Norcal 350z buying guide
08-17-2005, 09:20 AM
#1
New Member
Thread Starter
Norcal 350z buying guide
This was moved from the main forums but I think it has relevence here. Hopefully the admins will see fit to keep it here. 
Hi everyone.
I recently purchased my first brand new car and wanted to relate some experiences that I encountered along the way. Hopefully the following information can help someone get the best deal on the car they want.
The very first thing you want to determine is "What car do I want?"
I know this sounds silly, but you would be surprised at how many people have a car in mind and then change their mind in the middle of the process. This is a big mistake, as car dealerships know that someone who changes their mind, is less likely to be prepared to haggle for the best deal.
My first step in determining what vehicle I wanted was what I liked. Visions of Aston Martins and SL55's were running through my head until I slapped myself back to reality
In the end, I chose the following vehicles:
- 350z
- Crossfire
- Z4
- Miata
- S2000
My second action was to compare the cars on many levels ( Not in order ):
- What car I liked the most
- What car can I sit comfortably in ( I am 6' 290lbs....Mostly muscle LOL )
- What car I could afford most
- Gas mileage
- What car could I fit my golf bag in
- What car has the best performance
What to buy:
I used many different resources to gather my information:
- Myself ( Sitting/driving friends' cars or going to lots and burning up the lot tires )
- Friends
- Dealers ( I trusted these the least, but were good to find out what is popular or in demand )
- Internet forums
- Consumer websites like Edmunds.com, Consumerreports.com, ETC... ( very informative, great find out invoice pricing and manufacturer incentives for dealerships - I will give a complete list of websites that I used at the end of the thread)
Use of these websites should be a good education, but remember to practice due diligence and verify all information in at least two places before taking stock of it. For example, not all of the sites I visited had the Grand Touring trim level for the 350 z roadster.
After comparing all the data and opinions that matter, make your choice and research it even more over the next couple of weeks. Be aware of holidays that might be coming or if it close to a new model year. These things will promote a better bargaining position.
Once you have your vehicle and options selected, it is time to setup your buying center.
The following three step method has been successful for me:
- Create a temporary email address at a free site. Give it a name that relates to your need (i.e. new_car@hotmail.com ) try not to make it too elaborate or cute, you will be counting on the ability of sales people to remember your email and type it in. This will also protect you from future spam or annoying messages on your primary email account after purchasing your car.
- Get your financing straight. Nothing will drain the fun from purchasing a new car like sitting in front of a finance guy telling you things like - "We can set-up an 84 month term with zero down" Getting your loan through a bank or better yet, a credit union, will ease your mind of worry and the hassle of waiting for the finance department.
If you cannot get financing through a bank beforehand, make sure you shop around the different dealerships to see if they offer any incentives with financing ( such as college grad discounts or first time buyer etc... ).
- Sign up with as many internet car buying sites as you can. But do NOT limit yourself to a small geographic area. I set my search area from Fresno in central California, to Reno in northern California. You can even do searches out of state (but be aware of the different laws regarding emissions and taxes etc..) Use the email address that you have just created to funnel all of your responses. Most internet managers will want to call you, but try to refer them to your email address whenever you can. This does a few things.
One, it makes it a bit easier to track all of the different people and offers ( emails have timestamps ).
Two, it gives you a written record of what someone offers you. It will be awfully hard for someone to pull a bait and switch when you have a written copy of what the sales person offered to you. Plus, some internet managers will want to see an offer before they beat it.
Three, it is far easier to cut and paste all of the specific information you want to include in your request. Imagine having to speak to thirty to forty sales people and tell them the exact car and options and price that you want? Don't forget that you will contact them all a few times to get them to start haggling against each other.
The idea is to create the biggest bidding war that you can. The single most determining factor in creating a successful bidding war is availability. If the car you want is sitting on twenty different car lots, chances are you will be able to negotiate a price way below invoice. If on the other hand, there is only one vehicle in the entire state that fits your needs, your bargaining position has shrunk considerably.
After you have narrowed down the search to a few dealerships, put the pressure on by telling them that you are ready to buy in the next 48hrs(as long as it is true) Tell them that you have a specific dealer that you are going to unless they make it worth your while to switch. Try not to say this more than once to each of the finalists, as they will not fall for the same tactic more than twice. Save the place that you most want to buy from for last, as you want them to give you the lowest price anyway. tell them they are getting the last chance before you buy.
During my negotiations, I had three dealerships bidding against each other for a car that was on a fourth party's lot. The second time I was contacted by the internet manager of the dealership that I bought from, he told me he had secured the vehicle from the other dealership. I knew then that I was dealing with a professional and that my bargaining was about over. he ended up beating my last quote by another $150 which was $753 dollars below invoice. ( This was on the only make/model/trim car that was available from Reno to Fresno ).
Not only did I get a good price for the vehicle, but I was also able to negotiate the extended warranty down to less than invoice as well (-$200 off dealer invoice ).
The thing to remember is that your power to negotiate is in the business that you are giving the retailer. Once you say the words"OK" you have lost your leverage and will find it very hard to negotiate any further. make sure you set a goal for yourself so that you know when it is OK to say ...OK : )
Here is a list of some of the websites that I used for my research:
http://www.kbb.com/
http://www.consumerreports.org/main/home.jsp
http://www.edmunds.com/
http://www.vehix.com/
http://cars.com/go/index.jsp
http://www.autobuytel.com/
http://www.caranddriver.com/
http://www.roadandtrack.com/
Bits of advice:
- Don't be dishonest. It's OK to tell the sales people that you are going to make sure and get the best deal. When you do this, the sales person will know that you are genuine and will work harder for your business.
- Make sure the phone number that you give out has an answering machine to capture all the calls you miss.
- Keep your information straight so that the people on the other line know that you are informed and won't put up with BS. I walked into a dealership near my home and asked them how much I could buy the 2005 touring roadster they had on the show floor. They looked at me and said "45k" I laughed at them and said that I would never buy anything from people so dishonest. They chased after me dropping thousands off the car price without even me asking. I never did buy from them.
- Careful to make sure you don't pay for things like destination charges or security fees. Why should you pay for the shipping and protection of something you are not responsible for?
- keep asking questions to see if your sales people are honest. If they give you very general answers to specific questions, they are hiding something or they don't have a clue. Either way you want to avoid them.
- If you are not getting the response you want or the service you deserve, call back and ask to speak to that persons manager and relater your experience. Chances are they will work hard to please you.
- If you have any problems/issues/needs/ or concerns, try to take care of them BEFORE you fill out the customer satisfaction survey that the manufacturer sends out directly to the customers. This will ensure that most of your issues will be resolved with the minimum of hassle.
Well this is all for now, I will add on if I have forgotten anything. Go ahead and ask any questions you might have and I will try to give the best answers I can.
Remember that this is only a recollection of my experience and a recommendation for due diligence when purchasing a vehicle. What worked for me, may not work for all.
Good luck!
Hi everyone.
I recently purchased my first brand new car and wanted to relate some experiences that I encountered along the way. Hopefully the following information can help someone get the best deal on the car they want.
The very first thing you want to determine is "What car do I want?"
I know this sounds silly, but you would be surprised at how many people have a car in mind and then change their mind in the middle of the process. This is a big mistake, as car dealerships know that someone who changes their mind, is less likely to be prepared to haggle for the best deal.
My first step in determining what vehicle I wanted was what I liked. Visions of Aston Martins and SL55's were running through my head until I slapped myself back to reality
In the end, I chose the following vehicles:
- 350z
- Crossfire
- Z4
- Miata
- S2000
My second action was to compare the cars on many levels ( Not in order ):
- What car I liked the most
- What car can I sit comfortably in ( I am 6' 290lbs....Mostly muscle LOL )
- What car I could afford most
- Gas mileage
- What car could I fit my golf bag in
- What car has the best performance
What to buy:
I used many different resources to gather my information:
- Myself ( Sitting/driving friends' cars or going to lots and burning up the lot tires )
- Friends
- Dealers ( I trusted these the least, but were good to find out what is popular or in demand )
- Internet forums
- Consumer websites like Edmunds.com, Consumerreports.com, ETC... ( very informative, great find out invoice pricing and manufacturer incentives for dealerships - I will give a complete list of websites that I used at the end of the thread)
Use of these websites should be a good education, but remember to practice due diligence and verify all information in at least two places before taking stock of it. For example, not all of the sites I visited had the Grand Touring trim level for the 350 z roadster.
After comparing all the data and opinions that matter, make your choice and research it even more over the next couple of weeks. Be aware of holidays that might be coming or if it close to a new model year. These things will promote a better bargaining position.
Once you have your vehicle and options selected, it is time to setup your buying center.
The following three step method has been successful for me:
- Create a temporary email address at a free site. Give it a name that relates to your need (i.e. new_car@hotmail.com ) try not to make it too elaborate or cute, you will be counting on the ability of sales people to remember your email and type it in. This will also protect you from future spam or annoying messages on your primary email account after purchasing your car.
- Get your financing straight. Nothing will drain the fun from purchasing a new car like sitting in front of a finance guy telling you things like - "We can set-up an 84 month term with zero down" Getting your loan through a bank or better yet, a credit union, will ease your mind of worry and the hassle of waiting for the finance department.
If you cannot get financing through a bank beforehand, make sure you shop around the different dealerships to see if they offer any incentives with financing ( such as college grad discounts or first time buyer etc... ).
- Sign up with as many internet car buying sites as you can. But do NOT limit yourself to a small geographic area. I set my search area from Fresno in central California, to Reno in northern California. You can even do searches out of state (but be aware of the different laws regarding emissions and taxes etc..) Use the email address that you have just created to funnel all of your responses. Most internet managers will want to call you, but try to refer them to your email address whenever you can. This does a few things.
One, it makes it a bit easier to track all of the different people and offers ( emails have timestamps ).
Two, it gives you a written record of what someone offers you. It will be awfully hard for someone to pull a bait and switch when you have a written copy of what the sales person offered to you. Plus, some internet managers will want to see an offer before they beat it.
Three, it is far easier to cut and paste all of the specific information you want to include in your request. Imagine having to speak to thirty to forty sales people and tell them the exact car and options and price that you want? Don't forget that you will contact them all a few times to get them to start haggling against each other.
The idea is to create the biggest bidding war that you can. The single most determining factor in creating a successful bidding war is availability. If the car you want is sitting on twenty different car lots, chances are you will be able to negotiate a price way below invoice. If on the other hand, there is only one vehicle in the entire state that fits your needs, your bargaining position has shrunk considerably.
After you have narrowed down the search to a few dealerships, put the pressure on by telling them that you are ready to buy in the next 48hrs(as long as it is true) Tell them that you have a specific dealer that you are going to unless they make it worth your while to switch. Try not to say this more than once to each of the finalists, as they will not fall for the same tactic more than twice. Save the place that you most want to buy from for last, as you want them to give you the lowest price anyway. tell them they are getting the last chance before you buy.
During my negotiations, I had three dealerships bidding against each other for a car that was on a fourth party's lot. The second time I was contacted by the internet manager of the dealership that I bought from, he told me he had secured the vehicle from the other dealership. I knew then that I was dealing with a professional and that my bargaining was about over. he ended up beating my last quote by another $150 which was $753 dollars below invoice. ( This was on the only make/model/trim car that was available from Reno to Fresno ).
Not only did I get a good price for the vehicle, but I was also able to negotiate the extended warranty down to less than invoice as well (-$200 off dealer invoice ).
The thing to remember is that your power to negotiate is in the business that you are giving the retailer. Once you say the words"OK" you have lost your leverage and will find it very hard to negotiate any further. make sure you set a goal for yourself so that you know when it is OK to say ...OK : )
Here is a list of some of the websites that I used for my research:
http://www.kbb.com/
http://www.consumerreports.org/main/home.jsp
http://www.edmunds.com/
http://www.vehix.com/
http://cars.com/go/index.jsp
http://www.autobuytel.com/
http://www.caranddriver.com/
http://www.roadandtrack.com/
Bits of advice:
- Don't be dishonest. It's OK to tell the sales people that you are going to make sure and get the best deal. When you do this, the sales person will know that you are genuine and will work harder for your business.
- Make sure the phone number that you give out has an answering machine to capture all the calls you miss.
- Keep your information straight so that the people on the other line know that you are informed and won't put up with BS. I walked into a dealership near my home and asked them how much I could buy the 2005 touring roadster they had on the show floor. They looked at me and said "45k" I laughed at them and said that I would never buy anything from people so dishonest. They chased after me dropping thousands off the car price without even me asking. I never did buy from them.
- Careful to make sure you don't pay for things like destination charges or security fees. Why should you pay for the shipping and protection of something you are not responsible for?
- keep asking questions to see if your sales people are honest. If they give you very general answers to specific questions, they are hiding something or they don't have a clue. Either way you want to avoid them.
- If you are not getting the response you want or the service you deserve, call back and ask to speak to that persons manager and relater your experience. Chances are they will work hard to please you.
- If you have any problems/issues/needs/ or concerns, try to take care of them BEFORE you fill out the customer satisfaction survey that the manufacturer sends out directly to the customers. This will ensure that most of your issues will be resolved with the minimum of hassle.
Well this is all for now, I will add on if I have forgotten anything. Go ahead and ask any questions you might have and I will try to give the best answers I can.
Remember that this is only a recollection of my experience and a recommendation for due diligence when purchasing a vehicle. What worked for me, may not work for all.
Good luck!
08-17-2005, 11:50 AM
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thats funny, im a salesman, and most of that isnt completely true. but i hope you got a great deal. a great deal is..you got the car you want, and for a price thats good for you, and the dealership, other guy, internet site whatever. if you want the best price on a z let me know and ill get ya one.
08-17-2005, 01:20 PM
#3
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Thread Starter
Wow Bryon, I am glad to get a sales person involved in the thread. Maybe you can speak to which of my experiences is wrong in order to get the best deal.
Do you work at Nissan of Fairfield? If so, I think I originally spoke to one of your internet managers who decided I wasn't worth calling back. I believe his name was Jeff? I have the emails where he was promising this and that but never really came through. After complaining, I was contacted by another internet manager who said that he would try to pick up the pieces, but I ended up using them as leverage after I got called by Tae at Boardwalk Nissan.
I don't mind being told I am wrong about something, but try being a bit more specific so that I can respond to it better.
Otherwise you just sound bitter and grumpy
Do you work at Nissan of Fairfield? If so, I think I originally spoke to one of your internet managers who decided I wasn't worth calling back. I believe his name was Jeff? I have the emails where he was promising this and that but never really came through. After complaining, I was contacted by another internet manager who said that he would try to pick up the pieces, but I ended up using them as leverage after I got called by Tae at Boardwalk Nissan.
I don't mind being told I am wrong about something, but try being a bit more specific so that I can respond to it better.
Otherwise you just sound bitter and grumpy
08-17-2005, 02:59 PM
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the best price, is invoice..or back invoice. so go in to the dealership, tell them you want to see invoice. tell them youll pay invoice. as a customer i would pay 500 over invoice and thats it. people who do work there deserve to atleast get paid to do what they do. we are 05 now, so go out and look for brand new 04's and most likely theyll go back of invoice. thats how you get a good deal on a new car.
08-18-2005, 07:25 AM
#5
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Thread Starter
Well, I guess you are saying that "invoice" is "the best" price?
I was able to get below "invoice" on the only '05 ZR GT Black/burnt orange with all std options except nav available (at the time) from Fresno to Reno.
Invoice listed on 3 different websites = 37,253 for the above vehicle before tax/license/etc...
price I paid = 36,500 before tax/license/etc...
So according to your "advice", I should pay $1,253.00 more for the same vehicle and feel good about it since someone else should make money off my purchase?
If the dealership was not making money on this deal in one way or another, I guaruntee they wouldn't make the deal. Whether it is for performance bonuses, quota's, or whatever, the dealership comes out ahead in the end for selling cars.
Don't try to mix in some idea of chivalrous behavoir when it comes to car sales. the first time I went to a dealership to buy a car, I was severely taken advantage of as I didn't do the type of research required to get a good deal. Did the salesperson say "this guy deserves to get a good deal, let me take a couple thousand off this inflated price he is paying", or did he continue to add on costs? If you have to think about this one, you haven't been car shopping at a most dealerships.
My guess is that Bryon is just upset that someone is sharing this information and it will cut into his profits.
This isn't personal Bryon, but if your profession practiced the same way to do business as what you preached, maybe threads like this wouldn't be neccessary.
I was able to get below "invoice" on the only '05 ZR GT Black/burnt orange with all std options except nav available (at the time) from Fresno to Reno.
Invoice listed on 3 different websites = 37,253 for the above vehicle before tax/license/etc...
price I paid = 36,500 before tax/license/etc...
So according to your "advice", I should pay $1,253.00 more for the same vehicle and feel good about it since someone else should make money off my purchase?
If the dealership was not making money on this deal in one way or another, I guaruntee they wouldn't make the deal. Whether it is for performance bonuses, quota's, or whatever, the dealership comes out ahead in the end for selling cars.
Don't try to mix in some idea of chivalrous behavoir when it comes to car sales. the first time I went to a dealership to buy a car, I was severely taken advantage of as I didn't do the type of research required to get a good deal. Did the salesperson say "this guy deserves to get a good deal, let me take a couple thousand off this inflated price he is paying", or did he continue to add on costs? If you have to think about this one, you haven't been car shopping at a most dealerships.
My guess is that Bryon is just upset that someone is sharing this information and it will cut into his profits.
This isn't personal Bryon, but if your profession practiced the same way to do business as what you preached, maybe threads like this wouldn't be neccessary.
Last edited by jcandas; 08-18-2005 at 07:35 AM.
08-18-2005, 10:11 AM
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the best price, is invoice..or back invoice. ....if you look up..i said that...but its ok... you got yours back of invoice. but dont check the invoice on the internet, have the dealership pull the paper out that exactly breaks it down and show you!! the vehical might have different options.but before you go and say im upset that your taking profits from me, read my post.
"If the dealership was not making money on this deal in one way or another, I guaruntee they wouldn't make the deal. Whether it is for performance bonuses, quota's, or whatever, the dealership comes out ahead in the end for selling cars"
thats your qoute, this is not always true. if you see an add in the paper for a car, most likely on a new cars its a "loser".the vehical is priced down so low, that the dealership will lose money, but its to get people into the dealership.but people like yourself think that dealerships are non profit orgs. what is it so bad that they would like to make profit? but in your case, the dealer made no profit, the only this it did was move a unit. something came to my mind just this second. one reason you got back of invoice, is maybe they had incentives going on at that time. right now there are none on the 350z, but maybe they did then.
what is gettin taken advantage of? what did this dealership do to you? did you pay MSRP which is the suggested retail value of the vehical set by the manufacture? oh gosh the dealership is such a bad guy. people get upset when they pay what a car is worth. its not like the dealership set the price, the manufacture did. look at it this way, if i went through the line at a store with 500 dollars worth of stuff, and said i only want to pay 300 for it. what would they say to you. a dealership is one of the only places you car negotiate price. NOW if you payed over retail value for the car, im sorry. they did do you wrong and makes alot of good people look bad. people like to think that salesman make all type of money, when people come in and make deals for invoice the salesman in my case would make 100 dollars. so if they sale 15 cars that month( which is way above average) they would make 1500 dollars that month before tax. am i the upset one here, no. just please read my post, i didnt give you bad advice.
"If the dealership was not making money on this deal in one way or another, I guaruntee they wouldn't make the deal. Whether it is for performance bonuses, quota's, or whatever, the dealership comes out ahead in the end for selling cars"
thats your qoute, this is not always true. if you see an add in the paper for a car, most likely on a new cars its a "loser".the vehical is priced down so low, that the dealership will lose money, but its to get people into the dealership.but people like yourself think that dealerships are non profit orgs. what is it so bad that they would like to make profit? but in your case, the dealer made no profit, the only this it did was move a unit. something came to my mind just this second. one reason you got back of invoice, is maybe they had incentives going on at that time. right now there are none on the 350z, but maybe they did then.
what is gettin taken advantage of? what did this dealership do to you? did you pay MSRP which is the suggested retail value of the vehical set by the manufacture? oh gosh the dealership is such a bad guy. people get upset when they pay what a car is worth. its not like the dealership set the price, the manufacture did. look at it this way, if i went through the line at a store with 500 dollars worth of stuff, and said i only want to pay 300 for it. what would they say to you. a dealership is one of the only places you car negotiate price. NOW if you payed over retail value for the car, im sorry. they did do you wrong and makes alot of good people look bad. people like to think that salesman make all type of money, when people come in and make deals for invoice the salesman in my case would make 100 dollars. so if they sale 15 cars that month( which is way above average) they would make 1500 dollars that month before tax. am i the upset one here, no. just please read my post, i didnt give you bad advice.
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08-18-2005, 11:32 AM
#10
The first thing I did was figure out how much I could spend on a car, including insurance, and still live the way I wanted to live. Then I went on to look for a car at or below that price range. Buying a car outside of your financial means is the number one way to get afflicted with buyers remorse and take all the fun out a new car.
I actually bought my car entirely over the Internet over email with the dealership in Santa Cruz and one day, there was a new Z in the driveway I paid a little more than invoice but having a 0 pressure experience, getting everything exactly the way I wanted including color and not having to run around was worth it to me.
Chris
I actually bought my car entirely over the Internet over email with the dealership in Santa Cruz and one day, there was a new Z in the driveway
I paid a little more than invoice but having a 0 pressure experience, getting everything exactly the way I wanted including color and not having to run around was worth it to me. Chris
08-18-2005, 11:33 AM
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i think he has invoice, and msrp mixed up because a touring without options start at 33 msrp, and he paid 36,500 before ttl, with ads up to around 40k. unless its a drop top, then different story. but who am i, i just work there lol
08-18-2005, 03:50 PM
#13
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Thread Starter
Originally Posted by bryon617
the best price, is invoice..or back invoice. ....if you look up..i said that...but its ok... you got yours back of invoice. but dont check the invoice on the internet, have the dealership pull the paper out that exactly breaks it down and show you!! the vehical might have different options.but before you go and say im upset that your taking profits from me, read my post.
"If the dealership was not making money on this deal in one way or another, I guaruntee they wouldn't make the deal. Whether it is for performance bonuses, quota's, or whatever, the dealership comes out ahead in the end for selling cars"
thats your qoute, this is not always true. if you see an add in the paper for a car, most likely on a new cars its a "loser".the vehical is priced down so low, that the dealership will lose money, but its to get people into the dealership.but people like yourself think that dealerships are non profit orgs. what is it so bad that they would like to make profit? but in your case, the dealer made no profit, the only this it did was move a unit. something came to my mind just this second. one reason you got back of invoice, is maybe they had incentives going on at that time. right now there are none on the 350z, but maybe they did then.
what is gettin taken advantage of? what did this dealership do to you? did you pay MSRP which is the suggested retail value of the vehical set by the manufacture? oh gosh the dealership is such a bad guy. people get upset when they pay what a car is worth. its not like the dealership set the price, the manufacture did. look at it this way, if i went through the line at a store with 500 dollars worth of stuff, and said i only want to pay 300 for it. what would they say to you. a dealership is one of the only places you car negotiate price. NOW if you payed over retail value for the car, im sorry. they did do you wrong and makes alot of good people look bad. people like to think that salesman make all type of money, when people come in and make deals for invoice the salesman in my case would make 100 dollars. so if they sale 15 cars that month( which is way above average) they would make 1500 dollars that month before tax. am i the upset one here, no. just please read my post, i didnt give you bad advice.
"If the dealership was not making money on this deal in one way or another, I guaruntee they wouldn't make the deal. Whether it is for performance bonuses, quota's, or whatever, the dealership comes out ahead in the end for selling cars"
thats your qoute, this is not always true. if you see an add in the paper for a car, most likely on a new cars its a "loser".the vehical is priced down so low, that the dealership will lose money, but its to get people into the dealership.but people like yourself think that dealerships are non profit orgs. what is it so bad that they would like to make profit? but in your case, the dealer made no profit, the only this it did was move a unit. something came to my mind just this second. one reason you got back of invoice, is maybe they had incentives going on at that time. right now there are none on the 350z, but maybe they did then.
what is gettin taken advantage of? what did this dealership do to you? did you pay MSRP which is the suggested retail value of the vehical set by the manufacture? oh gosh the dealership is such a bad guy. people get upset when they pay what a car is worth. its not like the dealership set the price, the manufacture did. look at it this way, if i went through the line at a store with 500 dollars worth of stuff, and said i only want to pay 300 for it. what would they say to you. a dealership is one of the only places you car negotiate price. NOW if you payed over retail value for the car, im sorry. they did do you wrong and makes alot of good people look bad. people like to think that salesman make all type of money, when people come in and make deals for invoice the salesman in my case would make 100 dollars. so if they sale 15 cars that month( which is way above average) they would make 1500 dollars that month before tax. am i the upset one here, no. just please read my post, i didnt give you bad advice.
I will respond to your post, but looking through the rest of your posts shows me that one of three things is going on:
ONE: You are very inexperienced and naiive if you don't think that salespeople will sell you a car for as much as they think they can get out of you.
TWO: That you are purposely acting like the above sort of thing doesn't happen in order to protect the integrity of your job.
THREE: You are not a sales person, but a troll just trying to get attention.
any way you slice it, it doesn't bode well for people who are buying cars and do not prepare.
To respond to your thread:
The invoice price is $37,253 for a 2005 GRAND TOURING Roadster, Manual transmission, with ALL standard options except Navigation. The MSRP for this car is:$40,310. With tax and license and a 5 yr / 100k Premium warranty(with no deductable) comes out to about 47k+
I paid 41k even, out the door. (($36,500 base + tax + License + 5yr/100k premium warranty, (which I got below invoice as well).
Following your "advice", I would have paid $500 over invoice for a base cost of $37,753 and an out the door cost of around 43.5K.
I saved an additional $6,000 off of MSRP and $2,500 off of your method. Which one do you think people would prefer?
BTW, if you are not sure what the GRAND TOURING model is, then maybe you should study your product better.
Your comment about me thinking that dealerships are "non-profit" orgs is laughable. Of course I know dealerships are for profit, that is why they try to sell you a car for as much as they can. Thanks for helping me prove my point.
There were no incentives going on at the time I purchased my vehicle. That is to say there were no manufacturer to dealer incentives or delaer to consumer incentives. None of any kind, if there were i would have gotten the car cheaper...
The dealership I was screwed at was Bob lewis VW on Capitol Expressway. i was sold a used "factory certified" 1996 VW Jetta GLS for a little over 19k sticker and another 5k in misc charges. That's right, 24k for a used Jetta that they "forgot" to tell me was repo'd and was involved in an accident.
Anyone besides Bryon think that the dealer took care of me? Think that the dealer was concerned with my financial welfare and took a couple thousand off the top because he knew the price was too high?
You as the consumer have the right to set the price in which you wish to pay for goods. If you do not want to pay the price that people are charging, you have the right not to buy it. If the proprieter of a business cannot sell goods at the price you demand, they have a right to refuse to sell to you.
Don't listen to Bryon try to sell you that you should be "honorable" by paying more than you have to, it is after all, all about the money. how much do you want left over? Care to have the 6k that someone paid for the MSRP value or the 2.5k left over from Bryon advice?
What could I do with 2.5-6k in my pocket.....
08-18-2005, 03:55 PM
#14
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Thread Starter
Originally Posted by HyperSprite
The first thing I did was figure out how much I could spend on a car, including insurance, and still live the way I wanted to live. Then I went on to look for a car at or below that price range. Buying a car outside of your financial means is the number one way to get afflicted with buyers remorse and take all the fun out a new car.
I actually bought my car entirely over the Internet over email with the dealership in Santa Cruz and one day, there was a new Z in the driveway I paid a little more than invoice but having a 0 pressure experience, getting everything exactly the way I wanted including color and not having to run around was worth it to me.
Chris
I actually bought my car entirely over the Internet over email with the dealership in Santa Cruz and one day, there was a new Z in the driveway
I paid a little more than invoice but having a 0 pressure experience, getting everything exactly the way I wanted including color and not having to run around was worth it to me. Chris
I did everything but test driving and filling out the paperwork online(aside from my visit to see if the local dealership would be better).
Nice work.
BTW, what dealership do you work at Bryon?
08-18-2005, 08:03 PM
#15
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well, im acting like a sales person, and a troll. so three lines is all i give you. all i have to say is that if youd like to get a great buying experience just ask me. oh and internet guys are paid pretty much the same. im very sorry that they took advantage over you with the VW. if you will please refer to my statement on second statement. the best price is invoice, or back of.. you got back of invoice, and im very happy for you. it honestly doesnt upset me, im just glad your haqppy with what you have. i hope all of your buying experiences are as nice as the one you had with the z.
oh worried about where i work at? do you want to test drive something?
oh worried about where i work at? do you want to test drive something?
08-19-2005, 07:06 AM
#19
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Thread Starter
Originally Posted by bryon617
well, im acting like a sales person, and a troll. so three lines is all i give you. all i have to say is that if youd like to get a great buying experience just ask me. oh and internet guys are paid pretty much the same. im very sorry that they took advantage over you with the VW. if you will please refer to my statement on second statement. the best price is invoice, or back of.. you got back of invoice, and im very happy for you. it honestly doesnt upset me, im just glad your haqppy with what you have. i hope all of your buying experiences are as nice as the one you had with the z.
oh worried about where i work at? do you want to test drive something?
oh worried about where i work at? do you want to test drive something?
I was asking where you worked because I wasn't sure if you actually worked at a dealership. Telling everyone where you worked would go a long way to establishing credibility, that's all.
This post is really about helping each other out, not bickering. If you are here to add to that idea, then I welcome any corrections or constructive criticism.
BTW, the misc charges were the bogus security charge for the insurance mandated security system for the lot, the overpriced extended warranty, and tax, lic etc...
08-19-2005, 07:23 AM
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oh i work at vacaville nissan. yea that extended warranty stuff. ive had cars with that extended warranty, and it seems that no matter what breaks on it, its not covered lol. i was really sorry to hear about that vw experience.anyway off to work, dang friday meetings.