car negotiation . online or Face to face gets the best price

[CarLuver]

we are currently looking for a replacement car for my son. He is of the generation of do everything online. i tell him with car dealers you need to be there face to face to get the best deal on a car.

So in general , who is more correct , him or i?

Another question. the vehicle we are looking at is not in stock. They have one coming soon, but they want to sell it before it get here. I much prefer to wait till it get here before negotiation , but the dealer says buy it now, no holds. what do you think of this.

 

[TheOilWizard]

I agree with you. Being there and having a presence matters. Imagine how many online "offers" the dealerships gets and nobody ever shows up. I would imagine it's difficult to take those seriously.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Personally, I would never set foot inside a dealership without the deal in hand. The dealer is not your friend.

Good luck.

 

[Propflux01]

we are currently looking for a replacement car for my son. He is of the generation of do everything online. i tell him with car dealers you need to be there face to face to get the best deal on a car.

So in general , who is more correct , him or i?

Another question. the vehicle we are looking at is not in stock. They have one coming soon, but they want to sell it before it get here. I much prefer to wait till it get here before negotiation , but the dealer says buy it now, no holds. what do you think of this.

They want the sale. From their point, some guy whom they have no idea about wants to wait around until the vehicle gets there to possibly make a deal. Then if the guy shows up, he may not want the deal. He may also not like something about the vehicle such as the paint tone, etc. Then they lose a sale. Wanting to sell it before arrival assures a sale and money in their pocket. They move vehicles nowadays like buying oil at Walmart. To them, it's just a commodity and nothing more. Of course, to you and I, it's a big investment and we will baby it and take care of it, etc. They will get the money they want on it. Be it you, or someone else. If you want to really look at one, find a dealer that has one, even if it's the wrong colour, etc, and look it over. Then go back to your dealer and go from there. That is what I had to do last time I bought.

 

[dishdude]

Personally, I would never set foot inside a dealership without the deal in hand. The dealer is not your friend.

Good luck.

This 100%.

 

[Jdeere562]

Last one I bought was in 2018. Pretty easy sitting at your computer and negotiating with a cold beer in hand. Waited until 2 weeks before quarter end. 2 days before quarter end, they accepted my offer.

Never did set foot inside the dealership. Had them deliver it to my work over the lunch hour. You bring the car and paperwork, I will bring my check book. Easy peasy. Probably harder these days when they want MSRP. Also did the finance guy over the phone, when they try to add on all the additional stuff. Easy to say NO over the phone. I also made them knock off that annoying DOC fee. They fussed, but gave in at the end. Just told them to sign the title over and I would go to the courthouse myself.

70,000 miles and have still never been inside that dealership! Zero warranty issues and did not buy extended warranty either. My gamble payed off, though it could be an expensive gamble these days, with all the electronics.

 

[JustTrynaHelp]

IMO, online. Less pressure and you can spend time thinking about it.

This post is a good example. And although it's titled for a 4Runner, but could be applied to any vehicle. It's written humorously as well.

So you want to buy a 4Runner?

**I wrote this with shopping for a Tacoma in mind, but it will work for any type of vehicle** Buying a new car can either be an exciting experience or...

www.4runners.com

 

[Lubener]

Personally, I would never set foot inside a dealership without the deal in hand. The dealer is not your friend.

Good luck.

Also, anyone you cannot see can't be trusted as well.

 

[fisher83]

A combination of the two can work. Go check out and test drive the car and leave. Then email the following day and ask for their best price and let them know you will be seeking competing bids. I did that when we bought my wife's Subaru and it saved us a couple grand. Not sure if we would have gotten the same deal in person or not but it seemed like we had a little more leverage being that they were then positioned to entice us back to the dealership based on price alone. We didn't even actually look for other bids because I already knew there was only one other Impreza optioned the same and it was 100 miles away.

 

[AZjeff]

You didn't mention make and model, is it something still in short supply? The car biz isn't back to pre-Covid normal and may never be. fisher83 makes some good points. Look at and drive a similar car and know if that's what he wants and help him negotiate online. If you want to do it all old school face to face grinding it out the car has a good chance of being sold before it gets to the dealer. I talked with a car salesman friend last week and it's still happening.

 

[Rand]

online.
Dealers are scumbags looking to separate you from your money with the highest profit margin.

Negotiate online, go in tell the finance guy no about 239 times then read all the documents he gives you because they change stuff.

These days there arent much negotiations, but you will save yourself some in-person frustration.
Maybe net yourself another 500 or 1000 off.

 

[MCompact]

I only work with dealers that have treated me well in the past- that means 2 BMW dealers, 2 Jeep dealers, and 2 M-B dealers. I was also treated very well by a Mazda dealer when I bought a new MS3 back in 2007, but since Mazda no longer builds Mazdaspeed models I am no longer interested in buying anything from them.

 

[CarLuver]

You didn't mention make and model, is it something still in short supply? The car biz isn't back to pre-Covid normal and may never be. fisher83 makes some good points. Look at and drive a similar car and know if that's what he wants and help him negotiate online. If you want to do it all old school face to face grinding it out the car has a good chance of being sold before it gets to the dealer. I talked with a car salesman friend last week and it's still happening.

am looking at a honda civic sport touring HB . i went to the dealer today , but did not get to the point of hashing numbers after he said that we had to buy it before it gets there

 

[Jdeere562]

A combination of the two can work. Go check out and test drive the car and leave. Then email the following day and ask for their best price and let them know you will be seeking competing bids. I did that when we bought my wife's Subaru and it saved us a couple grand. Not sure if we would have gotten the same deal in person or not but it seemed like we had a little more leverage being that they were then positioned to entice us back to the dealership based on price alone. We didn't even actually look for other bids because I already knew there was only one other Impreza optioned the same and it was 100 miles away.

Mine was a 2018 Subaru Forester. Never test drove, or had even sat a Subaru, until after I cut the check!

Friends said I was a high stakes gambler! Figured it had to be better than a 2001 Impala.

It was and I am happy to this day about the purchase. Perfect match for Iowa snows.

 

[Wingo]

Dealerships don't haggle on price, as a salesman told me since everything is online they pretty many much have to list it on the lower end. Maybe true, I compare the listed price to other similar in the area and it usually seems decent. I have however had luck face to face at a dealership getting some accessories thrown in. Fitted floor mats, new tires, running boards, etc.

 

[CharBaby]

I’ve negotiated many online purchases of brand new vehicles from local and distant dealerships and have had deals made & deposits down(credit card) by 9:00 am. And I never even got out of my bath robe.

There is a little prior work to be done first by doing some research for the particular vehicle you want to buy and inventory but after that it was quite easy and the best purchase experience of new vehicles I’ve ever had. I have even done this for several others by negotiating on their behalf.

Many dealerships have sales representatives that also do online negotiations.

 

[fantastic]

This is a great question & there are pro's & con's to both. Neither of you are "Right" or "Wrong". If this is a car the kido wants then offer it your way & if they object then let them do it online. In my opinion, ordering online is the way the future will be. Online ordering will be like ordering other online items. It may very well teach you both how it's done & learn from the experience. If the vehicle will not be at the lot & it's a new car then there is not a whole lot of reasons to go to the dealer first since the son is wanting to do it online.

If buying a used vehicle then it would pay to visit the dealer. I'm not sure what you're going to be buying though new or used. I tend to appreciate the online nature of things so that's what I'm voting on for you & your son. If you can find a similar car in stock somewhere nearby then tell him about it & maybe that will spark his interest to go look at it first before buying. I don't blame him one bit for wanting to do it in an online matter though. I've seen the horrible nature of salesmen far too many times & online removes the face to face awkwardness.

 

[GON]

Art of negotiations states two factors to come out on top.

(1), whoever gives the first price loses.

(2) if the approving authority is present, they lose.

So, to win a negotiation in person, actually another person must represent you. So by default, online negotiation is the way to go.

Remember, the salesperson is not the dealership approval authority. Why give the dealership the advantage by being in person, unless you exclusively deal with the dealership approval authority.

On line allows the dealer to provide the first price, and also separates you as the immediate approval authority one concedes in person.

 

[joekingcorvette]

My wife and I drove to the dealer, sat down, wrote up the deal. 2024 Rav 4 hybrid that should arrive before Christmas special ordered. These are high demand and it's hard to cut a good deal unfortunately.

 

[Leo99]

I bought my Camry in 2015 all online. Went to a couple competing dealerships in person but they could not beat the online deal that I got. At that time, I cross shopped an Accord at the same time. My local dealer gave me MSRP prices and would not negotiate online or via email. Said that I had to come in person. Another Honda dealer gave me their bottom line prices for every Accord trim over email. They were substantially under MSRP. They wanted to sell cars.

When my wife's old RAV4 blew the transmission, we went in person to the Toyota dealer and while we got a decent deal, we did not have time on our side and needed a new car for the wife. I think that we could have done slightly better with more time to shop.

Things are more straightforward and in writing when you negotiate online.