Everyone says they wish dealers would post a price and not play games. Isn't that what they did here? Gave you a price, no games. You asked for discount, they said no. What's the problem?
Everyone says they wish dealers would post a price and not play games. Isn't that what they did here? Gave you a price, no games. You asked for discount, they said no. What's the problem?
Peabody said:We have that here. The advertised price is the price, but it doesn't stop dealers trying to sell extras like they did to my son recently. I'm glad I was there, he's not really experienced enough to know, and probably would have paid way too much.
I wish I could remember the thread I posted it in, the difference between the car price and the financed price was ludicrous. Too many people don't know and get fleeced
Pretty sure it was the rant thread.
Steve_Jones said:Everyone says they wish dealers would post a price and not play games. Isn't that what they did here? Gave you a price, no games. You asked for discount, they said no. What's the problem?
For The OP, yes. For everyone else's annecdotes no. Many different stories here.
In reply to Steve_Jones :
Our problem is the games still exist. We have like 2 dozen RAV4s at various dealers, with considerable price variance. So far looked at 3, told the salesman we have more to look at but would buy theirs if certain objections are met. Then we get lies and deception. If a salesman says drivetrain fluids with 95K were "inspected" and found to be OK but the 100K maintenance says replace would you ask for a fluid change before buying? Or how about tires with 4/32 tread left on a $23K car.
We don't ask for a discount, we tell them there are other cars available but if they want to close the deal now we want our concerns addressed.
They probably see that stuff as doing maintenance that isn't due for six months, and will take the car off the front line and involve the service department in their deal for no reason. It's way easier all around to make offers via email. I've had great luck by emailing every single dealer with a suitable car with "here's my number [or for a true commodity car, what's your number?], I'm chatting with 20 of you and want to buy a car this week, let me know if it works and I'll e-sign the paperwork."
As soon as you've gone to the dealer, you've given up a significant amount of bargaining power.
Depends on the car. We just bought a new Impreza this fall for 10% off MSRP. I guess the Crosstreks sell better because no one likes cars anymore. A RAV4 hybrid is in higher demand and the prices will reflect that.
Agree with always calling and doing inventory research before ever visiting a dealer. Make sure a salesman is expecting you when you visit and they know what you want to pay.
Wife was looking for a new Sienna Hybrid last fall. They are unobtanium on dealer lots in part because Toyota is putting that drivetrain into everything else that moves at higher volume; dealer allocation Siennas that show up and aren't sold to people on a wait list sell typically within one or two days despite being more expensive trims. Want to order one from a dealer? 5-6 month wait.
Anyway, we ended up finding a local dealer that had an AWD Limited arriving, my wife went and looked at it once it arrived, and being the last day of September was able to get them down a little bit ($1500ish) from MSRP.
Honestly with new car interest rates being what they were the latter half of 2024, I'm kinda surprised dealers aren't more willing to make deals (and that evidently plenty of people are continuing to finance new vehicles at high single digit interest rates for 72+ months).
EDIT TO ADD: I bought my ATSV from Carmax in Feb 2021 and it was far and away the easiest transaction of my life. The price was reasonable, and from "I'll take it" to taking my picture with the big bow on the car after being handed keys was less than 20 minutes.
earlybroncoguy1 said:Cash still talks.
When I was waiting for the '22 Bronco I had ordered to be built and shipped (but was delayed due to the MIC hard top issues), I happened to find a Bronco at a dealer that was the twin to the one I had ordered - same color (Carbonized Grey), same body style (2 door), same engine (V6), Sasquatch package, everything - except it was even better, being a higher trim, with leather seats, larger screen, etc. It was quite a bit more expensive than the Base model I had ordered, but I was tired of waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more for mine to be built. I made an offer on it, they countered, we went back and forth a bit, I finally wrote down a number significantly less than their lowest offer, slid it across the desk, and told them, "Cash."
I drove it home.
This actually didn't happen. Brick and mortar dealers prefer you to finance as they make money off that too. Cash is a disincentive and not a flex. Its not like private party where having actual hundred dollar bills or meeting someone at the bank takes off that whole "I gotta ask my wife" dreamers who don't actually have money and cant get a loan on the 1982 Chrysler Batmobile.
When I bought my truck I made a point of asking the salesman what his target and the store's target was for units moved by the end of the quarter, which was four days away. His"final" offer wasn't good enough, so I looked at him and said "Neither you, nor the dealership have taken much off this" and sent him back to the sales manager. A few minutes of that and I got $1500 more off the already discounted GM incentive pricing. That dealership chain does customer satisfaction surveys that count towards the salesman's bonus, too, so I promised him an excellent review. At one point in the conversation he admitted their target was 75 trucks over the remainder of the month to get their full bonuses. I'll make a point of buying at the end of a quarter the next time I need a new vehicle.
porschenut said:In reply to Steve_Jones :
Our problem is the games still exist. We have like 2 dozen RAV4s at various dealers, with considerable price variance. So far looked at 3, told the salesman we have more to look at but would buy theirs if certain objections are met. Then we get lies and deception. If a salesman says drivetrain fluids with 95K were "inspected" and found to be OK but the 100K maintenance says replace would you ask for a fluid change before buying? Or how about tires with 4/32 tread left on a $23K car.
We don't ask for a discount, we tell them there are other cars available but if they want to close the deal now we want our concerns addressed.
I'd probably want the fluids changed, or at least the price to reflect that it's just about due for a major service. Tires, however, I'd want reflected in the price, but I would NOT want them to put on new ones (same with brakes). If they put on new tires, they're likely to be crap I don't want, so I'd rather pay less for the car and get tires I do want.
porschenut said:In reply to Steve_Jones :
Our problem is the games still exist. We have like 2 dozen RAV4s at various dealers, with considerable price variance. So far looked at 3, told the salesman we have more to look at but would buy theirs if certain objections are met. Then we get lies and deception. If a salesman says drivetrain fluids with 95K were "inspected" and found to be OK but the 100K maintenance says replace would you ask for a fluid change before buying? Or how about tires with 4/32 tread left on a $23K car.
We don't ask for a discount, we tell them there are other cars available but if they want to close the deal now we want our concerns addressed.
How is that a game? They were priced for sale at the condition they were in. You can ask for a fluid change, or new tires, and they can say not at that price. That's not lies and deception. No is a perfectly valid answer.
porschenut said:In reply to Steve_Jones :
Our problem is the games still exist. We have like 2 dozen RAV4s at various dealers, with considerable price variance. So far looked at 3, told the salesman we have more to look at but would buy theirs if certain objections are met. Then we get lies and deception. If a salesman says drivetrain fluids with 95K were "inspected" and found to be OK but the 100K maintenance says replace would you ask for a fluid change before buying? Or how about tires with 4/32 tread left on a $23K car.
We don't ask for a discount, we tell them there are other cars available but if they want to close the deal now we want our concerns addressed.
I don't see the issue here. Where are the lies and deception? They aren't misleading you about fluids or tires, right? If there are others available that fit your budget/needs better, go buy one of those.
I hate searching for cars, but I'm finding it hard to see any fault with the dealer on this one.
I just agreed to buy a car from a dealer today, and I have to say every used car dealer I spoke to in the past few weeks was pretty honest and easy to communicate with, with one exception*. They were all up front about the price, helpful and responsive, and willing to talk numbers. The dealer I ended up going with had a vehicle that fit my needs best in by far the best condition and the price was the lowest. I only asked for a few hundred knocked off the price because honestly it was already excellent in comparison to everything else.
My biggest frustration with the whole process was just having to go look at a vehicle in person and finding that it wasn't well taken care of. Sometimes its just hard to tell in photos.
*The one exception to this was a dealer that listed the car using only stock images. I asked for real pictures and they sent me an email with... stock images. I spoke to the sales manager and he said he would go out and get me real pictures. They never came. They reached out to me today and I said "sorry, I never got any pictures from you. I was able to find the car I wanted elsewhere."
In reply to TravisTheHuman :
Re:*
They may not have had the car. The listing may have been a "leader" to get you to "stop by" only to find out, "that one just sold."
It's a tactic.
In reply to John Welsh :
Yeah so either unresponsive/unhelpful or straight up scammy... not good either way.
edit: Circling back to the OP comment earlier... *that* would be an example of lies and deception 100%
In reply to John Welsh :
I think that's flat out illegal in CO. If you advertise a car, you have to provide the VIN. Or something like that, it's been a while. But you can't advertise vapor.
Keith Tanner said:In reply to John Welsh :
I think that's flat out illegal in CO. If you advertise a car, you have to provide the VIN. Or something like that, it's been a while. But you can't advertise vapor.
But if the car was in your inventory until recently you'd still have a record of the VIN. How many days after you sold it does "forgetting" to take down the ad become a crime?
Well the story has a happy ending. The first dealer we visited called back and suddenly is willing to work on the price. Two others visited today were even more willing to discuss price. We got adjustments for tires that were 5 to 7 32 tread remaining, further lowering of price for maintenance that in our opinion should be done. My daughter did an amazing job negotiating with the salesmen. She showed them the list of cars we were looking at, stated her issues with their car and asked for the best price. After 2-3 tries she got some numbers that she likes. A price 10% under the original asking including tax and fees. In one case including new tires.
So we answered our question, yes price adjustment is still possible. If the salesman says no just leave and move on. In a day he may call back. But in the end negotiating is still possible, even for a girl! I hate to admit it but she is better at it than me.
secretariata (Forum Supporter) said:Keith Tanner said:In reply to John Welsh :
I think that's flat out illegal in CO. If you advertise a car, you have to provide the VIN. Or something like that, it's been a while. But you can't advertise vapor.
But if the car was in your inventory until recently you'd still have a record of the VIN. How many days after you sold it does "forgetting" to take down the ad become a crime?
I think immediately. If you don't have it, you can't advertise it. Any car advertised has to be a specific unit and identified as such. It may not need to be the vin, it might need to be a stock number. But it has to exist.
We were a CO dealer for a while because it just made it easier to deal with customer cars if we had dealer plates. We had to sell a couple of cars a year to keep our status. I remember the bit about having to identify the car from that.
Keith Tanner said:I think that's flat out illegal in CO. If you advertise a car, you have to provide the VIN. Or something like that, it's been a while. But you can't advertise vapor.
I think it's flat-out illegal everywhere in the US. It's bait and switch pure and simple.
You can always ask for money off at a car dealership. But they don't have to give you a discount. It is their vehicle they can do as they please. Know the market. I don't wast my time with anything that I think is over priced.
I also don't get upset about 500 or even 1k one way or another if it is the vehicle I want and it is a long term keeper. Having a sour purchasing experience stays with the car for as long as you own it. Remembering the PITA purchasing experience every time you get in your car sucks. Just not worth it to me.
Now when I am purchasing toys or things that are short term holds or something I intend to make $$$ on you make your money when you purchase a car not when you sell it so I will always negotiate price.
earlybroncoguy1 said:Cash still talks.
When I was waiting for the '22 Bronco I had ordered to be built and shipped (but was delayed due to the MIC hard top issues), I happened to find a Bronco at a dealer that was the twin to the one I had ordered - same color (Carbonized Grey), same body style (2 door), same engine (V6), Sasquatch package, everything - except it was even better, being a higher trim, with leather seats, larger screen, etc. It was quite a bit more expensive than the Base model I had ordered, but I was tired of waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more for mine to be built. I made an offer on it, they countered, we went back and forth a bit, I finally wrote down a number significantly less than their lowest offer, slid it across the desk, and told them, "Cash."
I drove it home.
Naturally, just over a week later, Ford sends me an email that the Bronco I had ordered so long ago was finally scheduled to be built. I sure didn't need 2 nearly identical Broncos, but, since I was an original, Day One order holder, Ford would honor the original MSRP, no dealer markup - so, I bought it for that price, then turned around and sold it (to another dealer) for a respectable profit. Not my original intention, but that's the way things worked out, and honestly it felt good to come out ahead in a transaction with a dealer. ANY dealer.
Cash doesn't mean E36 M3 to 99% of dealers, they sell financing not cars
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