Buying a new car

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exoilman
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Buying a new car

Post by exoilman »

I will be buying a new car soon without a trade in. I would appreciate any tips for getting best price. I don't like to haggle and will pay cash for new car.

thanks
Sam
jdilla1107
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by jdilla1107 »

I do everything by email.

- Decide on the exact car you want.
- Research the invoice price.
- Email a dealer outside of your town and say that you will pay cash, have no trade-in (these are both important to their profit) and you would like to pay 100-500 over invoice. Pick one of those number depending on the car price. Make it sound very easy for them. (No test drive, no haggling, no surprises for them later) Its important to stress no haggling later to get them to their bottom price.
- Once you get one dealer at a price you like, tell the dealer you want to buy from that dealer XYZ gave you this deal, but you want to keep your money in town. Ask them for their best deal.
- Show up, write a check, and drive off.
KyleAAA
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by KyleAAA »

If you don't like to haggle you can usually get a decent price using something like Costco's auto buying service. You'll probably pay a few hundred dollars more than if you were an excellent negotiator, but that's the price of convenience. At the very least, you definitely won't get ripped off.

You'll probably be able to get a better price if you finance rather than pay cash, though. There's nothing to stop you from taking the discount and paying off the loan a few months later.
chx
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by chx »

I can tell you what I did back in 2013.

0. At local dealerships, I drove a lot of models that I was interested in, making sure that the salesmen knew that they shouldn't spend their time with me since I was just looking for now. After a time, I decided what make/model/features I wanted (a Toyota in my case).

1. Made a list of all the Toyota dealerships within reasonable driving distance.

2. Looked up the e-mail addresses of the internet sales managers at each dealership. In some cases, I had to call for the contact information. One dealership had no internet manager, so I asked for the fleet manager's contact information instead.

3. Sent an e-mail to each manager (except the local dealership), describing what I wanted, asking for a firm out-the-door quote for a cash purchase (no trade-in) including all costs except tax. I indicated that I was shopping for the best price (no haggling) from local dealerships and would buy as soon as possible, but I was willing to wait if the car needed to be ordered. The quoted prices had quite a range. The cheapest was from a dealership about 15 miles away, and it beat the highest price by about $4,500.

4. Went back to my local dealership, and asked the salesman I'd seen for her lowest price to compare with other quotes I'd got. Did not reveal that quote. I made sure he knew that I would look at only her best price. I would buy if it was in the range of my lowest quote. I would not allow him to revise the first price offered.

5. The price quoted from the local dealership was $1,500 above my lowest quote. I said thank you, sent an e-mail to the manager at the low-quote dealership agreeing to buy the car for the offered price, and asking her to confirm the price. She confirmed the price and gave me a delivery date.

6. On the delivery date, my sister and I drove down to the dealership. (Sister for moral support.) I confirmed that the price was as agreed upon, filled out some paperwork, showed proof of insurance, wrote a personal check, drove home in my car. Total time at the dealership was a bit longer than expected (about 70 minutes), but I had to say no to added extras only twice that I recall.

Hope that's some help.

xxChip

P.S. Perhaps I put the local dealership at a disadvantage since I did go through a salesman there who would have had to have got a commission. Perhaps it would have been better to do my test driving farther from home. In any case, the local dealership has been happy to do any warranty work over the past few years.

The actual manager I bought from was a fleet manager, not an internet manager. Perhaps I should have dealt only with fleet managers.
Last edited by chx on Sun Mar 20, 2016 9:32 am, edited 2 times in total.
chx
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by chx »

.....
Beth*
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by Beth* »

If you can wait a few months, my experience has been that it is often possible to get a better price in early summer when they are trying to clear out the current year models because the next year model is coming out. If you wait much longer than early summer, the selection of colors and features available is likely to be extremely limited and it becomes harder to find the car you want.

There are dealers who post firm prices on the Internet that I have used as a reference for the price at which it is possible to get a car. One dealer who does this is Fitzgerald: http://www.fitzmall.com/. There are others if you search. I have found that my local auto dealers are usually willing to match these prices when shown a print out. I generally call first to discuss with a manager on the phone the car I am looking for and the price for that car.

For me, the most annoying thing about buying a car is that after we agree to a price they always start haggling about adding extras: warranties, pre-paid service visits, special treatments to prevent rust, etc. I have not found anyway to get out of listening to their sales pitches for these things and after the initial salesman fails they generally send out a manager to try again. I just keep saying "no." This appears to be where the auto dealers make most of their profit. I think it is important to psychologically prepare oneself for this sales pitch and to decide in advance that no matter how good it sounds, you will not make a spur of the moment decision to accept one of these additional cost offers. Just by the effort they use to push them it is possible to see that the dealer is making a lot of money on these things which means that the consumer is losing money.
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grabiner
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by grabiner »

KyleAAA wrote:If you don't like to haggle you can usually get a decent price using something like Costco's auto buying service. You'll probably pay a few hundred dollars more than if you were an excellent negotiator, but that's the price of convenience. At the very least, you definitely won't get ripped off.
And given the value of your time, that may be a good deal. If you have to spend a whole day and drive to four different dealers, you may have wasted the equivalent of several hundred dollars.

When I bought my current car, I took a day off from work, visited four dealers, and ultimately wound up buying for the buying-service price at another dealer who matched it, so I got nothing for spending a full day rather than an hour.
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goingup
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by goingup »

grabiner wrote:..., so I got nothing for spending a full day rather than an hour.
You got an education, and you shared it with us. Thanks! :beer I'm probably going to try an auto-buying service when the time comes.
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Watty
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by Watty »

+1 on the email and being willing to wait until the model year change to get a better deal if you don't find a good deal right away. In the emails always focus on the final "out the door" price.

You will likely find that about a third of dealers will only use email to try to get you to come in and not really deal by email. At a smaller dealer it may take a couple of days for the internet sales person to get back to you if you happen to email them on their days off. Don't automatically assume that a slow response means they are not willing to deal.

If you are not too picky about the color and the exact options waiting until the 2017 models are starting to reach the dealers lots may get you a better deal on a 2016. When this happens will vary by brand and even the model.

I don't know if it was just by coincidence but I once got a very good deal on the last day of a quarter so buying the last day of the month or quarter could make a difference like some people say. The end of this quarter is next week so if you are ready to buy that might be a good time.

If possible it would be best to pick out a couple of different models to see which has the best deals. For most people that might prefer something like a Corolla to a Civic(or vice versa) buying the other would be a good choice if the price was right.

Check with your car insurance company before you buy since the rates can vary a lot with different models and occasionally getting a "sport" version or larger engine can make the insurance be more expensive.

Focus on the expected total cost of ownership over how long you expect to own the car. The car with the lowest purchase price might not be the least expensive one to own over the long term
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Toons
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by Toons »

Scour the dealers inventory on the web.
Send out emails to all dealers,asking for out the door quotes
Preferably using a "second email "address.
I do that along with my google voice number ,so I can screen.
Let the process begin after sending out emails.
Responsiveness,price etc,
I did very little driving to a dealership. :happy
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iflyjetzzz
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by iflyjetzzz »

chx wrote:I can tell you what I did back in 2013.

0. At local dealerships, I drove a lot of models that I was interested in, making sure that the salesmen knew that they shouldn't spend their time with me since I was just looking for now. After a time, I decided what make/model/features I wanted (a Toyota in my case).

1. Made a list of all the Toyota dealerships within reasonable driving distance.

2. Looked up the e-mail addresses of the internet sales managers at each dealership. In some cases, I had to call for the contact information. One dealership had no internet manager, so I asked for the fleet manager's contact information instead.

3. Sent an e-mail to each manager (except the local dealership), describing what I wanted, asking for a firm out-the-door quote for a cash purchase (no trade-in) including all costs except tax. I indicated that I was shopping for the best price (no haggling) from local dealerships and would buy as soon as possible, but I was willing to wait if the car needed to be ordered. The quoted prices had quite a range. The cheapest was from a dealership about 15 miles away, and it beat the highest price by about $4,500.

4. Went back to my local dealership, and asked the salesman I'd seen for her lowest price to compare with other quotes I'd got. Did not reveal that quote. I made sure he knew that I would look at only her best price. I would buy if it was in the range of my lowest quote. I would not allow him to revise the first price offered.

5. The price quoted from the local dealership was $1,500 above my lowest quote. I said thank you, sent an e-mail to the manager at the low-quote dealership agreeing to buy the car for the offered price, and asking her to confirm the price. She confirmed the price and gave me a delivery date.

6. On the delivery date, my sister and I drove down to the dealership. (Sister for moral support.) I confirmed that the price was as agreed upon, filled out some paperwork, showed proof of insurance, wrote a personal check, drove home in my car. Total time at the dealership was a bit longer than expected (about 70 minutes), but I had to say no to added extras only twice that I recall.

Hope that's some help.

xxChip

P.S. Perhaps I put the local dealership at a disadvantage since I did go through a salesman there who would have had to have got a commission. Perhaps it would have been better to do my test driving farther from home. In any case, the local dealership has been happy to do any warranty work over the past few years.

The actual manager I bought from was a fleet manager, not an internet manager. Perhaps I should have dealt only with fleet managers.
We did the same, except we were living in the DC metro area and had a trip to FL planned. I emailed every Acura dealer along the route (there were quite a few within a reasonable distance of I-95) asking for best price out the door for a car meeting exact/close specifications to what my wife wanted.

We got our best price from the Acura dealer in Jacksonville, FL. Arrived early in the AM, spent ~an hour going over everything, wrote the check and were on our way. No haggling and well worth sending the emails. I will do the same the next time we buy a new car.
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grabiner
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by grabiner »

goingup wrote:
grabiner wrote:..., so I got nothing for spending a full day rather than an hour.
You got an education, and you shared it with us. Thanks! :beer I'm probably going to try an auto-buying service when the time comes.
I also suspect that the savings from negotiating yourself depends on the demand for the car. The markup over invoice with a buying service is a fixed amount. If a car isn't in high demand, particularly near the end of the model year, dealers may be willing to sell closer to invoice. I was buying a high-demand car (Honda Civic) in October 2006, at the start of the year. I would have been happy to pay $400 less to buy a 2006 Civic if there were still one on the lot, as the 2006 and 2007 models were essentially identical, and the resale value wouldn't be significantly different by the time I had driven the car 120,000 miles in ten years.
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LadyIJ
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by LadyIJ »

iflyjetzzz wrote: P.S. Perhaps I put the local dealership at a disadvantage since I did go through a salesman there who would have had to have got a commission. Perhaps it would have been better to do my test driving farther from home. In any case, the local dealership has been happy to do any warranty work over the past few years.

The actual manager I bought from was a fleet manager, not an internet manager. Perhaps I should have dealt only with fleet managers.
We did the same, except we were living in the DC metro area and had a trip to FL planned. I emailed every Acura dealer along the route (there were quite a few within a reasonable distance of I-95) asking for best price out the door for a car meeting exact/close specifications to what my wife wanted.

We got our best price from the Acura dealer in Jacksonville, FL. Arrived early in the AM, spent ~an hour going over everything, wrote the check and were on our way. No haggling and well worth sending the emails. I will do the same the next time we buy a new car.[/quote]

I love the idea of buying a car on vacation! I would guess you really got to break the new car in, one of you driving it home.
NoGambleNoFuture
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by NoGambleNoFuture »

I think Apps like TrueCar are now making the car buying experience easier and less of a burden. I hate negotiating with car salespeople so I did a ton of research on TrueCar to see what the exact make/model/detail car was being sold for elsewhere and then went in with that number to the dealership saying that is what I'd pay... and I didn't want to go back and forth. It was a success.
psystal
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by psystal »

exoilman wrote:I will be buying a new car soon without a trade in. I would appreciate any tips for getting best price. I don't like to haggle and will pay cash for new car.

thanks
Sam
There's a few tips:

1. Costco's service
2. Internet/email pricing
3. Shopping around
4. Buy at the end of the month.
5. Don't ever, ever act like you need to buy right away.

Even then you'll beat those prices, often substantially, if you're willing to learn how to negotiate.

We bought our last car when my wife was 6 months pregnant. The dealer was sitting pretty firm on a price, but I wanted it to be $600 less (which was low, but still within the reasonable price range for the vehicle). After they did their meet with the manager song and dance and came back with the firm price, my wife had a partially dramatized, partially hormone-driven mini meltdown about how she was tired and hungry and we were leaving. We barely had time to put on her jacket before the sales guy ran into the manager's office and came back agreeing to our price. Her performance was truly inspired. Totally worth $600, plus we have a fun story.
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by susa »

NoGambleNoFuture wrote:I think Apps like TrueCar are now making the car buying experience easier and less of a burden....
For each car we've purchased last 4 years, we beat consistently the LOWEST price on Truecar.com by almost 4k.

It still pays to negotiate via email, dealers have a lot of play with factory quarterly or annual checks that only the GM may see, sometimes 6 figure numbers that allow a few cars to be sold way under invoice and this is not the same as dealer invoice.
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by susa »

psystal wrote: Her performance was truly inspired. Totally worth $600, plus we have a fun story.
+1 And we would like to hire her for our next deal ... ;) There is the beginnings of a sitcom or reality show somewhere .. :idea:
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lthenderson
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by lthenderson »

By all means, email random dealers to get the best deal. However, if you want:

1. Personalized service where the dealer always knows your name
2. Free car washes using the dealer's code and other free stuff
3. Bumped to the head of the waiting list for service or warranty work because that dealer knows you've been buying vehicles from them for years
4. Called first when the dealer gets a hard to keep in stock vehicle in so that you have first dibs
5. Someone who always generously donates whenever my kids or myself are doing any kind of fundraising
6. Someone who employs people who live and work in your community as well as spread money around in other ways so it stays in your community
7. Someone who just tosses me the keys to a company car (no paperwork) if I have to run an errand while doing service or warranty work

... all these and more can be had by building and maintaining a relationship with your local dealer and well worth the price in my opinion.
psystal
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by psystal »

susa wrote:
psystal wrote: Her performance was truly inspired. Totally worth $600, plus we have a fun story.
+1 And we would like to hire her for our next deal ... ;) There is the beginnings of a sitcom or reality show somewhere .. :idea:
I'll let her know that there are some consulting opportunities out there for her :)

Contrary to conventional wisdom, I think women make the best negotiators at the car lot. We used a similar tactic on my wife's first (used) Civic purchase out of college. I played the cheap husband nickel and dime-ing things for an hour on our third trip to the dealership, and she got very "irritated" with the process at the end. Basically said "My feet hurt, it's an hour past dinner, and I wanted a new Toyota anyway. I'm tired of you always making decisions for me. This is my money and I'm leaving and getting the car I want."

We drove away with a loaded 9 month old Civic EX with 2500 miles on it for $17,300 - $300 LESS than I would have been happy to pay.

So many of the salespeople are men, and they both feel incredibly awkward in these situations and - I suspect - cave to a woman who exerts a little authority. Add a little pressure to make the sale by visiting and leaving a couple times and showing up to negotiate at the end of the month, and you've got yourself a deal.
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

Email to dealers is good.

Straight to the point. I want this model with xyz options. (this works best with cars that have limited options and mostly trim levels). I'm paying cash. What's your best price?

Don't make offers of $xxx over invoice. Invoice is meaningless these days. I have car-guy friends who buy for $500.....$1000 under invoice these days because the car companies have so many back end refunds to dealers that you don't know what the dealer's cost is. Let them battle it out over email.

Be sure to tell them to include their (bogus) doc fee in their quote. You'll see doc fees from $100 to over $1000. They are bogus and are nothing more than the Columbo "Oh, just one more thing" charge that you don't even negotiate. It's given to you at the end. So one dealer with a quote of $19,000 and a $1k doc fee is exactly the same as another with $19,900 and a $100 doc fee.

Remember that you can service the car anywhere. You're not marrying the dealer. I've bought several cars new where I had never been to the dealer before and never been back. They were cheapest by email. I bought and drove away.

I also have the policy that if I go to buy or pick up the car and the price is even $1 more, the deal is off and I walk out. If they come running back for me, it'll cost them another $100 for me to not keep walking.
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Elsebet
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by Elsebet »

I'm buying a new Toyota Tacoma this year to replace a 15 year-old Celica and am going to use the Costco service for the first time. I'll update on how it works out.
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campy2010
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by campy2010 »

Step #1: start by opening a throwaway gmail account. You will be getting car dealer spam forever if you do this with your primary email.
anoop
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by anoop »

I like the Costco/Truecar approach. For my last 2 cars I used forum sponsors (one of the many forums for that brand of car) to get an idea what was a good price. And then I got my local dealer to get reasonably close.

Here are some thoughts I put in a blog post a while ago.
http://anoopsplace.blogspot.com/2013/01 ... g-car.html
Casper
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by Casper »

lthenderson wrote:By all means, email random dealers to get the best deal. However, if you want:

1. Personalized service where the dealer always knows your name
2. Free car washes using the dealer's code and other free stuff
3. Bumped to the head of the waiting list for service or warranty work because that dealer knows you've been buying vehicles from them for years
4. Called first when the dealer gets a hard to keep in stock vehicle in so that you have first dibs
5. Someone who always generously donates whenever my kids or myself are doing any kind of fundraising
6. Someone who employs people who live and work in your community as well as spread money around in other ways so it stays in your community
7. Someone who just tosses me the keys to a company car (no paperwork) if I have to run an errand while doing service or warranty work

... all these and more can be had by building and maintaining a relationship with your local dealer and well worth the price in my opinion.
There are definitely some benefits to buying from your local dealer, or being a repeat customer at any dealer. That's why I give them the final chance to match the best price I've gotten from another dealer. So far they've never done it.
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Toons
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by Toons »

99% of New car buyers have done their internet homework researching autos before they hit the showroom.
The Honda salesman told me that when I purchased a CRV.

You have received great advice in the threads that have been posted,,,
Use Kelly Blue Book to assist in getting a fair purchase price

http://www.kbb.com/new-cars/?hpnav=truece.



:mrgreen:
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thenextguy
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by thenextguy »

psystal wrote:
exoilman wrote:I will be buying a new car soon without a trade in. I would appreciate any tips for getting best price. I don't like to haggle and will pay cash for new car.

thanks
Sam
There's a few tips:

1. Costco's service
2. Internet/email pricing
3. Shopping around
4. Buy at the end of the month.
5. Don't ever, ever act like you need to buy right away.

Even then you'll beat those prices, often substantially, if you're willing to learn how to negotiate.

We bought our last car when my wife was 6 months pregnant. The dealer was sitting pretty firm on a price, but I wanted it to be $600 less (which was low, but still within the reasonable price range for the vehicle). After they did their meet with the manager song and dance and came back with the firm price, my wife had a partially dramatized, partially hormone-driven mini meltdown about how she was tired and hungry and we were leaving. We barely had time to put on her jacket before the sales guy ran into the manager's office and came back agreeing to our price. Her performance was truly inspired. Totally worth $600, plus we have a fun story.

It might be worth renting a pregnant lady when you're buying a new car. :mrgreen:
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dm200
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by dm200 »

One, in my opinion important, aspect of getting a good deal on a new car is to purchase no more "car", options or features than what you need and/or want. Identify, in great detail, exactly which model and features you want on the vehicle and be adamant that you will pay for NOTHING beyond that.
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Fieldsy1024
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by Fieldsy1024 »

jdilla1107 wrote:I do everything by email.

- Decide on the exact car you want.
- Research the invoice price.
- Email a dealer outside of your town and say that you will pay cash, have no trade-in (these are both important to their profit) and you would like to pay 100-500 over invoice. Pick one of those number depending on the car price. Make it sound very easy for them. (No test drive, no haggling, no surprises for them later) Its important to stress no haggling later to get them to their bottom price.
- Once you get one dealer at a price you like, tell the dealer you want to buy from that dealer XYZ gave you this deal, but you want to keep your money in town. Ask them for their best deal.
- Show up, write a check, and drive off.
This. Plus do not tell them you are paying cash until the price is accepted. They hope you have no money. They want you to get a loan.
kjvmartin
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by kjvmartin »

lthenderson wrote:By all means, email random dealers to get the best deal. However, if you want:

1. Personalized service where the dealer always knows your name
2. Free car washes using the dealer's code and other free stuff
3. Bumped to the head of the waiting list for service or warranty work because that dealer knows you've been buying vehicles from them for years
4. Called first when the dealer gets a hard to keep in stock vehicle in so that you have first dibs
5. Someone who always generously donates whenever my kids or myself are doing any kind of fundraising
6. Someone who employs people who live and work in your community as well as spread money around in other ways so it stays in your community
7. Someone who just tosses me the keys to a company car (no paperwork) if I have to run an errand while doing service or warranty work

... all these and more can be had by building and maintaining a relationship with your local dealer and well worth the price in my opinion.
None of those are worth several thousand dollars to me. If you buy a car every 5-10 years, or maybe 2 cars every 5-10 years your children will be graduated from fundraising in 1 or so car buying cycles. I am curious how many vehicles you purchase in order to get that kind of name recognition at the dealer? I see my dentist every 6 months for years and don't bother hitting him up for donations.

kjv
WhatsUpB
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by WhatsUpB »

Emailed 20 dealers within 3 hour drive. Got offers from 8. Negotiated with 3 most competitive all of which I called so they knew I was serious as I continued the back and forth over email. Got lowest OTD price from 1 in an email. Checked other 7 wouldn't beat it and they laughed at beating it making me feel I hit the floor. Went to dealership. No bs, no further negotiating. In and out in 45 minutes with the car.

Initial email I started with:

Hello,

I have test driven and am ready to buy a 2016 Honda Civic EX-L. I have no trade-in. I have been researching for awhile and am aware of all costs associated with the invoice and options. My zip code is 90027 for pricing calculations. I will be paying all cash and want to take delivery no later then March 31st.

2016 Honda Civic EX-L
Cosmic Blue Metallic
No Honda Sensing Package
No Navigation System
No Extra Accessories

I would prefer as few accessories as possible but am flexible if needed. I would prefer Cosmic Blue Metallic but will also consider burgundy and white.

I would appreciate a confirmed out the door offer after taxes and fees.

I do not wish to waste anyone's time. To be fair, I am requesting pricing from a few dealers so please obtain authorization if required before quoting a truly out the door price. Please provide me your phone number, if I can obtain the best offer through you I will call to secure the deal over the phone and arrange pickup.

Thank you,
[Full name]
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lthenderson
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by lthenderson »

kjvmartin wrote:
lthenderson wrote:By all means, email random dealers to get the best deal. However, if you want:

1. Personalized service where the dealer always knows your name
2. Free car washes using the dealer's code and other free stuff
3. Bumped to the head of the waiting list for service or warranty work because that dealer knows you've been buying vehicles from them for years
4. Called first when the dealer gets a hard to keep in stock vehicle in so that you have first dibs
5. Someone who always generously donates whenever my kids or myself are doing any kind of fundraising
6. Someone who employs people who live and work in your community as well as spread money around in other ways so it stays in your community
7. Someone who just tosses me the keys to a company car (no paperwork) if I have to run an errand while doing service or warranty work

... all these and more can be had by building and maintaining a relationship with your local dealer and well worth the price in my opinion.
None of those are worth several thousand dollars to me. If you buy a car every 5-10 years, or maybe 2 cars every 5-10 years your children will be graduated from fundraising in 1 or so car buying cycles. I am curious how many vehicles you purchase in order to get that kind of name recognition at the dealer? I see my dentist every 6 months for years and don't bother hitting him up for donations.

kjv
In my experience, I've always been within a few hundred dollars of other quotes. But I buy no frills cars that get me from point A to B. I still have window cranks on my daily driver, something my oldest daughter didn't know how to operate the first time. The kid benefit has only occurred recently with my kids. I have bought vehicles for nearly 20 years from the same dealer. My parents bought from him for the last 50.
wander
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by wander »

Interesting thread! I will revisit when I will be in market for a new car.
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Fieldsy1024
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by Fieldsy1024 »

Also, IMO owning a new car that is cheaper, good/great gas mpg, maintaining it, and selling it for another 8-10 years before problems start to go.

You'll get the best bang for your buck with the car you want. IMO even buying a 3 year old used car is a risk. Why did the owner sell it? Did he/she lease it and didn't care about maintaining it (also driving like an idiot). Something wrong with the car? Every person who I know leases a car drives like a maniac, doesnt care to maintain the car promptly, basically doesn't take pride in the car other than showing off.

This is the case for about the 5 people I know who lease.
imoapie
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by imoapie »

Jack FFR1846 wrote:Email to dealers is good.

Straight to the point. I want this model with xyz options. (this works best with cars that have limited options and mostly trim levels). I'm paying cash. What's your best price?

Don't make offers of $xxx over invoice. Invoice is meaningless these days. I have car-guy friends who buy for $500.....$1000 under invoice these days because the car companies have so many back end refunds to dealers that you don't know what the dealer's cost is. Let them battle it out over email.

Be sure to tell them to include their (bogus) doc fee in their quote. You'll see doc fees from $100 to over $1000. They are bogus and are nothing more than the Columbo "Oh, just one more thing" charge that you don't even negotiate. It's given to you at the end. So one dealer with a quote of $19,000 and a $1k doc fee is exactly the same as another with $19,900 and a $100 doc fee.

Remember that you can service the car anywhere. You're not marrying the dealer. I've bought several cars new where I had never been to the dealer before and never been back. They were cheapest by email. I bought and drove away.

I also have the policy that if I go to buy or pick up the car and the price is even $1 more, the deal is off and I walk out. If they come running back for me, it'll cost them another $100 for me to not keep walking.
This guy gets it. Last car I bought I think I paid about 4k under invoice (2013 Odyssey EX-L). In fact the price was lower then I was willing/wanting to pay for a 1-2 year old used one.
Nowizard
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by Nowizard »

Be sure and ask what is the amount of the Documentary fee. These can vary widely. For example, in Memphis, Toyota dealers charge $499 for the Documentary fee, but it is fixed at $129 (I believe, but it may have been $120) in Arkansas. Savings worth a short drive.

Tim
ponyboy
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by ponyboy »


We did the same, except we were living in the DC metro area and had a trip to FL planned. I emailed every Acura dealer along the route (there were quite a few within a reasonable distance of I-95) asking for best price out the door for a car meeting exact/close specifications to what my wife wanted.

We got our best price from the Acura dealer in Jacksonville, FL. Arrived early in the AM, spent ~an hour going over everything, wrote the check and were on our way. No haggling and well worth sending the emails. I will do the same the next time we buy a new car.
That sounds great in theory...until you have to visit the dmv and pay a boat load of taxes to convert to the state your reside in. Its almost always better to buy a vehicle in the state you live.
Casper
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by Casper »

ponyboy wrote:

We did the same, except we were living in the DC metro area and had a trip to FL planned. I emailed every Acura dealer along the route (there were quite a few within a reasonable distance of I-95) asking for best price out the door for a car meeting exact/close specifications to what my wife wanted.

We got our best price from the Acura dealer in Jacksonville, FL. Arrived early in the AM, spent ~an hour going over everything, wrote the check and were on our way. No haggling and well worth sending the emails. I will do the same the next time we buy a new car.
That sounds great in theory...until you have to visit the dmv and pay a boat load of taxes to convert to the state your reside in. Its almost always better to buy a vehicle in the state you live.
I just bought a car out of state last month, and haven't had to convert anything. The dealer used my home-state sales tax and I received my home-state license plate and registration in the mail a couple weeks later. No problem.
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modal
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by modal »

Get a issue of the checkbook cardeals letter with all the incentives (custom and dealer).
http://www.checkbook.org/auto/cardeal.cfm

If you're financing, obtain your pre-approved loan from a decent source at a decent rate (penfed.org).

If you live in a major metropolitan area and know exactly what you want, send out an email to the dealers within some radius of you (say 50 miles) with the exact setup you want. Ask them if the car is available and what the out the door price will be. Tell them you are looking to purchase within some deadline (a week or two).
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grabiner
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by grabiner »

ponyboy wrote:

We did the same, except we were living in the DC metro area and had a trip to FL planned. I emailed every Acura dealer along the route (there were quite a few within a reasonable distance of I-95) asking for best price out the door for a car meeting exact/close specifications to what my wife wanted.

We got our best price from the Acura dealer in Jacksonville, FL. Arrived early in the AM, spent ~an hour going over everything, wrote the check and were on our way. No haggling and well worth sending the emails. I will do the same the next time we buy a new car.
That sounds great in theory...until you have to visit the dmv and pay a boat load of taxes to convert to the state your reside in. Its almost always better to buy a vehicle in the state you live.
The tax should be the difference between the tax rate in the old and new states, not the full tax in the new state. Thus, in the DC area, it is common for Maryland residents to buy cars in Virginia; if they had to pay both states' taxes, this wouldn't work.
Wiki David Grabiner
dixiechicken
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by dixiechicken »

I think waiting until the 2017 models are out of whatever car you are buying is the best- then buy a 2016 model- they have to clear it off the lot and you still get a new car. In November 2011 I went to the BMW dealer- the 2012's were out and I got a 2011 535 with 9 miles on it that had a 60.2k sticker for 52k. I thought that was good. Before I bought the car (but had looked at and driven it) I came home and went to www.kbb.com to see what the fair value of the car was with all the options on this particular car- was about 2k more than I paid.
ND Fan 1
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by ND Fan 1 »

thenextguy wrote:
psystal wrote:
exoilman wrote:I will be buying a new car soon without a trade in. I would appreciate any tips for getting best price. I don't like to haggle and will pay cash for new car.

thanks
Sam
There's a few tips:

1. Costco's service
2. Internet/email pricing
3. Shopping around
4. Buy at the end of the month.
5. Don't ever, ever act like you need to buy right away.

Even then you'll beat those prices, often substantially, if you're willing to learn how to negotiate.

We bought our last car when my wife was 6 months pregnant. The dealer was sitting pretty firm on a price, but I wanted it to be $600 less (which was low, but still within the reasonable price range for the vehicle). After they did their meet with the manager song and dance and came back with the firm price, my wife had a partially dramatized, partially hormone-driven mini meltdown about how she was tired and hungry and we were leaving. We barely had time to put on her jacket before the sales guy ran into the manager's office and came back agreeing to our price. Her performance was truly inspired. Totally worth $600, plus we have a fun story.

It might be worth renting a pregnant lady when you're buying a new car. :mrgreen:
This will be my strategy this summer when we look at buying our new minivan. Luckily my wife is actually pregnant, with our 3rd child, maybe we should bring the other munchkins in and wreak havoc in the saleroom, they will be dying to get rid of us. Plus, my wife hates spending money, and will easily walk away from a deal, I'm usually the sucker.

Another strategy mentioned in this tread is buying a prior year model when the new ones start to roll in. We are looking at a Honda Odyssey which will be re-designed for 2017. Our baby is due in Oct, so hopefully this summer, they will be looking at getting rid of some 2016 models. Will compare buying that "new" car with an used one 2-3 years old.
Nowizard
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by Nowizard »

Ponyboy: It may not be universal, but in our area, no taxes other than the documentary fee are paid in the state where the purchase is made, only in the state of residence when registering the vehicle.

Tim
anoop
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by anoop »

dixiechicken wrote:I think waiting until the 2017 models are out of whatever car you are buying is the best- then buy a 2016 model- they have to clear it off the lot and you still get a new car. In November 2011 I went to the BMW dealer- the 2012's were out and I got a 2011 535 with 9 miles on it that had a 60.2k sticker for 52k. I thought that was good. Before I bought the car (but had looked at and driven it) I came home and went to http://www.kbb.com to see what the fair value of the car was with all the options on this particular car- was about 2k more than I paid.
You got the car for about 2K below invoice. Depending on what additional incentives were available at the time (e.g. loyalty cash, holiday cash, option credit, etc.), that is a decent deal, but not something that one would not be able to get for a current model year. For BMW, at least one can find current incentives on the BMW website. They also occasionally have free driving events (e.g. drive for the cure or some such thing where they donate a dollar for each mile driven on one of their test cars) and they give participants a $1000 off voucher good for 60 or 90 days. I special ordered a MY2014 car in September 2013 and got it for about $1000 below invoice. Unfortunately it turned out to be a lemon and BMW bought it back. I special ordered another one, but for that one I wasn't able to get as good of a deal because similar incentives weren't available.
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dm200
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by dm200 »

In the Washington, DC area (including Baltimore MD area), check out ubs4cars.com
Greg4boat
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by Greg4boat »

psystal wrote:
exoilman wrote:I will be buying a new car soon without a trade in. I would appreciate any tips for getting best price. I don't like to haggle and will pay cash for new car.

thanks
Sam
There's a few tips:

1. Costco's service
2. Internet/email pricing
3. Shopping around
4. Buy at the end of the month.
5. Don't ever, ever act like you need to buy right away.

Even then you'll beat those prices, often substantially, if you're willing to learn how to negotiate.

We bought our last car when my wife was 6 months pregnant. The dealer was sitting pretty firm on a price, but I wanted it to be $600 less (which was low, but still within the reasonable price range for the vehicle). After they did their meet with the manager song and dance and came back with the firm price, my wife had a partially dramatized, partially hormone-driven mini meltdown about how she was tired and hungry and we were leaving. We barely had time to put on her jacket before the sales guy ran into the manager's office and came back agreeing to our price. Her performance was truly inspired. Totally worth $600, plus we have a fun story.
Priceless!
sport
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by sport »

Posters have mentioned the documentation fees. When I bought a car using Costco's service, the dealer had to show me the invoice per Costco rules. The price I was to pay was invoice plus $200 IIRC. When he showed me the documentation fee he expected me to pay, I complained that I had no wish to pay for his "documentation". I told him that is just part of the cost of doing business. He told me the documentation fee was not negotiable. However, he took $129 off the Costco negotiated price instead. It pays to ask.
SR II
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by SR II »

Husband totaled a six month old VW in February. We needed a replacement right away and both hate haggling/negotiating. Went the Costco route. 2016 Subaru Forester for $950 under invoice. Fair enough. In and out of there in about three hours, including test driving three different Subaru models. Maybe not the VERY BEST deal possible, but easy peasy!
jfave33
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by jfave33 »

Sounds like the costco route works well. So I see a lot of recommendations of no trade in. What to do with the old car? Are you all selling yourself? or is there an easier way?
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grabiner
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by grabiner »

sport wrote:Posters have mentioned the documentation fees. When I bought a car using Costco's service, the dealer had to show me the invoice per Costco rules. The price I was to pay was invoice plus $200 IIRC. When he showed me the documentation fee he expected me to pay, I complained that I had no wish to pay for his "documentation". I told him that is just part of the cost of doing business. He told me the documentation fee was not negotiable. However, he took $129 off the Costco negotiated price instead. It pays to ask.
Charging the fee is probably a violation of the contract with the buying service. Different dealers charge different documentation fees, but all dealers should offer the negotiated price with the buying service. (Other mandatory charges, such as the lien recording fee if you take out a loan, might vary.)
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dm200
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Re: Buying a new car

Post by dm200 »

grabiner wrote:
sport wrote:Posters have mentioned the documentation fees. When I bought a car using Costco's service, the dealer had to show me the invoice per Costco rules. The price I was to pay was invoice plus $200 IIRC. When he showed me the documentation fee he expected me to pay, I complained that I had no wish to pay for his "documentation". I told him that is just part of the cost of doing business. He told me the documentation fee was not negotiable. However, he took $129 off the Costco negotiated price instead. It pays to ask.
Charging the fee is probably a violation of the contract with the buying service. Different dealers charge different documentation fees, but all dealers should offer the negotiated price with the buying service. (Other mandatory charges, such as the lien recording fee if you take out a loan, might vary.)
What, exactly, does this "documentation fee" cover and how it the amount determined? What I have seen, very commonly, is a "processing fee" that used to be $200 - $300, but now is often in the $500 range. Botttom line - this is just a way of the dealer charging more money - AFTER you think you have the "deal". The buying service I have used (United Buying Service - http://www.ubs4cars.com) does not allow any such charge.

What may be reasonable are charges for acquiring the plates, title recording, and related. Might this "documentation fee" be for lien recording, title, plates, etc.?
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