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yes, and all you wrote above takes time as the salesman runs back and forth dealing whomever is in charge of making those decisions.
Not really....you don't have to do this in the dealership. You can call them, get a salesperson on the phone, tell them what you want and email them a copy of the specs you built. It's really not that hard. Let them run back and forth behind the scenes. You don't need to be sitting there while they do all that.
For the car I just bought for my wife I think I spent 10 minutes on the phone with the first phone call explaining what I wanted, etc and gave him the VIN# of the car I wanted him to quote. I asked him to email me his pricing which he did. Only made one other phone call to him after that (to get a little more money off and arrange delivery to me) and the deal was done. (Because his price was better than the other two dealers I did this with who had the exact same car.)
If you are dictating how things go then it makes life a whole lot easier. The customers who wander in with no plan of action are the ones who get taken along for a ride. One thing I've heard Sales Managers and General Managers say to their sales folks all the time is "control the deal." Don't let them....a good buyer who has a plan can control how things go and make life a lot easier for themselves.
Last edited by iamweasel; 05-22-2016 at 11:46 AM..
Reason: typo
You were lucky that they negotiated with you over the phone. We didn't just wander in. We had a set appt with a salesperson who knew what we wanted via Truecar and discussing it over the phone. But when we went we decided how much we were willing to pay and of course there was a difference between our numbers and theirs. But with patience and knowledge we got them down close to where we wanted to be, but that took time as the sales person ran back and forth. Eventually we eliminated the middle guy and just dealt with the manager or who's ever in charge of that. Honestly, I think they were just glad to be rid of us. Lol
You were lucky that they negotiated with you over the phone. We didn't just wander in. We had a set appt with a salesperson who knew what we wanted via Truecar and discussing it over the phone. But when we went we decided how much we were willing to pay and of course there was a difference between our numbers and theirs. But with patience and knowledge we got them down close to where we wanted to be, but that took time as the sales person ran back and forth. Eventually we eliminated the middle guy and just dealt with the manager or who's ever in charge of that. Honestly, I think they were just glad to be rid of us. Lol
When a dealer sees you are using TrueCar that is the first clue they are dealing with someone who doesn't know what they're doing. I don't mean to insult you when I say that - please understand that.
If you want a "C" level price or maybe even "B" level price without having to deal with salespeople/negotiations then TrueCar might be for you.
If you really want that best "A" level price then going with TrueCar is not your best avenue. That tells dealers you are fresh meat.
Let me give you one example how TrueCar absolutely screws customers. (On top of the fact their is already a broker fee added to the price of your car.) TrueCar supposedly takes recent transaction prices to tell you what to pay, right? Well their data takes time to update and if a new incentive program came out prior to you walking in the door, their target price would not reflect that. It also doesn't take into account a multitude of dealer discounts that may be available. (Long story on that one, but basically TrueCar pulls sales data from dealer's computer systems and there are ways to "trick" it so the sale price reported is actually higher than reality.)
TrueCar is a scam to be honest. Do some google reviews on that company and you'll see what I mean. They were run horribly, their founder (Scott Painter) had to quit/get fired last year, it's a joke. Maybe the new management will make it better but there are still a variety of issues they won't be able to solve when it comes to giving customers "the best price." TrueCar is not your friend...they are trying to make money off of you.
truecar is basically like david ramsey's financial advise- far from optimal but good if you suck at the task at hand (handling credit, negotiating car prices).
Truecar price is more accurately described as Trueripoff price. If your paying anywhere near what Truecar says most people are paying then your not getting a good deal at all.
Dealers do get sales incentives and buyer feedback incentives despite what someone said earlier in this thread.
To get the best deal on a new car you need to be willing to contact dozens of dealerships. The old way of getting 2 or 3 into a bidding war is outdated and not very effective in finding the best price. Most likely you will have to be willing to fly into a large city in a different state and drive your new car home. If your located in the middle parts of the US then you have a big advantage because you can reach anywhere in the lower 48 for 200 bucks and be a 1 day drive back. So you can go on a weekend spend about 500 bucks on air, hotel and fuel to save several thousand.
I negotiated a car like this. I got it 5K cheaper than any one of 8 dealers I contacted in the area would go. In fact after I got the purchase order agreement sent over to me to review I called several dealers back and offered to buy the same car from them for 500 more but none would even come close. One of them that I had talked to several times, the owner called me back after I talked to the salesman. He told me that it wasn't a real purchase order and it was impossible for that dealer to be selling that car for that price and I must have mistakenly negotiated a lease and that price was the purchase price after the lease was up. I told him no thats incorrect. It was a legit purchase order for a new car and I was paying that price with a cashiers check and wasn't even financing through the dealer. I flew into that city a few days later and drove off in the new car at that price.
Truecar price is more accurately described as Trueripoff price. If your paying anywhere near what Truecar says most people are paying then your not getting a good deal at all.
Dealers do get sales incentives and buyer feedback incentives despite what someone said earlier in this thread.
To get the best deal on a new car you need to be willing to contact dozens of dealerships. The old way of getting 2 or 3 into a bidding war is outdated and not very effective in finding the best price. Most likely you will have to be willing to fly into a large city in a different state and drive your new car home. If your located in the middle parts of the US then you have a big advantage because you can reach anywhere in the lower 48 for 200 bucks and be a 1 day drive back. So you can go on a weekend spend about 500 bucks on air, hotel and fuel to save several thousand.
I negotiated a car like this. I got it 5K cheaper than any one of 8 dealers I contacted in the area would go. In fact after I got the purchase order agreement sent over to me to review I called several dealers back and offered to buy the same car from them for 500 more but none would even come close. One of them that I had talked to several times, the owner called me back after I talked to the salesman. He told me that it wasn't a real purchase order and it was impossible for that dealer to be selling that car for that price and I must have mistakenly negotiated a lease and that price was the purchase price after the lease was up. I told him no thats incorrect. It was a legit purchase order for a new car and I was paying that price with a cashiers check and wasn't even financing through the dealer. I flew into that city a few days later and drove off in the new car at that price.
Yep, when buying a new car don't limit yourself to local. Do a nationwide search and save a bit and make it a mini vacation. Some cars are less desirable in different regions.
Truecar price is more accurately described as Trueripoff price. If your paying anywhere near what Truecar says most people are paying then your not getting a good deal at all.
Dealers do get sales incentives and buyer feedback incentives despite what someone said earlier in this thread.
To get the best deal on a new car you need to be willing to contact dozens of dealerships. The old way of getting 2 or 3 into a bidding war is outdated and not very effective in finding the best price. Most likely you will have to be willing to fly into a large city in a different state and drive your new car home. If your located in the middle parts of the US then you have a big advantage because you can reach anywhere in the lower 48 for 200 bucks and be a 1 day drive back. So you can go on a weekend spend about 500 bucks on air, hotel and fuel to save several thousand.
I negotiated a car like this. I got it 5K cheaper than any one of 8 dealers I contacted in the area would go. In fact after I got the purchase order agreement sent over to me to review I called several dealers back and offered to buy the same car from them for 500 more but none would even come close. One of them that I had talked to several times, the owner called me back after I talked to the salesman. He told me that it wasn't a real purchase order and it was impossible for that dealer to be selling that car for that price and I must have mistakenly negotiated a lease and that price was the purchase price after the lease was up. I told him no thats incorrect. It was a legit purchase order for a new car and I was paying that price with a cashiers check and wasn't even financing through the dealer. I flew into that city a few days later and drove off in the new car at that price.
Getting a price $5K less from one dealer versus 7 others is very unusual unless you're talking about some high dollar car. There may have been some other factors in-play for this one dealer to yield that type of pricing. This is certainly not a normal situation. On a typical $20-$30K car I would say all eight dealers would have been within a few hundred to maybe close to $1,000 difference at the most.
Maybe the car was aged inventory for them and the dealer has written it down some already, maybe the dealer was on the cusp of hitting the next tier on a stairstep program so they were willing to give one away, maybe there was some pending curtailments coming their way, etc.
Here is what I'd be curious to know on your vehicle:
1) What date was it built?
2) What date did you buy it?
3) General ballpark on MSRP of it? (Are we talking a $20K car, $50K car, etc.)
4) Make and model of the car
Those pieces of info might give me a clue as to what may have happened in your case.
Getting a price $5K less from one dealer versus 7 others is very unusual unless you're talking about some high dollar car. There may have been some other factors in-play for this one dealer to yield that type of pricing. This is certainly not a normal situation. On a typical $20-$30K car I would say all eight dealers would have been within a few hundred to maybe close to $1,000 difference at the most.
Maybe the car was aged inventory for them and the dealer has written it down some already, maybe the dealer was on the cusp of hitting the next tier on a stairstep program so they were willing to give one away, maybe there was some pending curtailments coming their way, etc.
Here is what I'd be curious to know on your vehicle:
1) What date was it built?
2) What date did you buy it?
3) General ballpark on MSRP of it? (Are we talking a $20K car, $50K car, etc.)
4) Make and model of the car
Those pieces of info might give me a clue as to what may have happened in your case.
Yes the price would have to be a bit higher to get $5K price spread.
Looking at some 2015 Hyundai Genesis 5.0 V8 (leftover stock) around the country you can see a price spread from $35K to $50K. So it pays to shop around.
Yes the price would have to be a bit higher to get $5K price spread.
Looking at some 2015 Hyundai Genesis 5.0 V8 (leftover stock) around the country you can see a price spread from $35K to $50K. So it pays to shop around.
You can definitely get a better deal if you buy an aged unit, such as a new 2014/2015 still sitting on the lot. A friend of mine just bought a new 2014 Cadillac CTS for $52K when the MSRP is $70K. Normally that car would have been in the upper-60K range but this dealer in Missouri had that car over two years so it was written down and they were willing to unload it.
That being said, the value of that car will drop tremendously the minute you drive it off the lot and it becomes used. (Even more so than a new 2016/2017.) If you're planning to keep the car for a while, though, then no big deal....
Things like this are definitely the exception, not the norm, but if you find a car that has been sitting for 2 years like this than normal rules don't apply any longer.
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But with patience and knowledge we got them down close to where we wanted to be, but that took time as the sales person ran back and forth. Eventually we eliminated the middle guy and just dealt with the manager or who's ever in charge of that. Honestly, I think they were just glad to be rid of us. Lol
