Quote:
Originally Posted by mws
one question tho: if a car ticks all your boxes, but the price seems a bit high, do you call them up and negotiate? I certainly do. I do observe cars over time, and watch pricing trends, but that is usually with ones I am less interested in. I use that info as leverage over a dealer that just came on the market with one that ticks all the boxes. The dealers will know, and if they are not a prick, will likely work with me. I have lost a couple from playing hardball. One was an orange Jag F-type. (never mess with someone selling a special color like that, it was priced $3k higher than blue, I tried to wait them out, and it was gone in a day).
Sometimes I see one that is just priced right, just came on, and they obviously want it to move. I just call them up ASAP and make the deal, offer them asking, no quibbling, and see if there is anything else in it for me, like a spare key, replace the tires, etc.
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In the 3 months I hit this hard, and the 2 since where I still look out of morbid curiosity, I have not seen one sold in a day, or even a week, even when priced right.
The one I got I waited a month before I reached out after finding it. They were too high and I was pretty sure it would sit at their price. It sat at the price for a month, then dropped about 5K, then sat for several more weeks before I made my first contact via their generic "ask the dealer a question" email. I offered a "low ball" in their eyes, but my price was on par with another that was only ~500 miles away and similarly equipped, so I did have a basis if they asked me to justify my offer. They didn't even respond. A few days went by and got the automated "did your question get answered?" and I replied back with "no". The individual that fielded my inquiry basically cold shouldered me and said it was a good price, and would not be lowering it, no opening for debate. I still had eyes on that other that I was price comparing to so I just let it sit. 2 weeks later I finalized my decision that I would not want that full center console that the other had, so it was off my list. I contacted the dealer again through the same "ask the dealer a question" from a different email address and landed on a different sales person. He was willing to "take my lower offer to the manager", and came back with a counter offer number that was acceptable. It was ~4K less than the other guy that wouldn't even entertain negotiating. The car had been on their lot over 3 months at that point. Sometimes it's not the dealer, it's the sales person themselves. Go over their head, or around them. The first guy wouldn't even ask, the other did and got a sale, and me a car I wanted.
Time is most likely on your side. The longer it sits, the more that car costs them. If they have had it for more than a month, it will need a good sized price cut to move. Carfax will tell you how long it has sat. Let them know you know if that becomes part of the discussion, and that you know these don't sell fast.
50% of MSRP at the 3 year mark seems to be *actual final average actual sales price, assuming under 30K miles. I've seen quite a few go for less than 50%. When new, a lot of these were sold for $20-30K under MSRP. They have room to come down that low.