minivan. First, ask to see the actual invoice. Next, look on the sheet for a "PP" (Preferred Pricing) code. That's the same as the Friends price.
The only thing they can add to that price is up to $75 for a documentation fee. Also, TTL is paid at the dealership in some states. However, there are no marketing fees, transfer fees or any other fees that can be added. The delivery charge that you see on the window sticker is already included in the Friends price. Dealer add-ons, such as aftermarket tinted glass or stripes would be an extra cost.
Do your homework on your trade-in value. When I bought my Sebring last year using an employee discount the salesman said he could not match what I would get for my trade at a GM or Ford dealership because he wasn't making any money on the sale. Expect a very low offer.
As I started to stand up to go down the road to see what the Saturn dealer had to say they suddenly were willing to negotiate a bit on my trade. I ended up getting around twice the amount for it they had originally offered. :confuse:
The end result was I live in an area with no Chrysler employee presence and the dealer didn't have a clue on how to deal with the friends program. I went in as soon as the van showed up from the dealer they swapped with so I could see the invoice. When I saw the actual PP price ($27780, as tedebear said), I explained the program again, the saleperson checked it out, and down the price went.
At closing time I almost had to beg them to make me sign the Friends program form, and even had to point out that they didn't charge me the $75 fee (they ended up not bothering with the fee, and ended up finally getting the right friends form after first giving the employee purchase program form to sign).
I also asked the salesperson to go into DealerConnect and check all possible incentives that were available. He found a $750 minivan loyalty incentive that seems to be out there and nobody knew about. I got the idea to ask because I found this via searching on Google:
http://carolinadodgedealers.com/images/Our%20Time%20Magazine%20Promo.pdf
Go figure.
So, final numbers:
2008 Grand Caravan SXT, 25L in Sunburst Orange
MSRP: $30,140
Friends Price: $27780
Customer Cash: $2500
Lease Cash: $1000
Regional Incentive: $500
Minivan Loyalty: $750
Final price: $23,030
I'm surprised that the dealer didn't know much about the Friends program - it's a rather popular discount. And you don't have to live in an area with Chrysler employees. You just have to know someone who knows someone who has a friend who works for Chrysler, etc.
The employee is supposed to get a control number for you and then you take that to the dealer. They apparently waived the employee participation part of the procedure.
Anyway, you saved over $7,000 off the MSRP after all rebates and incentives. Not bad.
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. We're going to get a Caravan or a T&C sometime in June. Money will be real tight since wife will be quitting work to stay home, hence us going down to one income, so if anyone has a friends code for 2008, then I would reeeeeeally appreciate it. .... I'll even put you on my Christmas card list!!
e-mail me here at carspace and let me know....
scoutll, how did you do it? I have been searching far and wide trying to get that exact same configuration for that price, talked to many different dealers, cash in hand, and nobody has yet to come down to that price.
Do you think you could contact the salesman and see if he would give me a similar(or exact deal) knowing I would be travelling from Houston, Texas where I live to pick it up? (And remind him the only reason I would do this is because I found your post, otherwise I never would have known they even existed as I have never even been close to North Dakota before?) Am I crazy for thinking this since gas prices and travel now are extremely expensive?
Mine had been in stock on the showroom floor for a couple months and they were willing to deal. The longer one sits on the lot, the lower they go. Folks around here don't seem to like leather that much, so the ones with leather go last. When I bought the GC, I had the choice between it and a T&C Signature that was pretty much identical for a little more. The only real difference was the Dodge has automatic climate control and the Chrysler didn't, but had remote start. It had also been sitting on the lot for a couple months.
If you go to the web page you will see that the prices for the vehicles in stock are pretty good to start with. Not a big inventory like you may be used to in Houston, only about 25 mini's any given time and they only sell a a hundred or so vehicles a month (population of the entire quarter of the state where Minot is, is only about 75,000 or so).. As you will see when you go on the page, right now they have a SXT with the 25L package with a 29000 > sticker listed for 23999, Uunfortunately, no dual DVD on that one though, but they have several with DVD's with 31,000 or so window stickers starting at 25-26000. They have a better selection of T&C right now, a couple of 33-34000 signatures for around 28000. As far as the gas prices go, it may be expensivew..., but what a good way to break it in, huh?
I am going to look at their webpage right now. Oh, it would be a GREAT way to break it in ;-) , your'e right! Not to mention, I have always dreamed of visiting places like North Dakota, what a great way to justify it.
Down here in Houston, that's about right, about 20-25 minivans on average at the dealer. The only difference is there are many dealerships around here. I was hoping competition would help me find one I could afford, but I hate being cornered in the salesman's office. I try to do my communication through phone and emails, maybe that's why I'm getting nowhere.
From what I've seen around here, you got a really awesome deal!!!
I have to ask though, why don't many people around there like leather? I thought hotter climates like Houston would like leather less.
Does anyone know what that June 2nd special is? Or if there is a loyalty discount/rebate? (We currently own two Grand Caravans,) I don't want to miss out on anything.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Either that or call the Rebate Hotline at (800) 227-0757. You might try them both and see if you get the same information.
2008 Grand Caravan
Options
Customer Preferred Package 25L $ 2,080
Heated Front Seats
Heated 2nd-Row Seats
Premium Sliding Floor Console with Cupholders
MyGIG(R) Multimedia System
Hard Disc Drive
ParkView(R) Rear Back-up Camera
Ambient Light Group
Removable/Rechargeable Flash Light
Power Liftgate
Black Side Rails and Crossbars
MSRP: $29,990
INTERNET SALE PRICE: $24,474
Does this sound like a good deal? It has been the best so far. :shades:
The Friends price, including a $2,500 rebate, is $24,694 for a 2008 GC SXT with the 25L package. Everything you listed above comes standard with the 25L.
What do you have to do in order to get the $1000 owner loyalty cash? We also have a 03 Dodge Ram so can we qualify?
Any other rebates besides that and the $2500 for those of us in Texas?
Lastly, we do want the DVD system but not really into the 2 DVD systems. Is it cheaper to get the dual system and then get the rebate for the free system or just get the single DVD with no rebates on it?
Thanks in advance!
Can you tell me what the friend's price for a 2008 Grand Caravan SXT with 25L package, Swivel Seating, Leather Interior Group, and DVD/ Backseat Entertainment system would be? I'm about ready to purchase, thank you.
MSRP: $32,845
Friends Discount: $3,163
Rebate: $2,500
Net Price: $27,182
The rebates and consumer cash are regional, you could check on the Chrysler Web Page for local deals.
On the DVD's, it's my understanding you can only get the single DVD on the SE or LX. The only choice for the SXT, Touring or Limited is the duals.
You could always get the van with mygig installed (but no DVD's), then have the dealer install the single DVD system for you. That would probably run over a thousand dollars with labor though.
A MyGIG comes with a single DVD player already in it.
There are aftermarket products that get around that. The MyGIG in my Sebring will play a DVD movie whether it is moving or parked.
Agreed, but I think michelle was asking about the merits and choices of one vs two screens in the back seats of a mini van, not whether they could view from the front seat while while moving.
That aside, my wife often wishes she could watch the front screen while we are moving . Not enough to put out the 300 dollars for a lockpick though .
Have you tried yours to see if you're one of the lucky ones with a MyGIG that has this from the factory?
MyGIG Video in Motion
YouTube Video of It
Anyway, based on the above here's what I found:
MSRP: $32,010
Employee Price Discount: $3,550
Rebate: $2,500
Net Price: $25,960
MSRP: $32,010
Friends Discount: $3,055
Rebate: $2,500
Net Price: $26,455
Now,
I was quoted $23,011 for a
Grand Caravan SXT with
power liftgate and
Black Side rails and crossbars (aka roof rack)
This seems like a good deal to me. The MSRP is $28,560 ($26,060 after current $2,500 rebate). I'm thinking of going in Monday to get it.
Here's what my research utility came up with:
MSRP: $28,560
Friends Discount: $2,611
Rebate: $2,500
Net Price: $23,449
The deal is a pretty good one (above) but I can not get in the store for another day.
A question like that might be better asked on one of the other forums.
Stories from the Sales Frontlines is a very active forum where many car sales people and sales managers hang out.
I did get a booket in the mail yesterday from Dodge that has a coupon in it for $750 off a GC or T&C, that is good thru 7/31. Anybody else get that?
thanks
Sticker $27955
-2500 Rebate
-750 Coupon from chrysler
-2495 Dealer Discount
Total = $22210
Depending on which one of those you select there will be different package options (F-N) at the bottom. You can click on "Details" to the right of each one for more information. The SXT has the L package.
I just looked at the details and that description does appear to be a bit confusing.
If you select the L package and continue to build it the Options and Accessories page does list UConnect as a $360 available option under Sound System Components.
The Sirius backseat TV is an additional $495 option. It's great that they're adding it for free. Did they say anything about the free 1-year subscription that normally comes with the package?
Before heading out this week to get really serious, I decided to check incentives one more time. With $4500 on the GC, it was back in the game but I wanted the 4.0L. These were impossible to find on the lot a few months ago but availability is better now. We drove an SXT with the 28N and *everything* but the sunroof (don't want anyways, especially at $895) and the engine block heater (don't need here in western PA). I also told the dealer about the add'l $400 cash listed on Edmunds.com but could find no reference on Dodge's site.
The first offer from the dealer was $31,703 which was their invoice after advertising + 1% - $4500. A pretty honest opening round on their part, I think. By contrast, the Honda dealer came in at $29,700 for an EX-L w/RES, which was equipped with far, far less. This despite my indicating to him that other buyers are having no problem getting into the 28s and that's what I expected to pay. We told the Dodge dealer we were going to drive the Honda. They were very low-pressure and indicated that, if after driving the Honda, we decided we wanted the GC and called them that day, they would either find the other $400 for us from Dodge or eat it themselves.
At the end of the day, for a difference of about $30 a month for the GC, we thought it had a lot more value than the Odyssey. We also got the trailer tow which would have been an add-on even on the loaded Odyssey Touring model. I called the dealer back and said we'd take the GC if they could do $920 on the 6 year/70K Chrysler Maximum Care warranty. I know these things are usually a sucker's bet but I was concered about all the power sliders, liftgates, third row, nav, etc. I'd found the $920 number on one of the discounter web sites.
So... Long story short, we bought the GC SXT with 28N and everything but the sunroof and engine block heater for $31,303 (MSRP was $38,950) and paid $920 for the 6/70 Maximum Care warranty. Combined with the incentives, you could also do 3.9% for 60 months or 4.9% for 72. I don't like to stretch out payments to six years but... at 4.9%, I figured I'd keep the payments low and pay it off early, as I did my 03 Ram in 3.5 years that I'd financed for 5 years.
We were 99% decided on the Odyssey before I checked the incentives one last time for heading out to test drive. I'm glad I did. When we told the Honda dealer we were going to go GC, all of a sudden, he's dropping to invoice and throwing in the trailer tow package. I still think for $3000 more, we got more than $3000 worth of van. Playing with the MyGIG was worth hours of entertainment value alone last night!
We paid 22,070.63 OTD.
It breaks down as follows:
Cash price $24,495
Document fee $55.00
Sales Tax $1779.88
Total Cash price $26,329.88
License/registration $240.75
Subtotal $26,570.63
$2500 rebate
$2000 rebate for financing through Chrysler at 7.41 percent, 72 months (They said there was no prepayment penalty, so this seemed like a no brainer).
OTD $22,070.63
It was hard to decide between the silver and the sandstone. The reason we preferred the sandstone was that it had a beautiful interior with light shale seats, (off white seats, with black carpet). The silver was also attractive with matching carpet and upholstery (dark gray).
We paid the advertised price, which we thought was a fair price. We tried to bargain a lower price but only briefly because we were satisfied with the advertised price. It may have been discounted because the cars had not sold in 4 or 5 months on the lot, and they were motivated to move some inventory.
I didn’t buy the supplemental warranty or the prepaid maintenance that was offered to us, but may buy a bumper to bumper warranty later from someone else. I’ll look through this forum for information regarding the btb warranty.
This is the first new car I have ever bought in 38 years of driving! Everyone in the family seems to approve of this purchase, even the teenagers! My 8 year old was disappointed that it didn't have a DVD, but still likes the van. I hope to keep it for a long time.
Sorry for reposting, I put this by mistake in the Chrysler forum first.
On August 4th I bought a new 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT 25K, black, with the options:
Dual Screen DVD Entertainment System
Power Liftgate
for $23,400.00 out the door. I also bought the lifetime bumper to bumper warranty with a $100 deductible for an additional $1,650.00 and financing for 5 yrs at 4.9%. I am not a current Chrysler owner or an employee. I bought it at Szott Dodge in Highland, Michigan. My salesperson was very courteous.
Anthony