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Going to scour the dealerships for a vehicle to replace my '07 Yukon Denali, it's been a great truck for the 60K+ miles I have on it but it's time to start searching for another one. Pretty much set on a new F-150 Platinum or possibly F-150 Lariat depending on what price they throw at me.
I'm expecting to get a trade-in value between $24K-$28K for my Denali and I don't want to spend more than $15K out of pocket for another vehicle. Pretty sure I want a Ford truck but I might check out the new Dodge Ram 1500's for a comparison.
I really do NOT plan on buying today, I'm thinking of waiting at least a month before pulling the trigger. Not sure when the 2011's are expected on the lots but I know they'll be some hefty discounts on the 2010's which I'm excited for!
1. Don't talk to the dealer until you really know what you want.
2. Don't rely on the dealer for information to make your decision. Do your research before-hand.
3. Use edmunds.com to see what the dealer cost is for the car you want, and see how much negotiating room that you have.
4. Tie the trade-in to the deal you make. If you commit to buy a new car, and then try to do the trade-in, you'll get a bad trade-in value. So make sure they know that the deal on the new car is contingent on negotiating a deal to your liking on the trade-in.
5. Don't tell them up front whether you intend to finance through the dealer or not, especially if you don't intend to. Once you make a deal price-wise, if you need financing, you can inquire about it. Walk into the dealer knowing what rate you might get from a 3rd party financing, so that you can gauge whether the deal they're offering you is a good one. Don't tell them what rates are available to you from a 3rd party until they tell you what they'll offer you.
6. A dealer is more willing to negotiate if they know you're a really serious buyer. I generally wait for them to make an offer first, and if it's close to what you want to pay, offer a bit less than you want to pay and say something like "if you'll agree to this price, I'll sign the papers right now." If their offer is out of the ballpark, walk out and go to another dealer, or wait for them to call you. Don't be the first to crack.
Just know what you want, what it is worth, and what you will pay for it. Then let the dealer know this, and be more than willing to walk away and let the negotiation age.
If you do your research and are willing to pay a fair amount after researching values, based on your trade and the new truck, most dealer's will eventually give in and pay it. I have negotiated at the dealer and left dissatisfied, and within a week or two had a price better than what I anticipated on spending, as they start calling and coming down on their price to earn the sale.
Thanks for the advice all, it was an enjoyable day. Test drove 3 different trucks:
2010 Ford F-150 Platinum. Red with Brown Leather. $46K
2010 Ford F-150 Lariat. Black with Tan Leather. $39K
2010 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie. Blue with Black Leather. $42K
All trucks were Crew Cab and both the Dodge and Platinum F-150 were equipped with navigation. I was very impressed by how each of the trucks drove and how comfortable they were. I was shocked that the F-150 was so nimble for being such a large truck, it drove like a much smaller vehicle.
I've written a list of pros/cons of each truck after I got home today. I really like the Platinum edition but damn, that price tag is a pill to swallow! The Lariat has almost every feature of the Platinum except navigation (which I want and could probably find), power deployable running boards (neat feature, I like the look), rain sensing wipers (don't care...this is Arizona), and a unique interior leather color which looks very nice.
I think I'm going to throw the Dodge out of the equation, it was nice but I felt the F-150 offered a much better all-around truck. I'll mull this over for a few weeks and see if I somehow can justify the extra $7K for the Platinum.
Thanks for the advice all, it was an enjoyable day. Test drove 3 different trucks:
2010 Ford F-150 Platinum. Red with Brown Leather. $46K
2010 Ford F-150 Lariat. Black with Tan Leather. $39K
2010 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie. Blue with Black Leather. $42K
All trucks were Crew Cab and both the Dodge and Platinum F-150 were equipped with navigation. I was very impressed by how each of the trucks drove and how comfortable they were. I was shocked that the F-150 was so nimble for being such a large truck, it drove like a much smaller vehicle.
I've written a list of pros/cons of each truck after I got home today. I really like the Platinum edition but damn, that price tag is a pill to swallow! The Lariat has almost every feature of the Platinum except navigation (which I want and could probably find), power deployable running boards (neat feature, I like the look), rain sensing wipers (don't care...this is Arizona), and a unique interior leather color which looks very nice.
I think I'm going to throw the Dodge out of the equation, it was nice but I felt the F-150 offered a much better all-around truck. I'll mull this over for a few weeks and see if I somehow can justify the extra $7K for the Platinum.
We have a new "Harley" edition and it is surprisingly nimble for a truck, as you mentioned. Those running boards are very cool feature...for the exception, I have a permanent black and blue mark on my shin from them hitting me every time they come out. ( I'm a slow learner)
Just got back from taking it's first long haul trip and it was very, very comfortable driving....Sync is great and fun to play with...love the Jukebox feature! We compared them all...and obviously, Ford was our first choice. DH liking the new Raptor which hasn't shown up in dealerships yet.
The only advice I would offer is to keep all of the transactions seperate and don't let them know you plan on paying cash. You will need to force them to follow your steps as the goal of the salesman at the dealership is to get all the factors of the equation in and then negotiate based on monthly payment, which puts all the balls in their court.
Negotiate the best deal you can on the new vehicle you want, insist on only discussing the actual dollar price of the truck and have them give the price to you in writing with a breakdown of how it was reached including any discounts.
Once you have the firm price on the new vehicle in writing, mention that you want to trade in your vehicle and begin negotiations on that. For what it's worth I ran your current truck through the estimator I have here at work that uses historical auction and sales records and your truck should be worth anywhere from $24k - $30k depending on options and conditions, so you are in the right range. Get the negotiated value of the trade in writing.
Now, you have both parts of the deal and can discuss payment options. They may balk at cash, especially if they gave you a real good price (some extra incentives are also only attainable by financing through their finance arm) so you may want to consider going ahead with the finance and then just paying the vehicle off when the first bill comes in, just verify that there is no early payment penalties.
Just remember, the key is to break the transactions down into the individual parts and negotiate on those. Their goal is to get all the pieces up front and talk monthly payment, your goal is to work in actual cost and keep the pieces seperate. Someone earlier mentioned to tell them about the trade upfront to get a better value on your trade, but this is just a shell game. The two transactions are seperate and the best price they can do on each are independent. They want to put them together to keep the numbers hidden. A really "good" price on the trade tends to mean you paid too much for the new vehicle and vice versa. Also, negotiate from the point that they need to make money, but you control the keys to how much.
PS There is a lot of wiggle room on the Platinum edition F150's. It was brought out to replace the Lincoln Mark LT, which sold horribly and the Platinums aren't doing much better.
Thanks for the advice all, it was an enjoyable day. Test drove 3 different trucks:
2010 Ford F-150 Platinum. Red with Brown Leather. $46K
2010 Ford F-150 Lariat. Black with Tan Leather. $39K
2010 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie. Blue with Black Leather. $42K
All trucks were Crew Cab and both the Dodge and Platinum F-150 were equipped with navigation. I was very impressed by how each of the trucks drove and how comfortable they were. I was shocked that the F-150 was so nimble for being such a large truck, it drove like a much smaller vehicle.
I've written a list of pros/cons of each truck after I got home today. I really like the Platinum edition but damn, that price tag is a pill to swallow! The Lariat has almost every feature of the Platinum except navigation (which I want and could probably find), power deployable running boards (neat feature, I like the look), rain sensing wipers (don't care...this is Arizona), and a unique interior leather color which looks very nice.
I think I'm going to throw the Dodge out of the equation, it was nice but I felt the F-150 offered a much better all-around truck. I'll mull this over for a few weeks and see if I somehow can justify the extra $7K for the Platinum.
I am a ford guy all around but how did the 5.7 Hemi compare to the SOHC 3- valve 5.4 Triton?
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. Pretty much set on a new F-150 Platinum or possibly F-150 Lariat depending on what price they throw at me.
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. ( I'm a slow learner
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