getting car quotes via email negotiation

[Joe1]

I am in the initial phases of shopping for a new car. I requested an "out the door" price from two dealerships that includes everything from tax,dealer doc fees, title, registration, dealer installed items and any other fees pre-printed on the sales contract such as window etching etc.

The tone of my emails were very polite and l made it clear that l was soliciting prices for the exact same car with the same MSRP from a few dealerships and the only number that mattered to me was the out the door price.

Both replies l received were along the lines of "call us to schedule an appointment" and neither honored my request for an OTD price quote.

Is it really this difficult to get a final price via email negotiation or do l need to be more persistent? l haven't replied back to the two dealers that asked me to call them. l am determined to do everything under my terms and not cave in to their demands.

 

[dishdude]

Find another dealer. The last few cars I've bought have been over email and phone, I will never negotiate in person again.

If they're difficult to deal with over email, it's not going to get any better in person.

 

[CKN]

I am in the initial phases of shopping for a new car. I requested an "out the door" price from two dealerships that includes everything from tax,dealer doc fees, title, registration, dealer installed items and any other fees pre-printed on the sales contract such as window etching etc.

The tone of my emails were very polite and l made it clear that l was soliciting prices for the exact same car with the same MSRP from a few dealerships and the only number that mattered to me was the out the door price.

Both replies l received were along the lines of "call us to schedule an appointment" and neither honored my request for an OTD price quote.

Is it really this difficult to get a final price via email negotiation or do l need to be more persistent? l haven't replied back to the two dealers that asked me to call them. l am determined to do everything under my terms and not cave in to their demands.

Car dealers wish to cling to their "old ways" even when going to the dealership could result in you getting a deadly disease. While others have successfully received prices this way-unless you are in a large market and can just ignore those dealers and move on, I would suggest joining CostCo (if you are not a member) and use their buying service. You will get a good price-but maybe not a "rock bottom" price. CostCo is now the largest indirect seller of cars in the U.S. I hear Sam's Club has a similar program.

 

[AutoMechanic]

We do everything the old fashioned way and go to the dealership and negotiate in the rare times we have purchased a car at the dealership. Never have been given in any hassle.

 

[Joe1]

Car dealers wish to cling to their "old ways" even when going to the dealership could result in you getting a deadly disease. While others have successfully received prices this way-unless you are in a large market and can just ignore those dealers and move on, I would suggest joining CostCo (if you are not a member) and use their buying service. You will get a good price-but maybe not a "rock bottom" price. CostCo is now the largest indirect seller of cars in the U.S. I hear Sam's Club has a similar program.

I am a Costco member and was thinking of using their service to compare to what l can do via negotiating.
I live in a densely populated metro area and there are more than a dozen dealerships reasonably close by to choose from.

 

[DuckRyder]

Some of those emails are auto generated.

I would reply, restate your request and if they can't follow instructions then expand your dealer prospects and block their e-mail cause they will pester you until the end of time.

 

[dishdude]

I am a Costco member and was thinking of using their service to compare to what l can do via negotiating.
I live in a densely populated metro area and there are more than a dozen dealerships reasonably close by to choose from.

If you're in a metro area, you should have no problem finding a dealer to work with over email. I use their webform to contact them and it seems to be a 50/50 shot of them sending me an itemized .pdf of a quote or trying to strong arm me in.

 

[ctechbob]

Yep, I was recently surprised how much they cling to the old way of doing things. You just have to keep looking for the ones that have gotten with the times. They are out there.

For me, I had a quote and financing in hand, walked in, signed the papers, listened to the finance guy for a bit, and that was it.

 

[CKN]

I am a Costco member and was thinking of using their service to compare to what l can do via negotiating.
I live in a densely populated metro area and there are more than a dozen dealerships reasonably close by to choose from.

Please keep us posted with your TRUE LEVELS. of frustration. I'm betting that your savings vs. CostCo will be less than $500.00. Not saying that's insignificant-but that's probably where it will be.

 

[Jimmy_Russells]

Up here there are brokers that will do the shopping for you. I think the fee is about $400 or so, but they usually find a good price. If you send them specifically what you are looking for they will shop it around to various dealers and come back to you with the prices. Typically the dealers know the buyer is serious when it's a broker contacting them.

 

[DuckRyder]

oh there are a dozen, e mail all dozen of them... you'll end up with two or threee that can actually read.

be ready for the "come in and drive it" hogwash.

 

[tyman]

Some of those emails are auto generated.

I would reply, restate your request and if they can't follow instructions then expand your dealer prospects and block their e-mail cause they will pester you until the end of time.

I legit no lie got 7 emails from 3 different people at the same dealer asking me to come in or if they could answer questions. Each email I replied back with, "just trying to get the E-price that's listed on the site." And each time I got new emails asking if they could help. Finally I told them to go f themselves and still got another email after that. /Facepalm

 

[ctechbob]

Lol, yea, your phone will be blown up for weeks after. They eventually stop. Some of them I'll reply to their texts, others I just delete.

 

[Bullet]

I tried that and it went no where. The only one that gave me a price seemed way to good to be true. I returned the email stated I want to confirm this is the price for the 4WD. They came back with they made a mistake and gave the price for the 2WD. But this is south Louisiana so I'm used to it.

 

[atikovi]

I am in the initial phases of shopping for a new car. I requested an "out the door" price from two dealerships that includes everything from tax,dealer doc fees, title, registration, dealer installed items and any other fees pre-printed on the sales contract such as window etching etc.

Don't they have the price listed for each car with whatever dealer installed items it has? And the doc fee? Those are the only two variables. Tax is a percentage of the sales price and title and registration are usually a fixed price. The dealer has no control over those.

 

[JTK]

This is how I determine if I'm buying a vehicle from a particular dealer or not.

If they're not willing to work with me by email or text if that's the way I want to do it with a particular deal, then forget them. On to the next dealer. I've done the online thing for over 20yrs on some of my vehicle purchases.

Most all dealers in my area are part of a mega group that has dealerships for every make/model. If I can't find a responsive sales person, I'll reach out to a sales manager and I can always get "their best price" that way. The "out the door" thing I'm not worried about. I have a total figure I'm willing to spend in my head and I know exactly what my sales tax is going to be and will have a rough estimate of state registration and doc fees.

I want to see every line item and the total. Anything crazy I question and cancel the deal if need be.

For me, I don't care about an out the door total. I can and want to figure that out myself.

 

[Joe1]

Don't they have the price listed for each car with whatever dealer installed items it has? And the doc fee? Those are the only two variables. Tax is a percentage of the sales price and title and registration are usually a fixed price. The dealer has no control over those.

Most places around here only list MSRP online. Sometimes the fine print lists the doc fee, but a lot of dealers add addendum stickers with "dealer installed options" that aren't listed online. others add "window etching" that is pre-printed on the sales contract and isn't shown to just before contract is signed.

 

[paulri]

When I bought the Sienna, I called dealers and asked to talk to the fleet or internet sales rep. When they had a model I wanted, I asked for an out the door cost. I don't know if a phone call is treated as a more serious request than an email. I don't recall ever being told I had to show up at the dealer--not by the fleet/internet sales reps. If you know there is a model you are interested in buying at a given dealer, I'd recommend a phone call.

 

[atikovi]

Most places around here only list MSRP online. Sometimes the fine print lists the doc fee, but a lot of dealers add addendum stickers with "dealer installed options" that aren't listed online. others add "window etching" that is pre-printed on the sales contract and isn't shown to just before contract is signed.

Is demand so high in your area that you couldn't tell them you're not paying for those options or etching?

 

[HonorAndHonesty]

Last car we purchased was entirely online, I think there may have been one phone call which I made for some reason. The price quoted was the price honored at the dealership, no games. We showed up, she gave us the keys, we drove the car and inspected it. Signed the papers which were ready to go, no games.

I told her we had 4 dealerships closer to us, we went with them because they were easy to deal with. We had almost had a deal at another dealership that had the same car in a different color that was priced 500 dollars more, the point and the b.s. taken to get to that point lost them a sale to be honest, it wasn't so much the 500 it was the sleazy aura the place had, the salesman was nice it was the games they played. The sales manager said that they always have the lowest price but sometimes those little dealers would undercut them just because they are the biggest dealer around....lol. I told him if they keep doing that they wont be the biggest much longer.

It was the easiest car buying experience we have had, it was even quicker in and out than the time we bought a new car at a Carmax years ago. I think we were in the dealership for maybe a total of 25 minutes if that.

I now bring our vehicles to that dealership for recalls and for maintenance that I do not feel like doing myself. I find the service and parts department just as nice to deal with as the sales department. As long as they keep doing what they do I will remain a customer.

During that process we dealt with two dealers that were not interested in giving a quote online, and another that gave a quote which they said was "close". I told him that everyones idea of close is different and I could not understand what was so hard about it.