OK so I'm going to be wanting a new vehicle soon. Probably either a Nissan Murano or a Nissan Rogue. What are some of the best tips out there at negotiating a price? Someone once told me to get in contact with 3 different dealers via email, and compare their prices on their current models for sale and have them bounce better deals off of each other for your benefit. Is this the best way to go? It'd be hard for me to walk in to a dealership, look at a vehicle, and ACT like I don't really like it to see if he would lower the price. I need some tips, and I'm sure others here could use some as well. Thanks.
If you have good credit, you can sometimes get them to charge you invoice prices, which is about 2-4K cheaper then MSRP. Car dealers sales are down and will probably settle for breaking even almost. Take a print out of the invoice with the exact same options as the Nissan your getting and compare with their MSRP.
Go on edmunds and get a few quotes. I would do some research and see how much others are paying and set a price that you're willing to pay. Then I would call around 6-8 dealerships and see if they can beat/match your deal. This is what I did. I bought a 2010 Highlander for my parents without ever setting foot in a car dealership before I actually had to pick it up.
Do your research and know the MSRP and invoice. I did this, then went to autotrader.com and sent messages to about 5 dealers telling them not to contact me unless the price X dollars below invoice. I also gave them a specific model, color and the options I wanted so there would be no confusion. I had a bidding war going and went with the cheapest deal. I would recommend everyone do this.
I have a baby on the way in April. My wife has a 2000 Mustang now that is getting slower and slower to crank. It also needs new tires soon. Last thing I want to do, is drive it til it don't drive anymore (prob less then a year from now), I'd rather get what I can get for it now via trade in. Anyone else agree with this logic of mine???
Also, you can't rely on the "Invoice" prices on most sites because they don't include destination charges (usually around $800) and regional advertising costs from the dealer. This total amount not included in the "Invoice" will be at least $1000-1500, if not more. If you want a lot of options, you will find many great deals especially for a Nissan, as they often have cashbacks of $1000 or more or great APR. The dealer can also knock off a little bit more due to the options that are cheap to them, but expensive to you. If you're looking for a bare-bone Murano or Rogue, you're probably better off just telling them you'll take THEIR invoice price + $100 and make a deal. They'll usually sell it at that price.
This is basically what I did, except on edmunds. I found out that it was near impossible to get a super deal on the Highlander. I set a price, but people were emailing me left and right saying that it wasn't possible and they were giving me crap deals...until one dealer sold it to me for $1000 less than everybody else.
Whens the best time to buy a car anyways? Is it at the end of the year, begining of the year? V-day? When?
This is a very good blog/article about the basics of buying a car. They go through a lot of the fees/strategies, etc. that dealerships use to get you to spend too much. It also explains the various pricing schemes they use, what a dealer holdback is, etc. This link is the intro, there are several "chapters" at the bottom of the page going into great detail into all aspects of car buying. http://www.carbuyingtips.com/carintro.html
I've owned three different Nissan's since 2000, and the ONLY place I would buy from in this part of the state is Clear Lake Nissan. I now know the guys in the shop including the GTR tech personally, their showroom is very nice and they actually take care of you there. DO NOT buy from David McDavid. EVER. Scam artists in the store and in the shop. The store is a **** hole as is the waiting area for the shop. It's like a 3rd world country. I even witnessed one of their shop guys doing doughnuts in the back parking lot in a customers Z. Baker Jackson is pure crap. I bought a car their with a loan from my credit union, and when the sales guy didn't get his money in time for monthly bonuses he harassed me at work while I had nothing to do with this transaction. Called his boss...who knows where he works now. Would not recommend. Mossy Nissan is ok. They did just finish their new showroom, their customer care is decent, although they did a horrible job fixing the paint on my door that was scratched in transit.
Don't trade in your car to the dealership. Go spend about $30 getting it cleaned inside and out, then take it right to Carmax to sell. They will give you 3 times what a dealership would give you for a trade-in. They write you a check on the spot and you don't have to buy a car there.
Have you done this yourself? Didn't know Carmax was that easy to sell your car to. I, nor do I know anyone who has, done business with Carmax.
This is only true on cars that are less than 10 years old. Otherwise they take them to auction. They don't want auction cars, they want lot cars, and pay decently for cars they can sell on the lot. If they take it to auction they basically offer wholesale, and you can almost always beat that price selling on your own.
I sold my truck to Carmax back in '03. They offered me $7k, while the Audi dealership offered $4k. You should definitely go to Carmax for the appraisal, as you can use it as a bargaining chip. Meanwhile, this time around ('09) the Santa Clara BMW dealer gave me excellent trade in value on the same Audi. They wouldn't come down on the selling price of the car, so I negotiated on the trade-in.
