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Without any information from sites such as Truecar or Edmonds for recent sales averages, how would you negotiate the sale of a 2018 vehicle new to the market? To be sure you are not being ripped off.
Without any information from sites such as Truecar or Edmonds for recent sales averages, how would you negotiate the sale of a 2018 vehicle new to the market? To be sure you are not being ripped off.
I did this once... bought a 1998 Ford Contour SVT, the very first one the dealer got.
Better be ready for some old fashioned hard-ass negotiation, because that's what it's gonna be.
If you're not up for that, then it's probably best you wait.
Without any information from sites such as Truecar or Edmonds for recent sales averages, how would you negotiate the sale of a 2018 vehicle new to the market? To be sure you are not being ripped off.
If you are buying a new car, do it through Costco. It's well worth the $55 annual membership fee.
Their car buying service will get you a firm quote and you avoid all the dealership BS.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I enjoy the dealership negotiation, BS and all, and regardless of how long it's been on the lot, would hold out for at least 15% under sticker on any new vehicle, or move on.
I did this last year. I bought the first 2017 model the dealer sold. I did all the negotiation via email. I asked for his price, he gave it and I told him what I would pay and we went from there. Pretty painless.
Depends on the vehicle, but if a market has yet to be established for a vehicle and you really want to be the early adopter, it may be a seller's market type of deal and you'll be paying MSRP if not markup. I remember when the Nissan Versa (yes, really) first came out, dealers in West L.A. were charging $3K dealer markups on them. Now, as that particular segment of the market corrected itself, that became a distant memory and the dealers were knocking down prices just to get rid of the little pieces of crap. On the other hand, when I bought my 2013 Focus ST (I was one of the first fifty people in the country to get one), there was no negotiating - pay MSRP or get out. I was able to knock it down a tiny little bit because I work for Ford, but at the time even A-plan got you nothing. Of course, again, five years into the life cycle of the car, there are plenty of rebates and APR deals available on the ST. The Focus RS, on the other hand, even a year and a half into its life cycle, is still being sold at or above MSRP. Similar with the Subaru WRX STi, most of which are still not available for test drives despite the current model being three years old at this point.
So, tl;dr: depends on the car (and sometimes the dealer). My advice would be to survey a few dealers in the area and see what they are charging, compare with the MSRP on the manufacturer's website and negotiate via e-mail only, so that they can't back out later.
I research it thoroughly to find out what others are paying for the vehicle. There are multiple websites where people post what they paid. I basically start with the lowest purchase price found and then email every dealer within 100 miles to see if they can meet or beat that price. I handle this strictly through email since it gives me a record of what each dealer was offering. I always make certain that the price includes ALL fees since dealers are known to try and sneak them in if at all possible. Once we agree on a price I will then go to the dealership to finalize the deal.
One time, the dealer tried to add in the destination charge onto of the price agreed upon. I pulled up a copy of my emails and showed him that I clearly said this price includes all fees. He played their silly game of going to the manager and coming back and saying they just could not meet that price. I then got angry for them wasting my time and made it very loud and clear that this was unacceptable and we walked out. Another buyer did the exact same thing right before me only he had come a lot further so he was a lot more angry then me. I noticed a couple of buyers in the showroom walked out when they heard the ruckus the other guy made and then another when I made my anger clear. We then went over to the next lowest price dealer and they agreed to meet that price including all fees. Needless to say I gave the first dealer a very low rating online and sent Honda a complaint about them. I doubt I will ever go back to them again. Jay
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