Re: I'm amazed while shopping for a new car (NPC)

at the games people play. Top of line car with only option available from factory, easy comparison.

Local dealer 2 miles away, salesman my son bought from. $39784.....but for me $3250 off..$36,534 Car is padded with all sorts of overpriced floor mats ($399), service plans, window tints, extended powertrain warranty, etc.

CarMax 3 states away ($70 train ride) $34,888 plus ??? (Never thought of car-max as a new car source.)

In-State dealer $35,674 plus fees/tax I'm trying to tie down.

Several "tell me what I'm trying to beat" calls.

Your experience is pretty normal, as far as I can see, Mike. I've found the same thing when shopping around for new cars. There was about $2,500 difference between two dealers when I was purchasing my wife's BMW. It was precisely the same car as we were ordering rather than puchasing off the lot. Some dealers are more willing to bargain than others.

It was like that when i was shopping for my Porsche in '09, but this is where the internet is great. I'd send each a separate, but similar e-mail with exactly what options you want for easy comparision and indicate the max you are willing to pay. Heck, try $34,995 and see if anyone bites, maybe that last in-state one will since it's only about $670 less then what he's offering. The old theory is that closer to the end of the month, dealers are more willing to deal.

I find doing it via e-mail much better. Don't feel as though I need to take a shower when I'm done buying the car. Also, I think, too, that the dealer knows you are using the internet and that it is easier to walk away from a computer than it is the show room with all those bright shinny cars sitting in front of you.

Good luck.

A very short email addressed to the "Fleet Manager" (avoids salesperson commissions) that simply states "I will by xyz car on this date (1-2 weeks from now) from the dealer with the lowest price. I live in xyz city/state. I am flexible on color but prefer X, Y, and Z. If you are interested in moving a unit, contact me with your lowest price." You get the picture. Keep it simple, specific, and clear and best have the buy date at the end of the month/quarter (best on xmas week).

I have purchased a few cars this way, one for myself and three for friends. It is vitally important that you state exactly what you want, what you are flexible on, where you live, and when you will buy. You then send it to all dealers within say a 60-70 mile radius of your home. What happens is the dealers in your close proximity will not respond, or will just try to get you into their showrooms where their sales people will work their magic on you. The dealers farthest away realize they have no hope of getting you in and then will consider their desire to move a unit. If they want to move a unit (note I did no say make a profit) to say hit a sales goal to achieve an incentive from the factory or improve their allocation for next year, they will give you a really low and sometimes surprising price. This approach really works although it won't work for cars/models in high demand.

The last car I did this with was buying a Lexus for my wife. If I remember correctly, I send emails to about 10 dealers and about half responded. Local dealers did not respond but one about 50 mnts away in NJ did with a bid lower than the others so I purchased from them - the bid came from the owner's son so I suspect they avoided the salesperson commissions and the decision was at the highest level. An aggressive dealer in Northern NJ had about the exact same price (a few hundred lower), but was another hour away.

I have another friend who does this but then takes the number to a local dealer and asks them to beat it. I don't do this, but he said sometimes they will match.

August 10, 2008 VIA: FAX & Email
Page 1 of 1
Fleet Manager
Address Here

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am ready to purchase a new Lexus IS 250 AWD now and I will buy from the Lexus dealer who provides me with the lowest price. If you are interested in moving a unit, contact me at my email address qwerty@qwer.com and provide me with your lowest, final price. I prefer email, but you can contact me on my cell at 999-999-9999 – if I do not answer, leave a message with your price, description, and contact information.

Car description:
• IS 250 AWD
• Automatic
• Exterior:
o 1st choice: Glacier Frost Mica
o 2nd choice: Starfire Pearl
• Interior: Cashmere
• Other options: None, we are interested in a basic car

If you cannot provide me with the car I described above, describe the car you can provide. My wife and I are flexible on exterior and interior color only. We will only consider an option package if it does not raise your price higher than another dealer’s bid without the package.

As I noted above, I am ready to purchase the car now and would like to pick up the car on Friday, August 22. I am faxing this same request to other Lexus dealers and am looking for an aggressive, competitive bid from you.

Thank You,



My Name
qwerty@qwer.com
Philadelphia, PA

we always do this. Our last vehicle, it saved us easily $5000 vs what the local dealer offered. Turned out it was the EXACT same vehicle. The purchasing dealer needed to go pick up at the local dealer to sell to me. No joke.

This even worked on my boxster in 2000. But I bought in February.

When we got our '08' E90, we spoke with a salesman that had sold us 2 Boxsters at another dealership.

We told him we were ready to buy and he quoted us $500 off on an ordered car. Another dealer in Columbus offered us nearly $2K off--sight unseen--via an email. When I mentioned the difference between the two prices to the salesman we'd known for 10 years, he said his hands were tied. The general manger actually came out and said there was no way the guy in Columbus could do that deal so they weren't going to play. My wife and I were stunned at how inflexible the dealership and told them there was just too much money between the 2 offers not to take the lowest one. We left and on the way home confirmed with the Columbus dealer the price and told him we'd be down the next day to do the paper work.

Before we got home, salesman #1 called back and said they had reconsidered and would match the deal. I told him that here was no way we were going to pull the deal from salesman #2 and bid him adieu.

In this slow car market, with all the pricing info that is available to car buyers, you would hope--at the very least--that a dealership would not insult your intelligence during the process.

They haven't mentioned any "market adjustment" in their pricing quotes, have they? I always enjoyed that one for a laugh..

BTW, which car did you settle on?

through CarMax. Never thought of them as a new car seller but they seem to have an arrangement with dealers and the total fees are ~$120, no dealer added options, lowest price, etc. Even adding a day out of my life to go to Md and the cost of a train ride up and gas back, it is lots lots better than any local dealers who seem to have this "we'll all add lots of extras on every car because we can from the days when Toyota was king" approach.