Also watch out for dealer add ons. Like clear coat protection, this and that kind of stuff. Some slap these useless embellishments onto every car as soon as it lands on their lot. And then jack up the price by hundreds of dollars. That’s why we went to a dealer 45 minutes away instead of the one next to our town.
4 Likes
Yep…they tried to convince us that every car got this. Since the one we were buying hadn’t even landed on their lot, we declined. They balked, but again, we were prepared to toss the deal entirely. That clear coat was $2000. Nope, if their paint is that bad, we didn’t want the car!
5 Likes
In terms of financing, yes the dealers make money on the financing so they have an incentive to have you finance through them.
The only rationale for disclosing that you are thinking about paying cash is so they know that you are ready to purchase imminently which can help at the end of the month or the end of the year.
We bought a used car in the Spring and had financing set up through our Credit Union, but gave them the opportunity to beat the rate, which they did which saved us a few dollars.
It was also helpful to ask them how long we needed to make payments on the loan in order for them to receive the sweetener from the Bank (which was four months) so we are probably going to pay the loan off soon after.
Having said that, this was all within the last few days of the month and they were definitely looking to move metal.
1 Like
When you negotiate the price, how low did you start percentage wise? 10% of MSRP?
Went car shopping over the weekend. So many models are “not in stock” and reserved while in production or in transit. I assume “end of the month/quarter” refers to completing the sale rather than putting a deposit on a car that isn’t there yet. Is that correct?
I recommend looking at one of the shopping guides (Edmunds, Kelley Blue Book, etc.) and see what qualifies as a “great” price (they usually have great, good, fair, and high, or something like that). Frankly, last time we had to buy a car I told them that we needed the car to be under $XX,000 which was in the great price range. They fiddled with their manager and did whatever stalling techniques, but we never budged off needing a car at that price, and we got it. (And we did not use their financing and agreed to the price before mentioning the possibility of a trade-in.)
I would just start my shopping at a dealership on, say, the 27th or 28th of the month. They are very motivated to get you in a car before the 30th or 31st. Also, they’re very eager to sell whatever they have on the lot, so if they have what you want, you’re in luck.
1 Like
I don’t have much choice. I need a car now, and I am set on the color, make and model. Within 500 miles there are only two that fit the bill. One dealer came down by about 4-5%. Seems not enough. I am negotiating by email. If we agree on the price, I’ll go and test drive.