2 weekends ago was Presidents' Day that couple with tax time car prices are a bit high. For instance a 2014 factory CPO Toyota Sienna XLE, with 36k miles, pretty much all the options available before becoming a Limited except rear DVD. They were asking 29,500 about 2k more than most I had been looking at the prior week.
Well over the weekend they dropped it to 24,500. So I figured at that price it was worth the 2 hour drive to check it out. Had to make the drive for the nephews birthday party anyhoo so no sweat off my back if it was a bust.
Went up checked out the van and it was quite nice. A couple minor issues that needed to be fixed but no big deal. So I said fix it and I'll give you 24,500 out the door. A little optimistic on my end from what else I have seen on the market but I have no problem starting low and coming up a bit. Ended up getting it for $24,800. So I was good with that. Of course it was Saturday evening so they could not have the repairs done. I said it was no issue I would just come up the following weekend and pick it up. So met with the finance closer and told him I would just be writing a personal check and I would wait until the following weekend to reinspect the van to make sure everything was fixed accordingly.
I got a call today that the car was done and I could come get it tomorrow. I said that it would have to wait till Sunday as I work all week and won't be able to make the drive until then.
Got a call later tonight saying they will be delivering the van to me tomorrow so they can have the sale finalized by close of business so it goes on their February books.
I say no problem, saves me and a buddy 4 hours of driving.

Nice on both counts: less than what you offered and that you could pay cash for it.

I sold cars for a new car dealer once upon a time and really never understood the end of the month thing. I've seen them lose money on cars to make a sale. I've also seen them extend the end of the month a day or two into the next month, but then you're just taking away from the next month......

Not from the assholes up here I take it.

Congrats

Congrats! Sounds like you did well. I always coach friends and family here in Central Florida, if they don't need a vehicle immediately, wait and couple model year end with quarter end September, and bid on a left over model. I have a couple dealerships locally I still have sales contacts in, and have hit some homeruns for family and friends wheeling and dealing this way. I even did a deal late last year for a neighbor on a Toyota wherein she agreed to finance a portion of the car at 0% (she could pay cash), make the first three payments, then pay off the car without suffering any penalty, for an additional $500 Toyota Finance incentive. She got a terrific price on the car, and the $500 was just gravy on the deal.

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:
Not from the assholes up here I take it.

Congrats

Most certainly not after that follow up email they sent me.

quote:

Toyota Sienna XLE

My brother wants a Toyota Sienna with his growing family. Me? I'd road trip the heck out of one.

Yep, just bought a 2017 Honda Accord Touring last week. My local Honda dealers pricing is typically laughably high. They were determined to sell a car before the end of the month though. I have dealt with them in the past and they are typically less than flexible on price. I got the car for what I wanted and they gave me high book on my 08 Accord. Next car purchase will be in February towards the end of the month

quote:

Originally posted by xantom:
Yep, just bought a 2017 Honda Accord Touring last week. My local Honda dealers pricing is typically laughably high. They were determined to sell a car before the end of the month though. I have dealt with them in the past and they are typically less than flexible on price. I got the car for what I wanted and they gave me high book on my 08 Accord. Next car purchase will be in February towards the end of the month

March towards end of the month is end of Q1. End of quarter/year is even better than just end of month.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

Originally posted by xantom:
Yep, just bought a 2017 Honda Accord Touring last week. My local Honda dealers pricing is typically laughably high. They were determined to sell a car before the end of the month though. I have dealt with them in the past and they are typically less than flexible on price. I got the car for what I wanted and they gave me high book on my 08 Accord. Next car purchase will be in February towards the end of the month

March towards end of the month is end of Q1. End of quarter/year is even better than just end of month.

Makes sense, still very happy with the upgrade, finally a set of stock wheels that look decent.

The very best deal I have ever wrangled on a brand new vehicle was on December 31st. Wow - I was shocked. Since then, I visit the dealerships every Dec. 31st to see what they have in their inventory.

The reason is that dealers have break-points that if they exceed them, they get a bigger cut or a bonus. If they are a few cars short of a big sales goal at the end of the month or quarter, they will sell cars even at a loss, as they will make more overall by exceeding the break-point.

Isn't there also an inventory tax they try to minimize?

Woo hoo!

I purchased a 2014 Nissan Rogue SL AWD last October for my wife. It's loaded. It's advertised price was pretty good. I was able to talk them down to an-out-the-door price that was several thousand less than what they advertised.

I negotiated an out the door price, paid cash and they were happy to take my money, although they didn't make a lot of money from financing, they were happy to get the car off the lot.

quote:

Originally posted by FishOn:
The reason is that dealers have break-points that if they exceed them, they get a bigger cut or a bonus. If they are a few cars short of a big sales goal at the end of the month or quarter, they will sell cars even at a loss, as they will make more overall by exceeding the break-point.

They lose money on every sale, but they make it up in volume.

quote:

I've also seen them extend the end of the month a day or two into the next month

The fiscal month / year isn't exactly aligned with the actual calendar. It's not just car dealers, it's retail in general. And those calendars are set in advance even if it may not seem so.

Apparently their commission percentage is based upon the number of cars they sell a month. The more cars the higher percentage.
Without my sale he would have gotten 17% for the month, with mine he got 23%.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Apparently their commission percentage is based upon the number of cars they sell a month. The more cars the higher percentage.
Without my sale he would have gotten 17% for the month, with mine he got 23%.

It is true Salesman getting larger percentages after they sell x amount of units in a month, an even larger one after they hit y amount of cars.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Congrats! Sounds like you did well. I always coach friends and family here in Central Florida, if they don't need a vehicle immediately, wait and couple model year end with quarter end September, and bid on a left over model. I have a couple dealerships locally I still have sales contacts in, and have hit some homeruns for family and friends wheeling and dealing this way. I even did a deal late last year for a neighbor on a Toyota wherein she agreed to finance a portion of the car at 0% (she could pay cash), make the first three payments, then pay off the car without suffering any penalty, for an additional $500 Toyota Finance incentive. She got a terrific price on the car, and the $500 was just gravy on the deal.

Interesting. I will have to contact you when we get ready to buy a car.

The dealerships around here leave a lot to be desired.

More specifically we're looking at Toyota.

Do they get credit for selling a car which is ordered? In other words, are they motivated to give a good deal on a car ordered from the factory at the end of the month?

I know they much prefer to keep stock on their lot and sell that, but I almost never find the combination of features I want that way.