Car buying tips?

daenar_sod

Dalayan Elder
Hey, in the market for a new car.

Checking out the new Honda Civic Touring. Spread some feelers, sent out a bunch of emails to various dealerships saying, here's what I want and for how much.

I got one that came back and quoted me at the Factory Invoice price of 25,690. That's 1645 lower than the MSRP. Trying to figure out how I can haggle it down to about 24000 if that's possible (if I could get it to 23.5k I'd go buy it now). I noticed on Truecar that people have managed to squeeze it down that low, so I know it's not impossible. Once I can negotiate that I'll start on the trade in for my old car, but that's a separate issue.

Any tips from the car guys?
 
Wait, they quoted you at the factory invoice price? That would mean they make $0 profit. Smells like bullshit to me.

What I've done is wait for the end of year (i.e., there's pressure on dealers to sell last years models so they can bring in new models), figure out what I think is a fair price (usually dealer cost + 3%), then send offers to as many dealers in the area stating what I want, for how much, and that whichever dealer gets back to me first will make the sale. If you don't want to wait for the end of the year the same strategy should work, there's just less pressure on the dealers. It works pretty well for me since I've never been unwilling to just walk away if they don't go for what I consider to be a fair price -- the trick of course is figuring out what the car actually costed them in the first place.
 
You made me check it out. The adjusted price was 25,360. The Factory Invoice according to trucar is the $25,690. So clearly something here is bullshit. The out the door price is 29.3k. That's w/ the 1600 in accessories I asked for, tags, tax, title too.
 
Go in, act eager to talk numbers, seem bored on the test drive and insist on getting to the table. They don't like this, they want you excited when you sit down.

Don't buy from the first dealer you go to unless you get everything you want - which you might.

Dealers like to negotiate in monthly payment amounts vs the amount they're selling for. It tends to hide the true cost of the car from you. Try to figure out what your payment would be at the price you want. Make sure you can afford what you're shopping for (this isn't a knock at you, don't take offense to this) because if it turns out you can't you'll lose all credibility with your dealer when they find out it's out of your range after an hour of back and forth.

Keep in mind at all times: You control negotiation. It's not up to you to get what you want from them, it's up to them to give you what you want. You can walk away at any time and don't be afraid to do just that. Tell them you're going to check out their competitors. Tell them you're unhappy with their offer and you need something better. Be blunt with what it is that you want them to give you. If they say no, that's fine. They're not going to walk away from you, but you can walk away from them.

If you're getting close to the price you want with them, throw it out there that you'll sign on the spot if they give you XYZ. "If you can get your manager to give me this, I'll sign right now".
 
Basically what you want to do is go the last day of the month. Sales people and dealers have quotas they have to make in order to make their bonus. people that are 1 or 2 points away from their bonus will do absolutely anything and everything required to make the sale.

My last car purchase i bought from the first dealer i went to but I did visit another dealer.

  • I walked in saying that I was in a car accident recently and that my car was a total loss (true story)
  • I told the person that I was going to buy a car that day. either from him or from another dealer.
  • I test drove the car and looked bored as ludo mentioned.
  • I got to the table and asked him to give me his best price.
  • When i got his "best price" I said thank you and that I was going to test another dealer. if they gave it to me for a dollar less i would buy it from the other dealer.
  • he immediately gave me additional discounts
  • I said thanks and started to walk away. thats when the manager came in and gave me an additional 1k.
  • asked if this was the best price and was told that 100% it was their best price.
  • told the guy i was going to another dealer with their price and if they gave it to me cheaper i would buy it from them. the guy started giving me his business card and i gave it back to him. i wrote my number on the back of the card he was giving me and told him if he finds a better price somehow to call me and i would come back.
  • I went to the second dealer and gave them price #1 which i was told was too low and they couldnt match it.
  • went to have lunch and got a call from dealer 1. ( i took a picture of the dealer 2).. I sent him a picture of dealer 2 and told him i was there and that they were going to give it to me 700 dollars lower...
  • told him sorry but 700 dollars was a big chunk of change and that if he could beat it i would go back.
  • he called me back 5 minutes later while i was eating that he was going to do 300 less but no lower.

end of the story i got the car 4 5 k under the dealer sticker price, i got the car with all the bells and whistles (indash, all the sensors, additional warranty), for the price of the lesser car with nothing.

good luck and never accept that factory invoice is good enough. if they sell a certain amount of cars a month / week / quarter they get additional bonuses.

oh i also asked how many points he was from getting his bonus. i guess me knowing that (i asked a friend) made it seem like i knew the deal.

again good luck.... buy the car only if you feel you got a deal for it. if you dont then walk away.
 
all I have to say is leave google map review if you have any issues at all! I just traded in a car and got a F150 FX2 fully loaded.. When I called to make an apt. to test drive the truck they said that they give TV's out when you buy a car from them. After like 3 hours of waiting on the financing dept. they said I wasn't eligible for the TV since i talked them down a couple thousand. I left a google map review saying "i liked the people/place overall but that they lied and if i bought a car from them again, i'd be more cautious." next day a lady called me to get more info, called me back again after 20min and said she was going to get me the TV, when i pick up my truck from having an engine light on, the tv will be in the truck when i get there. .. reviews go a long way!

also, my mom just bought a cheap jeep grand cherokee to pull a trailer for one trip, the truck would lose all power going down the interstate. they said they weren't responsible and would 'look at it' but not fix it.. i left a review on her behalf on my phone, and my gf's, saying they take advantage of women, and i'd throw a brick through their window, etc. and they called back asking for me to take the review down and they got to work on it.. this guy i left a very nasty review due to these circumstances, with my truck- i left a fairly good review with a big "BUT", when i got everything i wanted i gave them full 5 star and amended my review
 
glad you're happy with your new ride.. yeah the stuff adds up, tax, tag, title, dealer fee.. back in 2012 i bought my titanium focus with 2miles on it for about 23 out the door. but now with a kid, and one more on the way- i need a truck for when we throw parties for tables/chairs/etc because that focus didn't hold much of anything! loved the little car though.. i miss 26-42mpg badly.. but i love my truck!!!

the other weekend there were these PUNKS all walking in the street knowingly holding up traffic acting all innocent. 3 cars were creeping along as the 8+ kids were slowly walking throwing a football to each other, i said to myself "F*** you, i don't need the road!" scared the shit out of them and got where i needed to go lmao.. good times.... punks.. ;)
 
I'm thoroughly enjoying all the rubbernecking this thing gets (especially once I debadged it) and the 42mpg... oh and having working ac in the Florida summers is heaven. I'll post a pic once I'm off work
 
JeBh2GP.jpg
 
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