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Smart Shopper Got a Quick Question for a Car Dealer?
2394 messages, Last post on Nov 03, 2009 at 11:03 AM
You are in the Smart Shopper Forum. Your Hosts are kirstie_h & tidester
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Replying to: oregonboy (Mar 17, 2009 2:02 pm) I did a 100 mile radius search of the 325i coupes in my area. The majority were listed in the mid to high $20k's. Most of them had much higher miles. I'm not aware of many dealers leaving tons of margin in their used vehicles because of the market conditions. They are normally priced to sell. The 25k mile '06 that he found sounds like a nice vehicle and it is certified. I think that the car is worth more and he should raise his offer by at least $1k in anticipation of a bump.
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Replying to: madmanmoo (Mar 17, 2009 2:09 pm)
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Replying to: oregonboy (Mar 17, 2009 2:12 pm) Every customer I had that was concerned about being "fair" and making sure we make profit, always offered crazy lowballe and pitted 10 dealers aginast each other to fight for the sale. I will say it is a nice gesture on the buyer's part though to be concerned about the dealer's profit. We'd need to know the asking prices of these two cars to get a sense if the deal is doable.
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Replying to: tapes (Mar 17, 2009 1:09 pm) if you can afford some fuel mileage penalty, i would ultimately focus on the xi. if you can stay home in bad weather, maybe not so much. the awd and heated seats are required for a vehicle like what you are looking for, if you need to commute every day. i would also check the tires. you will probably need to replace those earlier on the xi, since it has an extra 10k or so, on it. is offer price 'theirs' or 'yours'? |
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Mar 17, 2009 1:16 pm) 
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Replying to: tapes (Mar 17, 2009 4:11 pm) Look, let's face it-- you cannot negotiate if you cannot leave the table, right? Perhaps the numbers you came up with are NOT the "line drawn in the sand" over which you will not cross---but you should figure out what that line is, and if you are presented with the prospect of walking over that line by the dealer, you can leave the table. In today's economy, it is my humble opinion that a dealer will certainly "entertain" the numbers you have posted. "Asking prices are the exercise of your First Amendment Rights, nothing more" (Shiftright, quoted in various obscure websites) If a dealer cannot make a profit on the numbers you posted, then I think they're in a little deep on those CPOs---but they sure have a right to hold out for more $$$. Do what madman did, good idea. Go to autotrader, plug in "advanced search" and scoop up 40-50 local cars with similar miles, then use Autotrader "average price" and see what you get. Keep in mind that these "average" prices are average asking prices. You know, salesmen and appraiser are different. I'm crueler, because I'm theoretically "disinterested" in every car I look at. I don't need my price to reflect any kind of "profit". So that's why you're seeing "relative" opinions. We are both right in the sense that we are not exactly talking about the same thing. |
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Replying to: kirstie_h (Mar 17, 2009 10:38 am) |
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Replying to: boomchek (Mar 17, 2009 2:31 pm) I want to educate myself before I engage in negotiations, so I can present an intelligent, well-informed, offer that is one degree above a low-ball offer . All joking aside, I am pretty naive to this whole thing, but I do not see any reason to pit 10 dealers against each other. The dealerships and professional salespeople have grossly more resources and expertise than I do. So I would much rather have honest and open dialogue with one dealership, and build a long term business relationship with them. In return, I would seek reciprocal honest and open dialogue. The asking prices of the dealers is really where I having difficulty comprehending. I am looking at asking prices of $31K for the 325xi and $26K for the other. Even if the dealer would like to make 5K net profit on the vehicles, does that mean that the dealer already has $26K and $21K in to those CPO's respectively? If so, is that in line with current market conditions?
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Replying to: tapes (Mar 17, 2009 5:19 pm) Asking $26,000 Your Offer Price: $21,500 2006 BMW 325xi (Sedan) Asking $31,000 Offer Price: $23,500 Based on their asking prices, I very highly doubt they'd accept any of your offers. If they're asking $31k for the xi, then chances are they're in it for well over $25k. Very likely as much as $27-$28k. There's no way they'll take $23.5k because a "book" says it's fair. You might have better luck with the the 325i. If it has been sitting on the lot for over 90 days, and it stands them close to what you're offering them, then maybe they'll bump you $1k and do the deal. Every one of us salespeople keep saying, that books are just guides, and dealers are not obligated to go by them. It's also good that you're educated, but sometimes books can lead you astray and you might pass on good deals. Sometimes customers that do that, end up with lower quality vehicles because they looked at price only and not quality. And by lower quality, I mean same make/models they wanted but with detrimental accident history, unsolved warranty issues, and higher levels of wear and tear, or higher mileage. If you don't want to go over your budget then you should look at older or more milead up versions of these cars. Now you wanted to go and make the offer to them. Have you been at the dealership in person? Have you looked at the cars, test driven them, and finalized your decision on one of the two, or are you looking at others as well?
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Replying to: boomchek (Mar 17, 2009 6:31 pm) So if asking is $24771, let's presume they'd bargain 7%, ('they" meaning all the other dealers in the universe who think $24771 is enough)---- so roughly $23,000. So you're $1,500 light in terms of what others seem to be selling comparable CPOs for. (by "comparable" I mean as far as we can tell on paper). So offer $21.5K, if they say no, bump to $23K after whining how broke you are (what's car buying without some drama, right?) and if they still say no, I'd say you keep shopping around, because there are others just like it out. HOWEVER, if it's the perfect car in the perfect color with every option you ever wanted and you love this dealer and you never saw a nicer one and you're feet are tired---well then, pay what you need to get your hearts' desire is my advice. PS: Do you really need AWD? Why are you shopping 2WD and AWD together?
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