Grassroots Motorsports

Register Log in to GRM
- Community

Birthdays
Recently on the Classic Motorsports forums

Subscribe get a full year for only $23.95 Sample Free Test Drive—no strings attached

Login to post Forums » Off-topic discussion » Negotiation with B Lot Car dealer

July 9, 2011 1:38 p.m. Kendall_Jones Reader

I've found a 2000 M5 on a dealer "B" lot (you know the place, "we finance all", dirty, dingy, etc). Advertised at mid teens - Nice car with K&N, Konis, lidar jammer thingy. Has a power steering leak & some minor TLC issues but overall nice for 11 years old. However, it was bought @ auction with no service records.

What can I expect (trick wise) from the dealer & what can I reasonably expect them to do. I am considering financing a portion of this as I get a pretty decent car allowance for work (I'd rather use their money spread out over time than all my $$ up front :)

I know everything is negotiable (I think they can even get a percentage of the finance charge as well), and I'm more than willing to walk on it. I havent bought a car off a lot ever & hear all these horror stories, please GRM share some wisdom.

Kendall
July 9, 2011 1:49 p.m. rustyvw HalfDork

If I was to deal with one of those lots, it would be in cash. If you finance part of it, don't do it through them. Other than that, I don't have much to add.
July 9, 2011 1:51 p.m. poopshovel SuperDork

Do a carfax, drive it, inspect it or have it inspected, and I think you should be okay, especially if you're willing to walk. Have your financing squared away before you go in, but DON'T tell the buy-here pay-here you've already got it covered till you get to the paperwork. Financing's where they hope to put the screws to you.

Personally, I'll avoid a dealer at all costs, especially a buy-here pay-here, and I REALLY don't like buying a modified car from someone I don't know, so it'd have to be priced dirt cheep for me to consider it.

If you can get your hands on a Black Book, you can get a pretty good idea what the dealer paid @ auction.
July 9, 2011 1:56 p.m. FlightService HalfDork

poopshovel is right.

Carquotes has Black book online. They will email it to you. I BS everything but the e-mail address. I put the time to purchase as 1+ months out.

Good luck
July 9, 2011 1:59 p.m. Zomby woof SuperDork

I said I'd never buy off a lot, but in 2001 we were looking for a car for my wife, and found exactly what we wanted on a "B" lot in a converted hamburger place. The car was a lease return auction car, and not perfect, but the price was fair, and he moved enough on it that it was very competitive. We had it for 10 years, and it was one of the best cars we've ever had. I wouldn't rule out a dealer transaction.

I have found that a lot of dealers are shortsighted, and unwilling to negotiate, to the point where a car will sit on a lot for 2 years when it could have sold at a slightly lesser profit.
July 9, 2011 1:59 p.m. fasted58 HalfDork

^ don't trust this guy
July 9, 2011 2:16 p.m. alex SuperDork

Unless you know that car well, I would think it would be good insurance to have a dealer or specialist shop (if you have a Bimmer shop in town) do a PPI. Like Poopie said, I'd be very wary about buying a modded car off a potential-huckster's lot; that seems to be a double whammy.
July 9, 2011 2:23 p.m. poopshovel SuperDork

I have found that a lot of dealers are shortsighted, and unwilling to negotiate, to the point where a car will sit on a lot for 2 years when it could have sold at a slightly lesser profit.

Yup. In around '98 my Dad kept spotting a REALLY clean red 88 Shadow ES turbo at a lot down the street. He'd occasionally go by after they'd closed and see if the odometer had moved :) He waited a couple months, checked the Black Book, layed the screws to the dealer and layed black marks out of the parking lot for the paltry sum of $650. He sold it to me a few years later for $1400 Best car I ever owned.
July 9, 2011 2:40 p.m. SVreX SuperDork

YOUR DAD sold it to you for a 115% profit??

Schweeeeet.
July 9, 2011 2:41 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

sounds like my father's old 260z. He was in radio sales at the time and one of his clients was a well known B lot in the area. He basically traded air time for a guards red 260z with front and rear spoilers, headlight covers, later rims, and tripple webbers...

was a great car until it drowned a few years later during one of our spring tide floods. Usually we move cars to high ground, but this one was higher than usual
July 9, 2011 2:51 p.m. SVreX SuperDork

That sounds pretty close to fair market value.

I'd work on the assumption you can negotiate him down, but not cut him in half. If it sits for 6 months, cash talks.

Sometimes you can make a dealer cut you a better deal if you agree to his financing. Make sure there are no pre-payment penalties, take the bad financing (with a good price) and pay it off after a couple of months.
July 9, 2011 3:51 p.m. poopshovel SuperDork

SVreX wrote:

YOUR DAD sold it to you for a 115% profit??

Schweeeeet.

He was a used car salesman, after all.
July 9, 2011 4:53 p.m. wbjones SuperDork

keep in mind that if you finance any of it you'll have to carry collision ins ... don't know if you had planned on that added expense .... the finance institution likes to be sure they'll get their money
July 9, 2011 5:01 p.m. Streetwiseguy Dork

I'd be way more concerned about the K&N, etc than the used car salesman. It may have only been driven on Sunday afternoons by a little old man, but that mans name might be Mark Martin....
July 9, 2011 8:30 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

fasted58 wrote:

^ don't trust this guy

Agreed. My BMW came with a clean fax... but after I started poking around after getting it.. I discovered the whole passengerside had been replaced from the rub strip down.. this is also the reason my ti is rotting away.. it was not fixed at a reputable shop and all they did was weld, bondo it smooth, and paint.. they did not even bother to seal the floor..
July 9, 2011 9:28 p.m. AquaHusky Reader

I've had luck with the B lots. Got my wife a 01 Jimmy. Red, SLS, 2 door, 2WD, power everything. Booked at $5K, bought for $3K. She wrecked it 10 days later. Took the ins. check, bought a 2004 Sunfire. Black, 2 door, MP3 CD player, power everything, auto, sunroof. Books at about $6K, bought for $3200. The second lot has a NA there now. Might go see what kind of deal we can swing.
July 9, 2011 10:11 p.m. BoxheadTim SuperDork

poopshovel wrote:

Personally, I'll avoid a dealer at all costs, especially a buy-here pay-here, and I REALLY don't like buying a modified car from someone I don't know, so it'd have to be priced dirt cheep for me to consider it.

Werd. I just made that mistake with the Talon and it looks like I either get something else or I'll miss the rest of this year's track season because it wasn't modified quite that well...

You'll need to log in to post.