Car Buying Rd. 2

"Snuze: Needs another Swede" (markg) 08/30/2018 at 20:54 • Filed to: None

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I e-mailed 2 dealers about Camaros I was interested in. Both e-mailed me back; one wanted me to come in for a test drive that night , the other wanted me to call to discuss after I already said in my opening e-mail that e-mail is my preferred method of contact.

I e-mailed both back and explained that I live relatively far away (an hour to one, an hour and a half to another) and that I’d like to discuss the price of the car before I spent a lot of time driving there. So I asked for a breakdown of the price - How they arrived at their internet price, what rebates and incentives were applied, if any, and what the qualification criteria were, and any other freight or processing charges I should expect .

I’ve gotten crickets.

E90M3 > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/30/2018 at 21:09

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It might be worth the time to drive in and talk to them, just because it’s a lot easier to discount someone on the internet vs someone who comes into the showroom.

That said, I bought my M3 sight unseen off the internet  and couldn’ t have been happier.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > E90M3 08/30/2018 at 21:28

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I see your point, but it shouldn’t be too hard to give me the information I requested. In fact I think it should be a law that they have to publish that information, but I digress. I live near DC, it’s a big, vibrant, busy swamp city. Ain’t nobody got time to spend 6 hours in a dealership haggling over stuff.  

When I bought the Terrain a few weeks ago, it took me maybe 15 minutes. I finally went through a guy I know who is almost 3 hours away, but he wanted to play ball and everyone around here just wanted to play games. We negotiated everything in a phone call before hand, he made me a better deal on a car with a higher sticker price than anything around here.  H e had all the paperwork ready for me when I got there . My friend took me to get the car - he hung out for about 5 minutes, then said he was going to call his wife and then get on the road home. I did all the paperwork, shot the breeze with Henry (my salesman/owner of the dealership - it’s a small outfit ) and got the Android Auto setup in the Terrain, and left the dealership before my friend had even got off the phone with his wife . It was that quick and painless.

FLmanisback > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/30/2018 at 21:31

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I was going to say the same thing as e90m3. When I was shopping for Mrs. flmans new grand Cherokee, she wanted a specific color, option list, etc. With the internet, we found two within a couple hours. One was near the airport that I would be using for a work trip, so I used their internet sales and they were adamant that we needed to talk in person. As I was boarding the plane home, they called me and said we need to see you here to talk to you. I told them that they missed the point where I said if you make deal x, I will uber from the airport and drive it home. I had to hang up on the plane and caught a lift home from the airport, abandoning the purchase.

A week later, I had the family in the car on the way home from coaching a soccer tournament, and we were driving near the same dealer. I figured, what the hell, and pulled in. I wanted Mrs to at least see and touch the car at this point. It was 4 pm on a Sunday, we were smelly and tired so I pulled in and asked about the stock number. The sales manager had it brought up and I told him I would make the same deal I offered on the internet, and he had thirty minutes. There was the usual stammering about the low ball offer (which was actually a fair deal), so I said thanks for trying, but we’re off. He relented and spot delivered it with a dealer tag for my offer. My wife and daughter drove it home and I sent his tag back via ups.

So, long story short, I don’t get why they need you there, but maybe it proves you’re serious. Thats what the sales manager said at least, when I asked him. He said that a lot of people want a quote from a distant dealer and then buy local with a matching quote. As a guy who worked at a car dealer for nine years, screw him. We chose the life. I was in service anyway, so I didn’t know much about the front half of the place.

Funny counterpoint though, when I bought my wrangler in 2016 , I had been searching for about a year for specific options (manual trans, certain color  with high options), and had no luck. Out of the blue an internet manager a couple hours away emailed me and made me an incredible offer on the vehicle I wanted. I sent her a couple photos of my trade along with the vin, and she made a decent offer on it. I did the paperwork via scanned docs, and they dropped the car at my house and took the trade. I bought a car without ever even setting foot in the dealership.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > FLmanisback 08/30/2018 at 21:50

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Thanks for sharing your experience. And I do get what you’re saying about being serious. I imagine they do get some e-mails from “internet tire kickers”, but like you said, it’s the life you choose.

Good to know about the trade in, as well.  I may play that card with the dealers to see what they think.  I know where I need to be financially and based on the prices I’m seeing online, and what my friend’s fiance got when she traded in her Cruze the other day, I don’t think I’m being unreasonable.  

Chariotoflove > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/30/2018 at 22:26

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Rather than ask them to detail their price breakdown, I might instead just do my own math, decide on the price I want, and give them my number. This assumes I would have access to all the data I need.

I don’t think I’m 2018 you should have to go in to negotiate the deal. 

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Chariotoflove 08/30/2018 at 22:51

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Well, that’s kind of what I’m driving at. Though that can be tough because there’s a broad range of advertised prices out there. And then a lot of them are based on all sorts of manufacturers rebates and incentives, which they vaguely disclose in tiny print. I’ve had dealers in the past advertise a price, or tell me verbally they can do a certain price, and then when I get there it’s “oh, well that was assuming you qualified for this rebate, but you don’t, so the new price is X”, and it’s a lot higher. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > FLmanisback 08/30/2018 at 23:19

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For my WRX, I found a dealer with the one I wanted in stock , sent an e-mail, got an offer, agreed on a price, dropped $100 earnest money to make sure they held it for me, went over a couple of days later to sign the paperwork. Since I already had financing arranged, it all went quickly.

Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/31/2018 at 06:48

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They want you to come in or call because you can be pressured that way. Screw them. You said email, if they were serious about selling you a car they would have done that.

In January I bought a new Outback. Living in NH, there are 3 Subaru dealers within 25 miles of me, 10 if I want to drive 50mi. I did what you did, emailed about One specific car to each dealer. Half did what your dealer did and I deleted those emails. The others sent what I asked. Only one included all fees and rebates broken out and listed, as well as listed Weathertech floor liners and the bumper protector. I went that night and bought the car.

If they are serious about selling they’ll answer your questions. 

FLmanisback > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! 08/31/2018 at 07:40

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A good point brought up here is having your own financing or paying cash. They can do-si-do he money more when financing is involved. If you go in firmly paying cash, there are fewer people to deal with. Funny thing, when you throw out a bottom line number, they immediately tell you you’re a wanker for offering. Meanwhile, you’ve pored over inventories, looked at all the online resources, looked at the manufacturer site for incentives, and in general you’ve done a ton of homework to arrive at your offer. The first hung they do is tell you you’re bananas.

As far as the breakdown, you’re better off negotiating bottom line.  They will talk circles around you negotiating each individual number. 

Chariotoflove > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/31/2018 at 11:14

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Yeah, all I think you can really do is research what people are really paying and compare it to what you’re willing to pay. If a dealer pulls a bait and switch like that, I’m outta there. “ I got your quoted price in this email here, buddy. That’s the deal.”

Anyway, you know what you’re doing. Good luck.