How to work dealers on price?

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The wife and I went and test drove minivans last night. We liked the Kia Sedona L trim and the Dodge Grand Caravan SE plus trim the most. Both are almost the the same price, the Dodge was quoted at $23,500 and the Kia $23,999 before TTL, MSRP on both is right around $27,500. The wife likes the Kia more and I like the Dodge more due to its simplicity and greater dealer presence in our area. I also think the Dodge was smoother both in power and ride.

The dealer showed us the msrp of both as well as the "this is the best we can do" numbers with rebates etc above.

How do you go about shopping around and or start a bidding war between dealers? Do you just email the dealers in your area with specifics on what you are looking for as well as the numbers the other dealers give you? Or, do you just ask what is the best they can do and counter their best price?

This is my first new car purchase, my last was a lease and every other car has been used which I can get a much better idea what the going rate is when shopping. The dealer also mentioned that it is year end and that they probably won't get a whole lot more vans in this year. Would we be better to wait until later in the year to get better prices? I don't watch the car market much so I don;t know exactly how these things work. It would be nice to get into a van soon but we can wait a few months if that means a better deal.
 
Be willing to walk away.

Seriously.

If you've got a bank, like USAA, they will negotiate a decent price for you, but the dealer will try to pad it with stuff (paint protection, extended warranty) that you may not want or need.

Dealers pay holdback on the car every month (a percentage of value paid back to the manufacturer), so the end of the month, they're under a bit more pressure to move the car, before they owe a few hundred $$ payment on it. So, go shopping at the end of the month.
 
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Would we be better to wait until later in the year to get better prices?

On what vehicle? When the new ones come out, they won't be discounted. The remaining older models will become fewer to choose from. If you want to know what the dealer price on the vehicle is, and then make sure that they get a fair profit, then invest in Consumer Reports and pay for the reports on those two vehicles. In this case you have to spend a little money $12-15 per report, it's been awhile to save $100.

As you wait until the new model year come out, you will start seeing vehicles with usually more or less options than what you wanted.
 
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I bought a caravan last August by searching online. I saved about $2500 from local dealers close by. I went to the largest volume dodge dealer in Canada.

You'll probably get a better deal that way. In Canada right now the manufacturer keeps sending me letters to save an extra $1000.
 
Be willing to walk away and know what your limit price is. When I bought my truck I had a number in mind for both the new truck and the trade in. They offered me a price for each and I said no here's where I need to be (which was a little lower than what I really had in mind, you need to be able to give in some as well.) They came back and said it couldn't work for the truck I wanted and gave me the option of another truck that they could hit that price on. I said no thank you and got up, salesperson said, "hold on," and then came back with the price I really wanted. Entire process was less than 10 minutes because I was walking away at the end, no need for drawn out tactics. Of course this was on October 31st, 2015 and the dealer already had a number of 2016 models on the lot so wanted to move the 2015s.

If you wait until the new model year you will get a better price for the current model. Don't be afraid to search dealers that are within a couple hours drive. If you can get the right deal the time investment is worth it.
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Be willing to walk away.

Seriously.

If you've got a bank, like USAA, they will negotiate a decent price for you, but the dealer will try to pad it with stuff (paint protection, extended warranty) that you may not want or need.

Dealers pay holdback on the car every month (a percentage of value paid back to the manufacturer), so the end of the month, they're under a bit more pressure to move the car, before they owe a few hundred $$ payment on it. So, go shopping at the end of the month.


Thanks for the tip, I had no idea about holdback. This dealer offered a million mile powertrain warranty for free with every new car. You just had to keep maintenance records, no need to maintain it there or even at a dealer. He said DIY oil changes etc were OK as long as you had receipts for the supplies. No push for anything else unless we wanted to look at dealer addons, pretty cool sales guy.
 
Every strategy has it's merits, plus and minus. As other have mentioned, dealers pay floorplanning (holdback is what they get back when they sell a unit) each month it sits on the lot.

If you wait until the end of the model year, yes they want to sell them, but do you really want a lime green stick shift manual crank window minivan? And even if you do, will your wife want it? I.E. will there be the van you want?

I'm getting to the point where it's most important to get what I want, because I'm going to live with it for a long time.

Now that my kids are 17+ years old, I'll share that I wouldn't buy a NEW minivan if I was going to haul kids around. Kids are brutal on whatever vehicle you own. So if your plan is to haul kids, buy used and let them fully depreciate a used van instead of a $25-30K new van.

Also, if you are financing, make sure you have some pre-approved financing in your back pocket. The deal is not done when you agree upon a price. There is then the financing office. So if you walk in with your pre-approved for $30k at 1.9% APR from your bank or CU, it really cuts down on the games that they can play in there.
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Be willing to walk away.

Seriously.

If you've got a bank, like USAA, they will negotiate a decent price for you, but the dealer will try to pad it with stuff (paint protection, extended warranty) that you may not want or need.

Dealers pay holdback on the car every month (a percentage of value paid back to the manufacturer), so the end of the month, they're under a bit more pressure to move the car, before they owe a few hundred $$ payment on it. So, go shopping at the end of the month.



Agreed on the end of the month strategy...I nearly worked for a dealership and found out that all salespeople were required to work 9am to "whenever we end up closing" on the last day of every month so they could sell as much as possible.
Oh and you worked nearly EVERY day in December also. Pass....
 
When I purchased my truck I used Truecar, you have to wade through the phone calls afterwards but eventually you will find what you are looking for a good price. I ended up driving 3 hours away to buy my truck but save 5k over the dealers in the DFW area.
 
Originally Posted By: InhalingBullets
When I purchased my truck I used Truecar, you have to wade through the phone calls afterwards but eventually you will find what you are looking for a good price. I ended up driving 3 hours away to buy my truck but save 5k over the dealers in the DFW area.


+1 I went on Truecar.com and then got my price so I knew how much money to allow them to build into a lease. I saved about $2500 more than I normally would.
 
If you want to save money get a Grand Caravan that is about 2 years old. We picked ours up with a huge relative discount versus new. I personally wouldnt justify 23k, but we were sold at 18k for a fully loaded R/T.
 
To echo others, be willing to walk away - that's one of the if not the most powerful tools IMO. Also do a bit of research on the four square worksheet.
 
Truecar/Consumer Reports. I did notice that the "paid" program did offer a bigger discount than the freebie version. That is your start. My wife was amazed as how a sales guy's tune changed when I brought my "research" and consumer reports/truecar into it. Then again, I also buy vehicles as part of my job (but most of that is per-negotiated and bidded).

Next, if you have a dealer you are on good terms with, give them both the first & last shot. Don't try and low-ball immediately and completely (no scorched earth tactics yet) but if they view you as an easy sale to bump their number to keep you in "the family" a smart sales manager will give you the deal. Dealers are territorial so keeping you is important as long as you do not unreasonable. They view it as acceptable profit with minimal effort.
 
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Pick a dealer you can trust for service and is between work and home. - Or NEAR work.

Price is secondary. I feel good if I get 10% plus any CTD and rebates and good interest rate. DONT PAY CASH in a 2% credit world.

That cash stays in 401K!!!

I have no bills! but NO retirement money! cancels the boasting about not taking credit!
 
Seems like a good deal already. Why quibble over $500-1000? Your time is worth something too. Try to hit them for another $500 - they'll probably take it.
 
Originally Posted By: vintageant
Use a car concierge to do all the negotiating for you and take the hassle out of new or used car buying or leasing.

In South Florida we've used http://www.carmanchris.com/ with complete success and satisfaction.

Look for one near you!


I know they make it easier to buy a car but how did they really do on the price. What was the MSRP and what did you pay?
 
As others have said, if you don't get a good deal, walk away. I just did that when our numbers were off by 3 grand on a new truck and the manager stopped me as I was walking out the door suddenly dropped the price 3 grand lol.

Also, don't buy the undercoating, sealant, maintenance, whatever other [censored] packages they offer. It's insanely inflated and mostly useless.

If you live in the rust belt, go to an independent rustproofing outlet after you buy the car.
 
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Are you looking at a Grand Caravan or a Pacifica? Once the new vans start hitting lots, the GC pricing will plummet. If you want the GC, i'd make sure that you are getting a discount for the fact that this will be the last year of that model.
 
I first went on to the manufacturer's website and got a quote from there. I ensured I got all the rebates and all. This gave me the MSRP. This was for my Grand Caravan. The dealer's first offer was above the MSRP, I countered 15% below the MSRP and we ended up settling for around 11-12% below the MSRP. I was happy with that deal and the van was equipped exactly how I wanted it, but at the same time I'm sure there are people that can do much better than that.

The thing is that no matter how good of a deal you get, chances are that there will be someone that got an even better one, but as mentioned already, the content and features of the car also play a role. I'm willing to spend a bit more to get what I want, versus getting a better deal, but compromising on what you actually get.
 
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