Unbelivable!

Go to Dallas and hit up the dealers there. I would say go to NM, but if you go to a place in Texas, obviously all applicable Texas fees are already included - the big city dealerships can use a "stack 'em high, sell 'em cheap" philosophy, so you are bound to get a good deal there.

 

But it still has only one tall building, which makes a little jolke possible.

A friend of mine gave me the finger and said, "Do you know what this is?"

"No," said I.

"It's the Lubbock skyline."

 

I should clarify the markups a bit. I can't give exact numbers because each region is slightly different, but a base II has less markup than a scion. So I wouldn't be expecting any big discounts on II's or III's anytime soon.

And to the poster who said they should take $1,800 below invoice. You sir, are in no danger of buying a car anytime soon. Do you really expect us to take a loss on a car? No games, no BS. I am talking a real loss after all manufacturer to dealer help, not paying for advertising, giving up the finance credit, everything. The dealership would lose money. That isn't going to happen.

 

Is it really fair to charge the customer for advertising? I can understand there are legitimate dealer costs specific to each car, but this doesn't seem like one of them. It's bad enough we have to be constantly bombarded with annoying ads everywhere we go - having to pay for the 'privilege' is simply too much.

 

I know this has been discussed ad naseum here, but advertising is not for a dealer to advertise on TV, radio, paper, etc. It is for the zone to pay for the advertising. Any time you see "Please visit your local Vancouver area dealership for detail" or something like that, that is a regional ad. No way around it. We get charged for it, so it is in the price of the car. If a dealership adds that fee on top of the MSRP, then he is double dipping. That isn't fair.

 

'Ad' nauseum, indeed. Sorry to add to it.

Sure, it's a cost of doing business that ultimately has to be recouped from sales. But not twice - thanks for a dealer's view.

 

No sweat Hyo. My "job" here is to give the dealer's point of view, without trying to sound like a typical carsalesperson. Believe me, it is tough to do

 

I paid a little over 23k for my 08 touring package 3 last March. Hope it helps you gain some perspective. It helped immensely to literally call every dealership within 150 miles (in 3 states) and press them on a price over the phone.

 

Jeff, from what I was taught, a "great deal" for a customer is when the negotiated price is roughly 200 to 300 over the actual dealer invoice. Normally, if you can get the car for around three to five hundred dollars over their true cost, I reckon that is pretty fair.

Where this discussion gets dodgy is if you are trading in a car. I was taught to negotiate the trade separately from the price paid for the car.

 

Yea, I was on campus late last week and it was pretty pathetic. I swear that whoever it is that plans construction on campus and near campus needs to be horsewhipped.

It's understandable to prefer the freeways to get around especially when school is in session. I don't mind the loop in the morning, but it gets a little too congested and fast in the afternoon, so I prefer to stay on surface streets depending on where I am going. The trick is to just find a good surface street that has a light cycle that is either synchronized or at least predictable (which often changes with the construction ). I've noticed that some lights have indeed gotten worse (i.e. deliberately offset) although some sections are more synchronized than they use to be. Staying on the streets (especially for my work commute) usually makes for a more relaxed drive as I get outside of town, so sometimes that is worth the extra couple of minutes it might take to get to work.

Good luck shopping and let us know how it works out!

 

A lot of "experts" tell you to negotiate the trade seperate from the price of the new car. To be truthful, 90% of all people that buy a new car will trade something in. So when you pull into the lot, in a car that is 4-5 years old, and tell me you aren't trading, I can bet the odds that you will be "throwing in the trade" at a later time and hold a different set of numbers based on how you are reacting The reason they say to hold on your trade is so you can get a real figure on the new car and the trade in. Most dealerships will just tell you exactly what you are getting for your trade if you just ask. Here are the numbers to show you:

Deal #1:
25,000 msrp
15,000 KBB retail (what you say your car is worth)
10,000 difference.

Deal #2:
23,000 selling price
13,000 trade (what we really think it is worth)
10,000 Difference.

Using the above examples, people will try to get 23,000 on the new one, and then demand 15,000 for theirs. Well, I am willing to match you in pricing, sort of. If you demand retail, then it is only fair that I get retail. If you want wholesale pricing on my car, then I want wholesale pricing on your car. Either way, it comes out to the same figure in the end.

Throughout this post, I have used the terms "you" and "me". I'm not speficially discuss you and me per se. Just using us as an example. So I am in no way trying to say that you "demand" anything.

 

Interesting since I've never traded a car in and have now purchased four new. The salesperson always starts with "nice car, clean too", to which I respond, "hands off, I'm keeping it."

Then again, the sales people that have actually made the sale never really bothered with the trade stuff.

Then again, trading never made sense to me, I make more off of selling it myself than what any dealer would be likely to really give me.

 

What Jabber says is dead on.A buyer will NEVER, NEVER,NEVER outwit, out talk or outhorse trade a car dealer.How could they-dealers do this for a living, and they are good at it..
The best strategy is to come in with the price you want to pay-including your trade- and stick to it(bargain-start lower- of course, but it will be clear in about 1/2 hour if they will sell for your price). If they can't/won't just politely thank them and leave.Try another dealer etc. If no one will meet your price-your price is wrong.

Dealers are better at this than you are.You won't beat them at their own game-NEVER. There won't be any "great deals" on the new Prius for a while.Not with gas on the rise, and the economy improving.Anyone who says they got a great deal is usually leaving something out-financing, or trade in.No one will buy one for Invoice-not with $2.60 gas. A good deal now will be several hundred($600) under true MSRP+delivery.All the interest generated by this site drives up the price.Early buyers pay more-simple as that.I doubt that they will get lucky like some 2004 buyers did with the gas spike and shortage keeping the prices up.There are a lot more high FE cars now-Yaris/Fit/HCH/Insight/Fusion/Altima/Fit Hybrid/Versa etc.

If you want a better price just wait a year or so.
Charlie