Ask a Car Salesman Thread

[gldman]

Just so I understand, do you mean just signing the lease contract or driving the car. Thanks.

[gniknave]

Technically it's both. But it's up to you if you let someone under 18 drive the car, but if there's an incident, I'm not sure what would happen.

[RicoOnTheRocks]

We just got a Versa SL, CVT with Mats and Splash Guards for 16,350 total (that figure includes tax, titles...etc.) did we get a good price? MSRP was 16425, their offer after a minimal amount of number games was 15335.... seemed like a pretty good price for an sl with the cvt.

thoughts?

[gniknave]

We just got a Versa SL, CVT with Mats and Splash Guards for 16,350 total (that figure includes tax, titles...etc.) did we get a good price? MSRP was 16425, their offer after a minimal amount of number games was 15335.... seemed like a pretty good price for an sl with the cvt.

thoughts?

I'm not anybody to say whether you got a good deal or not. If it's the car you wanted, with the equipment you wanted, and you're satisfied with it, and you did business with the person that treated you the best, then I don't see any reason why you couldn't have gotten a good deal.

A good deal doesn't mean the best price. A good deal is working with an honest salesperson, a professional sales management staff, meeting the people that will be servicing your car, and them having the car you want. If price is all it's about, you're going to overlook everything else and probably lose out on something else.

[Snicewicz]

Im looking to buy the new 2007 G35 Sport Sedan with minimal features. Do you think that I would be able to get the price down near around invoice?

[gniknave]

Im looking to buy the new 2007 G35 Sport Sedan with minimal features. Do you think that I would be able to get the price down near around invoice?

No. The best I've heard of is in the Chicago area where dealers are doing nearly $800 over invoice. This is because there's 7 dealers within 40 miles of each other out there. Out of curiosity, why does buying the car around invoice matter so much to you?

[nuQ]

No. The best I've heard of is in the Chicago area where dealers are doing nearly $800 over invoice. This is because there's 7 dealers within 40 miles of each other out there. Out of curiosity, why does buying the car around invoice matter so much to you?

ummm, so the buyer pays less for the car??!! and, if you are trying to buy a slow moving model, i've seen exactly invoice or even below. the dealership still can make money on the holdback (or at least blow a unit off the lot).

[frapjap]

Not all dealerships are alike. About 60% of the ones I have dealt with will play with the numbers of the trade-in vs. car price to increase their profit margin which results in me eventually paying more for the car. Yes, I fully expect the dealership to make a profit. I have just noticed that I have more pull when I have hammered out a price then work the trade-in afterward. IMO, it is pretty simple if the vehicle is not in a reverse-equity situation. Trade-in value - remainder owed = reduction in car price. The dealer can then resale the car at a profit as well after doing a simple detail and cleanup.

Having a high 700 FICA and being pre-approved for purchasing just about any vehicle I want gives me a lot of leverage and I will simply walk out if I don't like what I see. My wife is even worse and is probably a dealers worse nightmare.

Similar situatuon, and A question that has been burning in my head for a long time: Yes, I understand that it does cost money to make repairs, detail, and inspect a trade in car.

However, I have a hard time understanding why the left over equity is attached to my new car financing when the dealer will make far more profit on my trade in, and I paid them to do it!

This is my case: We have an 04 Focus hatch, top model. We aren't going for a car beyond what we can pay for- just a run of the mill, basically equipped Mazda3. We are not upside down on the current car, in fact, we're ahead by a grand, and the pay off is less than $4,000. On the used lot, there is a very, very similar car to our trade in that has more miles, less equipped, and is selling for $9995.

When hammering out details, I get a decent number on the Mazda. However, I'm told that my car isn't worth more than 3-4 grand. Pardon? You have a car, same year, model, more miles, and less equipped for 9k. How can this be? The salesman will then get into- well demand isn't good. Logic tells me otherwise, considering I4's are selling well because of gasoline prices and they have few new Focus or Mazda 3's available- and the used prices around town. After 'playing with the numbers' with the financing guy, they can roll $1,000 of 'negative equity' into my new loan. I was NEVER upside down!!!

I then let the guy know (politely) that I am paying them to take a car from me that they are going to sell for much, much more than the three thousand dollars they bought it from me from what I owed- wholesale or on their own lot, we can all be happy. Furthermore, if they sell it wholesale, they don't even have to clean it up and spend that "5k difference" servicing the car. The last time I pointed this out, the salesperson said that there was someone who just put a hold on the SAME car I wanted and they were probably going to buy it. I shook his hand, we walked away.

Anyway, can either of you guys explain why this wasn't a fair deal? Is it because there is some less educated what WILL buy the Mazda regardless of what they owe and won't think it out? The way I see it, is the sales person has already invested a lot of time in me, why would they not go and seal the deal?

[AMassaro]

i agreed on a 2 yr lease with my local dealer for a M45 Sport w/ Tech. Pkg., Adv. Tech. Pkg., and the Areo kit (AK1). He did not have a car so he has to locate one. Now he can't find one in either the 2 color options i gave him. My questions are:1 - Is it really that hard to find one?2 - How long would it take to order one? 3 - He may have found one without the Aero kit. How much is a reasonable deduct in monthly payment for no Aero kit?

[gniknave]

i agreed on a 2 yr lease with my local dealer for a M45 Sport w/ Tech. Pkg., Adv. Tech. Pkg., and the Areo kit (AK1). He did not have a car so he has to locate one. Now he can't find one in either the 2 color options i gave him. My questions are:1 - Is it really that hard to find one?2 - How long would it take to order one? 3 - He may have found one without the Aero kit. How much is a reasonable deduct in monthly payment for no Aero kit?

1 - Yes it can be that hard. Infiniti doesn't build M45's in high numbers as it is. M45's with Sport & Tech AND the Aero Kit are even harder to come by.

2 - You may want to ask the dealer that question. There are certain times dealers can place orders. It can take 3-5 months sometimes.

3 - A reasonable deduct may be $10-20 per month (sort of guessing). I think $10 is the more likely number. I'd just go for the one without the kit, unless you don't mind waiting another 3-5 months that is.

What color do you want? What colors can that dealer get you? I have an M45 Sport/Tech sitting right in front of me but without the Aero Kit.

[AMassaro]

they found my car this weekend. my first choice was twilight blue w/ stone interior (which they found) and second choice was black on black. They found the car with all the options and it had 1 more - the trunk mat. i pick it up tomorrow. thanks for your help.

[gniknave]

they found my car this weekend. my first choice was twilight blue w/ stone interior (which they found) and second choice was black on black. They found the car with all the options and it had 1 more - the trunk mat. i pick it up tomorrow. thanks for your help.

Congrats! Be sure to keep hanging around here on NICO. Be sure to post some pics of it in the M35/M45 forum when you get it!

[MattB]

Similar situatuon, and A question that has been burning in my head for a long time: Yes, I understand that it does cost money to make repairs, detail, and inspect a trade in car.

However, I have a hard time understanding why the left over equity is attached to my new car financing when the dealer will make far more profit on my trade in, and I paid them to do it!

This is my case: We have an 04 Focus hatch, top model. We aren't going for a car beyond what we can pay for- just a run of the mill, basically equipped Mazda3. We are not upside down on the current car, in fact, we're ahead by a grand, and the pay off is less than $4,000. On the used lot, there is a very, very similar car to our trade in that has more miles, less equipped, and is selling for $9995.

When hammering out details, I get a decent number on the Mazda. However, I'm told that my car isn't worth more than 3-4 grand. Pardon? You have a car, same year, model, more miles, and less equipped for 9k. How can this be? The salesman will then get into- well demand isn't good. Logic tells me otherwise, considering I4's are selling well because of gasoline prices and they have few new Focus or Mazda 3's available- and the used prices around town. After 'playing with the numbers' with the financing guy, they can roll $1,000 of 'negative equity' into my new loan. I was NEVER upside down!!!

I then let the guy know (politely) that I am paying them to take a car from me that they are going to sell for much, much more than the three thousand dollars they bought it from me from what I owed- wholesale or on their own lot, we can all be happy. Furthermore, if they sell it wholesale, they don't even have to clean it up and spend that "5k difference" servicing the car. The last time I pointed this out, the salesperson said that there was someone who just put a hold on the SAME car I wanted and they were probably going to buy it. I shook his hand, we walked away.

Anyway, can either of you guys explain why this wasn't a fair deal? Is it because there is some less educated what WILL buy the Mazda regardless of what they owe and won't think it out? The way I see it, is the sales person has already invested a lot of time in me, why would they not go and seal the deal?

What number are you using to determine your level of equity in your trade? KBB or Edmunds TRADE-IN values may give a ball-park (not retail, not private sale) of what the car is worth but in reality market conditions can affect the value but not be accounted for by these sources. On a dealer's lot, the sticker price you see is a retail price. The price you get on a trade in is going to be a wholesale price. And yes, this number can differ by a large amount. Domestic cars rarely hold their value well, and at wholesale they may not make money on it. Each car is different, and the other Focus on their lot may be high priced for any number of reasons. Try to get more for your car and don't let them low-ball you on the tradein value, but don't expect anywhere close to retail value.

As far as the demand argument, the Focus tends to be a hit or miss car. With the right options and the right color they do very well, but in some cases they really aren't in demand.

Overall my take is that they may be trying to lowball you on your trade, so shop around and see what other dealers will give you or try selling it privately.

[thomasjamal]

Dude, if you haven't already closed this deal take your Focus to Carmax and get a quote!

Also keep in mind that stickerprices on used cars usually have huge margins. Demand may actually be low for that car and the one on the lot may have been there for months.

Also remember to check trade-in value on as many websites as you can to try to get a reasonable range.

[audtatious]

So, when is the best time to hit dealerships up for the best deals? I hear "end of year" and "end of March".

[frapjap]

So, when is the best time to hit dealerships up for the best deals? I hear "end of year" and "end of March".

Definitely a good question! Another though: is the time when they advertise the commercials for 'end of year deal' etc really the best time, or another gimick?

[gniknave]

The best time to visit a dealership if you're looking to finance is whenever they advertise low interest rate specials. That's typically between May and December. If you're a cash buyer, it really doesn't matter when you go because the deal won't change much for you unless the car you're looking for has dealer cash back or something of that sort that allows for a bigger discount.

[thomasjamal]

Another great thing to do is to go earlier in the year and look for leftover inventory from the previous year. The later in the year it gets the larger the rebates on previous year model cars are UP TO A POINT. If you wait to late the dealer looses it's rebates. (when I was selling Mazdas in 2004 there were some 2003 models trucks left with over $5000 in rebates while 2004s had $2000 in rebates.)

It's also true that the end of the month and year are good times. At the end of the month salesmen are being pressured like crazy to make quotas and sales managers are likely to accept a deal on the 30th that they won't on the 5th.

If you go at the end of the year try to find the 2nd or 3rd largest selling dealership in your area. Chances are they are trying to make it to number 1 and will sometimes make some crazy deals to try to claw their way to the top. (Our Mazda dealership was usually 3rd in Atlanta and would just about give away and RX8 if it would make us #1 for the month.)

Another thing to try is a brand new dealership. Sometimes new dealership will literally loose money on every car they sell to get an established foothold on the market. (When the dealership I worked at started selling Kias they were literally losing thousands of dollars on cars for a few months. Since Kia's kick backs and dealer rebates are based on volume they had to build up to a certain number of car sales no matter how they did it. Until they sold enough to get the rebates they couldn't make any profit so they were willing to throw money away for a couple months first.)

[audtatious]

"Left over" '06 models is always a possibility. We only have one Infiniti dealer here that I am aware of, so no noobs and really no competition. I could always hit Cincy or visit Evan in Indy to fight for a deal

[frapjap]

How about Volk's? Are they REALLY priced as low as the dealer can go?

[thomasjamal]

Also don't forget to check carsdirect.com. You can check prices for various cities that way. You may find that a certain city has lower prices because of competition, etc and I can pretty much guarantee that if you call dealerships they will beat the carsdirect price.

[Kanmuri86]

hey guys, this my first post on Nico, but i have read as much as i can about the 240sx and such. But my question is.. I have found a local Used 1990 240sx. the price for the car is 2,300. which i think is pretty cheap. the car has 120,000 miles and the paint is pretty bad. there is also a pretty big dent in the driver side pillar on the car. and the windshield is also cracked.

ive done as much research as i can do to find out how much this car is really worth. the KBB vaule from a private seller was 1600. which would be perfect for me. as i am 16 and only have a part time job.

the reason this 1,600 is so good. is because my current car. a 1986 toyota camry, supposedly has a trade in vaule of 975. but the camry, only has 73k miles. no dents. the paint is fine. the interior is clean. the radio works. its in very good condition. and the mpg is very high.

so what im asking is. Do you guys think, that the seller will possibly trade me the car, just for my car. Or bring him down to around 1600, and then offer the trade for the camry. thus bringing down my purchase to around 300-400 dollars.

[frapjap]

It is going to be rough for you to get the owner to trade you unless he really wants an old Camry- no offense. If I were you I might try going to see the car, giving him a deposit to get it off the market, selling yours on the Ebay and then paying for the rest when you get your cash.

Or, just ask. Worst he can say is, "No."

[gniknave]

It is going to be rough for you to get the owner to trade you unless he really wants an old Camry- no offense. If I were you I might try going to see the car, giving him a deposit to get it off the market, selling yours on the Ebay and then paying for the rest when you get your cash.

Or, just ask. Worst he can say is, "No."

I second that.

[Kanmuri86]

It is going to be rough for you to get the owner to trade you unless he really wants an old Camry- no offense. If I were you I might try going to see the car, giving him a deposit to get it off the market, selling yours on the Ebay and then paying for the rest when you get your cash.

Or, just ask. Worst he can say is, "No."

ok. so what your suggesting is that i ask him about the trade, if he decides against it, ill have a deposit ready to make sure no one else buys the car, while i sale my car and build up some more money to buy it ?

sounds great to me. thanks alot !

edit- the 240sx is on a used car lot. its not a private seller. he has about 6 more cars on the lot. idk if this changes the situation or not.

edit 2- ive just had wisdom teeth surgery. so im out of school for a while. so ive been researching all day, and convincing my mom. lol. i went o the NADA site

http://www.nadaguides.com/Used...0-0-0

and they say 1,400 for the car.

they also say 1,900 for my car??

http://www.nadaguides.com/defa...da=-1

another problem im faced with. is that my grandmother gave me the camry, so not only does my mom see the 240 as ugly and not a good car. she thinks it is disrespectful to trade in a car that was given to me. but she dosnt understand how bad i want the 240. so idk. its frustrating. i wish she would pay the guy 600 to hold it. while we get the car checked out by our mechanic. and then let me trade in the camry for it, and it be a done deal. but thats not life.

Modified by Kanmuri86 at 8:04 PM 3/19/2007
Modified by Kanmuri86 at 8:20 PM 3/19/2007

[thomasjamal]

another problem im faced with. is that my grandmother gave me the camry, so not only does my mom see the 240 as ugly and not a good car. she thinks it is disrespectful to trade in a car that was given to me. but she dosnt understand how bad i want the 240. so idk. its frustrating. i wish she would pay the guy 600 to hold it. while we get the car checked out by our mechanic. and then let me trade in the camry for it, and it be a done deal. but thats not life.

I would never, in a million years, give money to a used car lot (that is, not a reputable dealer associated with a major auto company) unless I was driving away in a car.

As a former car salesman, I just don't trust those places as far as I could throw my 240.

[BoostinIX]

Fellow former dealer checking in. Our store was Chevrolet/Cadillac but our sister stores had Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Pontiac Buick, Jeep, Dodge, and Chrysler. Anyone got questions on these pm me. :P

[grmreapr]

what can you guys tell me about something called balloon payments my girl has that now with her mazda 6 something about financing half the car for so many years and if she likes it she can finance the rest or get a new one still kind of confuses me cause I have a 02 protege with 90,000 miles worth about 4-5 grand depending on book and I only owe 2 grand so I think im in equity and want to get something new but nothing crazy anyone got a price range thats good to look at i pay around 250 a month now so anything around or lower would be good.

[thomasjamal]

what can you guys tell me about something called balloon payments my girl has that now with her mazda 6 something about financing half the car for so many years and if she likes it she can finance the rest or get a new one still kind of confuses me cause I have a 02 protege with 90,000 miles worth about 4-5 grand depending on book and I only owe 2 grand so I think im in equity and want to get something new but nothing crazy anyone got a price range thats good to look at i pay around 250 a month now so anything around or lower would be good.

Balloon payments are usually bad. When the small normal payments are done you usually owe one huge payment at the end. If you don't have the cash for the payment you are screwed. And if you do the math you are WAY overpaying. The balloon payment is often close to the full price of the car. It's almost like leasing the car for 3 or 5 years and then having to buy it at full price as if it were new at the end.

As for your new car, unless you're ready to put a sizeable chunk down you're going to have a hard time getting a new car at $250 a month (unless you want a kia rio). A general rule for estimating is that with decent credit your payment is about 1/50 of the price.

So for a $15000 car you can expect a payment around $300 a month. This is just general guideline but it helps you to be realistic. So for $250 you're looking at a $14000 car after your trade in. That's a pretty limited group of new cars.

[redalert9]

Hello

I'm going to buy my first car and am not an expert for cars. When I first looked at the space and equips for Versa sedan, I was really satisfied. So I went down to a dealer and told him that I want a 07 Versa 1.8 S with Power and ABS. The MSRP would be somewhere around 15k. He told me he would sell it to me for 14100, and with tax and plate the total would be 15175. I was quite happy about that. But after I read some of the posts in this forum about recalls and failures, I'm not sure whether 1st year's Versa would be that reliable and worth it. Does anyone think I can probably go to another dealer and ask a lower price ? Or think that with that money I have I should just get a different car. Any suggestions/opinions are welcome.Thanks