Dealing with the devil: car dealerships

[MustISO]

^^ this is how I bought my last car. Emailed 4 dealers, they kept coming back to me with lower offers to compete with the others. Once it was where I thought it should be I printed out the email, took it to the dealer I wanted to use and asked for a price-match which they did.

Buying at the right time of year is also a good way to save money. When we bought my wife's car they had just announced that the 2011's were coming in a few months so the 2010 models were being discounted quite a bit.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

^^ this is how I bought my last car. Emailed 4 dealers, they kept coming back to me with lower offers to compete with the others. Once it was where I thought it should be I printed out the email, took it to the dealer I wanted to use and asked for a price-match which they did.

This strategy has worked for me as well. +1

 

[olds]

You have cash or are you going to finance? If you have cash I'm sure you can find a dealer who will do business with you and get you a deal you have in mind.

Doesn't make a difference.

 

[olds]

Yup... internet department is a thing.

My wife ran them for years. The other sales people hate them because all the internet leads just "fall into your lap". The sales people have to fight over whomever walks onto the lot.

 

[andy04]

No dealer is going to come down $3,000 on the price just because he has cash....9 times out of 10 they will laugh you off of the lott!!

It's actually more profitable for them if you get a loan from them. They are more willing to negotiate if you have a loan through the dealership

 

[TridenT]

What if we're talking used cars?

 

[Imported]

Just go in with your price and see what they'll do. Used cars are an unknown.. you don't know how much the dealer paid, what has gone into it to bring it to the showroom, etc. I ended up buying a used car a few months ago for $250 over what they paid for the trade-in.. or so they say. But I'm inclined to believe it since I saw the same exact car on AutoTrader a couple days before.

 

[Phanuel]

All the more true as they aren't getting any manufacturer rebates and holdbacks and such on a use vehicle. So they'll be less likely to discount and their financing will be how they make most of their profit back.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Dealing with the devil? lol.

 

[BUTCH1]

My rule is simple, get the price from places like Zag or Truecar, then call the dealership's internet department and ask them if they will sell it for that price. Go to all dealers in the town or nearby town, as soon as one agrees, buy it. If no one agrees then do not buy, wait for a while and try again. Bought 3 cars using this method all landed in success and then some. It is time consuming and tedious, these people can really be pesky, but if you want to save money you gotta do the hard work

Kinda hard to do considering the car OP is considering is used.

 

[OverVolt]

Now is kind of a bad time for used cars IMO.

Going by how crowded rush hour has been lately it looks like everybody has made a deal with the devil.

:awe::awe::awe::awe::awe:

 

[jagec]

What if we're talking used cars?

I always buy 'em private party, since it's better in almost every single way.