Another strategy I use, besides the research and deciding what is fair as many mentioned is:
Start the process before you need it. I find what I want, visit the dealership(s), and say what I am willing to pay out the door. They usually won't get there and I leave them my number and tell them to call me when they find that they can.
I buy 1 year old cars typically. They usually locate something within a few weeks or relent on the actual one I was looking at when they get to the end of a slow month.

quote:

Originally posted by MeatMan:
Another strategy I use, besides the research and deciding what is fair as many mentioned is:
Start the process before you need it. I find what I want, visit the dealership(s), and say what I am willing to pay out the door. They usually won't get there and I leave them my number and tell them to call me when they find that they can.
I buy 1 year old cars typically. They usually locate something within a few weeks or relent on the actual one I was looking at when they get to the end of a slow month.

^^^ This is essentially my strategy.

As much as possible, avoid putting yourself in a situation where, "I need something now."
Truth be told, I have been in that situation before, where I wrecked my car, but even then, I rented a cheap car for a week to give myself a little bit of time and never let on to the salesmen that I was looking ASAP.

Your ultimate bargaining chip as a customer is your willingness to walk away from a deal. All those guys at the stealership: the managers in the offices, the finance guy, sales guys, etc - it's their job to be on the lot, waste your time, and wear you down. When you've arrived at an agreed price, and they try to tag on extra prep fees, documentary fees, etc, be ready to walk.

Give the sales guy your contact info and price for the specific car and SKU they have on the lot, and tell him to contact you if they want to close the deal. If they're motivated enough to sell, eventually they'll call you back. If not, then your offer was probably too low. It's all business; no hard feelings.

Speaking of business, part of good salesmenship is building good rapport w/ customers. These guys will act hard and try to guilt you about being your friend. When it comes down to brass tacks and you get tired of the theatrics, tell them, "I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to buy a car at the best deal I can find."

Whether you're dealing online w/ internet sales managers or in-person on the lot, all these still apply. There are advantages and disadvantages to each. If you think your savvy to email blast a bunch of dealerships to get them to undercut each other, don't think they know how to play that game too. Remember, you may set aside a week or two every how many years to devote to a new auto purchase, but for them it's their job 52 weeks per year. I.e., they are prepared for you.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Something I just learned about doing this, I wish I had though about it before my wife's recent purchase of a new RAV4 Hybrid: Get a free email address that you will use for this purpose only, and then after the car purchase is complete, just dump this address.

And a Google Voice phone number. I've contacted several dealers through their "internet" process, and the only response I get is can I call you to talk about what you want.

quote:

Originally posted by IntrepidTraveler:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Something I just learned about doing this, I wish I had though about it before my wife's recent purchase of a new RAV4 Hybrid: Get a free email address that you will use for this purpose only, and then after the car purchase is complete, just dump this address.

And a Google Voice phone number. I've contacted several dealers through their "internet" process, and the only response I get is can I call you to talk about what you want.

Absolutely. Just make sure to use an alias with the Voice account. I use mine with anyone I'm not sure I'll want to deal with again. Works great.

quote:

Originally posted by IntrepidTraveler:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

Something I just learned about doing this, I wish I had though about it before my wife's recent purchase of a new RAV4 Hybrid: Get a free email address that you will use for this purpose only, and then after the car purchase is complete, just dump this address.

And a Google Voice phone number. I've contacted several dealers through their "internet" process, and the only response I get is can I call you to talk about what you want.

It might even by worth while getting a burner phone for this process, then just dumping the number when you're finished.

I don't need to worry about that though, I just tell them "I am hearing impaired, telephone is not an option, email works just fine." That has the added benefit of getting everything in writing to eliminate or at least minimize "he said, she said."

quote:

Originally posted by PD:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by PD:

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Super lowball the price and tell them you will let them finance. They will give you something like 5.9% Immediately refinance through your bank.

I like that idea but is there anything in the loan agreement that says you can’t do that. We do know they’re sneaky bastards.

Can you read?

Good idea. I think I’ll take out a loan I don’t need just so I can read the 20 page agreement

Make sure there is no early payment penalty. This can work for selling your old vehicle after buying a new one too instead of getting eaten on a trade. Finance new one, sell old one, refinance for lesser amount using sale proceeds to reduce the new loan. You also want to make sure you can get the financing at the amount needed before doing any of this.

One other thing to keep in mind is if you trade in your old vehicle on your new vehicle, you don't pay sales tax on the amount your old vehicle was worth. You only pay sales tax on the difference, between the new car and trade in amount. So sometimes trading it doesn't come out any worse than selling it outright or through other means (Carfax etc.).

quote:

Your ultimate bargaining chip as a customer is your willingness to walk away from a deal.

And to mean it. Not best deal I've ever gotten, but for the best compared to actual market conditions was a car I bought in Phoenix while there on a 4 day business trip, living in DFW. That was the ultimate "he won't be back tomorrow" scenario. I didn't care where it was, shipping it was more than made up for in price differential. Hell, it beat me home!

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
I did not do that, I stupidly used my regular email address, and it is swamped by follow-up emails from dealers who persist in emailing, even though I tell them that "the purchase has been made and thank you for the follow-up."

Yep. Same here. I just went in my spam folder to see if an e-mail I'm expecting got snagged there and saw an e-mail from a dealer I talked to when I was shopping for a car over 3 years ago. Although I gave out my real e-mail address, I was smart enough to only give them my Google Voice phone number. Otherwise, they'd still be calling me too.

quote:

Originally posted by Phantom229:
I know there isn't much wiggle room on the price of a new vehicle but I don't want to low ball them

WHY THE HELL NOT??!! IF you want to get the best deal, you low ball the hell out of them, and let the negotiations come up from there. Its a dealership. They are in the business of selling cars. If they get offended, good.

Find the car you want, then go home, and negotiate via the internet/email with about 3-10 dealerships in your area for the car you want. Super easy process.

I just bought a new Honda for the wife. Emailed back and forth for a few days near the end of the month, told her my price was $XX,XXX, if you need a sale on the last day of the month, call me. Imagine that. She called me. Had her complete all the paperwork while I was at home. Stepped into the dealership, signed papers for 20 minutes, and left. Super easy.

The last two cars I bought through the United Buying Service:

http://ubs4cars.com/

UBS provides pre-negotiated prices on cars & trucks in the Washington-Baltimore region.

Factory installed options provided at cost
Additional savings on dealer installed options
Even more savings with rebates & incentives