Tips on negotiating a new coupe (or any vehicle)

[abbhy6145]

I have used the following advice to purchase NEW cars and it has saved a lot of time, hassle and money.

1.Find the invoice price for your vehicle (edmunds.com. etc.) Be sure to include all options and match this against MSRP. Be sure to include destination chg. Once MSRP matches on edmunds.com, you know you have the right invoice amount.

2.Determine if you want to order or buy a car on the lot.

3.Do your homework first…if car is on lot, do not see a salesman, just get MSRP from car sticker. Do not go into dealership, do not show any excitement, go home and do your homework on invoicing.

4.Once you know whether to order or lot buy, contact and ask to speak to the sales manager (SM) ONLY .Over phone offer him $300 to $700 over invoice. BE firm but polite and say you will be down to give him a $500 deposit to order (about 6 weeks for the coupe) or immediately if the coupe is on the lot. This can all be done over the phone. If you order the coupe, you can offer a lower price ($400/$500 over invoice) since the dealer gets what is called a “holdback”. On the coupe this is 3% of invoice …and on a coupe with MSRP of $29555, invoice of $27201, this is about $800 immediately to the dealer. This is why some ads advertise at invoice pricing.

5.Tell SM, there is NO trade-in (very important). This can be introduced ONLY later, and only after a firm price has been negotiated. It is always best to sell privately.

6.Tell SM, this is a cash deal. (very important). Get your own local financing but do no not divulge this. The dealer makes money on providing finance.

7.Remember that the dealership must make a fair profit to stay in business and cover his overhead. Keep pricing simple…. X amount over invoice; taxes and registration flow from negotiated pricing so do not include in call to SM.

8.Lastly, always be very polite and ask the SM to work with you, but do not offer more than $700 over invoice. Remember he already has holdback to pay a sales commission, overhead, and financing to pay Nissan. If SM cannot work with your pricing, politely say you will contact other dealers and do so!

Good Luck! This really works. I have just got my coupe (ordered) in CT for $650 over invoice. I will keep you posted on reliability and satisfaction.

[SHIFT_COUPE]

Very nice info! Thank you!

[SHIFT_2.5S]

Great advice! A sticky, perhaps?

[hjd17]

Or you can take advantage of the nissan vpp program and get the car below invoice price. I got A/C 3.5 se with everything for $28787 + tax and tag.

[abbhy6145]

Thanks hjd17; can you tell me the what options you got and what was MSRP?

Thanks abbhy6145

Q. Who qualifies under the Vehicle Purchase Program?

A. The following people qualify as employees under the Vehicle Purchase Program:

Direct, full-time employees of Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) and Nissan affiliate companies. Retirees of NNA and affiliate companies who have received normal, early or disability retirement, and surviving spouses of such retirees.

Immediate family members of the above people, including spouse, parents, spouse's parents, children (including sons- and daughters-in-law and step children), and siblings (including brothers- and sisters-in-law, half-brothers, half-sisters, step-brothers and step-sisters).

Participants must reside in the continental United States, Hawaii or Alaska. Q. Can I transfer my claim number to another person?

A. No. Claim numbers can only be used by the person they are issued to, and the name on the sales contract written at the dealership must match

[hjd17]

I got 2008 altima coupe w/cvt 3.5se with premium, tech page, mats, trunk mat, and kit plates. I believe the msrp was around 32k, i got it for ~28787. I got vpp through work, its suppose to be 2.5% below invoice price, but then they add the delivery fee and other fees. But still not a bad deal.

[abbhy6145]

Thanks hjd17, is your job Nissan related?

[MadBlackCoupe]

FIRST OFF,

Great thread!

SECOND...

Try NOT TO NEGOTIATE it at all possible! I hate playing that game...and you don't have to.

I try to purchase from a dealerships who does not participate in the nonesense, such as Saturn or CarMax.

When I'm ready to roll, I go through two programs as a part of my credit union.

One: UBS, United Buying Service.

http://www.ubs4cars.com/

Two: MVCP, Motor Vehicle Certification Program.

http://www.mvcp.com/steps.php#1

Selected dealerships agree to participate in the program, which guarantees a set uniform, non negotiable price. Normally, you can ask the dealership if they participate--if they do, they normally have a UBS or MVCP contact, who specilizes in those purchases.

At my credit union, there is a big book with all the new cars and prices. I simply pick my car, get preapproved from the credit union, pick my options, and the program will mail me the closest dealers who are in the program.

Now, it's just a matter of contacting the dealer and picking the car up.

Add water and stir!

I have purchased three cars this way. In and out so fast it will make your head spin.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to work out a deal with UBS this time around, because the butt head rep couldn't get a black coupe (trading with another dealership is a bunch of crap) and I couldn't wait. The high demand of the coupe made it easy for dealers to opt not to honor the price. Sometimes, even if a dealership does not participate in the program, they may honor or match the price.

Anyway, it's worth a try. You do have to be in a credit union or another organization that has the program in order to use it. They will ask for your credit union info, but you may be able to get around it.

If all fails, knowing the price is a good bargaining chip, even if you don't go that route. I couldn't this time around, but I had my offer sheet in hand from the UBS deal the fell through, plus CarMax prices, plus NissanUSA prices, and all this helped the deal go a lot smoother.

AT THE END OF THE DAY: Knowledge is power.

Mad

[abbhy6145]

Thanks MAD BC...for headsup on other options out there. Negotiations can be a hassle but I find it fun!

[notaverage]

Ok, the truth is the best way to get a car for the best price is to make your local dealerships compete with each other. I usually look at dealres with a 30-40 miles range.

I got my car for $74 under invoice, and I don't qualify for the VPP program. And here's how I did it.

Before you begin, do your FULL research on the car you want through many websites and make sure you KNOW what you want, and prepare a folder of all Invoices. (This is just the starting point for your folder. Also Print this document, http://www.carbuyingtips.com/scams.htm and keep it in your folder. I was presented with one of these scams, {your online financial lender bounces checks})

Week One: Went to edmunds.com and put in a price request quote for the exact car I want. I didn't specify a color. I typed in my zip code and contacted all four nearby dealers that edmunds shows. (only shows a max of 4 dealers in the area). At the same time I contacted Capital One through the Costco Auto Buying program to get a loan for an "executive" membership from Capital One. (You get a 0.25%-0.35% lower rate through Costco if you want to go through Capital One, usually receive your blank check within a week.)

Within the same week I start receiving emails and phone calls from dealers. I tell them exactly what I want and what color. They check their inventory and ask me crappy questions like "when can I come in?"

I answer saying, "I would only come in if I had a good enough reason to". And then I ask what the bottom line price is for that vehicle. (You will usually deal with an "internet sales manager" if you ask for prices over the internet, and they are usually straight forward guys who won't quote you something ridiculous). Tell each different internet sales manager what the lowest deal you have so far, and if they are willing to beat it, this is the only way you will go down to their place. Usually each dealer you talk to will quote you something lower because they want your business. So as the phone calls progress, you get lower quotes.

Visit the dealership with the lowest of the four quotes, and get the quote he has in writing, and tell him you will have to think about it. Say something like you didn't like the color, so you'll have to think about it and come back.

Week Two: Go back to edmunds and ask for price quotes from dealerships further out of your area. Put in zipcodes for neighboring cities. Then request price quotes from different dealerships.

So now you have a bargaining chip, and ACTUAL low quote in writing on paper you can take to dealerships. Put all quoets you get in your folder, including ones that you get in emails. The trick is to tell the other dealer what the lowest quote to have, and keep quoting the lowest quote to next dealer. This makes them compete with each other. Your price will continue to go lower. When you are happy with the quote and want to purchase the car, make SURE to clarify you have a capital one blank check, and that's what you will be paying with. (Remember this is all over the phone). If he says, he can't accept it, (HINT: SCAM), tell him he has no deal. If he accepts, congratulations! you got a car at the price you want.

If he doesn't accept the check, you tell him now deal, and just wait a few days and you will get more calls from dealers (probably familiar ones). Continue the process of making dealers compete with each other.

I was happy to hear finally that I could get the car at invoice. By doing this method, I made my dealership PROMISE me the car at invoice, and promise me he would take my Capital One check. I went down there to check out the car (they had to make a trade to get my color, and I had to go in twice, 1st time to show my face and make him sure that I was gonna purchase the car if it came in perfect condition and exactly as I was promised, 2nd time to look at the car after they traded for it) and he showed me the invoice and we made a deal. He messed up a little bit and accidentally wrote down a lower than invoice price on the papers ($74 under ) and did the calculations according to that price.

In the end I got a Altime Coupe 3.5 SE with tech package, alum kick plates, floor mats, in the color I wanted for $29,382 + tax+ registration.

If all else fails, go through the Costco Auto Buying program which usually quotes $500 - $600 over invoice (No Haggle).

Sorry for the long response....
Modified by notaverage at 7:59 PM 10/28/2007