Question about buying a new car

Kinja'd!!! by "DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time" (dc3ls-)
Published 10/05/2017 at 23:16

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Not that I’m going to, I’m perfectly happy with my Honda that’s as old as me. But for curiosities sake.

Lets say you go to a dealer to buy your brand new car. They have one in stock that has all the options you want, from the color to the snake oil rust proofing coat, they ask for MSRP.

How do you negotiate from there? It’s not like a used car you can point out thing that need to be repaired to lower the price.

Do you basically just go.

“I’ll offer you two grand less than that.”

Maybe that would work if it’s an oddball car somehow, but if it’s pretty normally optioned one and the dealer isn’t having a problem moving inventory. Where do you go from there?

Kinja'd!!!


Replies (10)

Kinja'd!!! "415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)" (415s30)
10/05/2017 at 23:20, STARS: 1

I never do it because it’s worth less the second you leave the dealer. But if it’s a car you just have to have and won’t sell, maybe. I don’t feel that way about new cars, nothing I can’t wait a few years for.

Kinja'd!!! "DarkCreamyBeer" (darkcreamybeer)
10/05/2017 at 23:21, STARS: 2

Know what dealer invoice is. Ask them what their doc fee, etc. is. Ask them what manufacturer incentives there are. Bring your own finance offer (if necessary).

Having all that data at hand, total it all up. Then open with something right around dealer invoice minus all the extra crap. If they are offended, walk. If they aren’t then you are negotiating.

Or just do trucar or whatever. I’ve had good luck with that because I don’t have 12 hours to spend at car dealerships.

Kinja'd!!! "Carbon Fiber Sasquatch" (turbopumpkin)
10/05/2017 at 23:25, STARS: 4

Just do what my wife and I did, pull up cars.com or autotrader and search for cars like it in a 100 mile radius. Local dealer couldn’t match the price on the exact same car 80 miles away for $4000 off MSRP. Said thanks and drove 80 miles to that dealership and got $4000 off lol

Kinja'd!!! "Sir Halffast" (Sir_Halffast)
10/05/2017 at 23:32, STARS: 3

We walked in knowing the price that we wanted to pay all-in (tax, tag, etc. included). That price was about 2k below MSRP sticker plus fees. We lowballed a bit even more than that. Didn’t close that night, left and called around to a few other dealers who got to within $500 of our price. Went back in to the first dealer a couple days later (they had the exact car on the lot that we wanted), told them the situation, and got our price.

Moral of the story is: know what you want, shop around, and be patient. Don’t worry about getting it right then. If the car you want is to be yours, it will be yours.

Kinja'd!!! "Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
10/05/2017 at 23:49, STARS: 1

Ha ha that’s exactly what I did, offered 2k less than sticker, walked out at 1,000 under sticker. It was a very high demand car too so I don’t think I could have done much better.

Kinja'd!!! "RacinBob" (racinbob)
10/06/2017 at 00:01, STARS: 2

There is the challenge with Honda’s. If you want a Si for example, as the used ones are so close in cost, you might as well buy new.

Kinja'd!!! "wafflesnfalafel" (wafflesnfalafel1)
10/06/2017 at 00:13, STARS: 1

Another tip that has been helpful to me is call ahead and make an appointment with the internet sales person or manager. Not always, but frequently, they are the folks that most understand I don’t have hours to waste dinkin’ around trying to have them sell me something I don’t want and simply find what I do at a reasonable price.

Kinja'd!!! "Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever" (superchan7)
10/06/2017 at 00:16, STARS: 1

Don’t be an early adopter. Dealers anticipating huge pent-up demand for a hot new model (see CTR) will be asking for markups.

If it’s limited production (see CTR), you will have to see if the asking prices are worth it to you. It’s possible they will never fall below MSRP as new cars. You may need to ship the car from elsewhere if your local dealers are in the markup game.

Understand the market for the car you want. There are lots of games to play if it’s, say, a Camry or a 328i or even an M3/M4.

“So-and-so has them for $XYZ.”

“TrueCar says $ABC, can you do better?”

“Edmunds/TrueCar/etc. says your invoice is $_____.”

Don’t tell them “I can’t afford $___” because they will try to convince you that you can. Put the pressure to make the sale on them, not yourself. Convince them you don’t need the car, but you will take it if you get your price.

Kinja'd!!! "Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01)
10/06/2017 at 00:29, STARS: 2

If you let them think you’ll finance it through them, they’ll negotiate on price. Then when you get there to sign the papers, just say you’ll pay cash (finance it through your own bank, same thing).

And negotiate hard, and don’t be afraid to walk out. Buying a Camry wagon 5M in ‘88 - I remember saying $14,800 taxes and tags, they pulled the old “have to check with my manager” shit, and I walked. They chased me out into the parking lot, and 15 minutes later we drove it home.

Kinja'd!!! "gettingoldercarguy" (gettingoldercarguy)
10/06/2017 at 01:38, STARS: 0

I use Tom as it saves me the hassle and definitely the headache, but I think it goes something like this. Call all dealers in an area you’re willing to drive to. Ask them about pricing, if you get a few to bite start doing a reverse bid. Dealers can trade cars from each other’s lot, so the dealer with the best price can snag that car you want.