Okay, so I've looked at new cars the past few weeks/months, and only really started test driving them in the past couple weeks. I was thinking Honda Accord, C-RV; Ford Mustang; Nissan Altima/Maxima, and to a lesser extent a Volvo. Well I took a look at the Volvo and after driving it, felt it was superior to the others. Didn't care for the Accord as much after driving it (but it does look nice; Civic was a bit small and the Civic Si is apparently on a "6-month wait list"). As a college student, I like sporty. But I also like fast. This is where the S40 T5 comes in. I'm not an expert, however I've been doing research on these cars. Yes, the Volvo is a more expensive model than the Fords, Hondas, etc. However the '06 clearance brings in a good number of incentives. And since Volvo doesn't offer much in the accessory department (pretty much just Premium Sound, body kit, and Climate Package), total price is negotiable. As there are few left where I'm looking, I was interested in the T5 with Premium Sound, but it's only in the 2.4i...and yeah T5 feels that much better. 2006 Volvo S40 T5...black w/ rear spoiler How good of a deal can I get on this car?? Car retails around 31...their initial offer was $27...up to $28 after "filing fees." What can I say to get it a little lower? Money isn't the deciding factor, but if I can save more, I'd like to. Can I get it to the $24-$26 range??
Don't deal from the sticker price. Find the invoice pricing, how popular the car is, and deal from there. I remember the time a dingbat I used to work with drove up to the company in her Pontiac Aztek and proudly expressed how she got it for something like $1000 (?) under invoice. What she thought was invoice was the sticker on the car... those 2 were a perfect match.
Oh yeah, make sure you can afford the repairs, too. I don't know how expensive it is to repair Volvos, but a lotta people buy juuuuust as much car as they can possibly buy never thinking about the fact some of the more common repairs will drill them. What add-on stuff is there on the car (stupid stuff like fabric protection, pinstripes, etc, are nothing but rip-offs)? Is this the AWD version?
www.edmunds.com will help you tons. 1. Find out the invoice price for your 2. Find out what the dealer holdback is for Volvos (usually it's around 2-3% for car companies) 3. Add that dealer holdback to the price of the invoice. 4. Add in the destination charge + options you want AT INVOICE PRICE 5. Deal from there. And emailing the dealerships with your price in mind does save a lot of footwork. S40 T5 sedan (manual) Invoice: 25,539 Dealer Holdback for Volvo: 1% of Base MSRP = 269.40 25,539 + 269.40 = 25,808.40 that's the price that COULD sell it to you before TT&L without losing money.
Now THAT'S intriguing. So I go in there with this info in mind...do I want to let the guy know what I know or get the invoice and work it out from there. This car "retails" for 30-31...if I can get it down to $25-$26, that's pretty reasonable. And regarding repair...yes, Volvo's have been known to have expensive parts when service is necessary, but having Ford buy them a few years back helped a bit...now probably closer in price to foreign parts like Honda than before. And it's not the AWD...none left on the lot. They're trying to get rid of the '06's, but it's not like a ton of '07's are coming in any time soon (there were two 07 models there but with a "month-long break in Sweden that's ending soon" they plan to get new shipments closer to September). Plus, any tips in dealing with the dealer? This guy just graduated college in May and isn't really an expert on cars...works with his manager though. How can I "outsmart" the guy or get a better deal from a new guy? And regarding accessories...besides the sound and climate upgrades, it comes standard wired with Sirius (around $500-$600 to get it actually installed at the dealership, something I figure I could buy the parts and install myself), optional in-dash CD changer (part of the Dolby Pro Logic II sound package w/ rear subwoofer), 17" instead of standard 16", fog lights, bi-xenon lights, navigation system, and even "after market parts" -- words straight from the dealer's mouth, haha. I mean, I'd love the sound upgrade with 17", but it ain't what they got. I can always upgrade sound later I guess.
I've helped family members and friends buy their cars this way. The dealer holdback is the price they're willing to sell you the car while getting back a comfortable margin. And Volvo's dealer holdback, according to edmunds.com, is 1% of the Base MSRP. Toyota's and Honda's are 2%. I mean the car retails for $26,940. So it's not in the high range of $30k that they're making it out to be...unless you wanted to buy the car for MSRP + TT&L. As since they're trying to clean out their 06 stock, you have more leverage. It also depends A LOT on your credit as well..unless you're getting it co-signed or something. If you have pretty good credit, you have more leverage to wheel and deal. The only real snag I see is that the invoice is pretty close to the retail price. Hondas and Toyotas usually have a much less (~$3k) invoice price compared to their retail price. So this equates you into saving not a whole lot....unless the dealer REALLY needs to clear out his stock. And you got to know what you want to pay for this car and stick to it. Many times, you tell them a price you want to buy it at (a reasonable one for both parties) and if they don't accept, walk. I bet you they'll come back. All in all, I say offer them $26,500 drive out (TT&L and everything) and see if they budge. If they laugh at your face, just know in your mind that you can just go home, search for another Volvo dealer, and email their internet salesperson that same drive out price and see where it gets you. I also wanted this car until I saw the new camry SE-V6. 268 HP. are you kidding me?!
The popularity of the car is another issue. Less popular cars, cars on the way out of a model year, etc. can be had much cheaper. Cars like Camrys and Accords *may* be a bit more difficult to negotiate since everybody and their mother buys them - it depends on the dealer. They know with a popular car, if you don't buy it, somebody will come along in 5 mins and buy it.
Don't believe a damn thing he/she says. That's my first advice. They may go through every routine in the book to make money off of you. He may be "outsmarting" you already if you go ahead and believe he's really out of college and working with his boss. In all reality, that may be true, but when it comes down to it - it doesn't mean jack. Don't go there and let him be all chummy with you. He's the enemy. lol. Your only goal is to find a price - a reasonable price - then go in there and get the car for that price or something very close to it. Don't go with some nutty price nobody's going to be able to match. Find out what these cars are going for by going to forums dedicated to Volvo's or S40's and see what people are getting for them. Always have a counter that makes them kind of worry - phrases like "2007 Camry" are curse words to them. Know the pro's and con's of buying a Camry. What do you get with it that you don't necessarily from a Volvo (Camry reliability in the past has been the reason to buy one). Volvo dealers love to throw the "safety is #1 with Volvo" line at you. Throw "even Kias get high safety ratings now!" back at them. Seriously. Go in there prepared with facts. Let them know you're serious about buying, but won't be walked over. But... don't go in there looking for a fight - I got booted out of a Mossy dealership when I started calling them out for every trick they kept playing on me. Know everything there is to know about the car you want and that car's competition. That way you'll know when they're trying to pull the wool over your eyes. Don't go there looking for a car simply because "hey wow, it looks cool and I can get chicks!" Be prepared for the tricks of the game. 1) Go in there with 2 keys (some dealers will conveniently misplace your key to keep you in the dealership). 2) Don't fall for the "I'm doing the best I can - I'm on your side, but my manager won't come down" line. Oldest crap in the book. He's not doing jack but trying to break you down. 3) Don't go for the $300 fabric protection, $150 pinstripes, $100-500 rust protection, etc. plans. They're stupid. 4) If you're looking for an extended warranty, see if you can buy one online from a dealer that's out of state. You may save hundreds. 5) Clear out time before you go. Don't go to dealerships when you only have 30 minutes to do deal. 6) Ideally, you don't want to set foot in a dealership. You want to deal with the fleet manager or Internet salesperson over the phone or via fax. That way you don't have to deal with any of the above crap. I bought my current car by dealing with a dealership in Houston for 1 week (I live in the Dallas area). I never met the salesperson or saw the car until the day I got there to buy the car. You may get a dealer that does nothing but want to sell you a car, too, so you may get lucky - there may be a few honest ones out there. Read about these tactics they use on the Internet if you can before you go shopping.
I like the ideas here...I'm going in tomorrow in the afternoon to talk to them again. I'm sure they think they're going to make a sale, even though I alluded that I'd rather be spending closer in the $24-$26 range. Well, at least he took it as that. And by that I mean the Accord's (other cars he asked that I was looking at) are going for much cheaper (duh), and if I were to put $27-$28 into a car, I could get a really really nice Honda/Toyota/Mustang. Well regardless, the amount of money put into this Volvo could almost get me a 06 GT with 18"'s in the metallic charcoal color...my "dream-car-to-act-like-I-could-pick-up-chicks-without-really-trying-or-at-least-look-like-a-douche". From my standpoint, I gotta figure out whether it's worth putting that much in a car (this one I assume I'll be using for at least 8-10 years before, say, trading-in for a popular Chery...yes, Chery). In your opinion, with the base MSRP and Invoice at the price they are, do you think it's even possible to get this closer to $25? Can I even expect it to get under Invoice/MSRP?? And I gotta figure out what they've got left in Manual (I test-drove the auto)...if all they got is auto, then a.) do I want non-manual and b.) that's another $1250, just for "switching gears". If not, at this price (over $26), I think I gotta really figure out if it's worth it...fair deal, just expensive. Not ruling it out, but if I can get better packages, features, and incentives on a Mustang, Camry, or Accord for $2-$4K less, then that might break the deal. I feel like I know about 15% of what I need to.
Fantastic advice from DoD. A few other things to stress. 1) As DoD said be sure to do your research on the car. You would be suprised of what little effort hunting around online will make you more knowledgeable than the salesman. You can use that to to call their BS on features, options and price. 2) If you get the young saleman he will not have much athority or experience to negotiate. Might be a good salesman to run the car though the gears. He may be easier to talk to but he won't land you the deal you want. 3) From my experiences dealing with them they really seem to not really respect young buyer's ability to negotiate a deal and will try and take advantage of you. You may get the unusual good dealership but in general I have found they defintly judge you by your age. Be prepaired to walk and come back if this happens. 4) Seriously a rear wing on a sedan? Also be prepaired with the price you want to pay. If you dont get it just walk unless they want a nominal amount more for it. It really sounds like you targeted a nice leftover car that you should get a deal on. Good luck.
I probaly have less experience than DoD but yeah I think it is not unreasonable to try and go for invoice or under on a leftover. Especially since you get them impression they are trying to unload them. You should be able to negotiate more on the manual. Though this is assuming you are dealing in the Houston or DFW market. The impression I got were that 6-speeds were not that popular on a sports sedans in that market with the rare exception being BMW's. I am assuming that you are planning to finance most of the cost. If not you may want to look into you options on 05 cars used. Such as a Acura TL.
According to carsdirect.com, with current mfg to deal rebate and customer rebate on s40, you should have target price around 24154 without options. Also, try http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.ef2a02d to see what other people pay for the\at car.
last month we paid about 25k for the non turbo version, but added leather, and the luxury package....bought it from the clear lake dealership as momentum is by far the worst dealership I have ever been to (once for a BMW and then this recent volvo). Honestly I hate that place.
Well i own and opperate a car audio store in houston so im working on cars all the time. Driving them in and out of the shop ect. I can tell you the Ford Mustang is pretty cheaply put together, IMO. Not a big fan of the new Mustang at all. The Volvo is a realllly good buy. We worked on three of them for a family & added XM Satt. radio to all of them. Very smooth, powerful, & safe of course. Price tag is a little higher but if your looking for a quality car than I personaly think this is the one. -Shawn
Well after more research (scouring through the Edmunds forums late last night), looks like a lot of people (from California to Maryland to South Carolina) are getting around $4000-$5000 off MSRP... So the final price (after taxes, fees, and such) was almost exactly the MSRP; from that, no reason I can't at least expect to have it down to just under $24 or $25. Well, at least it means that I will personally expect that. What I'm going to do today is look at Nissan and Acuras "for fun" just get an idea of what they're going for. Then I'll use that in case I need comparison, but what I think will help me is naming my price (I'll shoot for $5K-$6K off MSRP) and if they say no, I have the references (other Volvo dealerships offering similar discounts, albeit in other markets) that help me get it down to my price. Basically if they meet my base price today, I'll have a new car. If not, I'll be ready to walk out and check out other options (wait for a call back or check out different models). Does it sound like a plan??
Sounds like a good plan, if you can stick to it. Don't let those dealers talk you into buying a car unless you get a deal you are completely comfortable with. It's human nature to be excited and ready to get a deal done when looking for a new car. Just remember that car will still be there tomorrow, and you have other options. If they won't give you the deal you want, say thanks and try somewhere else.
Well here's what happened today. I went to the Nissan place first...and kind of liked the Altima. Still I wasn't exactly completely won over. Then went back to the Volvo place and drove the S40 again. Now I didn't let the dealer know, but I felt a little cramp in it. At least compared to the roomy Altima. Of course I'm 6'1" and maybe I was just imagining it. I will at least give the Altima another shot. Thing is Altima is also redesigning theirs for '07 (not available until October-November). But the place is still getting '06's in. Now I could get a very nice Altima (Sport Package w/ sunroof, Bose, XM, and leather) for just about the same price (MSRP) as the S40. Of course I highly doubt I can bargain down $4k-$5k off of it. I'll do a little more research, but what I think I'll do is get quotes from other dealerships in the area (and by area I mean country). It would be easier to get it close to home, though, so if I can get my price here I'll do it. So I've got to either rule out the Nissan and go with the Volvo and maybe wait for a call back from them (of course they lead me to believe that it might not be there by the time I go back next week...but it's a Volvo, so it'll still be there another 6 weeks I'll bet). I'll say this...I gave them my price, but didn't stick around for them to haggle...figure I'd let it marinate for a couple days...$24 was my "offer". And I did mention other Volvo's selling for $5000 under MSRP.
Honestly, you should just test drive the car just to have the feel for the car. Right now with the internet, you can do most of your price finding over email and get a better price without having to deal w/ a salesman. Just narrow down your choices and email all the area dealers that has that SPECIFIC car with ALL the options you want. Theoretically no since the 25,539 is the invoice price that the dealer pays for their car. So you would have to add on that 269.40 to the invoice price. Basically you're buy the car at what they pay plus 269.40. Correct me if i'm wrong here guys.
You biggest problem right now seems to be you're not sure which car is best for you... do that first. Otherwise you're wasting your time haggling because you'll probably get a price you want and then start doubting if it's the car you want... lol.
