Looking at new vehicles. Our last transaction was a real pain in the rear. The attitude was take it or leave it. This was 3 years ago when we were still in covid supply chain shortage mode. It was definitely a seller market. Fast forward to today. Seems like lots of availability. My question is how much negotiation is normal today. Are prices pretty much set with little room to "haggle" a bit? Does it depend on buy versus lease? We are not in a super rush but need to turn in our lease in 3 weeks. Thanks for input.

Honestly, depending on how far you drive/parking, a Tesla Y can be lease for 4-500/month, depending on how many miles a year you drive.

That’s pretty cheap, given the lower maintenance costs/fuel costs.

Tesla Y's are great all-around vehicles.

If you don't drive much you can get away with charging off of a regular 15A 120V outlet.

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
Honestly, depending on how far you drive/parking, a Tesla Y can be lease for 4-500/month, depending on how many miles a year you drive.

That’s pretty cheap, given the lower maintenance costs/fuel costs.

That would actually be an option for me if I was looking. To the OP, find the internet manager at 2-3 dealers with the car you are looking for. Do all the dealing online. I’ve done that for a few cars now to minimize the stupid games they play. You can also try to go through the fleet manager. 3 different quotes gives you and idea of what the best price is.

We put around 15K miles per year with a handful of 800 mile round trips per year. Not interested in an EV but definitely considering a hybrid. Our daughter loves her Honda Hybrid. We are looking at Suburas, Mazdas, and Hondas. Had a Subura and loved it, friends love their Mazda and daughter her Honda.

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Originally posted by BKile:
Looking at new vehicles...... My question is how much negotiation is normal today. Are prices pretty much set with little room to "haggle" a bit?

What I'm observing is most vehicles are selling below MSRP, sometimes way below. There should be plenty of room to "haggle" on inflated dealer prices, less so on legitimate dealer prices.

quote:

Originally posted by BKile:
We put around 15K miles per year with a handful of 800 mile round trips per year. Not interested in an EV but definitely considering a hybrid. Our daughter loves her Honda Hybrid. We are looking at Suburas, Mazdas, and Hondas. Had a Subura and loved it, friends love their Mazda and daughter her Honda.

We are on our third hybrid. Expedition, CMAX, Venza. The CMAX was just to small. Have had zero issues with the battery or hybrid systems. Personally I’d have kept the expedition, but we needed a van for shows.
Yes, car salesmen are clueless.

I've purchased 2 new vehicles in the past year (GM). Each ended up about 5% below sticker/MSRP. Obviously, a lot depends on model and demand, but I'd say the negotiation room has settled back to pre-covid. Of course, the MSRP on new vehicles is WAY higher than it used to be both due to Bidenflation and the addition of more and more electronic sensors designed to "keep us safe".

From what I have been hearing, there is plenty of inventory so if you are educated (do your homework) and patient, you will do just fine.
Remember to take emotion out of the equation and treat it as a business transaction, you will come out ahead.
Lots of good buying tips on YouTube.

If mid SUV is your thing, the Toyota 4Runner is all new this year. Big updates to make the interior more modern, turbo 4, and eight speed auto.
I’m attached to and satisfied with my 2018 but I’d bet that turbo four would run rings around my V6 at altitude.

A lot of it comes down to the dealership you are dealing with.

I learned a long time ago to only deal with fleet managers if possible. Normal sales guys generally just waste your time. There is a Ford dealership not too far away from me where the fleet manager (daughter-in-law of the owner) will give you a no BS deal of basically 5% over their cost and then will tack on whatever incentives are out there when purchase time comes. With her help I ended up buying my 2017 F150 and timing delivery/purchase right at Labor Day to get the maximum incentives and came OTD way under their cost. It literally was the easiest and best new car purchasing experience I've ever had.

Find a place like that.

...on the other hand. I love Toyota, but their dealers tend to deal very little on the purchase price. Sometimes buying through a place like Costco makes it easier.

Another option is to look at where you will have your service done and negotiate a long-term service plan into the deal. With the aforementioned Ford F150 we negotiated a 6 year service plan. I'll probably keep the truck for at least another 10 years, but it was nice not having to pay anything to get it serviced during initial ownership.

Regarding Tesla, there are downsides to ownership with them. A minor fender bender will cost a ton to fix or will total out the car. I've had two co-workers who have had theirs totalled based on what for most cars would be very minor damage.

If you are ok with slightly used, a lot of used vehicles aren't moving right now. There are lots of deals to be had, same with new though. Decide what you want and do your homework on both the car and the dealerships. Family owned dealerships are always better.

It seems to be a buyers market in most areas, lots of 24's left, if they play games, walk.

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Originally posted by MoosehornMan:
It seems to be a buyers market in most areas, lots of 24's left, if they play games, walk.

It really depends on the Manu and the specific vehicle. As Kev said, good luck getting a deal at a Toyota dealership. I know a guy, well, that works at one and last time I checked it was still MSRP. If it’s someone like Nissan, who is hurting, yes you can deal. But all of it is as complicated as it ever has been. It’s not the sellers market it was during Covid but it’s not a buyers market either.

Thanks for some great thoughts. I will definitely watch some of the you tube videos.

Interest rates are still insanely high for cars, I’m looking at buying something at the end of this year and really hoping they drop by then.

quote:

Are prices pretty much set with little room to "haggle" a bit?

Depends on demand. I purchased two new cars a few months ago. 2025 Audi RS5 with performance package. I drove to the next state to buy it as there were only a handful on the east coast. Didn't even consider negotiating. 2024 Jeep Compass, got $14,000 off sticker and involved me walking away twice to get the price.

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Originally posted by DoctorSolo:
Tesla Y's are great all-around vehicles.

If you don't drive much you can get away with charging off of a regular 15A 120V outlet.

I saw on Tesla's website they sell used Teslas, starting at a little over 20-21k.

Whatever you decide to buy wait until the last week of the month. Sometimes getting one more car sold is a big deal in terms of meeting sales quotas, incentives, and dealer rebates.

3 weeks is fairly a rush.

What are you looking for? new or used?

I don't get this thread at all. The price you are going to pay is almost completely driven by what you intend to buy. Is there a massive inventory? if so you are going to get discounting. Are they waiting lists? if so you are unlikely to get any discounting.
The best strategy I know from lots of buying is to decide what you want and get at least three quotes. if you are willing to drive a bunch to get the car get more from further away. nearly all mfg. give you a way to see inventory (which is what is going to matter with a 3 week window) and so you know who to contact.