Since TrueCar didn't work very well for me--no specific price from any dealer--I'll be doing my own negotiating. It seems the Prius c Two in super-white I want is not very popular among suburban- Detroit dealers. (However, I've only communicated with 2 dealers so far.) Let's say they locate one at a dealer in Ann Arbor--over 50 miles away. Should I expect them to charge me for the transfer? Would they likely hire a special auto-hauling truck (surely expensive)? Or do you think they'd let me go out there (my friend driving me) and bring the car back myself, if I offered to pay a healthy deposit? (I'd like to believe, "You can negotiate anything.") I've never bought a new car before.
You should negotiate directly with the dealer in Ann Arbor. I bought my car from a dealer 50 miles away. I negotiated the price by email and phone, gave them a $500 credit card deposit over the phone, emailed the paperwork they needed, and picked up the car a couple of days later.
I checked inventory at cars.com - here's all the Cs within 150 miles of Detroit. You can also check Auto Trader and Edmunds. I don't know why, but Auto Trader is showing many more results than the other sites. Modify the search as needed to get the trim level and color you're looking for.
My C was destined for a dealership in Alabama. My dealership located it and it was not presold. So they asked the Alabama dealership if they could do a trade. I picked up the C four days later at my local dealership. No charge for transfer etc.
Not a C but it still should apply... my hatchback was located at a dealership about 50 miles away. My dealer traded another car for it. My sales guy drove the other car down, picked up my car, and drove it back. No charge.
I believe it depends on the dealer and the margin they are trying to maintain, as well as their relationaships with other dealers. One dealer I spoke to said that if they had to bring it from another dealer, I would be charged for the driver and mileage. Another dealer (the one I actually got the care from) said only that he had arranged a swap, and they drove it from the other dealer down to pick up the one they are taking (110 miles) - no charge.
