New car - destination charge

[travelover]

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Originally Posted by Texas Proud Now that is strange.... when I bought my Acura, they put on tint and mud guards...............

I had this happen back in 1983 on a new Escort. They undercoated it against my direction (the car had been ordered specifically for me) and wanted me to pay. Salesman asked me not to make a squawk as he could be fired. In the end, I paid and the salesman send me "referral reward" checks monthly until it paid off the undercoat cost. I never knew if he actually screwed up or this was some kind of an internal scam. I did not ever buy another car there.

[Texas Proud]

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Originally Posted by aja8888 I understand, but cannot verify, that TrueCar is funded by the auto dealer networks. If so, isn't there the possibility of a conflict of interest in the price reporting? No where that I can find does TrueCar explain what's "in" the shown prices. I'd use CarGuru's scatter graph tool as REWahoo indicted above that is available for historical pricing trend analysis. Let's face it folks, car buying is still a "slight of hand" trick, even with the always believable internet as another tool. Incidentally, last December when I was new truck shopping (I finally gave up), I signed on with Costco's "supplier" pricing scheme. At that time, Costco was offering a $700 cash card from them if you bought a vehicle (GM) before 12/31/16. The pricing I got from a GM dealer on a new GMC Sierra full size pickup under that Costco program was $XX,XXX, less TT&L. Moving to another local GMC dealer and pricing the same truck, same options, etc, the non-Costco offer (I didn't mention it) was $3,000 less (not including TT&L) than the "supplier" price I received from the previous dealer. Of course, at that time (end of year), it was evident that one could EASILY get an offer of several thousand dollars less than a "program price" offered by Costco, PenFed and others. There were some truck dealers that were offering 33% off MSRP as a "come on" to get you inside the dealership. I have no idea if anyone actually bought a truck at 33% off MSRP though. Let the buyer beware is the message. here.

As to the question of do they sell the teaser car or not... when I was in a dealership looking for a car, the sales manager was in trying to close the deal with me... it was late and close to closing time... someone came over and said something about the ad priced car.... seems that the person who was going to buy it had the deal fall through... mgr was upset as they had told others it was sold.... so I think that they do try and sell it since there are laws about bait and switch.... and mgr did not have to act that way in front of me since I was not looking to buy that kind of car....

Maybe someone with dealer knowledge will chime in and set it straight...

[mystang52]

Alluded to earlier, I found my best negotiating tactic was stating I was also interested in a competitor's model (e.g., while shopping for my Audi Q5 I told them I was also due to visit the Volvo dealer and look at the XC60). I feel that it's too easy for the dealer if they think I'm just shopping price for the same car at another dealer.
I think I'm a good negotiator, but I also recognize that this is what dealers do for a living, so to think I can beat them at the negotiation game is naive. I just want to be sure I pay a reasonable price. In the end, if I "overpay" by a $100 or even $200, give the price for a new car that is small potatoes.

[Texas Proud]

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Originally Posted by Midpack Though it is a "slight of hand" transaction in many respects, you can get the lowest price at any given time by pitting several dealers against each other, not falling in love with a particular car (even if it is exactly what want), and being patient/willing to walk. It's been four years since my last purchase, and the internet tools have been very helpful to me for the last several car purchases. Before I set foot in any dealers showroom - I go online and get the best price on the internet department, either through several dealers internet sales, or through a service that polls several. With the lowest online price in hand, I go to the other dealers and if they have what I want, I ask for their best price. It's never low, but I tell them the price I have in hand. They either come down to beat the price I have, or I go on to the next dealer. Often they tell me they will match what I have in hand, but I tell them I don't think that's fair to the first dealer, and tell them they have to beat that price (say $200-300). They'll also say, go everywhere else and then come back and we'll beat/match the best price, but I tell them I'm definitely going to buy a car but I am not going to go back to dealers repeatedly, give me your best price and if you're the lowest I will be back to buy. I leave my phone number if they want to make a better offer, but I tell them I'm ready to buy today. Sometimes they do, but not always. If no one beats the internet price I started with, I go buy from that dealer. It's worked very well in the past, the next best price has been $800 more in one case, and almost $2000 in another. Going at the end of a month, or a quarter, often helps, especially in winter when foot traffic is slow. How much of a discount you can get, will depend on how popular and/or scarce the vehicle is. If it's a model that's piled up on dealers lots you should expect a big discount. If it's a model that your having a hard time even finding, you may pay close to full MSRP - even above in some rare cases (usually exotics in high demand). And you have to play this game each time. I bought my wife's Camry from a local dealer who beat everyone else even though they had to do a dealer trade to get the car we wanted. When I bought my Prius, that same Toyota dealer was way off the mark even though they knew I had a better price elsewhere. IOW, don't assume a dealer that's been competitive in the past, will always beat the others - not true. Best of luck...

I agree.... I hate the sales people who say 'come back with a price and we will match it'.... well, screw you.... give me a good price NOW and I might buy from you... why should I do all the work and come back and tell you what some other dealership if offering ...


The only time I came back was when I got a great offer for a new car from a Dallas dealership... I did take it to the local one and after a bit of hemming and hawing they did match the price... it was $3,000 less then what they wanted to sell me the car...


BTW, it is not only car dealers who do this... my sister is getting prices for some home improvements and she is getting the same spiel.... but I hear.... sorry that we tried to screw you and you found out, but can we still get the job from you

[aja8888]

Well, soon we will have the ability to buy cars at Walmart:

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The world's most profitable company is dipping its toes into car sales, Automotive News reports. Wal-Mart is partnering with CarSaver to introduce car sales in 25 Wal-Mart stores across the southwest. There will be staffers on hand to help buyers through the process, but the experience will happen at a CarSaver kiosk. Wal-Mart shoppers will be able to peruse their options, apply for financing through Ally and shop for insurance.

Linky:

Wal-Mart is going to start selling cars - Autoblog

[REWahoo]

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Originally Posted by aja8888 Well, soon we will have the ability to buy cars at Walmart...

I'm looking forward to the day Amazon starts offering new cars - and delivers them by drone. Bezos has some trials aready underway...

[MichaelB]

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Originally Posted by REWahoo I'm looking forward to the day Amazon starts offering new cars - and delivers them by drone. Bezos has some trials aready underway...

And this time the destination charge will be legit.

[REWahoo]

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Originally Posted by MichaelB And this time the destination charge will be legit.

Amazon Prime members will get free two day delivery.

[powerplay]

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Originally Posted by kimcdougc My DH is a buyer of cars....! We have bought well over 125 in our 38 years of marriage. We only buy "lost leader" cars when we buy new. This is the car they advertise as "only one at this price". We have 30 to 40% equity when we drive off the lot. We have learned the way to do this is to look at the s/n or stock # in the advertisement and go and ask for that specific vehicle. When they start him hawing around we tell them we can go look on the lot for that car. We then tell them we will be paying cash and do not want to talk to the Finance person. (Thus not having to listen to all the extras they try to sell you). There is no negotiating, the price that is advertised is what we pay since it is already so great. Works like a charm. Think the best deal we got was a brand new red Ford 150 4x4 super cab truck for $20,600. The truck had running boards, sync, power door locks etc. That truck can be sold today for way more than we paid for it.

Oh my goodness, that's 3 or so cars per year. What do you do with all of them? You and your DH must be real pros with the sales tactics and such at the car dealers.

[travelover]

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Originally Posted by Texas Proud I agree.... I hate the sales people who say 'come back with a price and we will match it'.... well, screw you.... give me a good price NOW and I might buy from you... why should I do all the work and come back and tell you what some other dealership if offering ...

In my last purchase, I had a dealer say they would beat any price by $250. I said fine and emailed a competing quote. They said, no so fast you have to come in in person or no $250. You can read all about it in Yelp, Google and Angie's List.

I don't need that high pressure crap, especially when other dealers accepted an emailed competing offer.

[Which Roger]

I used TrueCar recently and had a mostly positive experience. In getting a good deal, my strength is being prepared, not haggling. Typical introvert. I visited dealers to figure out which vehicle I wanted, and the exact options I wanted. There were a couple on dealer lots that fit the bill exactly. So I "built" an identical vehicle on TrueCar, and asked for dealer quotes. All 3 were in the same ballpark, and all were better than I would have negotiated if I had just relied on data I found on the internet. Went to the dealer who offered the best price, and it turns out that they had "accidentally sold" the vehicle I wanted. They tried to show me some other vehicles, and I walked away. Went to dealer 2, and everything went smoothly. They could see that I was very prepared, so they didn't try to play games.

[Texas Proud]

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Originally Posted by travelover In my last purchase, I had a dealer say they would beat any price by $250. I said fine and emailed a competing quote. They said, no so fast you have to come in in person or no $250. You can read all about it in Yelp, Google and Angie's List. I don't need that high pressure crap, especially when other dealers accepted an emailed competing offer.

Mine was an email quote which they did accept...

But if you come in person, they will not give you a quote!!! I have had zero times I could get a quote written down on paper by a dealership... just has not happened....

And one time when I actually agreed to buy a car by phone, they thought they had another person who offered more money for the same car when I was driving to pick it up... told me 'we did not have a signed deal'... heck, I have even had a deal on paper that they then refused to honor saying the person who signed did not have authority to sign!!!! REALLY... and you want to try and fix this by selling me something else.... You have already proven to me you are a cheat.... why would I want to buy something from you... at least I can go someplace else where they might be a cheat but has not shown me they are....