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As I mentioned earlier, have only bought cars via email the last 10 years or so. What works for me is telling them I want to factory order a car (although the last car I bought off the lot since the order window closed).
The car I am asking for is very specific, with specific options, and I tell them to give me their best price out the door. Strangely enough, the dealer I dealt with last year for my husband's car that was awesome and delivered my 'email car' to my door would not give me a number via email this year no matter what I did - and they knew I was a sure thing since I had already purchased a car from them. They kept trying to call me when I was at work, but would email me about anything else except the exact number.
So I gave the sale to a local-ish dealer that I never spoke to or saw and the deal was done within a day or so- all negotiations online.
Both of these last two cars were Subaru, prior to that we email bargained on a Jeep Wrangler.
If the price isn't listed online, I pass the listing by. Price is the major consideration for me when buying, and my range is $10K-$15K in most cases. Car shopping is the most frustrating shopping experience there is for me. It's nothing but games. I bought my last car at Carmax in 2014 and was very pleased. I found the exact model I wanted online, and it had a hard to find engine with low miles in the color I wanted and a little below KBB. I rang them before I came to be sure they still had it and the price was accurate. Upon receiving a yes to both questions, I went over.
I had already been to several traditional dealerships in which the salesmen swooped down on me like vultures and insisted I wait repeatedly while they checked the price of the vehicle, got the keys for me to test drive, and pressured me to buy, lather, rinse, repeat, until I was ready to tear my hair out. At Carmax, I was in and out within 1.5 hours, car and keys in hand. I liked that they had the nicer used cars because new cars are too expensive for me to afford on my limited income, and I don't want the excessive mantainence costs that comes with old used cars.
New car negotiation is easy since the MSRP is the same for every new vehicle with those same options, used car can be more hassle since the dealers can pay different amounts for the car/trade.
My sister bought a new BMW X5 online. Emailed 11 different dealers in a 200 mile range. 2 dealers sent replies that they don't do online sales and the other 9 did respond. Some were aggressive on price, some definitely were not. She was pregnant at the time, ended up taking delivery via tow truck and signing the papers in the hospital.
I had the salesman negotiating with me by email until someone higher up told him that I have to go there if I want to continue. We went because we were ready to buy.
Might have even been a ploy all along by the two of them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner
Later I found out the person at the last Dealership with the General Manager with the power to say yes or no and place special orders... so Dealers certainly vary as to how they conduct business.
That's my thing: I'm not going to accept an answer "no" by someone who doesn't have the power to say "yes."
Quote:
Originally Posted by 28173
I think ones refusing to quote by email are loosing business, lots of it
I also think it's very shortsighted. I would think that even if they sell to you at a lower than idea profit, at least they get you there to establish a relationship for possible future purchases (vehicles and parts) and service work.
My wild guess is that the service department makes more for a dealership than vehicle sales make.
New car negotiation is easy since the MSRP is the same for every new vehicle with those same options, used car can be more hassle since the dealers can pay different amounts for the car/trade.
My sister bought a new BMW X5 online. Emailed 11 different dealers in a 200 mile range. 2 dealers sent replies that they don't do online sales and the other 9 did respond. Some were aggressive on price, some definitely were not. She was pregnant at the time, ended up taking delivery via tow truck and signing the papers in the hospital.
Online levels the playing field for sure.....
Yes if you're willing to pay MSRP. Can't one usually negotiate a couple thousand off that price?
They want you to come into their funhouse and play their game, not yours. I find the car I want and then call on the phone and make them call me back. I'll just tell them not good enough, call me when you figure out a fair price. Then I make them leave a message and call them back a day later.
Never let them think you are in any kind of a hurry. I've done very well with this method. Works for leases too. My new car I ended up leasing it for $75.00 less per month than they told me was their lowest price and I got free maintenance too. Took me a week of phone tag but in Feb when they aren't moving many cars it works. The ONLY month I buy/lease cars BTW.
Carmax is great for this. Multiple newer models from different manufacturers. The Carmax salesman will let you sit in all the ones you want and drive several - works better if you show up on a slow day.
Carmax? Are you serious? So, you are willing to pay a premium, just so you don't have to negotiate at all.
Negotiating online has worked great for me, but dealers are getting less reluctant to give out pricing online.
You need to convince them that you are ready to buy now, that you already know what you want (tell them you have already test driven the vehicle). Tell them you are buying today, tell them exactly what you want (model/trim/color/options), that you are soliciting offers from local dealers and the lowest price gets your business. The dealer or manufacturer's instant price quote applet works great for sending the same message to multiple dealers (albeit one at a time). [I also recommend creating a new email for this task as the dealers will spam you forever]. Some of the dealers will respond back with pricing, at that point it is time to give your closest dealer a chance to beat the best price (why travel far for the vehicle if you dont have to).
The challenges I have run into recently are taking a far away great offer and getting it matched close to me. There is a process involved in bringing the offer closer by getting an intermediate distance dealer to match/beat a far away offer, then try and get a local dealer to match/beat it.
You're dreaming.
So who exactly is them? I go to a dealer website, I find a generic email. I send a messagae to that email telling whoever that I am interested in a car that the dealer listed on its website (here is the modeltrim/color/options, and it's already on the lot; shouldn't get any easier). Email me your best price.
I already related my experience. And, I am in a major metropolitan market, and emailed dealers within a 100 mile radius.
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