AGREE.... when I purchased my 2010 Nissan Rogue brand new from dealer, I negotiated all of my deals with various (3 or more) dealerships online. For instance: Dealer A offers you a car MSRP'ed at 25,995 at $24,943. You tell Dealer B, that Dealer A offered you $24,943 and now Dealer B will do ANYTHING to get your business. He will offer $24,102. Do the same with Dealer C. You'll eventually get upwards of 4 or 5 thousand off the MSRP. In my case, I got thousands knocked off the price, along with a bonus incentive of $2,000 cash back AND a 1.9% APR finance rate. All the other dealers offered that incentive but it was EITHER/OR, not both. So long story short, I will be back to see the guy who sold me the car, when I purchase my next!
You can beat invoice pricing, so don't necessarily start from there. Just make sure you know where your number is coming from and be able to defend it.
I think it depends on the model. I recently got a sales report from consumerreports.com which lists the manufactures holdbacks, the average the car sales for, the likelihood of a negotiation, on a Fiat 500. The report basically said that the dealer isn't likely to lower the price that much. Some cars might be over sticker price by 20% but not many. Unless you are buying a junker, less quality machine. I doubt that you could get a honda accord for 20% lower than the asking price, for example.
I'll tell you where I went, but it might not be the best. I bought a report from consumer reports for like 12.99. But judging from the responses in the thread people here no far more than be about it. I was taking CS as the gospel.
There are several places on the 'Net for this : Edmunds.com Truecar.com kbb.com Don't go by their "great price" or "target price" on these sites. Visit forums that cover your model and see what people are paying, and use that as a target.
Always remember it is to start low as hell and grudgingly go up. I usually start 15% or more less than any invoice price or any lower price that I can find before I go to the dealer. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO WALK OUT! Just give them your phone # on a slip of paper then turn down the first call offer they make you, they will always call back. Even then you can make them come down more after you go back even if you have to leave again. Last car I purchased they came down from $21,600 to $17,0200. Made them come down to $17,000 even. Do not tell them how much you want to pay a month that just gives them a tool to use on you in bargaining. Some time near the middle of the negotiation the salesman will come back and give you the good o-boy smile and ask you like he really dose not care what your payments are. Do not tell that is not his business. Do not tell them how you or going to finance it. Do not tell them if you are going to trade in a car. Get the sale price established in written first. Then tell them how you are going to pay for it, and if you are going to trade in or not. Do have your car appraised at Car Max first before you go. Start asking fo $1500 more then C Max offered and do not take less then $500 more then C max offered. I have taken up to two weeks to buy a 02 Acura TLs and a week to buy a 04 Vet and as little as 4 hours on the last car. Drives my wife crazy but I'm paying for it and she usually wants a new car every other year, what a waste. But I married her for better or worse 40+ years ago. The better has far exceeded the worse.
To the person who quoted the use of carmax to find out the value of their vehicle may I highly suggest you do NOT use carmax to appraise your vehicle. Carmax much like the ripoff artists known as Autotrader (a partner of manheim auto auctions) notoriously try to give you at or slightly under your vehicles auction price. Not what your price should be valued at. I always use NADA guides and KBB for trade in value for my trades. Alot of dealerships will not wan't to negotiate from this starting point throwing out quotes like "Well KBB doesn't have to sell your trade we do" or "Thats not what we can sell it for" In the end, they WILL list your trade above KBB trade in value, I can guarantee it. Even if you find a dealership willing to use KBB trade in, make sure they do not try to understate the condition of your vehicle for Fair in their assesment. If your vehicle is in excellent condition make them use it, if it is good assesment use good. Do not try to overestimate your vehicles conditon. Best piece of information I can give you is to always make your deal on the last day of the month after bank hours. Tell them what you want your APR to be and work from there. For instance if you have a credit score that dictates a rate of lets say 9-11% tell them you only will deal at 6-7%. Tell them what price you wanted to pay for their vehicle. I usually work from MSRP, and refuse to pay any dealer fee's or accept any of their dealer add ons like window etch, or specialty clear coat protectants. If you are satisfied with the deal set forth go ahead and make the deal and drive off. If the banks decide they can't make the deal with the lower APR that you negotiated tell the dealer sorry that you will bring the car back. In almost every case they will call in any favor from any bank they can to make it happen because you drove the vehicle and they will not be able to sell it as new any more. I do not buy and resell cars, but I have bought 4 cars since last December and have each time got a much lower APR than I should of got based on my Credit rating. Its all about debt to income ratio with the banks. You have to be willing to walk away and show them you are willing to walk away. And just so you know. If they come to you with a listing of what "They found your same vehicle for sale for" they are showing you an auction listing. Which almost always won't have the same options as your vehicle. Thing is with auctions they don't tell you is that they have to pay an auction fee for any car bought, and pay to send someone to the auction, and pay a general auction fee. Do not accept any list they show you. I hope this helps.
I wanted to apologize if I came across as rude in regards to the Carmax bit for those who do use it. Just a for instance this year alone I traded a 2010 Ford Fusion Sport AWD with all the options. Carmax came back to me with a quote 12000. The manager had the nerve to say "Wow thats very good for that car." I asked if he was serious. I told him he wasn't going to buy my car that needed absolutely no reconditioning for 12K and turing it for 21-22K on their lot. I was not that stupid. I ended up getting 19,500 for this car at another dealership. I was quoted 30K for my 2011 Buick Enclave loaded with everything except a sunroof from Carmax/. I ended up trading for almsot 38K. Dealerships have gone from using KBB and NADA guides as their starting points to Manheim Auction prices due to Carmax and autotrader instant offer. Know what your car is worth in trade in.
Wink at the salesman, tell him you want the "insiders" deal and if he balks, tell him firmly that you are prepared to walk right out that door if you don't get what you want.
Good info I always figured Car Max as low. I have 6 kids and 11 grand kids I never sell or trade a car there is always a kid ready for a hand me down car. If it is to new they have to pay me something but usually not much. I don't know if my wife or me who is the softy. .09% is usualy a good rate but no more then 3.5%. You should never pay more % then you can make on your own money. BMW now has a 0% sale going on. But there up keep is expensive in the long run.
By the way there is a big look, try, and drive at Reliant Center on Aug 27 & 28. They is going to be over 70 models of cars from all the major car companies. You have to be over 18 with a DL to drive the cars. It is mainly by invitation but they always allow extra people in just show up. My family will be there Sunday. I know they always have free crappy food also. i check no CVST but they will have some vets for you lead foot oriented folks. also some chev volts but no leafs for the gas misers.
It really depends on manufacturer. domestic offer more off msrp and rebates as well and foreign you are not likely to knock much off at all from msrpr.
at least in so cal it seems that toyota is having a good finance deal on camrys i saw that you can get 500 back and up to 60 months at 0% i may end up going that way depending on the final price i can get one of these dealerships to give me...right now the one I was given was just a hundred dollars above factory invoice waiting on the other dealerships to email me back I think i emailed about 8 different dealerships earlier today asking for prices.
I've had a different experience at CarMax. Back in 2003, they gave me above KBB price for my '97 Maxima with about 130,000 miles on it. I think I got $4800 for it and KBB valued it something like $4000. I doubt I'll ever sell my car to the dealership since they're going to low-ball the hell out of you, but I'll definitely give CarMax first shot.
Two of the reasons Toyota's offering big deals is because 1) the weaker sales in the past due to the quake and 2) the new 2012 Camry which has been redesigned is coming out. Honda was basically giving away Accords a few months ago for some of the same reasons.
Don't let my newer noobish status fool ya DoD. If I can recall correctly, I believe around that time you were heavily drooling over the 350Z's. Not sure but I think I remember a thread on it. We discussed the 350's beauty together. On to Carmax. Carmax didn't put out its first profit until 2001, after starting in 93. Around that time they were still trying to really get a foothold in the industry, and they did it by giving customers better deals on their trades. Carmax has changed drastically over the last few years. With the boom of auto sales over the internet, ebay and such Carmax has resorted to making large profits off of unsuspecting people who "remember" Carmax as a good place to get a decent price for your trade. My Fusion KBB'd out at 20K in excellent condition, which after their 30 minute evaluation process they agreed it was in excellent conditon all over. They still came back with a 12K offer. Now 20K is what it KBB'd out in trade in value, and as a dealer sell it KBB'd out at almost 23K. Carmax is about industry average as far as used car prices go. Definately not on the cheaper end of the spectrum. I know damn well they wanted to pay me 12K for my car, do absolutely no upkeep as none was needed at all and sit it on their lot for 21-22K. Turning a 10,000 dollar profit on my trade alone. Add to that the same deal they would be making on selling me a car (no doubt some body got suckered by Carmax to have cars on their lots) and all in all they were looking to make a GIANT profit on people who just don't know better. At the time I was looking to trade my 2010 Fusion Sport AWD for a 2009 Pontiac G8 GT. They offered me 12K and were selling the G8 for 25,999. I ended up getting 19,500 for my Fusion and getting a lower mileage G8 GT with more options for 22,000. It actually wasn't that hard at all. Once dealerships realized I knew about auction prices and the whole drill, they changed their tune real quick. It took me walking away and the call back game and several dealerships were willing to deal. Carmax = Autotrader Instant offer = Manheim Auction price for your trade = NO WAY.
I am going to assume that license and fees should be roughly the same right for cars? like I had one camry spec'ed out for me and the license fees were 325 dollars I had another that was the same model and make except it had a leather seat option and after I did the math the license fees for that came out to 405 dollars. is the second dealer just trying to make a quick 80 bucks on nothing? It doesnt make sense that adding an extra option like leather seats would cause an increase in the license and title fees - I could understand if I went from a Camry LE to an XLE or something but both these models were Camry SE and only difference was the leather interior. This would be my first new car purchase so I dont want to get railroaded thats for sure - I dont think I will but want to know what the difference is all about. also - Was looking at true car for some price points - it has "regional ad fee" as one of the included fees -- what the heck is that and is that something a dealer would charge? -- also why include the destination fee i thought most dealers should not (though they will try) to include that when buying a car off their lot
Nah, I didn't mind the 350Z, but I was an Infiniti G35 guy at the time, if anything, I think. [... buncha other stuff snipped ...] You may be right in what you said, but I don't care how much anyone makes off my car. I just care about what I get for the car from the possible buyers I have available and to dismiss one of them before they even make an offer would be of no advantage to me. I would do a private sale if I wanted the most money, but then that would cut into my time and be a hassle. I'll still visit Carmax when I'm ready to sell my car, and maybe their offer will suck, who knows - especially considering the car will have 200,000+ miles on it by then. I can't just stay away from them, though, because I know the dealer sure as hell is going to try screwing me over.
Carmax printed out how much KBB values my car, and gave me 5% over the KBB offer, which I felt was very good. My experience was quite pleasant.
