Dealer vs. Dealer

I'd like to apologize that it's been so long since I last posted. I was sick! Enough though...

Naturally, everyone wants to save money. When it comes to purchasing a new car, we all want the best price. Knowing this, dealers do what they need to account for shoppers and people who pit them against rival dealers. Now what I will discuss goes mostly for dealers who have the same franchise. For example, going to 2 Subaru dealers. This way everything is essentially the same, and whoever would give you the better price, would earn your business.

Online quotes - It's so easy to go onto edmunds.com and send a quote out to the 5 nearest dealers for a price quote on that new car you want. When it comes down to it, dealers are playing games with what they say, to get you through the door. They figure if your sending e-mails to other dealers, so they'll quote the "lowest" price, and when you come through the door things will change. So the price they quote won't include things like DESTINATION (avg. ~$700), Tax's, motor vehicle, prep charges, window etching, etc... To EFFECTIVELY use the internet as a tool in this case, you need to specifically lay out what YOU want. You need to tell them that you want an "OUT THE DOOR" price with all tax's and charges included. What your trying to find is what the total cost would be for you to purchase that specific vehicle. This sets a baseline and lets you know where every dealer stands. For a dealer that quotes a higher price, his price may include destination. Therefore potentially being cheaper than the lowest quoting dealer who's price may have not included destination.

To do this most effectively you want an itemized list of the Out The Door price.

Also keep in mind that until you actually sign the paperwork and the car is in your name, the games aren't over yet. Most dealers are somewhat straightforward when it comes down to things, but some dealers play games and supposedly make "mistakes." It's just another way of boosting their revenue's and earning your business. Some dealers are known to deliver cars without having the customer approved for financing/leasing, calling insurance, etc... They especially do this with people who have less than perfect credit. They let the customer take the car that day, and when they can't get approved for the price settled on, they call them back and tell them they need another $1,000 down, or their is going up $30 per month, or they made a mistake, etc... They do this so that the customer becomes attached to the vehicle, and doesn't want to give it back after they have shown all their friends and family.

All in all start on the internet and narrow down your list of possible dealers. Naturally you probably only want to consider the dealers who have the vehicle that you want, but keep in mind every dealer can order you a vehicle. To be honest, in the almost 5 years I've been selling cars, the most you are really going to save is ~$500. Most of the time it is in the $200-$300 category. Who knows though if you got the best deal, if you were "bumped" in the finance department and ended up paying more anyhow. It may seem like a good idea, but in the end it will most likely create more aggravation than good.

BOTTOM LINE - If your happy at a specific dealership, and they treat you well, it pays to stay. There's more important things in life to waste weeks of negotiation on, and your time and effort, to save a few bucks. And think about it, how much does your time cost?