Negotiating car purchase over email?

[aurora]

I've actually never tried it, but my friend did with Subaru in a location where they're everywhere and didn't have much luck. I guess maybe the dealers felt like they didn't need to since everyone wanted one? I guess it might be brand-specific.

[atarianna]

First I went to Truecar and USAA to see what a good price would be, then used those services to contact the dealer. All dealers replied and I played one off the other until I had the price I wanted.

When I went in, I just had to give a check and grab my keys. Easy peasy.

[gt7301b]

I got similar responses and I just emailed them back telling them that I wouldn't be buying a car from them if they didn't give me a quote over email. I also used Consumer Reports and Costco's car buying service to get a baseline price.

I did finalize my purchase in the dealership, but I had received quotes from ~ a half dozen dealers and the price we agreed on in the dealership was ~ 1,000 better than anything I got over email.

[ECB]

We had gone to one local dealership first and got the process started, so to speak. Once we got a working price there, DH looked around and emailed a few other dealerships that weren't quite as close. One definitely worked w/ DH, but the other started to but then was like "are you going to just use these quotes to get a better price elsehwere?". Dh was like "Um, yeah, but if YOU give me the best price, we'll come to you....". That's kind of how it works!

We ended up going w the local dealership after all!

[shaynaatl]

Keep in mind Truecar.com is not the great tool it was once. Dealers were complaining about having to sell for very low prices, so Truecar changed their business model in recent years in order to keep dealers as their clients. Their prices are now much more fair to the dealers. So ideally you'd want to go below Truecar to get a great deal.

[Deleted]

Apr 24, 2014 8:23:37 GMT -5 shaynaatl said:

Keep in mind Truecar.com is not the great tool it was once. Dealers were complaining about having to sell for very low prices, so Truecar changed their business model in recent years in order to keep dealers as their clients. Their prices are now much more fair to the dealers. So ideally you'd want to go below Truecar to get a great deal.

This. I was pricing out TrueCar yesterday and the "best deal" price was higher than what we were quoted at our preferred dealership for the car we want by like $700.

[pamela]

You need to have specifics. What model plus upgrades and is it something the dealer has in stock. If they have to order it, you really lose negotiating power.

[imojoebunny]

Have you tried Autotrader? I used autotrader and overstock.com to get the best price on a car about 3 years ago. I got bids from a number of dealers, The one with the best price was two hundred miles away. I called a local dealer that had the car, and talked to them and the dealer where I test driven. One matched the price. It was cheaper than anything else I could find by $700.

[mrst2]

All the dealers we worked with had an internet sales person and that's the person we dealt with. One dealer was rude and basically laughed at the quote we got from the USAA car buying service. The other two were great. We emailed them what we were looking for, asked what they had in stock, eventually spoke on the phone, emailed a bit more to negotiate, and then we went it and signed the paperwork.

[glynn]

I have started the process by e-mail but they want you to call or come by in person.

[elcjet]

I'm sort of going through this right now.  I am finding that most of the internet sales managers will actually give you some OK prices online, but they are trying to lure you in to the dealership.  I basically tell them, "well, that's a little more than I was hoping to pay so I guess I'll have to wait, but thanks for your help!" and then they always come back with, "well, I can give you X more for your trade and do this for you."  I basically don't want them to think I'm playing multiple dealers and fishing for the best price, because I am not sure they are taking the bait on that anymore. My friend is an internet sales guy at a Toyota dealership, though, and he told me if I wanted the lowest price on a car at the start, I should email about it and he could quote me below invoice.  That was pretty compelling.

I seriously think sometimes it helps to know what your bottom line numbers are right off the bat.  Read the internet forums for your intended car and see what others are paying in your area and under what terms.  Walk into a dealership.  Tell them your terms.  Then leave.  We did this with my husband's Jeep -- I didn't want him to get it so when they wouldn't budge on price and financing, I was all, "get me out of this place NOW!" and we were walking out the door when the manager yelled out, "you know, I am not running a used car lot.  We'll do it."  The sales guy we were working with was totally pissed, but we stole his Jeep.  It was crazy.  

Wow, that response is seriously all over the place.  Sorry!

[zacksbride]

I had a quote from a dealer I went to test drive. I emailed another dealer saying I was interested in xyz car and was hoping to pay x. They emailed me back with a price $500 less than my x amount. I then took email to original dealer and they beat email quote by $500.

[Mushe]

I requested quotes from my area dealers through the TrueCar.com website. MH also did it for me, but for the next metro area. His were better by $500, so I asked the local dealer to match. This was all by email. Our final price landed in the 'excellent deal' range on Truecar.

Hope that helps!

[leshoequeen]

I bought a car last summer and was able to make a deal with one dealer of probably 10-15 I contact via phone and e-mail. I bought from the one dealer who would make the deal this way. We went back and forth for a few days and settled on a price. We did the credit application from home on their website, qualified for 0.9% financing and went to buy the car the next day. We live in a pretty rural area and I wasn't going to buy anything near home and also wasn't going to drive all over timbuctu to price shop. No way.

I did go to one dealership in person who gave me a quote via e-mail. Turns out that was their "get you in the door" quote and they actually wanted thousands more when we arrived. We did not buy there and left a scathing review on yelp.

[leshoequeen]

I bought a car last summer and was able to make a deal with one dealer of probably 10-15 I contact via phone and e-mail. I bought from the one dealer who would make the deal this way. We went back and forth for a few days and settled on a price. We did the credit application from home on their website, qualified for 0.9% financing and went to buy the car the next day. We live in a pretty rural area and I wasn't going to buy anything near home and also wasn't going to drive all over timbuctu to price shop. No way.

I did go to one dealership in person who gave me a quote via e-mail. Turns out that was their "get you in the door" quote and they actually wanted thousands more when we arrived. We did not buy there and left a scathing review on yelp.

[moolarkey]

I did almost all of my negotiation through email for the Honda Accord I bought Dec 30, 2013. I emailed all the Central Ohio Honda dealers and had responses from all of them, some were faster than other. Almost all quoted me a price via email.