Help me negotiate

[derp]

Walk in and say exactly what you've said here. Be prepared to walk away if they say no. Don't budge. Be confident.

[pagas]

I like negotiating for cars over email. It is so much easier. There should be an internet sales manager email address on the website. Good luck!

[lilac05]

Mar 7, 2016 9:48:14 GMT -5 derp said:

Walk in and say exactly what you've said here. Be prepared to walk away if they say no. Don't budge. Be confident.

I think this is the most important part.  Disconnect your feelings about this car.  Unless it's a really rare car, you can easily buy one from somewhere else.  Remind them of that, if needed.  Decide what you want & what you are willing to pay...then find a dealership that will make it happen.

[fuckyourcouch]

Yep, go to the dealership and tell them you've found a better deal at the other dealership, and you're giving them the opportunity to match it.

Be confident.

Do not be afraid to walk away. In fact, be absolutely ready to get up and leave if they balk in any way.

[FastHands]

One thing I found was that cutting through their crap helps them realize you're not here to play games. When they want to say "Ok I'll write this price down here, and then you go ahead and sign it, and then I'll go talk to the manager," I would say "I'm not signing a piece of paper with a price on it. That is meaningless and we both know it. If you need to ask for approval, that's fine, but let's not waste each other's time."

Also, realize that they likely won't give you that deal, given the extras. They're going to counter with, "well we have a lot of extra money in this car, and we can't just give that away, but here's what we can do --" So think ahead of time about what (if anything) you WOULD be willing to pay for them. Build it out online and know what the package costs full price, so they can't say it's worth 10x more, too.

[Bernadine]

I'd just walk in with the other listing and ask if they can match it. If not, bye.

[tripleshot]

Check the prices on truecar and edmunds to make sure it's a good price. You can often negotiate under those prices too. Be blunt and decisive and let them know you're talking to another dealership.

[TR]

I don't think it's realistic to expect them to match the price of the other dealership because it's not the same car, it's clearly worth more. You could say you prefer the gray color so you'd like to buy from B, but you really don't need that package and ask what they can do for you. And know how much more you're willing to pay. And if they can't get to a price you like, go to A.

[shopgirl07]

Yes, just say can you give me this car for x price? If yes, great. If no, say ok and move on. They might very well come back to you after a day or so and give you the price. Walking away is key.

[TR]

Mar 7, 2016 10:14:59 GMT -5 carmenere said:

It's a new car, but my options are somewhat limited since I need it by the end of the month for a trip. Also, we want black interior and the majority of the ones in stock around here are ivory interior.

I can ask them to price match dealership A since it's a decent price, but do I just play dumb about the difference in the upgrade package? I'm totally fine to walk away, the car at dealership A has our name on it, but I figure it can't hurt to see what we can get.

And are these both black interiors? I don't find that playing dumb is usually a good way to negotiate. Just tell them what you want and if they can't do it, you walk. Luckily you have a back-up plan so that makes the walking part easier

[Deleted]

Tell them flat out that you saw the car at dealership B with even more bells and whistles listed at a lower price. Ask them to match it. If they can't - walk away.

[cabbagecabbage]

I negotiated a price match on a new car this year. First, I took the emailed offer from another dealership to the dealership that had the color we wanted. It was the same level of trim package.

First, car salespeople just lie and lie. They told me they would match it just for us even though they lose so much money and whatever. Then they tried to tack on a pricy warrantee and tried to really screw us on the trade in. I had to negotiate each thing piece by piece. Like, I was trading in my old Volvo and they told me it was partially worthless because it had been in an accident once. I knew it was a fender bender before we bought it and it had been looked over by our mechanic prior to our purchase and was in great shape. They acted like by reading the carfax it was a pile of rubble. I just redirected to numbers every time. They'd start arguing they could get my payments down to X and I'd remind them we did not care about the payment but we would not pay more than Y total and wouldn't accept less than Z for the volvo. It took 3 hours of negotiating. I was clear that I was serious and interested but also clear that I would walk easily. It's such a pain. I hate it but you can do it.

First, do your research. Truecar was good because I knew my deal was good but not insane. Definitely research that trim level you want and see what people pay for it. Know your exact limits on price, trade-in, etc. They will act like you're asking for something insane. I had a car max offer on my car as well as two trade in offers from other dealerships, so I knew they were lying there too. I took DH who was my backup. I was the talker and he did the math and popped in a few times. One of the reasons I stayed is because as annoying and shady as our salesman was, he talked to me, the woman, without issue. That's sadly rare.

[sunshineluv]

Look up the car on Truecar.com, and print out the info and show it to the dealership. I used truecar to buy my van, negotiated via email, and had the van delivered to me. I got a great price and never had to go to the dealership, it was glorious.

[zoomzoom]

Mar 7, 2016 10:39:27 GMT -5 cabbagecabbage said:

I negotiated a price match on a new car this year. First, I took the emailed offer from another dealership to the dealership that had the color we wanted. It was the same level of trim package.

First, car salespeople just lie and lie. They told me they would match it just for us even though they lose so much money and whatever. Then they tried to tack on a pricy warrantee and tried to really screw us on the trade in. I had to negotiate each thing piece by piece. Like, I was trading in my old Volvo and they told me it was partially worthless because it had been in an accident once. I knew it was a fender bender before we bought it and it had been looked over by our mechanic prior to our purchase and was in great shape. They acted like by reading the carfax it was a pile of rubble. I just redirected to numbers every time. They'd start arguing they could get my payments down to X and I'd remind them we did not care about the payment but we would not pay more than Y total and wouldn't accept less than Z for the volvo. It took 3 hours of negotiating. I was clear that I was serious and interested but also clear that I would walk easily. It's such a pain. I hate it but you can do it.

First, do your research. Truecar was good because I knew my deal was good but not insane. Definitely research that trim level you want and see what people pay for it. Know your exact limits on price, trade-in, etc. They will act like you're asking for something insane. I had a car max offer on my car as well as two trade in offers from other dealerships, so I knew they were lying there too. I took DH who was my backup. I was the talker and he did the math and popped in a few times. One of the reasons I stayed is because as annoying and shady as our salesman was, he talked to me, the woman, without issue. That's sadly rare.

This is all excellent advice (and the bolded is SO SO true).  I was once told I was stupid for doing so much research by the sales manager- at which point, I stood up, dropped the keys for the test drive on their desk and went back to the second dealership which was giving me a much better deal.  I HATE buying cars.  My H used to be involved in the auto industry so I let him do all this shit.  He knows all the tricks they try to pull and what incentives they have to get cars sold.  

[FastHands]

Mar 7, 2016 10:14:59 GMT -5 carmenere said:

It's a new car, but my options are somewhat limited since I need it by the end of the month for a trip. Also, we want black interior and the majority of the ones in stock around here are ivory interior.

I can ask them to price match dealership A since it's a decent price, but do I just play dumb about the difference in the upgrade package? I'm totally fine to walk away, the car at dealership A has our name on it, but I figure it can't hurt to see what we can get.

Don't play dumb. Honestly, in your shoes, I would be honest. Come with printouts of the other offer. Say, look I'm talking to this dealership about this car for this price. I kind of prefer the interior of your car, but I'm not willing to pay X more for the features that I don't really want.  Then you can go 2 ways -- either say "it's not worth X more for me, but I know you have money in the car, so I'm willing to do Y price [and I would probably go a little lower than what you truly are willing to pay here]. If you can do that price, you get a sale. If not, I'll head back to the other dealership." OR let them give you a number -- say, "I'm not willing to pay X more. What can you do for me?" and see what they come back with.

The fact that you have a lower-trim level price match isn't going to make them give you a great price. If you're willing to give them a *fair* price, they'll play ball.

[soozy87]

Mar 7, 2016 10:06:49 GMT -5 Bernadine said:

I'd just walk in with the other listing and ask if they can match it. If not, bye.

This is what we did, successfully.

[zitiqueen]

www.edmunds.com/car-buying/first-time-new-car-buyer-guide.html

www.edmunds.com/car-buying/10-steps-to-buying-a-new-car.html

[lolalolalola]

Mar 7, 2016 9:53:07 GMT -5 pagas said:

I like negotiating for cars over email. It is so much easier. There should be an internet sales manager email address on the website. Good luck!

I always see that posted on gbcn but our dealers here entirely refuse to provide any info over email.

[lolalolalola]

Mar 7, 2016 11:50:37 GMT -5 soozy87 said:

Mar 7, 2016 10:06:49 GMT -5 Bernadine said:

I'd just walk in with the other listing and ask if they can match it. If not, bye.

This is what we did, successfully.

This is definitely your best bet. Good luck.

And definitely be prepared to walk away!

[moolarkey]

I had one hold my car hostage - I couldn't get them to give my keys back, they taken it for an appraisal - I was in the middle of no where, they kept stalling me to buy even though I'd told them I was not buying that night. I refuse to ever set foot in there again. I about killed H when he bought a new 3500 ram pick up from them.