I thought I had a decent deal. Then I read the EX Pricing Guidance and my heart sank:No Tech INVoice Base 33,330.00 36,250.00 Cargo 51.00 70.00 NAV 1,853.00 2,150.00 PM 1,853.00 2,150.00 RAC 172.00 200.00 X Bar 208.00 250.00 Splash 114.00 140.00 Tech - - WOD 388.00 450.00 FRT 815.00 815.00 LUX 1,078.00 1,250.00 39,862.00 43,725.00

Locks 99.00 - Holding 175.00 - CostcoNeg 300.00 -

$40,436.00 43,725.00

I thought that 3,900 under MSRP was decent. Then there is a Costco negotiated over invoice amount of 300. Then they do wheel locks 99 and some holding charge 175.

But I see that some of you have actualy walked out with 6,000 under msrp.Oh noooo. I live in NY so tax will be another 2,300.

So my total cost will be 42,736

Yikes am I being taken to the cleaners???

Sorry in the preview it looks like my columns are not lining up I had two one for Invoice and the second for MSRP

But you all can see the bottom line I hope.

The thing is, every situation is different. There always is going to be a guy posting a price better then yours a week after. If you don't take it easy, you may find yourself checking some 'pricing' topics every day just to get another punch :-)

300 over invoice with 175 murky fee seems to be a more or less good deal if you also are getting 0 APR financing for 72 months. If you don't take financing, you can get another $4k (up to) since this seems to be the current factory-authorized deal.

I took $500 over invoice for fully-loaded model and 0% since I was financing it anyways and 0% in inflation times looks very cool. I live in WA where tax for new cars is almost 10% and I also got the Infinity extended warranty (I know, I know...) for $2k and protective film on front/lights/mirrors/door edges for 1k so my total is kind of close to 50k :-) Gulp.

But then, if I really wanted the best possible deal, I know I would have to work on it for some time - researching, talking with several dealerships, leaving them my number for times they are desperately need a sale, etc. Maybe next time I will... :-)

Until Sept 2nd, you should be able to walk out with either 1) 0% financing and dealer invoice, or 2) $3,000 under invoice. I had this offered to me by multiple dealers and finally pulled the trigger on option #1 and below invoice pricing.

If you don't take the 0% (option #2), the dealer gets $4,000 cash back and makes a profit of $1,000 plus. The PLUS number is what I don't know much about.

If you take the 0% the dealer makes money on the holdback, plus whatever else is out there (I am not sure).

IMO, your best bet is to wait until the end of the month. If the car cannot sell with this massive incentive, imagine what the sales figures will do when it goes away. I think all the 08s have been delivered. The 09s are on their way. I was told that Infiniti has never offered 0% before.

Anyway, the car is amazingly fun with all the options. Good luck!

Not to make you feel bad but I got a total of 7,762 off of MSRP with the $4k dealer cash and the new $1,000 rebate. Of couse I didn't get the 0% but I figered it was better to take the rebates. I plan on paying it off quicker anyway.

Hello all,

Thanks for all of the info. Info is power.

I went back and just simply stated that I know people are getting better deals. And that I felt he was not doing the best that he could, well after speaking directly with the GM I took delivery of the EX for over a $1,000 less.

Still not the killer deals that some of you got, but I HATE haggling. I love shopping, like most women; Only exception is for a car. Too many unknowns in the car pricing business. I was starting to really stress and almost gave up on the whole thing.

I did not qualify for the customer loyalty and I wanted the Zero percent financing. So that was like 4-5M back, that I did not opt for.

I did want to stay with this dealership. It is the only one in my county and they have loyal customers that have been with them for decades.

I actually had to go to service the next day, one of my keys needed to be reprogrammed and they were so nice and accomodating. I know I am new in the relationship, but so far it has been a really positive indroduction into their "Family".

EX55 wrote:Until Sept 2nd, you should be able to walk out with either 1) 0% financing and dealer invoice, or 2) $3,000 under invoice. I had this offered to me by multiple dealers and finally pulled the trigger on option #1 and below invoice pricing.

If you don't take the 0% (option #2), the dealer gets $4,000 cash back and makes a profit of $1,000 plus. The PLUS number is what I don't know much about.

If you take the 0% the dealer makes money on the holdback, plus whatever else is out there (I am not sure).

IMO, your best bet is to wait until the end of the month. If the car cannot sell with this massive incentive, imagine what the sales figures will do when it goes away. I think all the 08s have been delivered. The 09s are on their way. I was told that Infiniti has never offered 0% before.

Anyway, the car is amazingly fun with all the options. Good luck!

You are defiitely right, they wil get a lot heaper in a month. And I thought about waiting. However I was set on color and packages. If I waited I know I could have done better in the $$$$$, but it might not have been for the EX I real realy wanted.

IMO for a $40,000 car, you should get exactly what you want. Congratulations and enjoy!

For those who opted for the cash incentive and financed through Infiniti, what APR is Infiniti offering? I am hearing 5.9%, which sounds a little high.

Or if you leased, what was the money factor? Thanks.

unless your creidt just sucks horrible, you can get 0% for 72 mo based on the incentives edmunds is reporting.

I have excellent credit. Just wanted to see what kind of financing was available, if I decided to take the $4K cash incentive instead (or in other words, 3-4K below invoice.) With leasing--as opposed to purchasing--it is much more advantageous to take the lower financing rate, so I will most likely end up taking the 0% financing anyway (but paying closer to invoice.)

Welcome to our group, iConfess!

iConfess wrote:I have excellent credit. Just wanted to see what kind of financing was available, if I decided to take the $4K cash incentive instead (or in other words, 3-4K below invoice.) With leasing--as opposed to purchasing--it is much more advantageous to take the lower financing rate, so I will most likely end up taking the 0% financing anyway (but paying closer to invoice.)

I always take the cash, but since I am paying cash that is why. Nothing bothers me more than being upside down on a loan which is where you are with any luxury car in 3 years.

I second that! Unless I find a better investment.

iConfess - when I asked about what rate Infiniti would offer if I opted to take the $4k cash vs. the 0.0% 72 months, I was told that it would be in the 6.25 to 6.9% range (with excellent credit) and that their only option through Infiniti is the 0.0% option. They told me if I wanted to try for less, I should go through a credit union and bring the financing with me.

Not sure if what I was told was hooey - a few things I am reading after are leading me to believe the dealer was not that upfront.

I opted to take the 0.0% rate and take their interest free loan and keep my money in the bank earning interest.

Ultimate "deal" for a Blue Slate/Graphite Journey - Premium, Tech, Nav, Splash, rails/cross bars, cargo cover/organizer (all except Lux since it wasn't in the color combo my wife wanted) was $39,888 plus t&t (invoice plus about $1,500). Offer if I took the cash was $35,888, which was Invoice minus $4k plus $1,500 they claimed they MUST get to earn any money.

Then of course I found this group and read people all over have been payign Invoice and getting the special rate ;(

Either way, I still feel like I got a pretty decent deal - agree?

Good luck getting a good rate outside of Infiniti and let us know what you settle on.

If you qualify, the 0% is the better way to go.

Assuming that after TT&L you have a bottom line of $42,000 and put $5,000 down and took the $4,000 cash, you would finance $33,000 @ 6.25% for 72 months. That comes to 72 payments of $550.81, or $39,658 in total payments. That's $6,658 in interest payments over 72 months. The total price of the car under this option is $44,658.

Under the same conditions, if you take the 0% financing and put $5,000 down, you would finance $37,000, making 72 payments of $513.89. You would save $36.92 per month with this option. The total price of the car under this option is $42,000, a savings of $2,658 over option 1.

If you take that $36.92 per month you're saving over option 1 and deposit it into an interest bearing account earning a 2.5% APY, you would have $2,864.75 in the bank at the end of the 72 month term... and the title to your EX35.

So in other words, if in both cases you decided to shell out $550.81 per month for 72 months, option 1 would yield you a title at the end of the term, option 2 would yield you a title and almost $3,000 for a nice vacation or down payment on your next vehicle.

However, my suggestion would be to forfeit the $206 (or so) you'll earn in interest over 72 months and put that $36.92 towards better use. I think inflation will outpace the rate of return over this period. Your $36.92 will probably have less purchasing power in 72 months than it does now. Best bet? Add it to your high interest credit card payment or send it in as an additional payment towards your mortgage balance.

A word to the wise: Never go car shopping without your Texas Instruments BA II Plus financial calculator (or similar). Learn how to manipulate those 5 keys and you should never get taken for a ride by the finance guy.

Always ask how many points they're holding and ask to see the call back sheet from the bank. If they're being honest, they shouldn't have a problem with doing this. There, you can see the actual rate the bank was willing to finance you for. The difference between what the finance guy offers and what the call back sheet says is the amount of points they're holding on you. They shouldn't be holding more than .75 or 1. Other than that, and they're being greedy.

You can outright negotiate this with them, but in order to do so, you must see that sheet. You could offer to buy gap insurance, an extended warranty or something in lieu of points being held. Don't let them get you everywhere!

This is how the Finance guys make their money at the dealer. They get money from the bank for holding points on you. The more they hold, the more they get. This money goes into a pot, which gets split up at the end of the month between the dealer and finance department. Each finance guy gets a percentage of the pot, depending on his seniority or performance (about 16% to 20%). It's very lucrative! ".... and now you know the rest of the story."

Good luck!
Modified by CaribMon71 at 12:44 PM 8/27/2008

Nice post Carib.

Thanks! Glad you liked it.

Good info CaribMon. I knew "The Finance Guy" made a commission but didn't know some of the details. Our Finance Guy gave us a pretty hard time to buy something. When we left, we saw him driving away in his Porsche 911. That explains it.

The choice of 0% interest or $4K under invoice depends on the interest rate you can get and the size of your downpayment.

We took the 0% and $1K under invoice. They actually let us finance the full amount, so we did! Our competetive interest rate was 4.19%, but we had a rather large downpayment ready. We took that downpayment money and bought 2 CDs at 3.09% which we can tap early if needed to make the car payments in an emergency.

$44,490 at 0%... that's just crazy!!!

There you go! My little (big) brother is a finance manager at a very large Chrysler/Khia dealership in Florida. We often compare take home pay and how we get it. Man! Is he shrewd. I couldn't do that to people. But yeah, he lets me in on how he does it every day.

Another word to the wise: cross your fingers you don't have to face him (or so many others like him) on that final portion of your new car deal. He will take you to the cleaners!

You don't make $10k a month in the car business being a nice guy!

Any other questions??? Let me know. I'll run them by him as well. He was a salesman for several years prior to being promoted to the finance department.

CaribMon,

If offerred either $4000K under invoice or 0% financing, and you choose the 0%, does the dealer get any other cash-back or incentive for giving you the 0%? The interest rate is obviously picked up by Infiniti. If the car sells for invoice and 0%, how much profit to they stand to make?

I am curious b/c when I purchased the deal was $3K under or 0%, the incentive at the time was $4K cash back so the dealer was making $1K profit plus (plus amount includes holdback and other unknowns).

I'm no expert on this, but you said it better: Other unknowns.

Like they say, the dealer NEVER looses. Truth is, sometimes they only make a few hundred bucks on a deal, but they never loose. I would not have any way of knowing the numbers for an Infinity deal.

We're thinking of purchasing a new EX:

Premium PackageNavigation PackageTechnology PackageRoofrailsSplash GuardsWindow Tint Travel Fee ($300) to import the car from out of state (to get the color we like)Wheel Locks

Price $39,300 (0% financing for 72 months)Down Payment $1,000 (the rebate)

Does this seem like a good deal? And btw -- this forum has been awesome in answering questions about the car. Thanks!

Mike, according to Edmund's the invoice for that car is $39,170 (not counting the wheel locks and window tinting). I am not sure what the "downpayment - rebate" is, unless you are a previous Infiniti owner. You could probably get them to waive the $300 delivery fee, if you try. It's the end of the month and these great Infiniti incentives end Monday.

Good luck!

The $1,000 rebate, which is described as an Infiniti loyalty rebate, is available to everyone, not just prior Infiniti owners.

Welcome to the group, Mike EX, and hope you do become an EX owner!

I'll find out today -- heading out to the dealership!

Are you looking at an AWD Journey or the rear wheel drive model? Any of the two Luxe packages? How about wood trim?

Good luck! I just flew in to Virginia (boy, are my arms tired!) and will be picking up mine in the morning. The sales person sent me pics of a similar one to mine (not the best quality, since they were taken with the sales person's camera phone). They have rims on this one. I like the way it looks, but I'll probably wait and get some later.

Car looks good! Good luck with it! The model I'm looking at is RWD, with no wood trim. I'm also looking to skip the luxe packages (if possible -- it's hard to find the Nav/Premium/Tech without one of the luxe packages, so I might have to bite the bullet on that.

Then that price sounds about right.

Mike, it sounds like you got your car, did you get it? (Tidewater w/ Wheat)