Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Chances are the dealers around me will take a small loss to sell a Camry. They try to make up for it on financing and back end products. So they might pass on a deal from someone paying cash one using their own financing.
They will take a personal check from an in state resident.
Chances are they will not take a loss unless as I noted earlier, it gets them to the next incentive level which isn't then actually a loss. As an average a dealer doesn't make all that much on the back end of a loan. A few hundred dollars is doing really well and a dealership doesn't stay in business only making that.
Sure, if they are able to sell you everything in the world they will make a bit more but that is pretty rare.
I can top tht. I went into. Hyundai dealer last year to be a pre owned 2011 Santa Fe. First off. These dealers lower the total cost of the car and intend to make up the loss through financing. I was given prices for cars at so many dealers and as soon as I said I was paying cash, they said the prices I was given were based on financing. In the end, I bought cash but they wouldn't sell to me without filling out a finance application. Made no sense to me. The entire industry is a scam. Make sure there are no prepayment penalties before financing with the intention of paying off immediately.
Yes, but Truecar only shows the "public incentives" - not ALL the incentives - that is my point. There are sometimes other incentives the dealer gets that the customer or Truecar doesn't know about. I don't understand why people find this so hard to believe. When you get a Truecar bid some or even all of these hidden incentives may have been passed along in the quote - but sometimes not. This is especially true when it comes to stairstep programs which really funk-up the whole process for everyone and creates crazy pricing games.
My tone with the other poster in large part due to him making arguments with me but not reading what I write. He's misquoted me several times in this thread alone.
They may not have that information now, I haven't looked at truecar for a while, but in 2011 when I bought my Kia it showed dealer holdbacks and incentives. Dealers might have gotten upset over that and asked them to remove it, IDK. But even without that it's still a very useful tool. When I bought my Kia I lived in Northern Nevada and the local dealer wanted full sticker price, I have no idea how many cars they sell with that tactic but I certainly didn't buy from them- there are enough dealers in Northern California who are willing to compete so I emailed a dozen dealerships, told them exactly what I wanted- no trade-in, no financing. I asked them to give me their best price. Seven dealers responded, prices varied by around $1,500. I went with the cheapest dealer and picked up the car the next day. I brought a CU check but was offered zero percent financing by the dealer which I opted for. There was no horse trading or games.
If you walked in on a Thursday with a check for a car a dealer could certainly call your bank, with you in the room to provide authorization, and verify you have the funds in your account to pay it.
Problem is, you can drive away Thursday night with the car and withdraw that money from your bank on Friday. By the time the check makes it through the system the following week it would bounce. Very common scam....
In my opinion, a dealer would be stupid to take a personal check from anyone unless they really know them. Even Cashier's Checks are becoming a problem as forgery of these have become more common. At my business we only accept wire transfers and most reasonable customers have no problem with this.
The Hyundai dealer I bought my Santa Fe from last year took a personal check from me for $7000 on a Sunday. Never called the bank. I old hi I was only interested in paying cash but only had about $12000 on me. He said, "you aren't going to make me count all of those bills are you. Give me $9000 and write a check for the balance. He asked if I had the funds in the bank, which I did, and I drove off.
My son did that on a new Ford Focus, got a great price (according to truecar) but the interest rate was 2 points higher than his credit union had quoted him. When he said he would supply his own financing they said they couldn't honor the price they had quoted because it included a $1,000 incentive for financing through Ford, so he bought the car with the over priced financing, waited a week and had his CU pay off the ford motor credit loan.
That is why the salesman ask general question in financing in first place in figuring a either or offer. Ford and other makers clearly advertise offers on their site and terms to qualify. One has to look at such details closely because some loans pay off are not principal on those loan offers. But even then the dealer does not care because its Ford incentive not theirs; their profit is same.
The Hyundai dealer I bought my Santa Fe from last year took a personal check from me for $7000 on a Sunday. Never called the bank. I old hi I was only interested in paying cash but only had about $12000 on me. He said, "you aren't going to make me count all of those bills are you. Give me $9000 and write a check for the balance. He asked if I had the funds in the bank, which I did, and I drove off.
Either they are very old school/trustworthy or whatever you want to call it but I would bet they had the check guaranteed by an e-service in their office before letting you go. That's what we would do and the customer would not even know it. We pay a % for that so I think that is why he asked for some cash, too, but just enough that he didn't need to notify the IRS.
In my business, which isn't cars but my products have steering wheels and tires, too, my average transaction price on a new sale is around $100K. So yeah...not taking a chance with personal checks of that size. (Or paying the fee to the e-guarantee company.)
There's a difference between holdback, rebates, and invoice and manufacturer to dealer incentives. The former will usually be disclosed on Edmunds or Truecar, but the latter will not because they aren't a set rebate. The dealer may get incentives towards floor plan financing from the manufacturer, or they may get incentives on specific VINs for older cars, or they may get an overall bonus for selling a certain number of Camrys or Civics. Or, by selling a few older units at a loss, a dealer may position themselves to be able to order additional units of popular or hot-selling models. Or the dealer may just general incentive money to disburse as they see fit.
None of those will be disclosed by an Edmunds or Truecar, but they allow a dealer to sell a car at a certain price that they may not otherwise be able to do.
Either they are very old school/trustworthy or whatever you want to call it but I would bet they had the check guaranteed by an e-service in their office before letting you go. That's what we would do and the customer would not even know it. We pay a % for that so I think that is why he asked for some cash, too, but just enough that he didn't need to notify the IRS.
In my business, which isn't cars but my products have steering wheels and tires, too, my average transaction price on a new sale is around $100K. So yeah...not taking a chance with personal checks of that size. (Or paying the fee to the e-guarantee company.)
He definitely did nothing while I was there. I was in the financer guys office where they try to rip you one last time with warranties and stuff. He just looked at me and said "is the money there?". I said yes and that was it. He may have called the bank as soon as I left but who knows. I live on along Island in NY and there is nobody that trusts anyone over here. It was Sunday at closing time. I think he just wanted to go home.
No they don't. The lender is perfectly aware of incentives and how they affect resale if they have to repossess. I only wish when I sold cars that it was that easy to get people with bad credit financed. Rebates are taxable so they have to be listed on the form anyway as a rebate.
Yes rebates need to be taxed but they can still be applied. If you or your finance department didn't know this then you missed a huge opportunity. It is, has been, and will continue to be a tool to sell to subprime credit.
I made a lot of money doing this for a lot of years. As others have stated, most of what you have posted about auto sales/industry is pure trash. You appear to be clueless so please - stop posting on the topic.
For the third time, and maybe you'll actually read what I write for a change, I never said there was a $5000 rebate on the BMW. Not once. What I said was there might be some manufacturer to dealer incentive (hidden rebate, dealer cash, whatever you want to call it) that might be available on it. Just because you, Mr. Wonderful internet shopper couldn't find it, doesn't mean there aren't any additional incentives. Again, do some research on stairstep incentives such as this article. This is just one type of "hidden" incentive that car dealers have that customer's won't know about:
Which brings me to my next point, if Truecar truly saved you $1,000 over the best you could do on your own then that tells me you are not a good shopper or negotiator. Nothing wrong with that - some people just don't know the in's and out's of this business and by your posts you clearly fall into that category. $1,000 is a HUGE spread on a car - if you go get quotes on the same car from two different dealers they should be within a few hundred bucks of each other. There just isn't that much profit in the new car sale itself anymore. (Hence the increased demand from dealers to get the financing, too.)
Where would a consumer get the information that a stair step incentive program is in progress?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
